In April of 2005 Shell sought an injunction in a Dublin court against residents of Erris in northwestern Republic of Ireland who were obstructing the laying of pipelines across their lands. On June 29, 2005 the court convicted and jailed five people for failing to comply with the order of the High Court restraining them from interfering with Shell's project. When Communities Confront Corporations examines the issues and events that led to the incarceration of the Rossport Five and how it resonates with events in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It argues that conflicts between communities and corporations, though pervasive, do not appear to receive adequate scholarly attention. The book compares the altercations between Shell and the Erris communities in Ireland and the responses to these conflicts, with similar conflicts generated in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria by the presence of the oil giant. It challenges the so-called conspiracy theory, which is often associated with the oil company's operations in the Niger Delta and argues that the key difference between the two sets of conflicts and responses to them is the context. ________________________ Austin Onuoha did his graduate studies at the Conflict Transformation Program (now Center for Justice and Peacebuilding) at the Eastern Mennonite University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is currently a PhD student in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Nova Southeastern University in Florida, USA. He had worked as the executive secretary and head of conflict resolution at the Human Rights Commission (now Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Centre) Abakaliki, Nigeria. He currently monitors Chevron's community engagement initiatives in Nigeria for the Centre for Social and Corporate Responsibility (CSCR) based in Nigeria. He was elected Ashoka Fellow in 2001 for his innovative work in harnessing conflict energy for development. He also conducts training in conflict resolution, corporate social responsibility, human rights, non-violence and peace-building and development. He is an adjunct fellow at the West African Peacebuilding Institute in Ghana and is the author of the book: From Conflict to Collaboration Building Peace in Nigeria's Oil-Producing Communities (London, Adonis & Abbey Publishers, 2005)

One of the major policy challenges for the US following the events of September 11 2001 and their aftermaths has been how to reduce the country's dependence on oil from the Middle East. There have been suggestions of policy shifts in Washington in which Africa's share of US oil imports will rise dramatically over the next few years. Nigeria, one of the world's largest producers of crude oil, is believed to have more than 30 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, mostly in the Niger Delta areas. Despite this huge reserve however, crude supplies from the country remains at best erratic largely because of conflicts, violence and the rise of ethnic militias in the oil-producing areas of the country. The book explores the causes, sources and dynamics of the conflicts between the oil-bearing communities and oil companies in Nigeria. Taking its point of departure from the social interaction paradigm, it argues that the conflicts in the Niger Delta are embedded in the triangular relationship between the government, the oil companies and the host communities. ________ Austin Onuoha, studied History at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and did graduate studies in Conflict Transformations at the Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA. He has worked on issues of human rights and conflict resolution in, and around the Niger Delta of Nigeria for over 10 years, including as the Executive Secretary/Head of Conflict Resolution at the Human Rights Commission, Abakaliki, Nigeria. He was also a consultant to the Centre for Social and Corporate Responsibility (CSCR) based in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and USA.