The thesis examines aspects of the construction of methylmercury as an authoritative object of knowledge for Chisasibi, a Cree community on the James Bay coast in northern Quebec. I describe the evolution of a particular set of spheres of exchange which mediate economic relations between the Cree communities, the governments of Quebec and Canada, and state and corporate structures tied to the state. Knowledge claims about mercury can be seen as situated among claims of injury in a moral economy which is based on conflict over the James Bay hydro-electric project. The politicization and subsequent medicalization of these knowledge claims are described. Finally, I trace the emergence of particular concepts of 'normality', 'risk' and 'risk group' in medical and technocratic discourses about the effects of methylmercury on Canadian aboriginal populations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.69675 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Scott, Richard T. (Richard Tolchard) |
| Contributors | Young, A. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Anthropology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001392146, proquestno: AAIMM91773, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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