Fractivism

“Sara Ann Wylie tells both a sobering story about industry practice and government negligence and an inspiring story of how gas patch residents, artists, civil servants, NGO activists, and health, environmental, and social scientists have responded to fracking. The political implications of this impressive and important book will be far-reaching.” - Kim Fortun, author of Advocacy after Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders

“Operating at the borderlands of anthropology and science studies, Sara Ann Wylie offers a compelling account of the relations between the production of knowledge and forms of regulatory accountability. She also outlines how alternative modes of scientific practice can yield new and innovative results while giving a rich depiction of the intersection of how forms of participatory democracy enroll the online world. Tackling a hugely important topic from an original angle, Fractivism could very well make a splash.” - Michael Watts, coeditor of Subterranean Estates: Life Worlds of Oil and Gas

"Wylie makes an exciting and timely scholarly contribution that is relevant well beyond the scope of those concerned with the anthropology of energy. This book is useful to social scientists to inform research and teaching on topics spanning science and technology studies, energy policy, sustainability,environmental health, digital humanities, and applied and design anthropology. The relevance of this work also extends beyond academia, and would be of great value not only to gas patch communities that are still struggling to demonstrate the links between chemical exposure and illness, but to community leaders and activists that are engaged in a growing array of citizen science initiatives."
  - Amanda Poole, Conservation and Society

"Fractivism is an incredibly well-sourced book that presents and represents a kind of historical account of the newer applications of fracking technology (fracking reservoirs isn’t actually new) and various approaches scientists and communities are using to hold exploration companies accountable for the environmental problems resulting from fracking operations. . . . Well worth reading. Highly recommended. All readers." - M. S. Field, Choice

"Written with a strong sense of conviction and urgency. . . . An important and timely book that offers essential reading for students, researchers, and activists interested in civic science and the David-and-Goliath struggle of the popular epidemiology movement to help grassroots groups document the toxic burden posed by petrochemical and fossil fuel facilities." - Anthony E. Ladd, Mobilization

"It is a credit to the book that every chapter has its share of galling information about corporate malfeasance. . . . As forests burn and famine grows, the need for Wylie’s radical science and activism is ever more necessary." - Miles Taylor, Synoptique

"Fracktivism is a meticulously researched and supported text. . . . For academics, lawmakers, and activists, Fracktivism may give either the insight, data, or motivation for a new platform in piercing the 'regimes of imperceptibility.'" - Victor Hall, Natural Resources Journal

"Fractivism truly is an interdisciplinary work, combining insights and methodologies from anthropology, sociology, science and technology studies, environmental science, and physiology. Wylie does a good job of integrating these perspectives to produce a compelling and detailed guide for collaborative environmental justice work." - Kristen M. Schorpp, Nature and Culture

"The book is a meticulously researched and detailed ethnographic analysis of pioneering efforts to create databases and mapping tools that allow communities to develop resources and counteract some of the oil and gas industry’s tactics. ... Given that the 'fracking revolution' is here to stay, the issues explored in Fractivism are likely to become even more important over time." - Ion Bogdan Vasi, Contemporary Sociology

"Part STS of fracking, part history of endocrine-disruption science, and part participatory web-design 101, Fractivism is an intellectually stimulating and exciting read. ... This is a timely addition to a growing body of work on what some have called the Fracking Revolution, but what Wylie shows to be the further entrenchment of an oil/natural gas/petrochemical industry 'old guard' (p. 255). If you’ve ever wondered why the health and environmental threats associated with fracking remain 'probable' and rarely 'de?nitive,' Fractivism offers an explanation." - Matthew Fry, Journal of Anthropological Research

"Positioning matters of science and technology at the heart of environmental justice and the study of extractive industries, Wylie contributes to important debates in anthropology, applied social sciences and STS which concern the methodological and conceptual ability of these disciplines to challenge dominant paradigms." 

"[Wylie's] work demonstrates how critical social science research can contribute not just to the documentation of harm but also to mobilizing resistance against these harms." - Tanya Matthan, PoLAR

"Fractivism is especially useful for the classroom and for interdisciplinary researchers and students alike to understand how 'STS in practice' can be a model for material projects that unite those who want to try and find solutions with others—not in isolation. This book is a tool for those looking to utilize research, data, or analytical methods for social and environmental justice movements broadly." - Leslie Quintanilla, Catalyst