Civil Society and the Future of Rare Earths: Explaining the outcome of the anti-Lynas movement in Malaysia

The aim of the thesis is to explore the largest environmental movement in Malaysia’s history – the anti-Lynas movement – through a case study analysis. The campaign emerged as a response against the construction of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP), a rare earth refinery plant in West Malaysia. The anti-Lynas movement argued that the opening of the facility would have negative environmental and health consequences due to the lack of proper waste management facilities for radioactive components such as thorium and uranium. Despite having scientific evidence and political support within the Malaysia also internationally, the movement was unable to stop the operations of the largest earth refinery plant in the world. The thesis draws on resource mobilization theory and political opportunity structures to explain the outcome of the movement. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the reasons why the movement failed to stop the construction and the operations of the rare earth...Show moreThe aim of the thesis is to explore the largest environmental movement in Malaysia’s history – the anti-Lynas movement – through a case study analysis. The campaign emerged as a response against the construction of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP), a rare earth refinery plant in West Malaysia. The anti-Lynas movement argued that the opening of the facility would have negative environmental and health consequences due to the lack of proper waste management facilities for radioactive components such as thorium and uranium. Despite having scientific evidence and political support within the Malaysia also internationally, the movement was unable to stop the operations of the largest earth refinery plant in the world. The thesis draws on resource mobilization theory and political opportunity structures to explain the outcome of the movement. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the reasons why the movement failed to stop the construction and the operations of the rare earth facility. The results of the thesis argue that the anti-Lynas movement had the necessary resources to emerge and contest the LAMP facility. However, the political context of Malaysia did not allow for the movement to influence the legislation of LAMP.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Civil Society and the Future of Rare Earths: Explaining the outcome of the anti-Lynas movement in Malaysia