Community Protest and Non-Decision Making Power - Essay Example

Buffalo, which is a small poor community living in Claiborne County in Tennesse is a good example of how the powerless remain defenseless in society. Although a mining company carried out mining activities leaving the community vulnerable to landslides and floods, the issues appear to have received very little attention. It would be expected that the poor community would engage in some protest to demand termination of the mining activities yet they did no one of this. Even after the mining company applied for a permit to restart its mining activities, their community threatened to protest something that never happened.

The Buffalo community relied on regulatory agencies hoping for justice. Although the regulatory agencies are supposed to act as a means through which the powerless can be heard the Buffalo community was faced with numerous barriers since they understood neither their rights nor how the legal system works. Although the community members were ready to protest in order to protect their rights, they were faced with numerous challenges. The legal system was an instrument used by the elite and powerful companies to restrain the powerless community. Instead of the administration aiding the powerless in articulating their grievances, it coerced the mining company to render them voiceless.

In the Buffalo case, the elite coerced the powerless and made them not challenge a court decision they were opposed to. Since the mining company was a multinational company headquartered in London it became clear that the regulatory agencies were unwilling to investigate it and only relied on biased information provided by company lawyers. Additionally, the Companies Act did not mandate the legal system to investigate multinational company, which did not trade in the U.S.
From the buffalo case study, it became apparent that multinational corporates are not accountable to the nation. Read More