More powerful together: collaborative theorizing with social movements about decolonizing and decarbonizing Canada Jen Gobby Department of Natural Resource Sciences McGill University, Montreal November, 2019 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Jen Gobby 2019 DECOLONIZING AND DECARBONIZING CANADA 2 “Change can be an end result, measured in discrete outcomes, and change can be a relational process of continuous becoming” (Ayala, in Tuck & Yang, 2013, p.127). “While the climate justice movement is working hard to address the legacy of white supremacy and colonialism within environmental and conservation movements, it is a work in progress” (Deranger, 2019, n.p). DECOLONIZING AND DECARBONIZING CANADA 3 Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Résumé ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 11 Contribution to Original Knowledge ........................................................................................ 14 Contribution of Authors ............................................................................................................. 15 List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. 16 List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1 – Introduction ........................................................................................................... 17 1.1 General introduction ....................................................................................................................... 17 1.2 The Research Problem .................................................................................................................... 21 1.3 Introduction to social movements .................................................................................................. 30 1.3.1 The historical and global context of social movements in Canada ............................................................. 30 1.3.2 Three social movements in Canada engaged in resisting oil and gas pipelines .......................................... 32 1.4 Situating myself and my research .................................................................................................. 41 1.5 Overview of the dissertation chapters ........................................................................................... 45 Chapter 2 - Methodology & methods ........................................................................................ 48 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 48 2.2 My methodological approach ......................................................................................................... 50 2.2.1 Social Movement Studies (SMS) research methodology ........................................................................... 50 2.2.2 Ethical challenges of SMS methods ........................................................................................................... 51 2.2.3 Other challenges and critiques of SMS ...................................................................................................... 52 2.2.4 New ways of doing social movement research........................................................................................... 54 2.2.5 My methodological approach – thinking with movements ........................................................................ 57 2.3 Research methods used ................................................................................................................... 59 2.4 Situating myself in Decolonial Research ....................................................................................... 71 Chapter 3 - A literature review of theories of change ............................................................. 78 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 78 3.1.2 Approach to gathering and synthesizing the Theories of Change (TOCs) ................................................. 79 3.1.3 Defining ‘Theory of Change’ ..................................................................................................................... 82 3.1.4 Overview of the chapter ............................................................................................................................. 82 DECOLONIZING AND DECARBONIZING CANADA 4 3.2 Introducing the bodies of literature included in this review ....................................................... 83 3.2.1 Social Movement Studies (SMS) ............................................................................................................... 83 3.2.2 Critical social science – historical materialism and intersectional feminism ............................................. 84 3.2.3 Indigenous scholarship on resistance and resurgence ................................................................................ 85 3.2.4 Social ecological systems transformation ................................................................................................... 86 3.2.5 Promising new approaches ......................................................................................................................... 87 3.3 Bringing it all together .................................................................................................................... 88 3.3.1 Key lesson #1 ............................................................................................................................................. 88 3.3.2 Key lesson #2 ............................................................................................................................................. 91 3.3.3 Key lesson #3 ............................................................................................................................................. 92 3.3.4 Key lesson #4 ............................................................................................................................................. 94 3.3.5 Key lesson #5 ............................................................................................................................................. 97 3.3.6 Key lesson #6 ........................................................................................................................................... 100 3.3.7 Key lesson #7 ........................................................................................................................................... 100 3.3.8 Key lesson #8 ........................................................................................................................................... 105 3.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 109 Chapter 4 - Understanding the crises, uncovering the root causes, and envisioning the worlds we want. ......................................................................................................................... 110 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 110 4.1.1 Overview of this chapter .......................................................................................................................... 111 4.1.2 Why these questions are important ........................................................................................................... 111 4.2 Understanding the problems and their causes ........................................................................... 112 4.2.1 Uneven impacts of pipeline development, environmental destruction, and climate disruption ............... 113 4.2.2 Structures and systems that drive environmental and climate injustice.................................................... 116 4.2.3 Worldviews, values, and concepts that justify and reinforce unjust systems and structures .................... 123 4.3 Envisioning the worlds we want ................................................................................................... 124 4.3.1 Decarbonizing .......................................................................................................................................... 125 4.3.2 Decentralizing & Democratizing .............................................................................................................. 128 4.3.3 Decolonizing ............................................................................................................................................ 131 4.3.4 Reconnecting with land and eachother ..................................................................................................... 139 4.4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................