Stories from the Salish Sea Islands
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THE ‘HOW’ OF TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE: STORIES FROM THE SALISH SEA ISLANDS by Fay Elizabeth Weller B.A., Open Learning University, 1989 M.A., University of Victoria, 1997 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Interdisciplinary Studies © Fay Elizabeth Weller, 2013, University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or by other means, without the permission of the author Supervisory Committee Dr. Michael J. Prince, Co-Supervisor (Faculty of Human and Social Development) Dr. Warren Magnusson, Co-Supervisor (Department of Political Science) Dr. Michael M’Gonigle, Member (Faculty of Law) Dr. Joan Wharf-Higgins, Member (Faculty of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education) Dr. Pamela Shaw, Additional Member, Vancouver Island University (Faculty of Geography) ii Supervisory Committee Dr. Michael J. Prince, Co-Supervisor (Faculty of Human and Social Development) Dr. Warren Magnusson, Co-Supervisor (Department of Political Science) Dr. Michael M’Gonigle, Member (Faculty of Law) Dr. Joan Wharf-Higgins, Member (Faculty of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education) Dr. Pamela Shaw, Additional Member, Vancouver Island University (Faculty of Geography) Abstract This dissertation explores how transformative spaces and agency provide opportunities in everyday lives for transformative shifts from the dominant culture towards a culture of ecological decision-making. Stories about transformative change and system shifts, told by forty people involved in Canada’s Gulf Islands, form the basis for the findings. Their stories demonstrate how personal transformation leads to changed lifestyles and system shifts that reflect the interconnectedness between all living organisms. Two elements of the shift to ecological thinking are increased understanding of the natural world, and willingness to hear and empathise with other people’s realities. Change in communities is cumulative and unpredictable, mirroring personal transformation. Community self-governance is at the core of cultural shifts – the extent to which community members, with various purposes and realities, engage in empathetic dialogue. When interacting with governments and corporations, those who have shifted to ecological-thinking mode exercise their agency and respond according to their inner values. Factors that increase the likelihood of cultural shifts include: a) a multiplicity of different realities in the same space that create the opportunity for people to rethink their cultural box and see the arbitrariness of dominant norms, b) people exercising their agency rather than looking to government as authority, c) collective, non-hierarchical processes, and d) support and links to others in a network of symbiotic ecological-thinking nodes. The power in d) is the power of an accumulation of localisms that creates cultural shifts, arising from communities, which shifts society’s norms and behaviours. iii Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ ix Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Problematic ..................................................................................................................... 1 My Role as Researcher ................................................................................................... 4 The Chapters ................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter Two: Conceptual Framework .............................................................................. 10 Citizens, Government and Social Change .................................................................... 10 Relationship between Government and Capitalism .......................................................11 Local Spaces, Transformation and Agency ................................................................... 13 Community Self-governance ........................................................................................ 16 Extra-local Influences ................................................................................................... 23 Summary and Research Objective ................................................................................ 25 Research Objective ....................................................................................................... 26 Chapter Three: Methodology ............................................................................................ 27 Ethnographic Case Study and Data Collection Methods .............................................. 27 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 36 Rigour ........................................................................................................................... 40 Data and Methodology Table ........................................................................................ 44 Chapter Four: Constant Change in the Salish Sea ............................................................ 46 200 Million Years Ago to 10,000 Years Ago................................................................. 46 First Nations .................................................................................................................. 48 Colonization and Early Settlers .................................................................................... 52 Settler Families, Hippies, and Developers .................................................................... 57 The Islands Trust and the Last Four Decades ............................................................... 60 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 67 Interlude: Between Context and Stories ........................................................................... 69 Chapter Five: Inner Compass............................................................................................ 72 Opportunities for Personal Transformation .................................................................. 73 Transformative Spaces .................................................................................................. 75 Being Ready for Personal Transformation .................................................................... 77 Transformation and Inner Compass .............................................................................. 84 iv Self-righteous, Evangelical or Flaky ............................................................................. 89 Thinking, Acting, and Interacting ................................................................................. 93 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 97 Chapter Six: Everyday Life – Escaping Society? ............................................................. 98 Conscious Decision-making ......................................................................................... 98 Everyday Life Choices ................................................................................................ 100 Cultural Shift creates Criticisms ................................................................................. 107 Ecological Accountability ............................................................................................114 Summary ......................................................................................................................116 Chapter Seven: System Shifting ......................................................................................118 Food Systems ...............................................................................................................119 Building Systems ........................................................................................................ 125 Energy Systems ........................................................................................................... 135 Manufactured Goods ................................................................................................... 144 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 146 Chapter Eight: Cultural shifts in community .................................................................. 149 Cumulative and Unpredictable ................................................................................... 149 Ideas and Conflicts .....................................................................................................