You’re In Oil Country’

Moral Tales of Citizen Action against Petroleum Development in Alberta, Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID12596385
AuthorsJoshua Evans (0000-0002-4546-9115, McMaster University, corresponding author), Tom Garvin (0000-0003-0391-0520, University of Alberta), Theresa Garvin (University of Alberta)
Year2009
Volume12
Issue1
Pages49-68
Publication date2009-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthics Place & Environment (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-879X • E-ISSN: 1469-6703
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13668790902753070
OpenAlexW2047474340
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited42

The Canadian province of Alberta has experienced phenomenal growth in its oil and gas industry. As the petroleum–industrial complex expands it has sparked a number of community-based conflicts over noxious facilities that are seen by some to be the cause of a number of health problems. The research reported here used two case studies to examine siting conflicts involving natural gas extraction facilities in rural Alberta. We found that the stories shared by citizens involved in these conflicts functioned as 'moral tales'. These moral tales were political in the way they challenged implicit and institutionalized rationales for redistributing benefits and burdens of oil and gas development. They also created a space for collective action by articulating spatial transgressions and by constructing a type of moral citizenship

Action (physics · Citizenship · Collective action · Environmental ethics · Petroleum · Petroleum industry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics · Engineering · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Risk Perception and Management

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