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Social Science General

Under Pressure

Diamond Mining and Everyday Life in Northern Canada

by (author) Lindsay A.,. Bell

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2023
Category
General, Indigenous Studies, Cultural
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487548872
    Publish Date
    Apr 2023
    List Price
    $21.95

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Description

In 2007, Canada became the third largest producer of diamonds in the world. Primarily mined on the edge of the Arctic, these diamonds are said to bring economic development and opportunity to nearby Indigenous communities. In Under Pressure, anthropologist Lindsay A. Bell examines the effects of diamond mining on an increasingly diverse northern population.

 

Through an ethnographic focus on everyday life in Hay River, a multi-ethnic town in the Northwest Territories, this book illustrates the different ways Indigenous, settler, and immigrant northerners navigate the opportunities and obstacles created by large-scale resource development. By situating contemporary diamond mines within the long history of extraction in the region, Bell describes the social, cultural, and economic pressures that shape the people in this Northern community. In contrast to many polarizing accounts that deem mining as either good or bad, Under Pressure uses diamonds as an anthropological prism to consider larger issues related to Arctic extraction, globalization, Indigenous rights, and ethical consumption.

About the author

Lindsay A. Bell is an assistant professor of anthropology at Western University.

Lindsay A.,. Bell's profile page