Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines and documents the harmful activities of transnational petroleum extraction corporations in this region of Nigeria, along the lines of a growing body of literature which conceptualizes preventable market-driven harms as criminal. It explores the nature of social harms created by oil and gas production in the Niger Delta; the roles of corporate, political and security actors in the generation of these harms; the deleterious effects of market rationality and architecture on the local population; and community resistance strategies over the years. The book aims to provide the context for understanding the development of market societies in different parts of the world. It documents the preventable social harms created by oil and gas production in the Niger Delta and how the disabling social structure produced by the attendant political economy victimizes the people of the region.