Dara O'Rourke

Associate Professor of Environmental and Labor Policy
University of California at Berkeley
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
137 Mulford Hall #3115, Berkeley, CA 94720-3115

Email: orourke (at) berkeley.edu

Welcome to Dara O'Rourke's web page. This page offers information on my current research, public interest projects, publications, courses I teach at UC Berkeley, and information for prospective graduate students. I am interested quite broadly in the environmental, social, and equity impacts of global production systems and new strategies of democratic governance. I am currently conducting research on the political economy and policy aspects of a number of global supply chains - including garments, shoes, paper, coffee, electronics, and petrochemicals - from resource extraction, to manufacturing, to use and disposal. I am interested in governmental and non-governmental strategies for monitoring and accountability over these production systems, and new models of public participation in environmental and labor policy regulation. I am leading a team of researchers focused on analyzing and improving the quality of information available to consumers on the social, environmental, and health impacts of products and companies; researching the impacts of this information on consumer behavior; and developing tools to deliver better information to consumers in the most credible and user-friendly way possible. I currently teach courses on environmental policy and regulation, environmental justice, and the governance of global production. If you are interested in applying to UC Berkeley for graduate studies, please read this information before contacting me.

My books include:			Recent articles and reports:
	Community Driven Regulation: Balancing Development and the Environment in Vietnam. MIT Press. 2004. Buy it here.   WINNER of the 2005 Outstanding Publication Award from the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Assc.		Market Movements: Nongovernmental Organization Strategies to Influence Global Production and Consumption Sharing Love in the Global Economy: Tough to Find Gifts that Don’t Do Great Harm Opportunities and Obstacles for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Developing Countries Mandatory Planning for Environmental Innovation Outsourcing Regulation: Non-Governmental Systems of Labor Standards and Monitoring. Community Environmental Policing: Assessing New Strategies of Public Participation in Environmental Regulation. Just Oil? The Distribution of Environmental and Social Impacts of Oil Production and Consumption. Experiments in Transforming the Global Workplace: Incentives and Impediments to Improving Workplace Conditions in China Monitoring the Monitors:A Critique of PricewaterhouseCooper's Labor Monitoring
	Can We Put an End to Sweatshops? (With Archon Fung and Chuck Sabel.) Beacon Press. 2001. Buy it here. Or read an earlier version on-line here.

Included throughout are links to projects, people, and programs around the world that are conducting innovative work in these areas.