Collective action and cycles of protest: Experiences in political participation in La Carpio, 1993-2013

Abstract

This article presents the basic conclusions reached by my master’s thesis in Political Science. This paper analyses the process of collective action in La Carpio, Costa Rica, as an expression of political participation in relation to the installation of the garbage dumping the community. This situation frames an important moment in which La Carpio must rethink its actions to face the conflict presented by the “Technological and Environmental Park Project” (the technical denomination of the dump) administered by EBI Berthier enterprises from Canada. In this sense this paper asks:What forms of political participation, particularly what collective actions, areimplemented by the community as a means to possess some influence in the process of decision-making in regard to the disposal of La Carpio`s garbage?