History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut
Canadian diamonds are marketed as ethical alternatives to so-called 'conflict diamonds.' This research analyzes a series of focus groups conducted in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, an Inuit town impacted by diamond mining. The article sheds some light on the risks and benefits of mining, but it also...
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University of Arizona Libraries
2013
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2458/v20i1.21746 https://doaj.org/article/8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 2023-05-15T15:07:07+02:00 History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut Kolson Schlosser 2013-12-01 https://doi.org/10.2458/v20i1.21746 https://doaj.org/article/8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 en es fr eng spa fre University of Arizona Libraries 1073-0451 doi:10.2458/v20i1.21746 https://doaj.org/article/8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 undefined Journal of Political Ecology, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 53-69 (2013) socio scipo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2013 fttriple https://doi.org/10.2458/v20i1.21746 2023-01-22T18:19:38Z Canadian diamonds are marketed as ethical alternatives to so-called 'conflict diamonds.' This research analyzes a series of focus groups conducted in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, an Inuit town impacted by diamond mining. The article sheds some light on the risks and benefits of mining, but it also examines the broader historical and geographic context of commodity networks for diamonds as an entry point into a critique of the possibility of consumption as ethical praxis. What the analysis shows is that the risks and benefits assessed by focus group participants manifest themselves in a context of colonial dispossession of sovereignty over resources. This dispossession is part of the very process of market regulation that is necessary for capital accumulation. Accumulated capital professes to satisfy this created need ethically. In much of Arctic Canada, for example, this takes the form of a dependency on the market in order to secure the wages now necessary to engage in subsistence activities. The purpose of this article is not to unveil exploitive conditions of production or to claim that Canadian diamonds are in fact unethical, but rather to question what we mean by 'ethical' commodities by examining the claim within a broader historical political ecology. Keywords: Diamonds, political ecology, market regulation, Nunavut, ethical consumption. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic inuit Kugluktuk Nunavut Unknown Arctic Nunavut Canada Kugluktuk ENVELOPE(-115.096,-115.096,67.827,67.827) Journal of Political Ecology 20 1 |
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English Spanish French |
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socio scipo |
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socio scipo Kolson Schlosser History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
topic_facet |
socio scipo |
description |
Canadian diamonds are marketed as ethical alternatives to so-called 'conflict diamonds.' This research analyzes a series of focus groups conducted in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, an Inuit town impacted by diamond mining. The article sheds some light on the risks and benefits of mining, but it also examines the broader historical and geographic context of commodity networks for diamonds as an entry point into a critique of the possibility of consumption as ethical praxis. What the analysis shows is that the risks and benefits assessed by focus group participants manifest themselves in a context of colonial dispossession of sovereignty over resources. This dispossession is part of the very process of market regulation that is necessary for capital accumulation. Accumulated capital professes to satisfy this created need ethically. In much of Arctic Canada, for example, this takes the form of a dependency on the market in order to secure the wages now necessary to engage in subsistence activities. The purpose of this article is not to unveil exploitive conditions of production or to claim that Canadian diamonds are in fact unethical, but rather to question what we mean by 'ethical' commodities by examining the claim within a broader historical political ecology. Keywords: Diamonds, political ecology, market regulation, Nunavut, ethical consumption. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kolson Schlosser |
author_facet |
Kolson Schlosser |
author_sort |
Kolson Schlosser |
title |
History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
title_short |
History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
title_full |
History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
title_fullStr |
History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
title_full_unstemmed |
History, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in Kugluktuk, Nunavut |
title_sort |
history, scale and the political ecology of ethical diamonds in kugluktuk, nunavut |
publisher |
University of Arizona Libraries |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.2458/v20i1.21746 https://doaj.org/article/8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-115.096,-115.096,67.827,67.827) |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavut Canada Kugluktuk |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavut Canada Kugluktuk |
genre |
Arctic inuit Kugluktuk Nunavut |
genre_facet |
Arctic inuit Kugluktuk Nunavut |
op_source |
Journal of Political Ecology, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 53-69 (2013) |
op_relation |
1073-0451 doi:10.2458/v20i1.21746 https://doaj.org/article/8eb648ecd9f34e498093da0cdb376678 |
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undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2458/v20i1.21746 |
container_title |
Journal of Political Ecology |
container_volume |
20 |
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1 |
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1766338680268521472 |