This book investigates how social movements and local actors exert agency to challenge and shape the outcomes of global land grabbing and industrial resource exploitation. Markus Kröger, a scholar specializing in global environmental politics, utilizes a framework of contentious agency to analyze how resistance movements influence the pace and style of industrial expansion. By examining the interplay between corporate interests and grassroots activism, the text argues that local resistance is a critical, often overlooked factor in determining the trajectory of land-based resource conflicts.

Experts identify this work as a significant contribution to the study of environmental sociology and political economy. Scholars frequently note the rigorous application of case-study methodology to complex global resource issues, making it a valuable resource for researchers in the field of land politics.