Network effects in environmental justice struggles: An investigation of conflicts between mining companies and civil society organizations from a network perspective

Abstract

This paper examines conflicts that occur between mining companies and civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world and offers an innovative analysis of mining conflicts from a social network perspective. The analysis showed that, as the number of CSOs involved in a conflict increased, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success in terms of environmental justice (EJ); if a CSO was connected to other central CSOs, the average perception of EJ success was likely to increase; and as network distance between two conflicts increased (or decreased), they were more likely to lead to different (or similar) EJ outcomes. Such network effects in mining conflicts have policy implications for EJ movements. It would be a strategic move on the part of successful CSOs to become involved in other major conflicts and disseminate information about how they achieved greater EJ success.

A global environmental justice movement: mapping ecological distribution conflicts

“…al.., 2019), sectoral dynamics, such as conflicts over wind power (Avila, 2018), dams (Del Bene et. al., 2018, or mining (Aydin et. al.., 2017), or specific thematic concerns, such as multidimensional violence in central American conflicts .…”

Dirty Water, Muddied Politics: Hybridisation of Local and National Opposition to Kumtor Mine, Kyrgyzstan

“…These actors support local movements by providing experience, information, enhancing media attention and enabling a broader 'repertoire of contention' to include legal challenges [69,74]. A recent study found that when an environmental movement was connected to more civil society organisations, and especially when it was connected to more nationally or transnationally central civil society organisations, its outcome was more likely to be perceived as a success [75].…”

“…In some cases, this can result in a loss of autonomy for local organisations, a need to alter strategies, ideological conflicts and identity loss [79]. Local movements need to be careful not to lose the grassroots while establishing links with supralocal organisations [75]. If there are inequities in coalitions, contradictory opinions on the appropriate values and arguments to use may mean that local environmental justice claims lose out to discourses introduced by more powerful supralocal organisations [80].…”

“…Indeed, subsequently, it has been shown that Kumtor may also be polluting the river Naryn that runs through several villages in the Naryn province [89]. Supra-national networks have been widely acknowledged as crucial to the scale-jumping ability of local social movements [73][74][75]. However, in this example of anti-Kumtor activism, the roadblocks and protests were a successful scale-jumping strategy in and of themselves.…”

Identifying Ecological Distribution Conflicts Around the Inter-regional Flow of Energy in Turkey: A Mapping Exercise

“…Conflicts can be filtered according to category, commodity, EJ Success, project status, conflict intensity, companies, EJ Organisations, and around 100 other fields (Martinez-Alier et al, 2016) and hence provide valuable insights, especially for activists and academics. To date, many scholars made use of the atlas to better understand the nature and dynamics of the ecological distribution conflicts (see, for instance, Aydin et al, 2017, Similar to the global pattern, Turkey has witnessed a growing number of environmental conflicts for the last three decades, following the aggressive neo-liberal policies of modernisation and industrialisation. Such policies were contested by the public at large through environmental mobilisations against mines, dams, thermal and nuclear power plants, and waste disposal.…”