Social movements and interest groups of a variety of types increasingly engage in direct contestation, mobilizing to influence the activities of firms and making unmediated claims for redistribution of the gains from economic activity. Such direct contestation between societal actors and firms unleashes distributive and regulatory politics that shape local development. Why does pressure sometimes result expanded access to essential public goods, services, and economic opportunities and sometimes does not?

This book develops a theory of direct contestation that explains the varying distributive consequences of the conflicts that entangle many firms. The theory is grounded in case studies of mining conflicts in Bolivia and Peru. By tracing the processes that pushed firms to take different types of distributive actions in detail, the book reveals the central roles of social structures and firm strategies in shaping the consequences of direct contestation. This work advances scholarship on social movements and organizations, private politics, distributive politics, as well as studies of mining conflicts in Latin America.