Scaling up site disputes: strategies to redefine ‘local’ in the fight against fracking
ABSTRACT: Plans to replace an aging diesel backup energy plant with liquid natural gas (LNG) generators in Whitehorse, Yukon, resulted in a public outcry, involving community meetings, massive petitions, and demonstrations. Are these civil society protests just a case of a local siting dispute – a response to an unwanted industrial site in an urban neighborhood? Here, it is argued that siting debates are not the driver of these campaigns, but instead are harnessed by activists to advance a broader environmental movement. By linking the LNG project to more distant extraction, involving hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), movement leaders portray the entire territory as part of the ‘local’ for Whitehorse residents. Movement leaders rely upon two key mechanisms: claiming insider status, and identifying visible symbols. This case reveals the strategic use by environmental movements of local concerns to recruit support for broader campaigns, and the value of local, place-based activism for broader environmental movements.
Duke Scholars
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- Political Science & Public Administration
- 4408 Political science
- 4407 Policy and administration
- 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
- 1606 Political Science
- 1605 Policy and Administration
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Political Science & Public Administration
- 4408 Political science
- 4407 Policy and administration
- 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
- 1606 Political Science
- 1605 Policy and Administration
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management