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Human Agency in the Interstices of Structure

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Human Agency in the Interstices of Structure Human Agency in the Interstices of Structure: Choice and Contingency in the Conflict over Roşia Montană, Romania By Filip Mihai Alexandrescu A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Sociology University of Toronto © Copyright Filip Mihai Alexandrescu (2012) Human Agency in the Interstices of Structure: Choice and Contingency in the Conflict over Roşia Montană, Romania Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Filip Mihai Alexandrescu Department of Sociology University of Toronto Abstract Sociology has long struggled with the problem of human agency in its theoretical constructions. Systematically purged from the corpus of positivist, functionalist and rational choice theories, agency has nevertheless surfaced repeatedly in empirical analyses as a constant reminder that individuals are able and willing to act in ways that are not fully explained by the dominant theories. This thesis deals with the problem of human agency by exploring a particular instance of human interaction in which the choices and actions of individuals as well as the contingencies facing them are particularly conspicuous. The example chosen as a case study is the conflict over the planned Roşia Montană gold and silver mine in Romania. As neither the supporters, nor the opponents of the planned open cast mine have managed to impose their will and determine the commencement or cancelation of the mining project, the resulting struggle was extended over more than a decade. During this period, a variety of social actors with different interests and worldviews were drawn into complex interactions with each other, thus making the trajectory and outcome of the conflict unpredictable. At the same time, there emerged an enlarged space for human agency, ii especially for those actors that have been usually conceived as voiceless and powerless. The origins of this space of agency are traced to the particular configuration of macro-social processes which interacted in series of highly contingent events. More exactly, none of the broad processes discussed in the literature on resource conflicts – such as accumulation by dispossession, the resource curse or unequal development – ran its full course in determining the outcomes of the conflict. The temporary suspension of overpowering structural determinations opened up a realm in which social actors could convert the contingencies of the conflict into opportunities and risks. Individuals became relatively free to make choices and influence the choices of others. The language of the sociology of translation is used as the most apt description of the fluidity of these interactions. The dynamic between the ordering and reordering of the social world of Roşia Montană through interaction is a key insight of the thesis. iii Acknowledgments Writing this thesis has been a lengthy and complex process, during which I developed and refined my ideas through discussions with a significant number of people. All of them have helped me build and rebuild the thesis step by step, sometimes in ways that were not necessarily linear, until the final product. Professor Bernd Baldus has been my main intellectual interlocutor and mentor in developing this thesis over many fascinating discussions and rich exchanges of ideas. For his vision, advice and constant encouragement throughout the years I would like to express my heartfelt thanks. Even if not directly involved in the dissertation process, Professor Michael Cernea from George Washington University has offered me encouragement and good advice for thinking about the specificities of the Roşia Montană case. I am also grateful for his constant help and advice for publishing my work. The members of my dissertation committee - Professors John Hannigan and Ken MacDonald - provided me with helpful comments at different stages. I am also grateful to the external and internal appraisers of the thesis - Professors Raymond Murphy and William Michelson - who offered constructive criticism that will help me strengthen my arguments and analysis for future research on Roşia Montană. The present thesis has benefited from extended discussions with my colleagues Irina Velicu and Alina Pop, both of whom have carried out research on the Roşia Montană case. I am grateful for their encouragement and for the scholarly atmosphere in which our debates took place. Informal discussions with Matthias Gross and Alena Bleicher from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany have also helped me try out or challenge some of the ideas that had emerged from the thesis. I would like to express my warm gratitude for my wife, Andreea, and my children, Gabriel and Diana, for making the last few years such a meaningful period of my life. Their long patience and strong encouragement have helped me greatly in finalizing the thesis. My parents - Marcel and Rodica - have also been very encouraging and have helped me with numerous newspaper articles on the ongoing Roşia Montană conflict. My brother and sister-in-law as well as my friend Andrei have been supportive in many different ways. The residents of Roşia Montană, my friends and host there, have been very open and their willigness to share their thoughts and experiences with me have proved invaluable in writing this thesis. Thanks are also due to all those who shared their articles or writings with me over the last five years. The funding received from the University of Toronto and the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) is also gratefully acknowledged. iv Table of Contents Chapter One: Theorizing Agency at Roşia Montană .................................................................................... 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................1 Roşia Montană Vignette ...........................................................................................................................3 Theoretical Background of the Thesis ......................................................................................................8 Disciplinary Traditions and the Idea of Agency in Sociology ....................................................................9 Agency in Sociology: Concepts and Theories ........................................................................................ 18 Formulating the Research Problem: Structuration, Morphogenesis, and Actor-Network-Theory ...... 22 Agency in the Literature on Ecological Distribution Conflicts ............................................................... 31 The State of Knowledge on Roşia Montană: A Critical Assessment ..................................................... 37 Chapter Two: Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 47 Before Entering the Field: Early Conjectures on Roşia Montană .......................................................... 47 Entering the Field: One Situation, Many Definitions ............................................................................ 51 Entering the (Mine)field: the Politics of the Project ............................................................................. 61 The Selection of Respondents ............................................................................................................... 67 Applying the Research Instruments ...................................................................................................... 72 Analysis of the Information Gathered ................................................................................................... 78 Limitations of the Methodology ........................................................................................................... 79 Chapter Three: Powerful Processes, Complex Interactions, Unpredictable Outcomes ............................ 81 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 81 Mining in the Social Scientific Literature: An Historical Overview ........................................................ 83 Brief History of Mining at Roşia Montană: Changing Property and Production Regimes, Shifting Mineral Fortunes and Variable Survival Strategies ............................................................................... 90 The Political Economy of Resource Extraction ...................................................................................... 93 Roşia Montană: From Tight Integration to Laissez Fair ...................................................................... 101 The Economic and Political Case for Roşia Montană: Between Neoliberalism and Nationalism ....... 106 Roşia Montană: The Beginning of the Resource Curse for Romania? ................................................ 114 Living with Another Curse: Fragmenting Development at the Subnational Level .............................. 117 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 118 Chapter Four: Dynamic Choices and Emerging Contingencies at Roşia Montană ................................... 121 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 121 Choosing the Actors: the Initial Relocators ........................................................................................
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