From victims to citizens: Emerging activist identities in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Mihaylov, Nikolay

doi:10.1002/jcop.22258

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…My observing and conceptualizing position allowed me to reflect on the movement through sociological and community psychological lenses; to examine critically the links of the group's actions and context; to get outside the meanings attached by the group to events and processes (Smith, 1983). The overall purpose of the AFM study (Mihaylov, 2020), of which this article is a facet, was to facilitate learning from a successful grassroots action and practice (Elias, 1994), recognizing the AFM as a watershed episode of civic society in Bulgaria.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The movement against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Bulgaria, started in June 2011 when the Bulgarian government announced that Chevron Corporation had been granted a license to explore for shale gas (Mihaylov, 2020). Fracking is a controversial technology met with strong community resistance in multiple communities in the United States and the world (Jacquet & Stedman, 2014).…”

Section: The Afm In Bulgariamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Speaking power to power: Grassroots democracy in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Mihaylov

2020

Journal Community Psychology

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The anti-fracking movement (AFM) in Bulgaria, was a successful grassroots local-to-national organizing effort to change public policy. The study draws on social movements, community psychology, and grassroots democracy theory to explore, describe and critique how participants in the AFM collectively constructed meanings and practices of organizing in interaction with the sociopolitical context as they expanded their efforts from the local to the national level of policy-making. Data for the study were collected from semi-structured interviews with activists, movement documents, and participant observations. Structured and open coding followed by qualitative analyses produced descriptions and explanations of grassroots democracy in the movement. The movement was based on a prefigurative vision and practice of an antihierarchical "civic society" and was also shaped by the demands of the Bulgarian political context. Power, consent, and participation had dynamic meanings and forms that secured both grassroots democracy and effective political action. Тhe AFM resisted well-known mechanisms of hierarchization and co-optation, but it also reproduced certain inequalities of power. The findings relate to recent trends for expansion of community organizing to the national level of politics, for expansion of the community organizing models outside the United States, and for a popular grassroots preference for antiorganizational organizing.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Afm In Bulgariamentioning

confidence: 99%

Speaking power to power: Grassroots democracy in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Mihaylov

2020

Journal Community Psychology

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“…With the growing use of fracking, a drilling technique associated with several environmental risks and impacts, including soil, air and water pollution, as well as higher seismic activity (e.g., Meng, 2017), many different countries and localities began to stand up against both oil and gas drilling and the practice of hydraulic fracturing (Steger and Milicevic, 2014). Yet, localized environmental movements often converge different types of collective identities (Mihaylov, 2019), and people engaged in environmental conflicts may not even identify themselves as environmentalists (Willow, 2014). Considering that a social movement is a broad network of individuals and organizations engaged in collective action and seeking to mobilize regular citizens for sustained action (Rootes, 1999(Rootes, , 2007Amenta et al, 2010), it is then crucial to understand how such networks emerge, develop and remain stable over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Players, Different Tactics, a Shared Goal: Building Bridges and Political Agency While Fighting Against Oil and Gas Drilling

Fernandes‐Jesus

Gomes

2020

Front. Commun.

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Several individuals, groups, and organizations have been fighting against oil and natural gas drilling in Portuguese territory. The mobilizations intensified in 2015 in Algarve, and since then 13 concession agreements for oil and gas exploitation, extraction, and production have been canceled. Two concessions for gas drilling remain in Leiria, and this is where the movement is presently more active. Inspired by literature on the role of players and tactics in social movements, as well as on the meanings of agency, we examined how individuals, groups, and organizations contested and demanded the cancellation of the existing concession agreements. We conducted 12 in-depth interviews with highly engaged activists. Based on a thematic analysis, we identified six major themes, named as: "multiple players, a shared goal"; "building bridges with multiple players and tactics"; "links to institutional power"; "the route to the court"; "paths to popular mobilization"; and "movement building and power to act." Overall, we identified three broad sets of tactics used by the movement, which shows the diversity of players involved in the struggles against oil and gas in Portugal. The first tactic relates to the social movement organizations' efforts to connect with institutional power, either by seeking to pressure local political leaders or by using public consultations, petitions, and other means for expressing their voices. The second tactic refers to the movement's engagement with legal procedures, and the third relates to the movement's efforts to promote popular mobilization. In terms of actions, the movement engaged in protests and public demonstrations, public consultations, public campaigns with celebrities, leaflet distributions, political pressuring of leaders, awareness campaigns in schools and streets, legal actions, among other approaches. All participants described the movement as successful in achieving its shared goal "to cancel oil and gas concessions" and attributed such a success to the movement's ability to combine different strategies and tactics. The movement is also perceived as a setting for building political agency. We discuss the role of the movement in building bridges between multiple players/tactics and in constructing political agency, by focusing on the implications for collective action in environmental and climate issues.

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Community organizing: Studying the development and exercise of grassroots power

Christens

Gupta

Speer

2021

Journal Community Psychology

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There is now wide recognition that grassroots community organizing is a uniquely necessary approach for contending with the persistent and escalating socioeconomic inequities that manifest as disparities across many societal domains, including housing, safety, education, and mental and physical health. The articles in this special issue report findings from studies designed to increase understanding of community organizing processes and produce actionable knowledge that can enhance these and other similar efforts to create more equitable and just cities and regions. These studies examine a variety of community organizing campaigns, initiatives, and networks in North America, as well as one in Bulgaria, and one in South Africa. These groups are building social power and demanding economic, racial, educational, and environmental justice. In this introductory article, we highlight some of the themes that emerge from this set of studies and make recommendations for future roles that research can play in advancing collective understanding and the practical objectives of grassroots organizing initiatives.

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From victims to citizens: Emerging activist identities in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Cited by 5 publications

References 58 publications

Speaking power to power: Grassroots democracy in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Speaking power to power: Grassroots democracy in the anti‐fracking movement in Bulgaria

Multiple Players, Different Tactics, a Shared Goal: Building Bridges and Political Agency While Fighting Against Oil and Gas Drilling

Community organizing: Studying the development and exercise of grassroots power

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