Coastal Labrador: Incorporation, Exploitation and Underdevelopment

House. J.D.
Publisher:  Department of Sociology, Memorial University, St. John's, Canada
Year Published:  1980  
Pages:  5pp  
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX2283

This paper was first presented for the 5th International Seminar on Marginal Regions in Dublin, Eire, July, 1979.

Abstract:  This paper was first presented for the 5th International Seminar on Marginal Regions in Dublin, Eire, July, 1979. The paper argues, "……that the contemporary history of Labrador, that is, its history since Europeans and their North American descendants started going there in the sixteenth century, has to be understood in terms of a changing drama of interactions among the natural resources of the region, the peoples native to Labrador ( Indian, Inuit, Settlers) and European/North American outsiders interested in exploiting the resources for their own use."

The author distinguishes between subsistence resources (for personal use and barter), commercial resources (labour-intensive capital gain) and industrial resources (capital-intensive economic gain). The natives of the region have lived on the basis of the subsistence resources and some commercial resources. The conflicts have increased and intensified since the beginning of the development of the industrial resources.

This analysis is further detailed in two subsequent papers. "Coastal Labrador II: Resisting 'Development' and the Emergence of a Regional Identity". and "Big Oil & Small Communities in Coastal Labrador: The Local Dynamics of Dependency". Both papers stress the need on the part of native Labradorians to revitalize the traditional bases of local economies because these sectors provide the greatest opportunity for self-sustaining growth based on renewable resources.

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