Resettlement: Uprooting and Rebuilding Communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and Beyond

Resettlement is a global phenomenon once again at the forefront of political debate in Newfoundland and Labrador. This collection, edited by political scientist Isabelle Côté and geographer Yolande Pottie-Sherman, presents an assembly of interdisciplinary voices situating Newfoundland and Labrador resettlement (past, present, and future) in conversation with relocation debates in other places such Quebec and Northern Canada, Greenland, and Ireland. Contributors consider common themes of contemporary resettlement programs including resistance, collective-decision-making, power, place, and identity. Newfoundland Studies scholars have underscored the significance of Smallwood-era resettlement programs (1954–1977), but have not yet adequately addressed the second, ongoing phase of resettlement (1977–present), carried out at the request of communities and implemented to mitigate the fiscal mismatch between shrinking populations and infrastructure costs. In these pages, scholars examine a process that begins before and continues long after communities or individuals move, and places the Newfoundland and Labrador experience in conversation with other global contemporary resettlement projects.

Isabelle Côté is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her works examine the role of internal population movements on intrastate conflict and contentious politics in Asia and beyond.

Yolande Pottie-Sherman is an Assistant Professor in Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is the co-founder of the Adaptive Cities and Engagement Space, a research collective promoting social justice in small cities and communities and author of numerous academic articles and reports on migration, socio-cultural diversity, and community change.