The Importance of Being Shawville: the Role of Particularity in Community Resilience
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The Importance of Being Shawville: The Role of Particularity in Community Resilience by Lyndal Laurel Neelin A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Canadian Studies; Political Economy Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2012 Lyndal Laurel Neelin Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94233-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94233-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract This work examines the factors that motivate and support community resilience, understood as a community’s ability to absorb disturbance without changing state. It looks specifically at the case of Shawville, Quebec, a community whose tenacity against a backdrop of socio economic and political change in recent decades makes its persistence stand out. Shawville’s particular geography, political economy and socio-linguistic identity are interrogated as potential ‘footing’ for the community’s resilience. This investigation shows that together these factors support Shawville in producing and projecting particularity, understood as the community’s self-identification as distinct and meaningful. Particularity is required for community resilience. The scaffolding that supports Shawville’s particularity and allows for its resilience is linked to the insights of resilience theory through the use of two resilience theory models. The fruitful use of analytic tools borrowed from environmental science demonstrates that resilient systems, be they ecological or social systems, require similar conditions. Resilience requires variability (internal flexibility) and diversity (external variety). In social systems variability and diversity are especially important to the realm of meaning-making. A community’s capacity for resilience is only as robust as its capacity to make meaningful its current situation, its past experiences and its potential futures. Access to a wide range of alternative interpretations and responses both enriches a community’s capacity for meaning-making and enhances its particularity. The research is interdisciplinary, drawing on concepts and literatures from a variety of academic fields including anthropology, rural geography, history, and political economy. The data was collected through semi-formal interviews, observation and the local weekly newspaper. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the many people who helped me to complete this ambitious project. First and foremost, I owe much gratitude to the people of Shawville who generously shared their stories, time, and thoughts with me. Their enthusiasm for the work I was doing meant a great deal to me. Special thanks to Mayor Armstrong and the Shawville Town Council for their warm welcome to me as an observer at their meetings, to Heather Dickson who generously provided me with space on the pages of The Equity and room in her own office where I could access archived copies of the paper, to Elsie Sparrow, Pearl McCleary and Venetia Crawford who introduced me to the Shawville Archives and its volunteers, and to Margaret Hodgins and the Shawville Womens Institute whose confidence in my success was heartwarming. I am grateful to Dr. Anne Trepanier for permission to make use of her ‘refondation’ model in my work, and for her willingness to discuss the ideas I was working to convey. My thanks to Dr. Mark Skinner for several valuable conversations and a helpful reading list. Special thanks to my co-supervisors Drs. Donna Patrick and Pauline Rankin who patiently stayed with me through the process of dissertation writing. All four members of my dissertation committee have been an invaluable help. Thank you. I want to acknowledge with gratitude the financial support I received from Carleton University’s School of Canadian Studies and the Faculty of Graduate Studies as well as the government of Quebec’s Fonds de recherche du Quebec — Societe et culture. My friend and neighbour Lynda Wegner warrants special thanks for her help with formatting, maps and figures. Under her capable ministrations, this work took shape in its current polished form. I want to thank my daughters for being so willing to chat about the university ‘scene’, to hear about my progress and to help with interview transcriptions and proof reading. That I owe my husband, Michael, many thanks for the maps and figures in this work, and for his overwhelming support, goes without saying. I owe thanks as well to the confidence and encouragement of my wide extended family. Thank you all. Dedication I would like to dedicate this work to Janice and Howard Briggs whose presence in my story part of the solid ground beneath my feet. Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction The Research Problem...................................................................................1 Situating the Research Project.................................................................... 8 Shawville as Case Study .............................................................................20 Overview of the Work’s Format ................................................................. 24 Conclusions ....................................................................................................29 Chapter Two: On Method and Methodology Introduction .....................................................................................................32 Methodology ....................................................................................................33 Getting the Questions Right ...................................................................... 38 Research Method.........................................................................................42 Doing Research in Your Own ‘Back Yard’ .............................................. 58 Conclusions ....................................................................................................62 Chapter Three: Geography - Place, Space and Location Introduction .....................................................................................................64 Where is H ere?............................................ 65 Placing Shawville in S p a c e ........................................................................66 Home S p a c e .................................................................................................. 71 Contested Space .......................................................................................... 74 Distinct S pace ................................................................................................81 Invisible S pace .............................................................................................. 87 Anglo-Quebec Space .................................................................................. 93 V “Ottawa Valley” S p ace .................................................................................95 Meaningful S pace .......................................................................................100 Conclusions ..................................................................................................103 Chapter Four: Political Economy - River, Rails and Relationships Introduction ...................................................................................................106 Shawville’s Political Economy: Some Context .................................. 108 The Particular ‘Good’ of Useful Skills ....................................................111 The Particular Value of Family Farm s .................................................. 119 The Particular Value of Relative Isolation ........................................... 132 Rails & Relationships ...............................................................................