Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment
Environmental assessment is an institutional apparatus through which proponents concede harm associated with extractive projects. Within these processes proponents define the nature and scope of harm, which is made visible through the production of indicators and measurements and made manageable thr...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Sociology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.1056277/full |
| _version_ | 1828065360863035392 |
|---|---|
| author | Carly Dokis |
| author_facet | Carly Dokis |
| author_sort | Carly Dokis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental assessment is an institutional apparatus through which proponents concede harm associated with extractive projects. Within these processes proponents define the nature and scope of harm, which is made visible through the production of indicators and measurements and made manageable through mitigation measures or economic compensation. That the activities of extractive industries may have effects on surrounding ecologies is rarely in question; proponents of extractive projects regularly concede that their activities will result in negative (but also positive) changes to environments and communities. What is often contested in the course of environmental assessment and regulatory processes is the “significance” of the impacts identified, the nature of the harm caused, and whether or not it is possible or acceptable to accommodate it. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Sahtu Settlement Area, NWT during the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment, along with regulatory documents and transcripts, this paper examines how proponents and regulatory regimes work to make the impacts of extractive industries visible, and how these logics deviate discursively and materially from many Indigenous peoples' understandings of appropriate relationships between human beings and nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:12:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3b7438c94d540aba15de9c7ec499837 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-7775 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:12:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sociology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3b7438c94d540aba15de9c7ec4998372023-01-13T04:32:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sociology2297-77752023-01-01710.3389/fsoc.2022.10562771056277Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessmentCarly DokisEnvironmental assessment is an institutional apparatus through which proponents concede harm associated with extractive projects. Within these processes proponents define the nature and scope of harm, which is made visible through the production of indicators and measurements and made manageable through mitigation measures or economic compensation. That the activities of extractive industries may have effects on surrounding ecologies is rarely in question; proponents of extractive projects regularly concede that their activities will result in negative (but also positive) changes to environments and communities. What is often contested in the course of environmental assessment and regulatory processes is the “significance” of the impacts identified, the nature of the harm caused, and whether or not it is possible or acceptable to accommodate it. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Sahtu Settlement Area, NWT during the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment, along with regulatory documents and transcripts, this paper examines how proponents and regulatory regimes work to make the impacts of extractive industries visible, and how these logics deviate discursively and materially from many Indigenous peoples' understandings of appropriate relationships between human beings and nature.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.1056277/fullextractive industriespipelinesenvironmental impact assessmentMackenzie Gas ProjectDeneNorthwest Territories |
| spellingShingle | Carly Dokis Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment Frontiers in Sociology extractive industries pipelines environmental impact assessment Mackenzie Gas Project Dene Northwest Territories |
| title | Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment |
| title_full | Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment |
| title_fullStr | Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment |
| title_short | Imposing calculations: The visibility and invisibility of harm in the Mackenzie Gas Project environmental assessment |
| title_sort | imposing calculations the visibility and invisibility of harm in the mackenzie gas project environmental assessment |
| topic | extractive industries pipelines environmental impact assessment Mackenzie Gas Project Dene Northwest Territories |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2022.1056277/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carlydokis imposingcalculationsthevisibilityandinvisibilityofharminthemackenziegasprojectenvironmentalassessment |