Global Local Linkages in Contemporary Environmental Movements: Networking, Diffusion and Scale Shift in the Niyamgiri Movement of Odisha

Abstract

Taking the tribal resistance against Vedanta Alumina at Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha in India as a case in point, the present article deciphers the nuances of contemporary environmental movements. It discusses the manner in which movements like Niyamgiri address global environmental issues with local environmental actions. It examines the issue of scale shift of environmental activism and the process in which a local struggle over livelihood and resource capture becomes a global environmental movement. It unravels the subtle negotiations that the local agents of the movement engage in with their global counterparts. The major arguments of the article are based on empirical research at the site of contestation with the help of qualitative methods. The article vividly narrates the emergence of the Niyamgiri movement from that of a localised struggle against land acquisition to that of a transnational movement raising serious ecological concerns, which bridges the gap between the local and global in contemporary environmental movements. It argues that rather than an emphasis on ‘locale’, the point of departure should be the movement’s ability to establish networks with related as well as non-related social movement organisations, who share similar concerns with nature, and are ready to be a part of the mobilisation process.