Chapter 1 Introduction

Abstract

Community campaigns for sustainable living emerged in the Republic of Ireland during the 1990s, in response to the state's introduction of regional waste management plans that incorporated infrastructure such as ‘waste to energy’ incinerators and ‘superdumps’. This book examines the manner in which such groups mobilised internally as well as exploiting the resources and political opportunities that emerged externally during the course of their regional campaigns. In particular, the book focuses on how these community campaigns mobilised resources and framed their challenges through the exploitation of the political opportunities provided by the state's policy agenda, and later through the state's response to the protests that followed. Other issues examined in this study include attempts to influence the manifestos of the political parties contesting the 2002 general election, as part of the political opportunity cycle.

Citation

Leonard, L. (2011), "Chapter 1 Introduction", Leonard, L. (Ed.) Community Campaigns for Sustainable Living: Health, Waste & Protest in Civil Society (Advances in Ecopolitics, Vol. 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2041-806X(2011)0000007005