Resources: The Rossport 5 (Shell to Sea)

In a review of The Quest For Environmental Justice Christopher Rootes highlights what he calls a ‘characteristically incisive’ contribution from American eco-activist Chris Foreman who argues that ‘environmental justice is less about disparity of risk than about community empowerment’ (Rootes 2006 138). However, this bold statement is qualified by the claim that communities are more likely to respond to the threat of ‘serious risk’ to their area in order to maintain their common interest over any other environmental issue. Looking further back in our own history we know that rural or peasant society had many occasions to strike out in common cause as has been noted by Michael Peillon who has noted the significance of the ‘land wars’ of the 19th century as a key determinant of social change in that era. Peillon locates the Land League within the context of a rural social movement that attempted to address not only economic change but also less tangible issues such as ‘insecurity’ and ‘resentment’ (Peillon 1982 60). The rise of the Land League represented a resistance campaign of collective action by the farmers (ibid.) which drew on tactics such as boycotting, ambush and even assassination.