TOXIC-WASTE SITING AND COMMUNITY RESISTANCE - HOW COOPTATION OF LOCALCITIZEN OPPOSITION FAILED

Cooptation is used as a conceptual framework for analyzing a case of e nvironmental conflict over a proposed toxic waste site that ended with allegations of betrayal aimed at community leaders who participated i n structured negotiations with a waste disposal company. Though the ne gotiations committee challenging the waste company's proposal was stac ked with veteran environmental activists, evidence suggests that they were effectively coopted. However, cooptation eventually failed when l ocal activists not on the committee lost confidence in the negotiating -process and accused committee members of ''selling out'' to the waste company and compromising the interests of the community. As a result of protests and citizen awareness campaigns, the opposition forces suc cessfully convinced the regulatory agency to deny the company's permit . We find that cooptation theory helps to explain the short-lived succ ess of corporate efforts during the early stages of negotiations, as w ell as the dynamics of failure in the long run. Three major components of cooptation are identified and discussed: (a) channeling, (b) inclu sion/participation, and (c) salience control. The eventual failure of the siting process is linked to the latent demise of salience control.