Understanding Opposition to and Support for Resource Extraction

This chapter reviews the contributions of the existing literature and shows how an approach based on individual attitudes fills important gaps in the current scholarship. It develops the theoretical arguments about social engagement and how it helps to differentiate individuals who oppose mining from those who support these activities. It emphasizes what individuals get from participation in local organizations (e.g., critical information about mining threats, empowerment, a community worldview free of mining) and how these outcomes work to shape or reinforce views about mining. The chapter also situates the threats and opportunities presented by mining by drawing attention to the nature of claims over extractive activities, which we categorized as either rejection or redistribution claims. The chapter concludes by explaining the selection of case studies and the research methodology informing the empirical analysis.