The legitimisation of local environmental organisations by community members

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although environmental activists play an important role in addressing local environmental injustices, they find it difficult to legitimise their activities. They are frequently challenged by political and business forces on the grounds that they are raising barriers to local economic development and are often regarded as irrational or hysterical. In this study we analyse the legitimacy conferred on local environmental organisations by residents living near a polluting industrial site. Considering an individual’s judgement of legitimacy as an attitude and drawing on the social psychological and risk-benefit analysis literatures, we define a model that explains how individuals’ beliefs and perceptions about local environmental organisations and their context (in terms of the local industry risk-benefit controversy), together with personal environmental beliefs, influence their assessments of legitimacy. Results show that individuals’ legitimacy judgements of local environmental organisations are directly influenced by beliefs about their credibility and the risk perceptions associated with the industrial area, and indirectly affected by personal environmental beliefs.