Brown, David, Mah, Alice and Walker, Gordon (2022) The tenacity of trust in petrochemical communities : reckoning with risk on the Fawley Waterside (1997-2019). Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 5 (3). pp. 1207-1229. doi:10.1177/25148486211045367 ISSN 2514-8486.

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Abstract

Around the world, people living close to polluting industries have different perceptions of the risks of toxic exposure, ranging from anger to acceptance to denial. We draw attention to a case with relatively high levels of social trust, but also relatively high levels of risk perception: the communities living adjacent to the Fawley (UK) oil refinery and petrochemical complex, a site that has been operated by Esso since the early 1950s.

Our findings are based on a novel comparative analysis of two qualitative studies of local risk perceptions in Fawley conducted more than two decades apart in 1997 and 2019, incorporating focus group and individual interviews with residents, alongside documentary analysis and stakeholder interviews. Perceptions of risk and trust in the local polluting industry have fluctuated over the years, with unease never far from the surface as industrial employment has slowly contracted. Yet overall, the picture in 2019 was not too dissimilar from that in 1997: while community–industry relations were strained amidst periodic risk incidents and a sense of decline, a cautious sense of trust in the polluting enterprise had endured, based on a delicate balance of heritage, risk, and recognition. We draw attention to the residents’ careful reckoning with risks over time and the tenacity of social trust as an act of negotiation that took risk into account but also included other important factors such as recognition and reciprocity. Local risk perceptions in Fawley are closely bound up with the residents’ shared industrial heritage and enduring perceptions of Esso as a ‘good neighbour’. Our longitudinal analysis allowed us to reflect on changes over time in Fawley, providing greater temporal depth to the risk perception literature.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor T Technology > TP Chemical technology
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Petroleum chemicals industry -- Health aspects -- England, Petroleum refineries -- Health aspects -- England, Petroleum chemicals industry -- Environmental aspects -- England, Environmental justice -- England, Urban pollution -- England
Journal or Publication Title:	Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	2514-8486
Official Date:	September 2022
Dates:	Date Event September 2022 Published 30 October 2021 Available 23 August 2021 Accepted
Volume:	5
Number:	3
Page Range:	pp. 1207-1229
DOI:	10.1177/25148486211045367
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	14 October 2021
Date of first compliant Open Access:	15 October 2021
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:	Project/Grant ID RIOXX Funder Name Funder ID 639583 H2020 European Research Council http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663
Related URLs:	Publisher

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