Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State
In this paper I seek to answer the following primary research questions: What does an examination of Manitoba Hydro and its responses to Indigenous-led resistance reveal about the internal dynamics of the Canadian state and the ongoing Canadian colonial project? How has Manitoba Hydro’s stance towar...
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ftyorkuniv:oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/38349 2023-05-15T15:55:04+02:00 Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State Dark, Zachary Kipfer, Stefan 2020 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38349 en eng Major Paper, Master of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38349 Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. Radical planning State power Dual power Resistance Social movements Major paper 2020 ftyorkuniv 2022-08-22T12:59:41Z In this paper I seek to answer the following primary research questions: What does an examination of Manitoba Hydro and its responses to Indigenous-led resistance reveal about the internal dynamics of the Canadian state and the ongoing Canadian colonial project? How has Manitoba Hydro’s stance towards First Nations and other Indigenous communities changed, and why have these changes occurred? In this paper I utilize three main theoretical frameworks: Nicos Poulantzas’s understanding of the state as the condensation of social relations, Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and Peter Kulchyski’s view of the “totalizing” nature of colonial capitalism. I utilize insights from Poulantzas to examine Manitoba Hydro’s relationship with the larger Canadian state. I focus on the corporation’s role in the state’s modernizing project, its relation to industrial capital, and the role of electricity exports in inter- and intra-state dynamics. I use Kulchyski’s notion of a totalizing colonial capitalist state to examine the impacts of Manitoba Hydro’s activities on Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba. I use the Grand Rapids Generating Station, the Lake Winnipeg Regulation project, and the Churchill River Diversion project as examples of the ways in which Manitoba Hydro has undermined Indigenous gathering and hunting modes of production and introduced capitalist relations to previously insulated territories. Drawing on Gramsci, I chart the development of “hydro hegemony” in Manitoba. I argue that much of Manitoba Hydro’s 20th century activities were characterized by coercion, but in the 21st century hydroelectricity became the hegemonic energy strategy in Manitoba through Manitoba Hydro’s partnerships with First Nations and the increasing global importance of “sustainable” energy. Ultimately, I argue that Manitoba Hydro functions to further the Canadian colonial project by both undermining the viability of a gathering and hunting mode of production by degrading the lands and waters it affects, and also by spreading the ... Other/Unknown Material Churchill Churchill River First Nations York University, Toronto: YorkSpace |
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Open Polar |
collection |
York University, Toronto: YorkSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftyorkuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Radical planning State power Dual power Resistance Social movements |
spellingShingle |
Radical planning State power Dual power Resistance Social movements Dark, Zachary Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
topic_facet |
Radical planning State power Dual power Resistance Social movements |
description |
In this paper I seek to answer the following primary research questions: What does an examination of Manitoba Hydro and its responses to Indigenous-led resistance reveal about the internal dynamics of the Canadian state and the ongoing Canadian colonial project? How has Manitoba Hydro’s stance towards First Nations and other Indigenous communities changed, and why have these changes occurred? In this paper I utilize three main theoretical frameworks: Nicos Poulantzas’s understanding of the state as the condensation of social relations, Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and Peter Kulchyski’s view of the “totalizing” nature of colonial capitalism. I utilize insights from Poulantzas to examine Manitoba Hydro’s relationship with the larger Canadian state. I focus on the corporation’s role in the state’s modernizing project, its relation to industrial capital, and the role of electricity exports in inter- and intra-state dynamics. I use Kulchyski’s notion of a totalizing colonial capitalist state to examine the impacts of Manitoba Hydro’s activities on Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba. I use the Grand Rapids Generating Station, the Lake Winnipeg Regulation project, and the Churchill River Diversion project as examples of the ways in which Manitoba Hydro has undermined Indigenous gathering and hunting modes of production and introduced capitalist relations to previously insulated territories. Drawing on Gramsci, I chart the development of “hydro hegemony” in Manitoba. I argue that much of Manitoba Hydro’s 20th century activities were characterized by coercion, but in the 21st century hydroelectricity became the hegemonic energy strategy in Manitoba through Manitoba Hydro’s partnerships with First Nations and the increasing global importance of “sustainable” energy. Ultimately, I argue that Manitoba Hydro functions to further the Canadian colonial project by both undermining the viability of a gathering and hunting mode of production by degrading the lands and waters it affects, and also by spreading the ... |
author2 |
Kipfer, Stefan |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Dark, Zachary |
author_facet |
Dark, Zachary |
author_sort |
Dark, Zachary |
title |
Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
title_short |
Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
title_full |
Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
title_fullStr |
Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
title_full_unstemmed |
Generating Colonialism Manitoba Hydro and the State |
title_sort |
generating colonialism manitoba hydro and the state |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38349 |
genre |
Churchill Churchill River First Nations |
genre_facet |
Churchill Churchill River First Nations |
op_relation |
Major Paper, Master of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38349 |
op_rights |
Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests. |
_version_ |
1766390401148649472 |