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People, Resources and Power
Critical Perspectives on Underdevelopment and Primary Industries in the Atlantic Region.
Burrill, Gary; McKay, Ian Publisher: Gorsebrook Research Institute, Fredericton, Canada
Year Published: 1987
Pages: 202pp ISBN: 0-919107-10-9
Library of Congress Number: HC117.A8P46 Dewey: 338.09715
Resource Type: Book
Abstract: The introduction to this intelligent volume states its purpose clearly: "This book is about resources and the reasons why the working people of the Atlantic region have derived so little benefit from the natural wealth which surrounds them." Most of the articles come from New Maritimes, an independent regional monthly which has made a reputation for itself for the quality of its reporting and analysis. The answer, as the articles make it clear, has to do with power: economic power, and the political power that is tied to it. "Whether offshore oil and gas deposits are explored, whether the forests are sprayed, whether our fish are harvested with freezer trawlers, whether our mines are open or closed -- not only are we nos consulted about these life and death matters, but we are rarely even given the background information others have used the make these decisions for us. Who wields economic and political power, and for what ends? These questions have been left almost completely unexplored in the Atlantic region." People, Resources, and Power is divided into four parts, on agriculture, fishing, forestry, and mining and energy. An excellent introduction concisely presents the framework of analysis, while the afterword raises the question of what the future holds, raising the prospect of an alliance between workers and primary producers in the region. This is a solidly analytical book, well grounded in fact, a model work of political economy which Canadians concerned with social change can learn much from.
[Abstract by Ulli Diemer]
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