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This thesis examines processes of political change in the Murton miners' and mechanics' branches of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) between 1978 and 1988. During this period both branches swung from the right of the NUM's political spectrum to the left. Recent debates in human geography - and the social sciences more generally - have drawn attention to the importance of place in analysing social developments. However, a review of the literature reveals a surprising lack of detailed studies undertaken at the local level. In order to understand the constraints under which events at a local level take place, it is necessary to place them in context. The coal industry is therefore located at the centre of a complex set of institutionalised relationships between capital, labour and the state known as the "post war settlement" (PWS). As economic crisis deepened in the 1970's, the PWS came under attack. In the coal industry this led to the progressive destabilisation of a characteristic "indulgency pattern" which had built up in the post war years. At Murton, this destabilisation created the room for left wing activists to build support in miners' and mechanics' branches. However, their impact was unevenly distributed among the workforce because miners from different backgrounds were affected in different ways by the crisis in the industry. Cleavages of age and residence led to significant differences in miners' and mechanics' understanding of the crisis facing the industry. This thesis examines the interaction between local union branch leadership, the changing situation in the coal industry, and divisions within the workforce during three distinct periods: from 1978 until the eve of the 1984/5 strike; the strike itself; and the period since the strike until the end of 1988.

This dissertation explores the regulation of abortion in Canada following the landmark R v Morgentaler decision (1988), which struck down Canada’s existing abortion law, causing the procedure’s subsequent reclassification as a healthcare issue. The resulting fragility of abortion rights is still evident in the varying provincial regulations governing the nature of access to the procedure. While access has been accepted as the new terrain of abortion rights, research into this area to date has taken a largely national focus, surveying provincial barriers and compiling lists of potential motivations for differences in service. This dissertation builds on this work through the use of specific case studies of provinces representative of a spectrum of access in Canada – New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Through the use of original interview data, these cases are compared and contrasted on previously enumerated grounds believed to have an influence on the treatment of abortion. By isolating the impact of specific processes responsible for the regulation of abortion, through research into its treatment in politics, law, medicine, and public discourse, this study endeavours to offer a more nuanced explanation for varying levels of provincial access to abortion services. Ultimately it finds that a province’s social climate, characterized by attitudes towards the ongoing rights versus morality debate championed by pro- and anti-choice social movements, has had the greatest impact in shaping public perceptions of the procedure. These attitudes in turn have a profound effect on the nature of provincial access. Using a citizenship framework grounded in social reproduction, which understands anti-abortion politics as elements of backlash against progressive advances in women’s citizenship, this dissertation argues for the need to understand abortion as a right of women’s citizenship to address the precarious treatment of abortion services. Recognition of women’s unique reproductive abilities through a citizenship paradigm is necessary before women can hope to achieve equality. Only when abortion is entrenched as a right of citizenship and this understanding of the procedure is embedded in social perceptions, can women not only be treated as equal citizens, but also understand themselves to be equal citizens. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-22 11:41:49.524