SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS AND CULTURE OF THE EMERGENCY

Assessing the crisis context, socio-environmental and democracy processes, to what extend could be environmental conflicts seen/considered as generators of virtuous practices? The following paper has tried to be explanation point for the resolution of this question. Now a days, there is no doubt about democracy that has been materialized, among other things it could be underline here, the citizen distrust about the political, the indifference perception towards the politics and the bad evaluation of the political agents by the citizens However, there are few voices rejecting the idea of the existence of a socio-environmental crisis which is to be perceived in the struggle between the “techno-sphere” and the biosphere. Precisely is here where it takes the key role this struggle: in the progressive depletion of the natural resources and the increase of residues has got a crucial impact on the health of the planet. This is the context when socio environmental conflicts appear: as a manifestation of these connected crises; as promoters of a culture of crisis; and as an emergency situation generators that shall eventually lead to the democratization of the democracy. For these three reasons, environmental conflicts represent a useful analytical framework in order to analyze the contexts of crisis. Consequently, this communication will focus on the analysis of four local conflicts which have happened in the Basque Country - the incinerator plant of Zubieta, the installation of the plant of Muskiz''s coke, the high-speed train to his step along Atxondo and Guggenheim project in the Urdaibai biosphere- to asses and explain the impact of these conflicts in those elements that shape the crises, democracy and the socio-environmental questions.