Resource Communities in a Globalizing Region: Development, Agency, and Contestation in Northern British Columbia

Northern British Columbia has always played an important role in Canada’s economy, but for many Canadians it also existed as an almost forgotten place: a vast territory where only a few roads, some railroad tracks, and a ferry system connected small cities, towns, and villages to the outside world. Now, as the global appetite for oil, gas, hydroelectricity, wood, and minerals intensifies, this resource-rich and geographically important region is being pulled onto the national and international economic stages.

Resource Communities in a Globalizing Region is key reading for anyone seeking to understand the tensions between resource-rich regions and global market demands. It opens with an examination of the theories underpinning neoliberal globalization, provides an overview of northern BC and its history, and introduces local stakeholders and their experiences with globalization. From there, it explores the changing economy of the region and its evolving relationship with China and other Asian economies before launching into a discussion of how the residents of northern British Columbia are trying to exert greater control over the development of their region.

As debates about pipelines, mines, and hydroelectric projects intensify in local coffee shops, distant boardrooms, and the halls of Parliament, this timely volume explores how governments, Aboriginal peoples, organized labour, NGOs, and the private sector are adapting to, resisting, and embracing change.