Petrochemical Pollution and the Suppression of Environmental Protest

Bibliographic Data

ID2291925
AuthorsAlison E Adams (0000-0003-1478-1939, University of Florida, corresponding author), T E Shriver (0000-0002-4868-6449, North Carolina State University), Laura A Bray (0000-0001-7429-5268, North Carolina State University), Chris M Messer (0000-0003-4490-9956, Colorado State University Pueblo)
Year2020
Volume90
Issue3
Pages646-668
Publication date2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soin.12321
OpenAlexW2968327953
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited44

While research has established how elite actors can work to protect structures that contribute to environmental harm, relatively less is known about the cultural resources that can serve elite interests at the local level. In cases of localized pollution, multiple groups have vested interests in protecting corporate legitimacy. We draw on treadmill of production theory and collective identity to analyze a case of community petrochemical contamination. Specifically, we asked: (1) how elite actors appropriated cultural resources to protect productivity following a legitimization crisis; and (2) how discursive retaliation matters in understanding the pathways to violence when protest threatens an industrial community's economic identity. Our data for this research included in-depth interviews, newspaper coverage, and archival data. Findings indicate that the corporation, the city, and corporate employees responded to local environmental activism with a discursive campaign that ultimately paved the way for widespread threats and retaliation against the residents. This research highlights the ways in which local proponents of the energy industry can take advantage of cultural resources to suppress challengers to the industry

Corporation · Elite · Harm · Identity (music) · Legitimacy · Newspaper · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Environmental Justice and Health Disparities · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses