Eco-Wars: Political Campaigns and Social Movements / Edition 1

by Ronald Libby

Overview

Can grassroots interest groups ever win the wars they wage in the political arena against big business in America? Praised by some as a crucial component of the democratic system and criticized by others as stubborn, single-issue factions that pose a threat to the equitable progress of political change, interest groups are considered by many detractors to have a success rate directly related to their alliance with wealthy, powerful corporations. As Ronald T. Libby asserts in Eco-Wars, viable strategies are available to environmental, food safety, animal rights, gun control, and other organizations that seek to challenge business interests in the political arena. Employing newly released documents culled from five non-business-related alliances with mostly social concerns, known today as "expressive" interest groups, Libby examines how they confront powerful industries. Eco-Wars investigates an antibiotechnology campaign aimed at drug companies; an animal rights effort directed against the agricultural industry; an anti-pesticide campaign focused on the chemical industry; a property rights fight against environmental groups; and a secondhand smoke campaign opposing tobacco companies. Drawing upon previously classified files, Eco-Wars also draws from interviews with both activists and the industry representatives they oppose.With his balanced analysis, Libby goes beyond the polemical nature of much work on this subject, offering a new avenue for research in the social sciences and a useful tool for interest groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231113113
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	03/19/1999
Series:	Power, Conflict, and Democracy: American Politics Into the 21st Century
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ronald T. Libby is professor of political science at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and the author of five books including Protecting Markets: U.S. Policy and the World Grain Trade and The Politics of Economic Power in Southern Africa.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Expressive Interest Groups
2. The Antibiotechnology Campaign: Farmers Food Safety Groups, and Drug Companies
3. The Animal Rights Campaign: Agribusiness and Animal Rights Groups
4. The "Big Green" Campaign: Hollywood and the Chemical Industry
5. The Secondhand Smoke Campaign: Antismoking Groups and the Philip Morris Company
6. The Endangered Species Campaign: Property Rights Advocates and Environmental Groups
7. Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

David H. Colnic

Libby's work does a fine job of describing the strategies and tactics of expressive groups' campaigns and counter-offensives of their opponents. Libby also deserves commendation for asking important questions and integrating a diverse literature.
—(David H. Colnic, University of Arizona)

Laura R. Woliver

A deft blending of interest group and social movement literature and original scholarship displaying how intersecting both fields informs each in turn. Libby's five case studies of expressive groups and their countermobilized oppositions display the fragile nature of citizen campaigns, as well as the potential strengths and powers of these impassioned interests. The study furthers our understanding of the privileged position of business, the difficulty of having citizen voices heard as legitimate, and the crucial role of issue framing in political contests.

— Laura R. Woliver, author of From Outrage to Protest: The Policies of Grass Roots Dissent

William P. Browne

A very usable and balanced book with great adaptability to any course dealing with organized interest politics. Libby argues well that expressive interests can and do check and politically trouble wealthier economic interests. This analysis effectively presents a side of interest politics that too many ignore too often.

— William P. Browne, author of Groups, Interests, and U.S. Public Policy

Editorial Reviews

A very usable and balanced book with great adaptability to any course dealing with organized interest politics. Libby argues well that expressive interests can and do check and politically trouble wealthier economic interests. This analysis effectively presents a side of interest politics that too many ignore too often.

William P. Browne

A deft blending of interest group and social movement literature and original scholarship displaying how intersecting both fields informs each in turn. Libby´s five case studies of expressive groups and their countermobilized oppositions display the fragile nature of citizen campaigns, as well as the potential strengths and powers of these impassioned interests. The study furthers our understanding of the privileged position of business, the difficulty of having citizen voices heard as legitimate, and the crucial role of issue framing in political contests.

Laura R. Woliver