An Alliance of Interest and Identity? Explaining The Campaign Against Manchester Airport's Second Runway

This article examines the campaign against the construction of Manchester Airport's second runway. Articulating insights from rational choice theory within a framework of discourse theory, it provides a set of theoretical tools with which to problematize and explain the Manchester case. Attention is focused on the strategic construction of group identities and interests by leading protest brokers who organized and orchestrated the campaign. The article offers explanations of how and why conservative local residents and radical eco-warriors were able to form an unlikely working coalition to resist the expansion of the airport. The article concludes with an examination of the overall impact and significance of the campaign for local residents and green protesters.