Going local: Environmental governance and calls for local democracy at jumbo pass and the tobeatic wilderness area

Social movement and world society literatures argue that activism is increasingly becoming transnational, if not global. However, recent literature on environmental governance and local citizenship argues otherwise. Instead, it finds that the “local” is valorized. We examine the ways in which environmental movements make use of “the local” as they mobilize against the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort development, British Columbia, and Off-Highway Vehicle Use in the Tobeatic Wilderness, Nova Scotia.  Using data from interviews with core environmental activists, environmental organization websites, and content analysis of media coverage, we explore why activists seek local governance and use local tactics. These cases show that the appeal of the local is rooted in the scale of the environmental problem, the potential for successful mobilization in the local context, and demands for more open structures of environmental governance.