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AbstractCovert political organizing is a vital means by which subordinate groups express grievances against authorities or elites. This article develops an understanding of the process of covert organizing to show how the selection of an organizational structure is a strategic decision. Using original, archival data from the Mattachine Society, a homosexual organization founded in 1950, and the affiliated Mattachine Foundation, I show how the structure of the organizations enabled leaders to segment their audiences and adapt to challenges from outside and inside the group. In particular, I use the concept of a loosely coupled system, emphasizing relations between organizations, to show how organizations can work with varying degrees of discretion. Moreover, building off analytically similar cases in the literature, I demonstrate that a loosely coupled system enables both organizational flexibility and covert political action.

The Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis were the first gay and lesbian organizations in the United States, respectively. Both were founded in the wake of the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s, as hundreds of homosexuals were being purged form the State Department and concern was growing over changing gender roles perceived as deviant. The Mattachine Society was founded in 1950 when no similar organizations existed. As the group expanded, so did infighting, which led to its dissolution in 1953. The Daughters of Bilitis, in contrast, began in 1955. Over time, members drew from experiences in other groups and the organization survived until 1971. These two organizations were central to the development of the Homophile Movement, a precursor to Gay Liberation. As individuals sought to develop organizational identities, I argue they were simultaneously building coalitions to mobilize the burgeoning movement. This dissertation uses these organizations and the emergence of the Homophile movement to address two questions. First, it asks how external contingencies—specifically other movements and fields—shape internal conflict and organizational outcomes. It argues that when fields provide organizations a limited repertoire from which to draw, infighting leads to organizational dissolution. In particular, this occurs when the organizations debate components of the organization that are not malleable and are linked to individual members' ideologies. Alternatively, when a movement organization has multiple repertoires from which to draw, other fields can influence either adaptation or failure. When repertoires from proximate fields are compatible with those of the field in which the organization is embedded, infighting leads to adaptation. When repertoires from proximate fields conflict with those in the organization's field, on the other hand, infighting encourages organizational dissolution. The second question this dissertation is addresses is how does infighting encourage social movement emergence. In particular, as much of the work on movements argues that they emerge from existing networks or other movements, via spillover or spinoff, this project shows that infighting can lead to the diversification of organizations and thus creates a base of activists necessary for a movement to emerge.

Background
The ability to meet current and ongoing financial obligations, known as financial well-being (FWB), is not only associated with the likelihood of adverse health events but is also affected by unexpected health care expenditures. However, the relationship between FWB and common health outcomes is not well understood. Using data available in the Financial Well-Being Scale from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we evaluated the impact of four vascular conditions—cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, high blood pressure (BP), and high cholesterol—on FWB and how these impacts varied between racial and ethnic groups.


Methods
Using the Understanding America Survey—a nationally representative, longitudinal panel—we identified adults with self-reported diagnoses between 2014 and 2020 of high cholesterol, high BP, stroke, and CVD. We used stratified, longitudinal mixed regression models to assess the association between these diagnoses and FWB. Each condition was modeled separately and included sex, age, marital status, household size, income, education, race/ethnicity, insurance, body mass index, and an indicator of the condition. Racial and ethnic differentials were captured using group-condition interactions.


Results
On average, Whites had the highest FWB Scale score (69.0, SD=21.8), followed by other races (66.7, SD=21.0), Hispanics (59.3, SD=21.6), and Blacks (56.2, SD=21.4). In general, FWB of individuals with vascular conditions was lower than that of those without, but the impact varied between racial and ethnic groups. Compared with Whites (the reference group), Blacks with CVD (−7.4, SD=1.0), stroke (−8.1, SD=1.5), high cholesterol (−5.7, SD=0.7), and high BP (6.1, SD=0.7) had lower FWB. Similarly, Hispanics with high BP (−3.0, SD=0.6) and CVD (−6.3, SD=1.3) had lower FWB. Income, education, insurance, and marital status were also correlated with FWB.


Conclusions
These results indicated differences in the financial ramifications of vascular conditions among racial and ethnic groups. Findings suggest the need for interventions targeting FWB of individuals with vascular conditions, particularly those from minority groups.

AbstractToxics use reduction (TUR) is one part of a comprehensive cancer prevention strategy. TUR emphasizes reducing the use of cancer-causing chemicals by improving manufacturing processes and identifying and adopting safer alternatives. This analysis draws on 20 years of data collected from industries reporting to the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA) program to assess trends in the use and release of chemicals associated with cancer. We used a master list of known and suspected carcinogens developed from authoritative sources and a list of carcinogens grouped by their association with 11 cancer sites to analyze trends in use and release of chemicals by industrial facilities reporting to the TURA program from 1990 to 2010. The trend analysis shows that reported use and releases of carcinogens by these Massachusetts companies have decreased dramatically over time. Reported use declined 32% from 1990 to 2010, and reported releases declined 93% from 1991 to 2010 (1991 is when additional industrial sectors, including electric utilities, were phased into the program). Particularly large reductions were achieved in the use of trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene and cadmium and cadmium compounds. The analysis of groups of chemicals associated with specific cancer sites shows similar trends. Important opportunities for further reductions in many carcinogens, including formaldehyde, hexavalent chromium, and a variety of halogenated compounds are identified. Continued work to minimize the use of carcinogens can help to reduce the burden of cancer in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

The use of alternatives assessment to substitute hazardous chemicals with inherently safer options is gaining momentum worldwide as a legislative and corporate strategy to minimize consumer, occupational, and environmental risks. Engineered nanomaterials represent an interesting case for alternatives assessment approaches as they can be considered both emerging "chemicals" of concern, as well as potentially safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals. However, comparing the hazards of nanomaterials to traditional chemicals or to other nanomaterials is challenging and critical elements in chemical hazard and exposure assessment may have to be fundamentally altered to sufficiently address nanomaterials. The aim of this paper is to assess the overall applicability of alternatives assessment methods for nanomaterials and outline recommendations to enhance their use in this context. This paper focuses on the adaptability of existing hazard and exposure assessment approaches to engineered nanomaterials as well as strategies to design inherently safer nanomaterials. We argue that alternatives assessment for nanomaterials is complicated by the sheer number of nanomaterials possible. As a result, the inclusion of new data tools that can efficiently and effectively evaluate nanomaterials as substitutes are needed to strengthen the alternatives assessment process. However, we conclude that with additional tools to enhance traditional hazard and exposure assessment modules of alternatives assessment, such as the use of mechanistic toxicity screens and control banding tools, alternatives assessment can be adapted to evaluate engineered nanomaterials both as potential substitutes for chemicals of concern and to ensure safer nanomaterials are incorporated in the design of new products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Alternatives Assessment is gaining traction as a systematic method to support the informed substitution of chemicals of concern. The 2018 International Symposium on Alternatives Assessment, on November 1‐2, 2018 convened nearly 150 professionals from government agencies, industry, consultant firms, academia and advocacy organizations to advance a greater understanding of the evolving methods, practices and challenges in the use of alternatives assessment. This article reviews highlights and lessons from the Symposium, including: (1) notable advances in methods, (2) shared insights from practitioners on best practices as well as inherent tensions and challenges, and (3) research and practice needs in the field that can be addressed by organizations such as the newly launched Association for the Advancement of Alternatives Assessment. Being interdisciplinary in nature, the establishment of educational frameworks across disciplines and inclusion of diverse expertise in hazard and exposure assessments, life cycle impacts considerations, design principles, and economic and engineering evaluations will ensure continued growth of the field.