Heterogeneous Rural Environmental Protest Groups

The final speaker at this ECREA 2012 session is Marco Bräuer, whose interest is in rural protests in Germany against the extension of major powerlines. These protest could be seen simply as a NIMBY phenomenon, but they involve a wide range of participants and protest repertoires; they appropriate innovative protest repertoires of global protest movements.

Local protest groups can be seen as part of the wider environmental movement, but this view can be challenged – they involve protesters who would not see themselves as aligned with such movements. As these groups emerge, they build on framing processes (conscious strategic efforts by participants to fashion a shared understanding of the world and of themselves, thus legitimising and motivating this collective actions) and on the availability of shared resources (communicative, human, and physical) to carry out protest activities.

Movements then emerge through collective action, linking actors in a dense informal network, sharing a distinct collective identity, and showing some degree of continuity. Marco studied these processes in the context of anti-power line protests in rural areas of Thüringen; at first, the protest groups which emerged pursued a plurality of aims which were often in direct contact with one another.

One group pursued a clear NIMBY agenda, while many others began to network and collaborate in their activities. This also involved a professionalisation of activities, and a linking with other existing groups. There now are collective activities and a dense informal network between these groups, as well as intensive exchanges with other groups, elsewhere, who similarly fight against powerline extensions.

Participant profiles vary widely – including farmers and hunters –, which also means that close links to generic environmental movements are not necessarily possible. The self-image of protesters varies between NIMBY reactions and broader environmental concerns.