Hilary Boudet - Böcker

Public Responses to Fossil Fuel Export provides wide-ranging theoretical and methodological international contributions on the human dimensions of fossil fuel export, with a distinctive focus on exporting countries, some of which are new entrants into the marketplace.

What do members of the public think about exporting fossil fuels in places where it is happening? What do they see as its main risks and benefits? What connections are being made to climate change and the impending energy transition?

How have affected communities responded to proposals related to fossil fuel export, broadly defined to include transport by rail, pipeline, and ship? Contributions to the work are presented in three parts. The first part synopsizes the background of the project, outlines major social science theories and relevant previous research, and identifies global trends in energy production. Regional and national case studies related to public opinion on fossil fuel export are included in part two of the manuscript. Part three highlights community-based case studies. Implications for research and practice feature in the concluding chapter.

Serves as a definitive reference on the social dimensions of fossil fuel export, bringing together case examples and public opinion research from around the world on this important but understudied issue Explores the broader implications for growing field of energy social science, particularly those focused on public perceptions of energy development, siting controversies and community impacts from energy development Provides practical and policy implications, including the need for better community inclusion in export and transport facility siting decisions, the changing status of certain fuels, impacts on public awareness, and the relevance of the movement of energy resources

The field of social movement studies has expanded dramatically over the past three decades. But as it has done so, its focus has become increasingly narrow and 'movement-centric'. When combined with the tendency to select successful struggles for study, the conceptual and methodological conventions of the field conduce to a decidedly Ptolemaic view of social movements: one that exaggerates the frequency and causal significance of movements as a form of politics. This book reports the results of a comparative study, not of movements, but of communities earmarked for environmentally risky energy projects. In stark contrast to the central thrust of the social movement literature, the authors find that the overall level of emergent opposition to the projects has been very low, and they seek to explain that variation and the impact, if any, it had on the ultimate fate of the proposed projects.