Confronting neoliberal resource policy

Abstract

The literature on mining conflicts shows that protests have little effect once production begins. Even a well-organized movement including local, national, and transnational advocacy networks can, at best, demand some compensation. This chapter examines the decade-long political struggle against a British mining corporation in Bangladesh, GCM Resources Plc, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd. Locally there was resistance to the construction of a large open pit coal mine in Phulbari, a rural town 300 kilometres northwest of Dhaka. Nationally there was pressure for restructuring coal policy. The chapter considers mobilization strategies and movement outcomes to show how these local and national movements persuaded powerful authorities to block the mine and change national policy. Key features of the successful movement include a focus on the underestimation by ‘corporate science’ of the social, economic, environmental, and political risks associated with mining; the use of the ‘politics of time’ as well as the ‘politics of scale’; the critical role of local community leaders; and the engagement of a radical nationalist movement that could control messages and resources. In the end, the mining company could not meet the challenge and the government yielded to the pressure.