Petrochemical Pollution and the Suppression of Environmental Protest

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2291925
AutoresAlison E Adams (0000-0003-1478-1939, University of Florida, autor correspondente), 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)
Ano2020
Volume90
Fascículo3
Páginas646-668
Data de publicação2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSociological Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0038-0245 • E-ISSN: 1475-682X
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soin.12321
OpenAlexW2968327953
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas44

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