factors drove them to participate. Moreover, the different distances
between participants in both geographic and socio-economic terms
make it possible to analyze differences in organizing strategies.
Data on the three cases were mostly collected from academic
papers, news reports, and publications by environmental NGOs and
other relevant institutions. We employed analytical narratives and
a comparative case study method for data analysis. By recovering the
stories of howthe cases have developed over time,we use “narratives
to move beyond efforts to describe a universalized, orderly social
world” and to put ourselves in touch with “local knowledges,” or
aspects of experience that are unique to the actors and case contexts
and tell us something important about themotivating factors behind
certain claims aswell as social interactions (Ospina and Dodge, 2005:
143e144). Furthermore, Robert Yin recommended, “You would use
the case study method because you deliberately wanted to cover
contextual conditions e believing that theymight be highly pertinent
to your phenomenon of study” (Yin, 2003: 13). If by comparing the
three cases, we find the drivers and agents differ by context, the
results would then represent a strong start toward theoretical
replication e again vastly strengthening the external validity of the
findings compared to those from a single case alone. Having
described the research questions and methods, the next section tells
the stories of the three cases of organizing for environmental
protection in China.