Research Information System
ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS, vol.13, no.2, pp.438-460, 2004 (SSCI)
The Bergama community has resisted gold-mining activity in Turkey for more than ten years. First, the characteristics of community-based resistance movements are outlined in order to provide theoretical tools to be used in the analysis of the Bergama movement. Then are investigated how the elements of the Bergama movement, such as the perceived threat, the philosophy behind the struggle, the actors themselves, their demands, targets, strategies and tactics, are incorporated into a political project to defend and sustain the symbiotic relationship between the community and the environment. The paper also shows the ways in which the movement has expanded its geographical scale, and discusses its political and economic consequences for other local movements, capital accumulation and environmental conservation.