Diamonds Are Forever: a Decolonizing, Feminist Approach to Diamond Mining in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
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! ! ! ! ! DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER: A DECOLONIZING, FEMINIST APPROACH TO DIAMOND MINING IN YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES REBECCA HALL A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN POLITICAL SCIENCE YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO September 2017 © Rebecca Hall, 2017 ! ! Abstract This dissertation examines the impact of the development of diamond mines in the Yellowknife region, Northwest Territories (NWT), asking two questions: how has the diamond-mining regime affected the gendered social relations in the regional racialized mixed economy? And, how can violence against Indigenous women living in the region be situated in the context of structural shifts in the mixed economy? The analysis developed in response to these questions is informed by a theorization of the mixed economy as a dynamic set of social relations characterized by tension between the temporal imperatives of capitalist production and the place- based imperatives of subsistence. Taking a decolonizing, feminist political economy (FPE) approach, this dissertation responded to these questions by drawing on documentary analysis, interviews, and talking circles to examine the – often invisibilized – labour performed by Indigenous women that reproduces the mixed economy. The central contention is that the diamond-mining regime represents a new imposition upon daily and intergenerational social reproduction performed by Indigenous women, an imposition that is sometimes violent, and that is met with resistance. The dissertation unfolds in six substantive chapters. Building on a theoretical and historical grounding offered in chapters one and two, chapters three-five draw on field research to examine shifts in local relations of capitalist production, social reproduction, and subsistence production. The analysis reveals that the Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) diamond-mining regime, itself a spatial articulation of the capitalist separation between (masculinized) capitalist production and (feminized) social reproduction, introduces, or, in some cases, intensifies a nuclear male- breadwinner/female-caregiver structure. ii! ! Woven through this analysis is an examination of the relationship between structural and embodied violence. Indeed, the structural shifts imposed by the diamond-mining regime – characterized in this dissertation as structural violence – contribute to Indigenous women’s experiences of embodied violence in the Yellowknife region. At the same time, Indigenous women meet these shifts with decolonizing resistance in the form of the day-to-day labours they perform to reproduce the place-based social relations of the mixed economy. iii! ! Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my dissertation supervisor, Dr. Leah Vosko, for her tireless support, her thoughtful scholarship and brilliant analytical eye. Thank you for all that you have taught me about research and writing. Thank you to Dr. Kamala Kempadoo and Dr. Frances Abele, my two committee members, who offered exceptional ongoing analytical insight and support throughout this project. These three excellent scholars contributed immeasurably to this project, and I am very grateful. This dissertation would not have come to be were it not for the generous guidance and contributions of many people and organizations in Yellowknife, NWT. First and foremost, thank you to The Native Women’s Association of the NWT staff and community. Thank you for welcoming and teaching me as a staff member, and for hosting and contributing so much to my research. Thanks to Della Green and Jennifer Hunt-Poitras for all of your support. Special thanks to Marie Speakman, my mentor, friend, and colleague, who has taught me about the strength and wisdom of compassion. Thank you, also, to the many community activists and organizations who guided me in this research, offering insight, encouragement and logistical support, including: Arlene Hache, Lois Little, Itoah Scott-Enns, Tee Lim, Lorraine Phaneuf, Lawrence Nahtene, Anneka Westergreen, Lesley Johnson, the Tlicho Government, The Status of Women Council of the NWT, The Centre for Northern Families, Alternatives North, Ecology North, The YWCA, the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, and especially all of the research participants. Thank you to my generous friends and family members who edited portions of this dissertation: Mom, Dad, Bridget, Amanda, Tobin, Nico, and especially Madeline, who reviewed the whole thing. Your time and careful eyes are so appreciated. iv! ! I have been fortunate to receive guidance and friendship from a number of mentors. Thank you to Dr. Rawwida Baksh, Dr. Rianne Mahon, Dr. Andrea Doucet, Dr. David McNally, and Dr. Susan Ferguson for their intellectual and personal guidance. Thank you, also, to conference organizers, co-panelists, and peer reviewers. Thank you to the Closing the Employment Standards Enforcement Gap team, from whom I have learned a great deal about research and collaboration towards social change. And thank you to friends, professors and the administrative staff of the York Political Science Department. Thank you to my community of friends for talking and not talking with me about my dissertation. Both helped tremendously. In particular, to Simon, Heather, and Tom, thank you for the reassurance and advice, as those who trod this path before me. To Amanda, Ezgi, Tobin, and Brendon, thank you for walking this with me. Finally, thank you to my family. To my superb in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins, thank you for the impressively sustained interest in my dissertation over years of family gatherings. To my late grandfathers, Ross and Alex, who showed me how passion for social causes can spur intellectual curiosity. And to my grandmothers, Rachel and Jane, who show me how this curiosity can extend into all aspects of one’s life. To Mom and Dad, your love is mighty, and has helped make me brave. Thank you for being there in such a profound way. Madeline and Bridget, our trifecta has given me so much strength – thank you for always being in my corner, always being wise, and making me laugh. And to Nico, thank you for everything, but thank you especially for the day-to-day: for taking on extra social reproduction, and then finding the energy to talk social reproduction theory over dinner. To our future labours of love. v! ! This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and York University. vi! ! Table of Contents ABSTRACT' II! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS' IV! LIST'OF'FIGURES' IX! LIST'OF'IMAGES' X! LIST'OF'ACRONYMS' XI! INTRODUCTION' 1! OVERVIEW' 1! I. A SHIFTING MIXED ECONOMY, AND STRUCTURAL AND EMBODIED VIOLENCE' 5! A)!THE!DIAMOND!MINES!IN!THE!MIXED!ECONOMY! 6! B)!VIOLENCE!AGAINST!INDIGENOUS!WOMEN!IN!THE!NWT! 11! II. THEORY, METHODOLOGY, AND METHOD' 14! A)!THEORETICAL!FRAMEWORK! 14! B)!METHODOLOGIES! 20! C)!METHODS! 23! IV. CHAPTER OVERVIEW' 30! CHAPTER'ONE:'A'DECOLONIZING'FPE'EXPANDED'CONCEPTION'OF'PRODUCTION' 37! INTRODUCTION' 37! I. THEORIZING VIOLENCE' 38! A)!STRUCTURAL!VIOLENCE! 44! B)!EMBODIED!VIOLENCE! 51! II. A DECOLONIZING FPE APPROACH TO PRODUCTION' 55! A)!MODES!OF!PRODUCTION!IN!AN!EXPANDED!CONCEPTION!OF!PRODUCTION! 61! B)!DEPARTMENTS!OF!PRODUCTION!IN!AN!EXPANDED!CONCEPTION!OF!PRODUCTION! 64! III. THEORIZING AT THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL FORMATION' 71! CONCLUSION' 77! CHAPTER'TWO:'A'DECOLONIZING'FPE'APPROACH'TO'YELLOWKNIFE’S'DEVELOPMENT' 79! INTRODUCTION' 79! I. INTRODUCING WELEDEH/YELLOWKNIFE' 83! II. AN EXPANDED CONCEPTION OF PRODUCTION APPROACH TO WELEDEH’S EARLY MIXED ECONOMY' 87! A)!SOCIAL!REPRODUCTION!AND!SUBSISTENCE!IN!THE!TRADITIONAL!ECONOMY! 88! B)!THE!DEVELOPMENT!OF!THE!MODERN!MIXED!ECONOMY!IN!AND!AROUND!YELLOWKNIFE! 93! III. TRACING THE SHIFTS IN DEPARTMENTS OF PRODUCTION IN THE MIXED ECONOMY' 102! A)!CAPITALIST!PRODUCTION!IN!THE!MIXED!ECONOMY! 104! B)!RESTRUCTURING!SUBSISTENCE!AND!SOCIAL!REPRODUCTION!IN!THE!NEW!MIXED!ECONOMY! 108! IV. NEW APPROACHES TO INDIGENOUS GOVERNANCE' 117! CONCLUSION' 126! CHAPTER'THREE:'TIME,'PLACE'AND'THE'DIAMOND'EXTRACTIVE'REGIME' 128! vii! ! INTRODUCTION' 128! I. FROM BOOM TO BUST AND BACK AGAIN: MODERN HISTORY OF EXTRACTION IN AND AROUND YELLOWKNIFE' 132! A)!WORK!AT!THE!GOLD!MINES! 132! B)!THE!END!OF!AN!ERA! 138! C)!A!NEW!EXTRACTIVE!REGIME! 141! II. THE DIAMOND-MINING REGIME AND INDIGENEITY' 145! III. FIFO IN A NEWLY MIXED ECONOMY' 156! IV. INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND THE FIFO DIAMOND-MINING REGIME' 167! CONCLUSION' 179! CHAPTER'FOUR:'SOCIAL'REPRODUCTION'AND'THE'DIAMOND'MINING'REGIME' 181! INTRODUCTION' 181! I. CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL REPRODUCTION IN THE AREA AROUND YELLOWKNIFE, OR THE FALLACY OF AN IMAGINED NORTHERN TABULA RASA' 188! II. REORIENTING SOCIAL REPRODUCTION' 199! III. RESTRUCTURING SOCIAL REPRODUCTION' 212! CONCLUSION' 224! CHAPTER'FIVE:'DIAMONDS,'SUBSISTENCE,'AND'RESISTANCE' 226! INTRODUCTION' 226! I. CONTEMPORARY SUBSISTENCE IN THE NWT' 228! II. THE DIAMOND-MINING REGIME AND SUBSISTENCE' 240! III. DIAMOND MINES, SOCIAL REPRODUCTION, AND SUBSISTENCE: A NEW ORIENTATION?' 252! A)!SHARING,!COMMUNITY!AND!KIN! 257! B)!SUBSISTENCE!AND!EDUCATION! 261! C)!THE!LAND!AND!THE!BODY! 265! CONCLUSION' 271! CONCLUSION' 273! INTRODUCTION' 273! I. SHIFTING RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION' 275! A)!CAPITALIST!PRODUCTION! 275! B)!SOCIAL!REPRODUCTION! 278! II. THINKING THROUGH VIOLENCE' 283! A)!THEORIZING!VIOLENCE! 284! B)!VIOLENCE!AND!FIFO!EXTRACTION! 286! C)!VIOLENCE!AGAINST!INDIGENOUS!WOMEN! 288! III. ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS' 289! BIBLIOGRAPHY' 292!