A social movement analysis of an environmental protest group : the Dead Pigeon River Council

This thesis is an examination of an environmental protest group from a social movement perspective. The group, the Dead Pigeon River Council, is presented as a case study to assess empirical support for a more refined resource mobilization theory. This refined perspective, while continuing to place emphasis on the movement organization, is a synthesis incorporating social psychological variables. Individual members' ideologies and perceptions derived from interaction are included to strengthen the analytical worth of resource mobilization perspectives.

The Dead Pigeon River Council represents the first successful collective action against the eighty-year pollution of a river. Questions focusing on why this group emerged when it did and what factors contributed to its success are examined with this newer theoretical framework. The case is made the without such a synthesized theory as a means for analysis the fuller understanding of group dynamics could not have been achieved.