This paper explores representations of nature that emerge through the ecological management of Mildred Lake, Syncrude’s Alberta-based oil sands extraction facility. Examining the ways Mildred Lake’s ecology has been re-presented by site eco-management teams, I argue that technologically produced visions help reproduce the regime of power infusing a state-sanctioned scientific practice of eco-management. ‘Using governmentality theory, Chapter 1 contextualizes activities at Mildred Lake: I show how the Alberta government, tethering the growth of the oil sands to technological innovation, submits eco-management questions to a capital-driven state-developmental framework. Chapter 2 examines how state-sanctioned science is discursively performed through eco-management acts. Chapter 3 uses a case study approach to consider three Mildred Lake eco-management projects: Beaver Creek, the Tailings Pond, and reclamation. While Mildred Lake’s eco-management practices cannot withstand critical scrutiny, they reveal the culturally and ecologically significant transformations of nature required to sustain authority amid the destructive effects of bitumen extraction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/32911 |
| Date | 31 August 2012 |
| Creators | Ritts, Max |
| Contributors | Prudham, W. Scott, Ruddick, Susan M. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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