IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jenvss/v4y2014i1p17-27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

There’s no real choice but to sign: neoliberalization and normalization of hydraulic fracturing on Pennsylvania farmland

Author

Listed:
  • Stephanie Malin

Abstract

Finewood and Stroup (J Contemp Water Res Educ 147(1), 72–79, 2012 ) observe that as hydraulic fracturing for natural gas spreads across the USA, neoliberal ideologies normalize fracking’s potential dangers, including impacts to water and more general environmental quality. Theoretical observations like these must be tested empirically. I do so here, analyzing data from extensive fieldwork in Pennsylvania’s Bradford, Susquehanna, and Washington counties. Drawing on comparative mixed method data from fieldwork in northeastern Pennsylvania’s ‘Endless Mountains’ region and the Pittsburgh area, I compare how small-scale farmers perceive and sometimes enact elements of market-based, neoliberal rationality when assessing hydrofracking’s community, environmental, and economic outcomes. This paper explores why this matters sociologically, given small-scale farmers’ roles as land-use decision-makers, stewards of related natural resource development, and marginalized producers with limited access to market shares and subsidies. In counties like Bradford and Washington, impacts of fracking small-scale farmers have been under-studied. To address that gap, I examine impacts on farmers operating around natural gas development and within neoliberal economic structures. Analyzing extensive interview and ethnographic data, the following research questions are addressed: (1) Among small-scale farmers impacted by hydraulic fracturing, what evidence exists that neoliberal logic helps farmers normalize fracking? and (2) How does normalization interact with decisions to sign natural gas leases? My findings indicate that many farmers utilize neoliberal logic when assessing impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development, particularly as rapid energy development relates to their land-use decisions. Neoliberal normalization of hydraulic fracturing emerges most saliently regarding environmental outcomes and economic development. I connect this to small-scale farmers’ economic vulnerability and the limited agency in dictating land use near their farms. Copyright AESS 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Stephanie Malin, 2014. "There’s no real choice but to sign: neoliberalization and normalization of hydraulic fracturing on Pennsylvania farmland," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 4(1), pages 17-27, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:4:y:2014:i:1:p:17-27
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-013-0115-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13412-013-0115-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13412-013-0115-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wilder, Margaret & Romero Lankao, Patricia, 2006. "Paradoxes of Decentralization: Water Reform and Social Implications in Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1977-1995, November.
    2. Harvey, David, 2007. "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283279.
    3. Robert W. Howarth & Anthony Ingraffea & Terry Engelder, 2011. "Should fracking stop?," Nature, Nature, vol. 477(7364), pages 271-275, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zachary A. Goldberg, 2022. "Development through commodification: exploring apple commodity production as pesticide promotion in the High Atlas," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 663-682, June.
    2. Malin, Stephanie A. & Mayer, Adam & Crooks, James L. & McKenzie, Lisa & Peel, Jennifer L. & Adgate, John L., 2019. "Putting on partisan glasses: Political identity, quality of life, and oil and gas production in Colorado," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 738-748.
    3. Adam Mayer, 2018. "Community economic identity and colliding treadmills in oil and gas governance," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, March.
    4. Zilliox, Skylar & Smith, Jessica M., 2017. "Memorandums of understanding and public trust in local government for Colorado's unconventional energy industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 72-81.
    5. Mayer, Adam, 2017. "Political identity and paradox in oil and gas policy: A study of regulatory exaggeration in Colorado, US," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 452-459.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bailis, Rob & Cowan, Amanda & Berrueta, Victor & Masera, Omar, 2009. "Arresting the Killer in the Kitchen: The Promises and Pitfalls of Commercializing Improved Cookstoves," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1694-1705, October.
    2. Lucija Muehlenbachs & Elisheba Spiller & Christopher Timmins, 2015. "The Housing Market Impacts of Shale Gas Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3633-3659, December.
    3. Howard Stein, 2012. "The Neoliberal Policy Paradigm and the Great Recession," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 59(4), pages 421-440, September.
    4. Jamie Redman, 2020. "The Benefit Sanction: A Correctional Device or a Weapon of Disgust?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(1), pages 84-100, March.
    5. Grzegorz W. Kolodko, 2009. "A Two-thirds Rate of Success: Polish Transformation and Economic Development, 1989-2008," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Andrew Crookston, 2012. "Thomas J. Bassett and Alex Winter-Nelson: The atlas of world hunger," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(2), pages 277-278, June.
    7. Cohen, Joseph N, 2010. "Neoliberalism’s relationship with economic growth in the developing world: Was it the power of the market or the resolution of financial crisis?," MPRA Paper 24527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Yang Shen, 2015. "Why Does the Government Fail to Improve the Living Conditions of Migrant Workers in Shanghai? Reflections on the Policies and the Implementations of Public Rental Housing under Neoliberalism," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 58-74, January.
    9. Magdalena Correo Henao & Daniela Amaya Castro & Mario Andrés Ospina Ramírez & Federico Suárez Ricaurte, 2021. "Pobreza y desigualdad prospectiva 2030. XXI jornadas de derecho constitucional constitucionalismo en ransformación. Prospectiva 2030," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 1298.
    10. Blocker, Christopher P. & Ruth, Julie A. & Sridharan, Srinivas & Beckwith, Colin & Ekici, Ahmet & Goudie-Hutton, Martina & Rosa, José Antonio & Saatcioglu, Bige & Talukdar, Debabrata & Trujillo, Carlo, 2013. "Understanding poverty and promoting poverty alleviation through transformative consumer research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1195-1202.
    11. Lise Arena & Leonard Minkes, 2019. "The virtues of dialogue between academics and businessmen," Post-Print hal-01620574, HAL.
    12. Baum, Fran & Ziersch, Anna & Freeman, Toby & Javanparast, Sara & Henderson, Julie & Mackean, Tamara, 2020. "Strife of Interests: Constraints on integrated and co-ordinated comprehensive PHC in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    13. Yuan, Mei-Hua & Lo, Shang-Lien, 2020. "Developing indicators for the monitoring of the sustainability of food, energy, and water," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    14. Diana Floegel & Kaitlin L. Costello, 2022. "Methods for a feminist technoscience of information practice: Design justice and speculative futurities," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(4), pages 625-634, April.
    15. Sean Brayton, 2012. "Working Stiff(s) on Reality Television during the Great Recession," Societies, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-17, October.
    16. Wilkinson, Michael & Lokdam, Hjalte, 2018. "Law and political economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87544, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Ravenscroft, Sue & Williams, Paul F., 2009. "Making imaginary worlds real: The case of expensing employee stock options," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 770-786, August.
    18. Lucy Burke, 2017. "Imagining a future without dementia: fictions of regeneration and the crises of work and sustainability," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(1), pages 1-9, December.
    19. Aisling Gallagher, 2014. "The ‘Caring Entrepreneur’? Childcare Policy and Private Provision in an Enterprising Age," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1108-1123, May.
    20. Wang, Jianliang & Feng, Lianyong & Steve, Mohr & Tang, Xu & Gail, Tverberg E. & Mikael, Höök, 2015. "China's unconventional oil: A review of its resources and outlook for long-term production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 31-42.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:4:y:2014:i:1:p:17-27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.