This thesis examines Alberta and Manitoba sugar beet farms as carceral sites for displaced
Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Previous literature has focused on the
relocation of Japanese Canadians but has not addressed the many distinct sites that marked the
boundaries of incarceration for Japanese Canadians. By exploring issues of citizenship and
history, this thesis examines the many ways that regulation was imposed on Japanese Canadians
by state and extra-state organizations and individuals. This subject was explored using critical
discourse analysis of the Calgary Herald and the Winnipeg Free Press for a twelve month period
beginning February 1, 1942, two months prior to the announcement of the Sugar Beet
Programme and ending January 31, 1943, as original beet contracts covered only the 1942 crop
year.
My analysis follows two major themes: sugar beet farms as carceral sites and the use of
citizenship narratives to both legitimize and erase Japanese Canadian labour. Utilizing Fbucault's
notion of 'carceral', I show how disciplinary strategies were used to strip Japanese Canadians of
their social, economic and political citizenship. While Japanese Canadians were never formally
incarcerated, I argue that the term carceral needs to be reworked in order to include losses of
liberty that are not formally sanctioned. I examine newspaper reports regarding official state
policy, local community responses, protests and individual letters to the editors, and conclude
that, indeed, Japanese Canadians underwent surveillance, supervision, constraint and coercion,
all markers of incarceration.
Citizenship discourses were a crucial tool of both state and non-state agencies. Further,
'whiteness' was central to these discourses. Citizenship discourses such as patriotism and duty
were directed at 'white' citizens to encourage their acceptance of Japanese Canadian relocation.
Further, these same discourses were used to recruit a volunteer 'white' labour force. However,
despite the significant contributions of Japanese Canadians to this wartime industry, never were
these types of discursive rewards or the subsequent material benefits offered to them. Further, the
voices of Japanese Canadians were also silenced by the media. Thus, Japanese Canadians
became invisible and silent workers who could claim no voice and thus, no membership in the
nation. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/16585 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Ketchell, Shelly D. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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