Against the Grain

Popular Protest Against Oil Pipelines

Many have concluded that the climate emergency will only be addressed by mass collective action. But given the small size of the U.S. left, who would populate such a movement? Scholar and participant-activist Kai Bosworth draws lessons from the struggles against the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines in the Upper Midwest, which brought together a broad coalition of opponents, ranging from anti-capitalist to landowners. He discusses the populist side of that movement — its openings and limitations, including xenophobia and nationalism.

Resources:

Kai Bosworth, Pipeline Populism: Grassroots Environmentalism in the Twenty-First Century University of Minnesota Press, 2022