Interactions in and Between Strategic Action Fields: a Comparative Analysis of Two Environmental Conflicts in Gold-Mining Fields in Turkey

Abstract

This study addresses how multinational corporations and protesters in an environmental struggle learn from the proximate struggles within the same field and how they structure the broader institutional field. Drawing on the literature integrating the social movement and new institutional theory, particularly the "strategic action fields" (SAFs) approach of Fligstein and McAdam, the authors comparatively study the interactions in and between two sequential environmental struggles in the field of gold mining in Turkey. The findings suggest that the interactive processes in an SAF and their consequences are largely built on the lessons drawn from both "successes" and "failures" in the proximate SAF that preceded it. Furthermore, those actors that act proactively are more likely to stabilize the SAF according to their interests. Finally, state interventions from the outside create temporary stability that involves the acquiescence of challengers, whereas the consent-seeking actions of incumbents are more likely to generate a permanent stability, stabilizing the broader field.