ABSTRACT
The weapons that are being used by activists in today's development wars include the studies and collaborations reported in this volume, as well as the burgeoning literature that they cite. These are tools emerging from the work of communities and advocacy groups around the world who are concerned about extraction, as well as a language acquired during this great awakening. Keeping a critical mass of people working on gathering, compiling, and analyzing the breaking news of the extraction industry is what grassroots groups and citizen scientists do for those of us who translate data into "science". For academics, building direct links between research and activism may not be the road to tenure. Information about extraction and the interest in learning about it are growing. People's credentials can make what activists do in community meetings and formal motions "credible"; compiling and translating the data so that it resonates with those with the power to make policy.
