“Laciana Is Black. Greens Go Away!” Environmentalists as Scapegoats in a Mountaintop Removal Conflict in Laciana Valley, Spain

Abstract

This article presents findings from a case study of a socioenvironmental conflict concerning mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) in Spain. For 15 years, illegal and subsidised MTR has been providing a number of jobs along with significant negative environmental and social impacts in an area protected by European environmental legislation. In 2018, the European Union (EU) will prohibit state coal subsidies and the local population is already deeply divided, and the atmosphere confrontational. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, and document analysis, this article explores the narrative variations—“disease,” “traitor,” “lazy foreigner,” and “salon environmentalist”—characterising environmentalists as scapegoats, and the importance of these social processes for building an ecological resistance movement in a historical coal mining area. The article concludes that, as in related conflicts elsewhere, violence against those criticising MTR practices, as well as a “culture of silence,” have strongly limited the success of the anti-MTR movement.

Is Labor Green?

“…Herb Thompson and Julie Tracy (1995) demonstrate a similar divide between environmental conservationists and timber workers in Western Australia. Similarly, some unions in Spain support mountaintop removal in the Laciana Valley, arguing it will bring more jobs (Cabrejas 2012). A more recent example of the battle between workers and environmentalists is the ongoing debate over the Keystone XL pipeline in North America, where some unions supported the construction for jobs and economic growth and withdrew their support for the BlueGreen Alliance (Kojola 2017).…”

“I Just Keep My Mouth Shut”: The Demobilization of Environmental Protest in Central Appalachia

“…Scholars from a variety of perspectives have also attributed demobilization to “coercive” and “proactive” forms of social control (Shriver et al 2014). The former typically involves firing workers who complain about toxic hazards (Mix, Cable, and Shriver 2009), discrediting activists by labeling them “tree huggers,” “environmental wackos,” and “traitors” (Austin 2002; Edelstein 1993; Shriver 2000), and subduing protest with violence (Cabrejas 2012; Eller 2008; Gaventa 1982). The latter involves the use of legitimation and information control tactics.…”

“…The literature that has emerged on demobilization generally attributes the process to one of four factors: co-optation (e.g., Gaventa 1982), legitimation tactics (e.g., Shriver et al 2014), violent repression (e.g., Cabrejas 2012), and/or lack of identity correspondence between activists and social movement organizations (SMOs) (e.g., Bell 2016). This study builds on that literature by investigating an empirical anomaly.…”

Mining operations and corporate social responsibility: A case study of a large gold mine in regional Australia

“…In a study of three gold mines in Victoria it was found that although community members were committed to participating as stakeholders, they generally perceived that they were not able to do so effectively because they felt they were not listened to by the mining company and were not taken seriously (Cheney et al, 2002). It has also been found that, in some cases, stakeholders have been marginalised when they have questioned mining operations regarding the environmental (Cabrejas, 2012) or health impacts (Higginbotham et al, 2010).…”