THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL NGOs IN COMBATING OIL SPILLS: CASE OF THE USINSK DISASTER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2023-4-81-88Keywords:
ecological NGO; oil spills; Russian Arctic; indigenous people; Komi; media analysisAbstract
Based on a case study of the Usinsk oil disaster in the Komi Republic, this article examines public debate on technological disasters in the context of the lives of indigenous peoples. Methodologically, the research is based on focusing on the voices "local" or the voices of "indigenous people". Empirically, the study is based on the series of publications by the NGO "Committee for the Rescue of Pechora". Local residents voiced their interests and demands through this NGO. The article shows how local communities, through their own print media and official websites, constructed, developed and promoted public debate about the consequences of the disaster and held those responsible to account. The key result of the study is that, despite being excluded from the decision-making process, the residents of the Pechora River basin had the potential for power and were able to take a proactive position in the system of confrontations provoked by the Usinsk disaster.References
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