Papers by Caitlin Schroering
Journal of World-Systems Research, Mar 25, 2019
In this short piece, I seek to explore two main questions: 1) How can communities take control ov... more In this short piece, I seek to explore two main questions: 1) How can communities take control over local governance and shape local economic futures? and 2) How can local communities effectively band together to support worldsystem transformation? I examine examples of transnational organizing around water and, specifically, the National Summit on the Human Right to Water held in Abuja, Nigeria in January 2019. A repeated theme at the Summit was the idea that privatization is a threat because the narrative of the profit-based solution of privatization is at odds with the idea that people-and their human right to basic needs like water-come before profit. Privatization is a threat to human rights everywhere, and as climate change progresses resources will become even more scarce, with more of a push from corporations seeking to control and commodify water. One of the most powerful short-term results of this summit, therefore, was how it served as a space for global solidarity building around the human right to water.
Pittsburgh's translocal social movement: A case of the new public water
Utilities Policy, Aug 1, 2021
Abstract This paper contributes to the water privatization and governance literatures by examinin... more Abstract This paper contributes to the water privatization and governance literatures by examining the case of Pittsburgh where renewed efforts of water privatization have emerged after a failed private management arrangement between the local water authority and Veolia ended abruptly in 2015. We argue that, as the water authority aims to rebuild trust in the community, resident mobilization has played a key role in hindering further privatizing arrangements and has exerted influence in defining what constitutes the “new public” water in Pittsburgh, by advocating for increased transparency and accountability in governance, infrastructure improvements and protections for low-income residents.
Volunteer and staff participants in social movements: a comparison of two local coalitions
Social Movement Studies, Aug 23, 2021
Background-the region……………………………………..6-7 Background-terminology and the issues of environmental i... more Background-the region……………………………………..6-7 Background-terminology and the issues of environmental injustice, colonialism and development…………………………………………………...7-8 Methods………………………………………………………..9-10 Results-perspectives from the communities of Juruti Velho…..10-13 Results-perspectives from Alcoa……………………………..13-17 Discussion-the issue of development: how and for whom?.....17-23 Discussion-Alcoa, the environment and the people…………...23-24 Conclusion-what needs to happen…………………………….25-26
Journal of World-Systems Research, Aug 19, 2020
While sympathetic to debates about the utility, accuracy, and significance of the "Anthropocene,"... more While sympathetic to debates about the utility, accuracy, and significance of the "Anthropocene," in this brief essay, we are most interested in implicating racialization, colonization, and their ongoing place in the capitalist worldeconomy and global ecological change. To this end, we point to the potential of thinking with the "Plantationocene," considering that to invoke the plantation is to simultaneously contend with the intermeshing organization of the colonialist/imperialist, racialist, and capitalist dimensions of the world-system as directly related to global environmental transformation since the 15th century.
Book Review: Fighting for Water: Resisting Privatization in Europe by Andreas Bieler
Capital & Class, Oct 26, 2021
Responsible for Whom? The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Vulnerability and Responsiveness to Social Movement Activism
Sociological focus, Oct 1, 2020
ABSTRACT Are corporate socially responsible (CSR) firms more receptive to social movements? In th... more ABSTRACT Are corporate socially responsible (CSR) firms more receptive to social movements? In this paper, we examine whether the CSR profile of a company shapes its engagement with social movement protestors at three key steps: 1) the decision of activists to target firms for protest, 2) the responses of shareholders to the protest, and 3) management responses to the demands of protesters. In all three cases, we test broad competing theories of whether CSR status serves as a vulnerability for firms making them more susceptible to social movement pressure or is a resource shielding them from such pressure. Using an original dataset on protests against Fortune 500 corporations between 2005–2010, we demonstrate the following: Consistent with the resource view, CSR firms are protected from activist targeting and, once targeted, are better insulated from negative shareholder reactions than less responsible firms. However, we find social movements may also turn this resource into a vulnerability: When protests disrupt the firms’ financial interests, CSR firms instead become more likely to concede to demands. Finally, we find that financial disruption also plays a clarifying role for firm managers, encouraging firms to move away from partial response—operationalized as firms conceding to some but not all demands—toward more definitive responses. We conclude that while CSR can serve as a resource for firms, this is a contingent benefit, exposing the socially responsible firm to additional pressures if the movement is able to disrupt its interests.
Studies in Social Justice, Feb 8, 2021
Globally, one in eight people lacks access to potable water; more people die from unsafe drinking... more Globally, one in eight people lacks access to potable water; more people die from unsafe drinking water than from all forms of violence, including war. A substantial body of research documents that the privatization of water-led by global financial institutions working in collusion with governments and corporations-does not lead to more people gaining access to safe water. In fact, the opposite is true: privatization leads to both higher cost and lower quality water. For the past century, the dominant focus of transnational organizing has been "from the West to the rest," and the frequent attention to movements in the global North has led to the neglect of transnational linkages between movements. Drawing on fieldwork conducted on three right to water movements that span three continents (North America, South America, and Africa), this paper examines efforts to reclaim the water commons, and how struggles have been driven by grassroots movements demanding that democracy, transparency, and the human right to water are prioritized over corporate profit. As feminist scholars have pointed out, the "standpoint" offered by marginalized actors offers important insights into the operation of systems of power and the strategies of survival and resistance that less powerful actors adopt in order to survive and thrive. This paper explores how transnational movements around water and other basic rights engage with and learn from each other.
Society & Natural Resources, Oct 5, 2018
Pittsburgh has positioned itself as a city with a strong commitment to sustainable development, p... more Pittsburgh has positioned itself as a city with a strong commitment to sustainable development, pledging to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals including equitable access to clean water and sanitation. However, the City of Pittsburgh has also been identified as being the worst locale in the country for Black women, and inequities in race, class, and gender persist. Further, the region is challenged by a rapidly changing climate, aged and failing infrastructure, impaired water quality. The juxtaposition of water and social challenges amplifies both sets of concerns. This project unites faculty members from diverse disciplines including sociology, public health, public policy, and geoscience, as a new team to comprehensively evaluate water challenges and inequities in the Pittsburgh region, centering interactions between the social and geophysical dimensions.
The Global Economy, Resource Conflicts, and Transnational Social Movements: Dimensions of Resistance to Water Privatization
While studies show that water privatization decreases access to safe water and increases cost, mu... more While studies show that water privatization decreases access to safe water and increases cost, multinational companies continue to buy water systems worldwide. Around the world, people are also organizing to resist these policies and reclaim the public sphere, including the human right to water and other necessities for life. Conflicts over water—and even its scarcity—are human-caused events that have socio-political, economic causes. From Cochabamba, Bolivia to Flint, Michigan, and from the Movement of People Against Dams in Brazil to environmental activists in Pittsburgh, people are coming together to fight for control of their water. The idea of water as a human right—versus a commodity, privately controlled and sold at high prices— is at the center of this debate. This dissertation coalesces around multiple areas of social inquiry, including environmental sociology, resource conflicts, political ecology, transnational social movements, and feminist and decolonial research method...
Pittsburgh's translocal social movement: A case of the new public water
Utilities Policy, 2021
Abstract This paper contributes to the water privatization and governance literatures by examinin... more Abstract This paper contributes to the water privatization and governance literatures by examining the case of Pittsburgh where renewed efforts of water privatization have emerged after a failed private management arrangement between the local water authority and Veolia ended abruptly in 2015. We argue that, as the water authority aims to rebuild trust in the community, resident mobilization has played a key role in hindering further privatizing arrangements and has exerted influence in defining what constitutes the “new public” water in Pittsburgh, by advocating for increased transparency and accountability in governance, infrastructure improvements and protections for low-income residents.
Studies in Social Justice
Globally, one in eight people lacks access to potable water; more people die from unsafe drinking... more Globally, one in eight people lacks access to potable water; more people die from unsafe drinking water than from all forms of violence, including war. A substantial body of research documents that the privatization of water – led by global financial institutions working in collusion with governments and corporations – does not lead to more people gaining access to safe water. In fact, the opposite is true: privatization leads to both higher cost and lower quality water. For the past century, the dominant focus of transnational organizing has been “from the West to the rest,” and the frequent attention to movements in the global North has led to the neglect of transnational linkages between movements. Drawing on fieldwork conducted on three right to water movements that span three continents (North America, South America, and Africa), this paper examines effortsto reclaim the water commons,and how struggles have been driven by grassroots movements demanding that democracy, transpar...
Resumo 3 Acknowledgements/Reconhecimentos 4 Introduction 5-6 Background – the region 6-7 Backgrou... more Resumo 3 Acknowledgements/Reconhecimentos 4 Introduction 5-6 Background – the region 6-7 Background – terminology and the issues of environmental injustice, colonialism and development 7-8 Methods 9-10 Results – perspectives from the communities of Juruti Velho.....10-13 Results – perspectives from Alcoa 13-17 Discussion – the issue of development: how and for whom?.....17-23 Discussion– Alcoa, the environment and the people 23-24 Conclusion – what needs to happen 25-26 Appendix A 27-28 Appendix B 29 Bibliography 30-31
Volunteer and staff participants in social movements: a comparison of two local coalitions
Social Movement Studies, 2021
Book Review: Fighting for Water: Resisting Privatization in Europe by Andreas Bieler
Capital & Class
Responsible for Whom? The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Firm Vulnerability and Responsiveness to Social Movement Activism
Sociological Focus
Are corporate socially responsible (CSR) firms more receptive to social movements? In this paper,... more Are corporate socially responsible (CSR) firms more receptive to social movements? In this paper, we examine whether the CSR profile of a company shapes its engagement with social movement protestors at three key steps: 1) the decision of activists to target firms for protest, 2) the responses of shareholders to the protest, and 3) management responses to the demands of protesters. In all three cases, we test broad competing theories of whether CSR status serves as a vulnerability for firms making them more susceptible to social movement pressure or is a resource shielding them from such pressure. Using an original dataset on protests against Fortune 500 corporations between 2005–2010, we demonstrate the following: Consistent with the resource view, CSR firms are protected from activist targeting and, once targeted, are better insulated from negative shareholder reactions than less responsible firms. However, we find social movements may also turn this resource into a vulnerability: When protests disrupt the firms’ financial interests, CSR firms instead become more likely to concede to demands. Finally, we find that financial disruption also plays a clarifying role for firm managers, encouraging firms to move away from partial response—operationalized as firms conceding to some but not all demands—toward more definitive responses. We conclude that while CSR can serve as a resource for firms, this is a contingent benefit, exposing the socially responsible firm to additional pressures if the movement is able to disrupt its interests.
Revista CS
Con base en el trabajo de campo con el Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB), la autora arg... more Con base en el trabajo de campo con el Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB), la autora argumenta que la lucha del MAB no se trata solo de los afectados por los proyectos de represas, sino que forma parte de un proyecto más amplio de “alterglobalización”. Laautora postula que el MAB no es simplemente un actor del movimiento social, sino un productor de conocimiento que articula la teoría y la praxis de resistir al sistema imperialista hegemónico más grande. En este documento, se exploran las siguientes preguntas: ¿qué puede aprender la academia de los movimientos sociales? ¿Cómo pueden hacer los académicos investigaciones que no refuercen las jerarquías de poder? ¿Cómo creamos investigación colaborativa?
Journal of World-Systems Research
In this short piece, I seek to explore two main questions: 1) How can communities take control ov... more In this short piece, I seek to explore two main questions: 1) How can communities take control over local governance and shape local economic futures?and2) How can local communities effectively band together to support world-system transformation? I examine examples of transnational organizing around water and, specifically, the National Summit on the Human Right to Water held in Abuja, Nigeria in January 2019. A repeated theme at the Summit was the idea that privatization is a threat because the narrative of the profit-based solution of privatization is at odds with the idea that people—and their human right to basic needs like water—come before profit. Privatization is a threat to human rights everywhere,and as climate change progresses resources will become even more scarce, with more of a push from corporations seeking to control and commodify water. One of the most powerful short-term results of this summit, therefore, was how it served as a space forglobalsolidarity buildingar...
Review of Green Gentrification: Urban Sustainability and the Struggle for Environmental Justice
Society & Natural Resources
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Papers by Caitlin Schroering