Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that is one of the largest of the state

PIRG Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are a federation of U.S. and Canadian non-profit organizations that employ grassroots organizing and direct advocacy on issues such as consumer protection, public health and transportation. The PIRGs are cl ...

organizations. It works on a variety of political activities, including textbook trading on college campuses. They also provide

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

s and work study jobs for students on Massachusetts college campuses. Along with the Massachusetts Service Alliance, MASSPIRG helped create Massachusetts Community Water Watch, an organization that works specifically on environmental political. Student funding of MASSPIRG has been criticized at several schools, where students wish to see MASSPIRG funding cut.

History

The

Public Interest Research Groups Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are a federation of U.S. and Canadian non-profit organizations that employ grassroots organizing and direct advocacy on issues such as consumer protection, public health and transportation. The PIRGs are c ...

emerged at the behest of

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

who, during a college speaking tour, called on students to form political groups.

Criticism and rebuttal

The book '' Activism, Inc: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America'' by

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

sociologist Dana Fisher, is based on an ethnographic study she did in a stratified random sample of fund canvass offices during the summer of 2003. Fisher charges the corporatized fundraising model (of which the Fund is an example) with mistreating idealistic young people by using them as interchangeable parts and providing them with insufficient training. Fisher also states that the outsourcing of grassroots organizing by groups like the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

and

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

to organizations like the Fund has led to the decay of grassroots infrastructure and opportunities for involvement on the left.Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America
/ref> The Fund has created a website, canvassingworks.org, to respond to a few of the criticisms raised by the book. The site includes testimony by former Fund staff who have moved into leading roles in other progressive organizations and other progressive leaders, including U.S. Representative

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

(IL), Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, Dr.

Woody Holton Abner Linwood Holton III, known as Woody Holton, is an American professor who is the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. Early life Abner Linwood Holton III is the son of former Virginia Governor Linwood Holton. ...

(Associate Professor of American history at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

), and Randy Hayes of the

Rainforest Action Network Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a gras ...

Notable members

Joyce Elaine Roop Joyce Elaine Roop (1952–1995) was an attorney and environmental activist. Born in Chicago, Roop attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she helped found the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District and was then elected to t ...

Affiliate organizations

The Fund for Public Interest Research The Fund for the Public Interest is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization that runs the public fundraising and canvassing operations for politically liberal nonprofit organizations that advocate for issues such as environmental protection, consume ...

*Environment Massachusetts *

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

References

{{authority control Public Interest Research Groups Government watchdog groups in the United States Political advocacy groups in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts