Bridging Troubled Waters: History as Political Opportunity Structure

Abstract

This article seeks to provide insight into the formulation of non-governmental organization (NGO) and transnational advocacy network (TAN) campaign strategy. We argue that the history of previous campaigns comprises an important aspect of the political opportunity structure faced by NGOs and TANs. We also argue that when formulating campaign strategy, campaigners should not only consider the legacies of previous campaigns, but also how their current strategies could impact on political opportunity structure and thereby influence future campaigns. This article uses the case study of the movement against seal hunting in Atlantic and Northern Canada and considers the potential for collaboration between previous opponents on other environmental issues. We examine the history of the anti-sealing campaigns looking at the various actors involved, and the impact that these campaigns had on these actors and their current relations with one another. The case study demonstrates that the history of previous campaigns matters and that history is a vital component of political opportunity structure.

Key Words:

• Political opportunity structure
• transnational advocacy networks
• Canadian seal hunt
• non-governmental organization
• environmentalism
• activism
• strategy

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the assistance of Dr Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni (University of Cambridge, UK), Professor Ian Clark (Aberystwyth University, UK), Dr Jennifer Mathers (Aberystwyth University, UK), Dr Rob Huebert (University of Calgary, Canada), Professor Osvaldo Croci (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada), Stephanie Ferguson, Stan Phelps, and George Burke. Teale N. Phelps Bondaroff is grateful for the support of a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust from Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the Cambridge Trust, as well as funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Danita Catherine Burke is grateful for the support of a Rothermere Fellowship from the Rothermere Fellowships Trust.

The authors would like to highlight the process by which this paper was written. Each author approached the paper with different perspectives on the seal hunt as a result of their areas of specialty and their respective backgrounds. This collaboration stands as an example of the benefits of cooperation between individuals with different perspectives.