“Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy
Drawing on the social media content of four pro-oil Facebook groups, we argue that these ‘subsidized publics’ play an increasingly critical role in facilitating oil and gas companies’ continued accumulation of fossil capital. We adopt O’Shaughnessy and Krogman’s (2011) analytical framework to reveal...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Toronto Libraries
2020-02-01
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| Series: | MediaTropes |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://mediatropes.com/index.php/Mediatropes/article/view/33669 |
| _version_ | 1818060067186933760 |
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| author | Alicia Massie Emma Jackson |
| author_facet | Alicia Massie Emma Jackson |
| author_sort | Alicia Massie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drawing on the social media content of four pro-oil Facebook groups, we argue that these ‘subsidized publics’ play an increasingly critical role in facilitating oil and gas companies’ continued accumulation of fossil capital. We adopt O’Shaughnessy and Krogman’s (2011) analytical framework to reveal material-discursive contradictions obscured from view in the pages of these online groups. Through deploying gendered and familial discourses, these subsidized publics celebrate traditional gender roles, present oil as a ubiquitous and benevolent force, and blur the divide between oil and gas workers on the one hand, and absentee transnational employers on the other. In an era of advanced neoliberal petro-capitalism, these quasi-public entities are masking the inherently unequal power relationship that exists between the two. Moreover, in projecting a working-class ethos, we argue that these familial and gendered discourses create a homogenizing narrative, advancing the false notion of a “classless and horizontally beneficial” industry (Gaventa, 1982, p. 58). Our analysis disrupts neoliberal representations of de-gendered extraction and highlights the extent to which gender remains a key axis within resource communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:26:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2407d225f03d4a25b7d4bea00346b6cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1913-6005 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:26:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | University of Toronto Libraries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | MediaTropes |
| spelling | doaj.art-2407d225f03d4a25b7d4bea00346b6cc2022-12-22T01:47:07ZengUniversity of Toronto LibrariesMediaTropes1913-60052020-02-017210.33137/mt.v7i2.33669“Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economyAlicia Massie0Emma Jackson1Simon Fraser UniversityUniversity of AlbertaDrawing on the social media content of four pro-oil Facebook groups, we argue that these ‘subsidized publics’ play an increasingly critical role in facilitating oil and gas companies’ continued accumulation of fossil capital. We adopt O’Shaughnessy and Krogman’s (2011) analytical framework to reveal material-discursive contradictions obscured from view in the pages of these online groups. Through deploying gendered and familial discourses, these subsidized publics celebrate traditional gender roles, present oil as a ubiquitous and benevolent force, and blur the divide between oil and gas workers on the one hand, and absentee transnational employers on the other. In an era of advanced neoliberal petro-capitalism, these quasi-public entities are masking the inherently unequal power relationship that exists between the two. Moreover, in projecting a working-class ethos, we argue that these familial and gendered discourses create a homogenizing narrative, advancing the false notion of a “classless and horizontally beneficial” industry (Gaventa, 1982, p. 58). Our analysis disrupts neoliberal representations of de-gendered extraction and highlights the extent to which gender remains a key axis within resource communities.https://mediatropes.com/index.php/Mediatropes/article/view/33669oil sandsfamilismextractionsubsidized publicsfeminist media analysisgender |
| spellingShingle | Alicia Massie Emma Jackson “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy MediaTropes oil sands familism extraction subsidized publics feminist media analysis gender |
| title | “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy |
| title_full | “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy |
| title_fullStr | “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy |
| title_short | “Standing Up for Canadian Oil & Gas Families”: Tracing Gender, Family, and Work In the Alberta Petro-economy |
| title_sort | standing up for canadian oil gas families tracing gender family and work in the alberta petro economy |
| topic | oil sands familism extraction subsidized publics feminist media analysis gender |
| url | https://mediatropes.com/index.php/Mediatropes/article/view/33669 |
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