IngentaConnect Mobilizing at the Frontier: Framing Social Justice Claims in a Na...

Author: SELFA, THERESA¹

Source: Society and Natural Resources, Volume 17, Number 8, September 2004 , pp. 717-734(18)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Drawing on critical development studies and social movements literatures, this article analyzes how civil-society actors used practical and ideological resources to frame their situations in mobilizing for change. Focusing on a case study of a World Bank-sponsored natural resources management project in Rondoˆnia, Brazil, I examine how the discourse and policies promoting “participatory, sustainable development” have been used to achieve resource conservation, and to promote social justice aims within the current neo-liberal policy framework. Based on document analysis and in-depth interviews with civil-society actors, I argue that Rondoˆnia nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and grass-roots movements successfully mobilized by effectively framing their demands and by forming strong “movement webs” with national and transnational civil-society actors. The case study also explores the divergence in approach and objectives between local NGOs and grass-roots movements, illustrating the practical and political limitations to implementing participatory and sustainable development projects.

Keywords: natural resources management project; participatory development; social movements; sustainable development

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/08941920490480714

Affiliations: 1: Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$45.29 plus tax Refund Policy

Mobilizing at the Frontier: Framing Social Justice Claims in a Natural Resources Management Project in Rondônia, Brazil