Much scholarly work has centered around community in Newfoundland and Labrador. However, comparatively little work has focused on meanings of community. This thesis compares meanings of community in everyday life for people living in a Southern Shore community on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, with the meanings found in scholarly literature and in government documents produced in association with The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS). TAGS was a federal adjustment program responding to the moratoria on groundfish fishing in Atlantic Canada in the 1990s. I draw on Dorothy Smith's feminist theory, which starts from "lived experience" as well as the socioeconomic context of that lived experience as an entry point to illuminating the ideological nature of documents and their links to ruling relations. Smith's discussion of ideology and ruling relations are central to my gender-informed and mediated framework. I explore the contrast between meanings of community in TAGS documents and expert texts looking for lines of fault between these texts and meanings of community in everyday life in a fishing community in Newfoundland.
I use as well Smith's notions of resilience and emergent consciousness to demonstrate that the historical oppressive practices of the ruling group are re-mobilized in TAGS, reflecting society's patriarchal and capitalist ideology generally, and government ideology more specifically. I show the insight of ordinary social actors into the conditions of their existence. My argument is that these concepts are integrally related to community research and policy development.
The research shows that the meanings of community in one community is partly organized by history, geography and gender, and by religious, economic and political regimes. This thesis concludes by exploring the implications of these interpretations for community research and policy development.
Table of Contents
PART I
CHAPTER ONE - Unraveling Meanings of Community
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Context: The Fisheries Crisis
1.2 Theory and Methodology
1.3 A Reflexive Process
1.4 Overview
CHAPTER TWO - Towards a Definition of Community Within a Feminist Framework
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Definitions of community
2.2 Theories of Community
2.2.1 Theory of Community Lost
2.2.2 Folk Society Theory
2.2.3 Social Constructionist Theory
2.3 Newfoundland Community Research
2.4 Constructing a Definition of Community
2.5 Conclusion
PART II
CHAPTER THREE - Resilience and Resistance: Early Settlement by Europeans
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Local History: An Abundance of Connections
3.1.1 Connecting with the Past through the Fishery and the Ocean
3.1.2 Connections to the Early Settlers
3.1.3 A Living History
3.1.4 A Longing for the Old Country
3.1.5 Parallel Lives
3.1.6 A History of Resistance
3.1.7 Strong Women Then and Now
3.1.8 Knowledge and Skills of Early Settlers
3.2 History and Meanings of Community
CHAPTER FOUR - Changing Meanings of Community: The Church
4.0 Introduction
4.1 The Church and Meanings of Community
4.2 The Roman Catholic Church in Community History
4.3 The Roman Catholic Church and Emergent Consciousness
4.3.1 Priests and Power
4.3.2 Holy Powers
4.3.3 The Nuns and Power
4.3.4 The Church and Other Ruling Groups
4.4 The Church and Meanings of Community Today
4.5 Lines of Fault and Political Awareness
CHAPTER FIVE - Changing Meanings of Community: The Fishery
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Mapping the Influences of Fish Merchants
5.1.1 Oppression and Resistance: Contributions to Meanings of Community
5.1.2 Gender Difference and Meanings of Community
5.1.3 Economic Crisis and Community
5.1.4 Confederation with Canada: Struggle for Control of the Fisheries
5.2 Coping with Loss and Disaster in the Fishery
5.3 Conclusion
PART III
CHAPTER SIX - The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy as Ideology: A Textual Analysis of TAGS Documents
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Government Response to the Cod Moratorium: Leading up to TAGS
6.2 Unravelling TAGS Policies
6.2.1 The Cod Crisis as a Labour Market Crisis
6.2.2 Male-Centred Assumptions in TAGS Programs
6.2.3 Labour Adjustment Programs: Resettlement by Another Name
6.3 Post-TAGS
6.4 Conclusion
CHAPTER SEVEN - Everyday Life Under TAGS: Charting Lines of Fault
7.0 Introduction
7.1 A Teenager’s Experience of Ruptures in Everyday Life
7.2 One Woman’s Experience of Ruptures in Everyday Life
7.3 One Man’s Experience of TAGS in Everyday Life
7.4 Lines of Fault
7.4.1 TAGS Ideology of Individualism
7.4.2 TAGS and the Social Regulation and Oppression of Women and Men
7.4.3 TAGS Neglect of Social Relations and Informal Support Systems
7.5 Lines of Fault and Resistance
7.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER EIGHT - Conclusions
8.0 Introduction
8.1 Unravelling Meanings in Scholarly Literature
8.2 Community as Belonging and Connections
8.3 TAGS and Meanings of Community
8.4 Implications for Research and Policy Development
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this work is to explore the social construction of "community" meanings in a Newfoundland fishing village (referred to as Comorra) following the 1992 cod fishery collapse. The research seeks to identify the disconnect between these lived experiences of community members and the government's official definitions found in The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS) documents, while investigating how these discrepancies form ideological "lines of fault" that marginalize local perspectives.
- Meanings of community in everyday life vs. official government policy
- Feminist framework application to local history and resilience
- The role of ruling groups (Church, State, Merchants) in shaping community identity
- Analysis of TAGS as an ideological tool that prioritizes individualism over collective support
- The social and gendered impact of economic crises on small fishing communities
Auszug aus dem Buch
1.0 Introduction
During an interview for this project, one man described his experience of community life since the closure of Newfoundland’s northern cod fishery in 1992 as “living on the other side of nowhere.” A woman likened her experience to “being lost”. Don’t know where you are from one day to the next.” These descriptions conveyed a sense of loss and uncertainty about the future of their community that pervaded the interviews I conducted for this research – thus my reason for choosing the title.
This book unravels multiple meanings of community in the narratives of research participants from a single, Newfoundland fishing community (known in this book as Comorra). Comorra was chosen primarily because it is dependent on the inshore fishery and was severely affected, as were hundreds of other communities, by the fisheries crisis. Comorra’s population of nearly 1,000 is almost all of Irish Catholic ancestry and has been sustained for generations by the inshore fishery. I documented the narratives of thirty individuals in Comorra and participated in many community gatherings as well as everyday community life. The narrators were fifteen women and fifteen men of varying ages, income levels, and marital status. Three people, two females and a male, agreed to be interviewed at length in order to provide deeper profiles of experience. This allowed for intimate exploration of how the sudden closure of a key industry, the northern cod fishery, upon which Comorra had depended for centuries, influenced research participants’ sense of that community in the years following that closure. Their stories document their experience of community, their struggles and strengths, their insights and conflicts as well as revealing contradictory discourses and acts of resistance.
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER ONE - Unraveling Meanings of Community: This chapter introduces the research context, focusing on the impact of the 1992 cod moratorium on Comorra and the author's methodological approach to unravelling community meanings.
CHAPTER TWO - Towards a Definition of Community Within a Feminist Framework: This chapter explores theoretical definitions of community and outlines the feminist, social-constructivist framework used to analyze the research findings.
CHAPTER THREE - Resilience and Resistance: Early Settlement by Europeans: This chapter examines the early historical foundations of Comorra, emphasizing how past experiences of oppression and resistance shape current community identity.
CHAPTER FOUR - Changing Meanings of Community: The Church: This chapter analyzes the shifting role of the Catholic Church in the community and how recent clergy scandals have contributed to new political awareness and lines of fault.
CHAPTER FIVE - Changing Meanings of Community: The Fishery: This chapter investigates how historical merchant dominance and the fishery's management have influenced community cohesion, economic struggles, and the current perceptions of loss.
CHAPTER SIX - The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy as Ideology: A Textual Analysis of TAGS Documents: This chapter provides a critical analysis of government policy documents to uncover the individualistic and male-centred ideologies embedded in TAGS.
CHAPTER SEVEN - Everyday Life Under TAGS: Charting Lines of Fault: This chapter details the personal impacts of TAGS on residents, highlighting the tension between state-mandated individual adjustment and the community's collective need for support.
CHAPTER EIGHT - Conclusions: This chapter synthesizes the research, discussing the broader implications of the findings for future community research, policy development, and the importance of recognizing the agency of local populations.
Keywords
Community, Newfoundland, Fisheries, TAGS, Social Construction, Feminist Theory, Dorothy Smith, Cod Moratorium, Ruling Relations, Ideology, Lived Experience, Individualism, Resistance, Resilience, Policy Development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The book investigates the varied meanings of "community" as understood by residents of a specific Newfoundland fishing village, Comorra, specifically in the aftermath of the 1992 northern cod fishery collapse and the subsequent government intervention, TAGS.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The research covers the historical roots of community, the role of institutional powers like the Church and fish merchants, the impact of federal fisheries policy (TAGS), gendered labor roles, and the social construction of resilience and resistance.
What is the central research question?
The research asks how meanings of community are constructed in everyday life, how these meanings contrast with the "official" definitions held by government institutions, and how these disjunctures create ideological "lines of fault."
Which methodology does the author employ?
The author utilizes a qualitative, feminist, and reflexive methodology based on the work of Dorothy Smith, combining participant observation, in-depth interviews, and a critical textual analysis of government policy documents.
What is addressed in the main part of the book?
The main part of the book explores the historical evolution of the community, the influence of the Church and merchants, the ideological analysis of TAGS policy, and personal profiles documenting the lived experience of residents under the moratorium.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include Newfoundland, community, cod moratorium, TAGS, social construction, ruling relations, lived experience, and resistance.
How does the author define a "line of fault" in this context?
A "line of fault" refers to the disjuncture between the actual lived experiences of local people and the objectified, "neutral" knowledge produced by government and bureaucratic institutions to administer these communities.
What is the significance of the title "Living on the Other Side of Nowhere"?
The title is a direct quote from a research participant, reflecting the profound sense of loss, disorientation, and uncertainty experienced by community members regarding their future following the collapse of the fishing industry.
- Citar trabajo
- Sharon Taylor (Autor), 2001, Living on the Other Side of Nowhere, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/177413
