Environmental campaigns against mining in Australia and the Philippines

Abstract

With so much academic attention accorded to the features of globalization, it is often uncritically accepted that environmental campaigns are also becoming more global. While there is no doubt that the national agendas of mainstream environmentalism are challenged by the perception that ecological issues are simultaneously local and transnational, the extent of this transnational greening tends to be exaggerated. Southern and Northern movements pursue vastly different campaigns and use different ideologies to justify their actions and strategies. This article reviews environmental campaigns in two countries, Australia and the Philippines, against the Western Mining Corporation. Both campaigns were directed at one particular mine in each country: in Australia, an underground copper and uranium mine at Roxby Downs in the state of South Australia; in the Philippines, an open-pit copper mine at Tampakan in the southern island of Mindanao. Although Southern and Northern green movements share elements of environmental discourse and identity, a close examination of these protest campaigns highlights the fundamental differences between Southern and Northern movements