Shannon Elizabeth Bell
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262034340
- eISBN:
- 9780262333597
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034340.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
In Fighting King Coal, Shannon Elizabeth Bell examines an understudied puzzle within social movement theory: why so few of the vast number of people who suffer from industry-produced environmental ...
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In Fighting King Coal, Shannon Elizabeth Bell examines an understudied puzzle within social movement theory: why so few of the vast number of people who suffer from industry-produced environmental hazards and pollution rise up to participate in social movements aimed at bringing about environmental justice and industry accountability. Bell investigates the challenges of micromobilization through a case study of the coalfields of Central Appalachia, where mountaintop removal mining and coal industry-related flooding, sickness, and water contamination have led to the emergence of a grassroots environmental justice movement that is demanding protection from and accountability for the destruction and pollution in coalfield communities. The coal industry’s impact on communities has been far-reaching; however, recruiting new local residents to join the environmental justice movement has proven to be an ongoing challenge. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observation, content analysis, geospatial viewshed analysis, and an eight-month “Photovoice” project, Bell uncovers numerous factors contributing to the low numbers of local environmental justice activists, including depleted social capital, the coal-related hegemonic masculinity of the region, the coal industry’s cultural manipulation efforts, the fact that much of the mining activity is hidden, the power of local elite, and the changing face of the environmental justice movement. Through the Photovoice project, Bell reveals the importance of identities to the success or failure of local recruitment efforts in social movement struggles, ultimately arguing that if the local identities of environmental justice movements are lost, they may also lose their power.Less
In Fighting King Coal, Shannon Elizabeth Bell examines an understudied puzzle within social movement theory: why so few of the vast number of people who suffer from industry-produced environmental hazards and pollution rise up to participate in social movements aimed at bringing about environmental justice and industry accountability. Bell investigates the challenges of micromobilization through a case study of the coalfields of Central Appalachia, where mountaintop removal mining and coal industry-related flooding, sickness, and water contamination have led to the emergence of a grassroots environmental justice movement that is demanding protection from and accountability for the destruction and pollution in coalfield communities. The coal industry’s impact on communities has been far-reaching; however, recruiting new local residents to join the environmental justice movement has proven to be an ongoing challenge. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant observation, content analysis, geospatial viewshed analysis, and an eight-month “Photovoice” project, Bell uncovers numerous factors contributing to the low numbers of local environmental justice activists, including depleted social capital, the coal-related hegemonic masculinity of the region, the coal industry’s cultural manipulation efforts, the fact that much of the mining activity is hidden, the power of local elite, and the changing face of the environmental justice movement. Through the Photovoice project, Bell reveals the importance of identities to the success or failure of local recruitment efforts in social movement struggles, ultimately arguing that if the local identities of environmental justice movements are lost, they may also lose their power.
Shannon Elizabeth Bell
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262034340
- eISBN:
- 9780262333597
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034340.003.0003
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Chapter 2 places the problem of movement non-participation within the existing sociological literature on the micro-level processes that contribute to an individual’s decision to participate–or not ...
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Chapter 2 places the problem of movement non-participation within the existing sociological literature on the micro-level processes that contribute to an individual’s decision to participate–or not participate–in a social movement. The chapter provides an overview of the social movements literature on the four “central problematics” of micromobilization–solidarity, identity correspondence, consciousness transformation (also called “cognitive liberation”), and the creation of micromobilization contexts. In studies of social movements, these four processes continually arise as important micro-level issues shaping activist participation. This chapter synthesizes the theoretical and empirical work on these four factors and suggests that the low level of local participation in the coalfield justice movement is the result of problems with all four of these processes. The next four chapters present a series of studies that examine potential barriers to the four central problematics of micromobilization outlined in this chapter.Less
Chapter 2 places the problem of movement non-participation within the existing sociological literature on the micro-level processes that contribute to an individual’s decision to participate–or not participate–in a social movement. The chapter provides an overview of the social movements literature on the four “central problematics” of micromobilization–solidarity, identity correspondence, consciousness transformation (also called “cognitive liberation”), and the creation of micromobilization contexts. In studies of social movements, these four processes continually arise as important micro-level issues shaping activist participation. This chapter synthesizes the theoretical and empirical work on these four factors and suggests that the low level of local participation in the coalfield justice movement is the result of problems with all four of these processes. The next four chapters present a series of studies that examine potential barriers to the four central problematics of micromobilization outlined in this chapter.
Shannon Elizabeth Bell
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262034340
- eISBN:
- 9780262333597
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034340.003.0009
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Chapter 8 provides a rational for using the feminist participatory action research method of Photovoice as a means of creating a more complete picture of “non-action in the face of injustice.” ...
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Chapter 8 provides a rational for using the feminist participatory action research method of Photovoice as a means of creating a more complete picture of “non-action in the face of injustice.” Through recruiting 54 women living in five coal-mining communities for an eight-month Photovoice project, a micromobilization context was created to study the factors that facilitate and hinder the process of “becoming an activist.” Forty-seven of the recruited participants had no prior involvement in environmental justice activism, while seven of the participants (one or two in each of the groups) were associated in some way with one of the local organizations fighting irresponsible coal industry practices in the region. The chapter presents how this project was organized, how the five communities were selected, how the 54 women were recruited, how the meetings were run, and what data were collected throughout the 8-month project and beyond. Descriptions of each of the five communities and the demographics of the participants are also included in this chapter.Less
Chapter 8 provides a rational for using the feminist participatory action research method of Photovoice as a means of creating a more complete picture of “non-action in the face of injustice.” Through recruiting 54 women living in five coal-mining communities for an eight-month Photovoice project, a micromobilization context was created to study the factors that facilitate and hinder the process of “becoming an activist.” Forty-seven of the recruited participants had no prior involvement in environmental justice activism, while seven of the participants (one or two in each of the groups) were associated in some way with one of the local organizations fighting irresponsible coal industry practices in the region. The chapter presents how this project was organized, how the five communities were selected, how the 54 women were recruited, how the meetings were run, and what data were collected throughout the 8-month project and beyond. Descriptions of each of the five communities and the demographics of the participants are also included in this chapter.
Jonathan S. Coley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469636221
- eISBN:
- 9781469636238
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636221.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter addresses the question of why students join LGBT activist groups at Christian colleges and universities. Specifically, the chapter describes the pathways to participation for three ...
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This chapter addresses the question of why students join LGBT activist groups at Christian colleges and universities. Specifically, the chapter describes the pathways to participation for three groups of activists: politicized participants, religious participants, and LGBT participants. Politicized participants – those for whom politics and activism are central parts of their identity – all grew up in families that were highly supportive of LGBT rights and had all been involved in some type of activist organization as early as high school. Thus, they arrived at their Christian colleges and universities with a commitment to social justice and a proclivity toward activism. Conversely, religious participants – those whose religious convictions were most salient in their decisions to join LGBT groups – had all been raised in families that condemned homosexuality, and none had been involved in previous social movements. Only a few of these individuals even supported LGBT rights by the time they joined. Finally, LGBT participants – those who personally identify as LGBT but lack strong political or religious convictions – are the most diverse lot, but they all hold in common their basic support for LGBT rights and an interest in meeting other people like them. The chapter advances sociological theory on micromobilization.Less
This chapter addresses the question of why students join LGBT activist groups at Christian colleges and universities. Specifically, the chapter describes the pathways to participation for three groups of activists: politicized participants, religious participants, and LGBT participants. Politicized participants – those for whom politics and activism are central parts of their identity – all grew up in families that were highly supportive of LGBT rights and had all been involved in some type of activist organization as early as high school. Thus, they arrived at their Christian colleges and universities with a commitment to social justice and a proclivity toward activism. Conversely, religious participants – those whose religious convictions were most salient in their decisions to join LGBT groups – had all been raised in families that condemned homosexuality, and none had been involved in previous social movements. Only a few of these individuals even supported LGBT rights by the time they joined. Finally, LGBT participants – those who personally identify as LGBT but lack strong political or religious convictions – are the most diverse lot, but they all hold in common their basic support for LGBT rights and an interest in meeting other people like them. The chapter advances sociological theory on micromobilization.
