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 has existed as an almost forgotten place: a vast territory where only a few roads and a ferry system connected small cities, towns, and villages to the outside world. Now as the appetite for natural resources intensifies, this resource-rich and geographically important region is being pulled onto national and global economic stages. This timely volume examines the connections between local development and global forces, and how governments, Aboriginal peoples, organized labour, NGOs, and the private sector are adapting to, resisting, and embracing change.

Paul Bowles is professor of economics and international studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. He is the author of Capitalism and coauthor (with Henry Veltmeyer) of The Answer Is Still No: Voices of Pipeline Resistance. Gary N. Wilson is professor of political science at the University of Northern British Columbia and an adjunct professor at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Contributors: Ken Coates, Fiona MacPhail, Jim McDonald, Tracy Summerville, Henry Veltmeyer, and John F. Young