Making Sense of Intractable Environmental Conflicts: Concepts and Cases [Paperback]

Roy Lewicki (Editor), Barbara Gray (Editor), Michael Elliott (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1559639318 | ISBN-13: 978-1559639316 | Publication Date: October 1, 2002 | Edition: 1

Despite a vast amount of effort and expertise devoted to them, many environmental conflicts have remained mired in controversy, stubbornly defying resolution. Why can some environmental problems be resolved in one locale but remain contentious in another, often carrying on for decades? What is it about certain issues or the people involved that make a conflict seemingly insoluble? This volume addresses these and related questions, examining what researchers and experts in the field characterize as "intractable" disputes - intense disputes that persist over long periods of time and cannot be resolved through consensus-building efforts or by administrative, legal, or political means. The approach focuses on the "frames" parties use to define and enact the dispute - the lenses through which they interpret and understand the conflict and critical conflict dynamics. Through analysis of interviews, news media coverage, meeting transcripts, and archival data, the contributors to the book: examine the concepts of frames, framing, and reframing, and the role that framing plays in conflicts; outline the essential characteristics of intractability and its major causes; offer case studies of eight intractable environmental conflicts; present a body of original interview material from affected parties; and set forth recommendations for intervention that can help resolve disputes. Within each case chapter, the authors describe the historical development and fundamental nature of the conflict and then analyze the case from the perspective of the key frames that are integral to understanding the dynamics of the dispute. They also offer cross-case analyses of related conflicts. Conflicts examined include those over natural resource use, toxic pollutants, water quality, and growth. Specific conflicts examined include the Quincy Library Group in California; Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota; Edwards Aquifer in Texas; Doan Brook in Cleveland, Ohio; the Antidegradation Environmental Advisory Group in Ohio; Drake Chemical in Pennsylvania; Alton Park/Piney Woods in Tennessee; and three examples of growth-related conflicts along the Front Range of Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roy J. Lewicki is Dean's Distinguished Teaching Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Ohio State University. Barbara Gray is professor of organizational behavior at The Pennsylvania State University. Michael Elliott is associate professor of city planning and public policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 470 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559639318
• ISBN-13: 978-1559639316
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #849,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nice book for those dealing with prolonged conflicts, January 14, 2004

By 

Yurdi Yasmi "Yurdi" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Making Sense of Intractable Environmental Conflicts: Concepts and Cases (Paperback)

I think this is one of the rare books that thoroughly discusses various aspects and dimensions of environmental conflict. The book starts with a clear conceptual framework to be used in analysing cases in later chapters. I think that for those who are "beginner" or who are about to begin a study on environmental conflict this book will be very useful. It gives some methodological directions although limited to a certain way of looking at conflict issues. Nonetheless the methodological overview is very useful.
On the other hand, the book itself would have much better if the authors also analyse some important aspects on environemntal conflict. One of the missing studies is relating to question why environemntal conflict get intensified? What factors contribute to it? While the bood discusses the intractability in the sense that it only looks at a prolonged conflicts and those that elude resolution. However, some questions remain unanswered. For instance, why in some cases intractable conflict get intensified and why others remain low in intensity? What factors and conditions explain these differences?
Finally, I recommend that scholars and students working with conflict related issues to go through this book. All the best!