Exploring dimensions of place-power and culture in the social resilience of forest-dependent communities

Abstract

Over the last decade, the forest industry in Canada has been severely impacted by post-Fordist shifts in economic, political and land-tenure regimes, as well as ecological impacts related to climate change. Because of these impacts, many forest-based communities have lost mills and jobs and have faced difficult challenges about the future of their communities and livelihoods. Drawing on social ecological resilience theory and case study insights from two forest-based communities in British Columbia (Fort St. James and Youbou), this thesis explores community responses to forest industry mill closure. In contributing to a social ecological resilience theory, I explore the way place interacts with power to influence community response to change. I also identify agency, structure, and culture as important elements of collective action and community adaptation. These theoretical discussions are illustrated through case study material to give greater emphasis and understanding to the social dimensions of social ecological resilience in communities that are facing dramatic change.