Arn Keeling
BA (Carleton 1996), History
MA (British Columbia 1999), History
PhD (British Columbia 2004), Geography.
SSHRC postdoctoral fellow (University of Saskatchewan, geography)
NSF postdoctoral fellow, (Montana State University, Department of History and Philosophy)
My research and publications focus on the environmental-historical geography of Western and Northern Canada, and include studies of domestic and industrial pollution, environmental politics, and the history of the conservation/environmental movement.
In recent years, my research has explored the historical and contemporary encounters of northern Indigenous communities with large-scale resource developments. I was co-investigator on a multi-site, multi-year project examining abandoned mines in Northern Canada, and recently launched a project on the environmental history of northern contaminants . I am also interested in historical-geographical approaches to environmental science, political ecology and environmental justice.
Phone: 709-864-8990
MA (British Columbia 1999), History
PhD (British Columbia 2004), Geography.
SSHRC postdoctoral fellow (University of Saskatchewan, geography)
NSF postdoctoral fellow, (Montana State University, Department of History and Philosophy)
My research and publications focus on the environmental-historical geography of Western and Northern Canada, and include studies of domestic and industrial pollution, environmental politics, and the history of the conservation/environmental movement.
In recent years, my research has explored the historical and contemporary encounters of northern Indigenous communities with large-scale resource developments. I was co-investigator on a multi-site, multi-year project examining abandoned mines in Northern Canada, and recently launched a project on the environmental history of northern contaminants . I am also interested in historical-geographical approaches to environmental science, political ecology and environmental justice.
Phone: 709-864-8990
less
Related Authors
Interests
Uploads
Books by Arn Keeling
mining industry remains fundamentally unsustainable for two reasons.
First, it has generally been a profoundly unstable base for economic development in peripheral regions of Canada, oft en leaving abandoned
communities and severe environmental damage in its wake. Second, the
long-term downward trend in the quality of ore bodies in Canada (and
globally) has meant that industry must apply more energy and produce more waste rock and tailings in pursuit of ever-shrinking percentages of
valuable minerals. Attempts to rebrand the industry as a sustainable enterprise largely ignore the historical, environmental, and socioeconomic consequences of mining, as well as the fundamental ecological contradictions of our mineral and energy-intensive society.
For indigenous communities throughout the globe, mining has been a historical forerunner of colonialism, introducing new, and often disruptive, settlement patterns and economic arrangements. Although indigenous communities may benefit from and adapt to the wage labour and training opportunities provided by new mining operations, they are also often left to navigate the complicated process of remediating the long-term ecological changes associated with industrial mining. In this regard, the mining often inscribes colonialism as a broad set of physical and ecological changes to indigenous lands.
This collection examines historical and contemporary social, economic, and environmental impacts of mining on Aboriginal communities in northern Canada. Combining oral history research with intensive archival study, this work juxtaposes the perspectives of government and industry with the perspectives of local communities. The oral history and ethnographic material provides an extremely significant record of local Aboriginal perspectives on histories of mining and development in their regions.
Research repository by Arn Keeling
Papers by Arn Keeling
mining industry remains fundamentally unsustainable for two reasons.
First, it has generally been a profoundly unstable base for economic development in peripheral regions of Canada, oft en leaving abandoned
communities and severe environmental damage in its wake. Second, the
long-term downward trend in the quality of ore bodies in Canada (and
globally) has meant that industry must apply more energy and produce more waste rock and tailings in pursuit of ever-shrinking percentages of
valuable minerals. Attempts to rebrand the industry as a sustainable enterprise largely ignore the historical, environmental, and socioeconomic consequences of mining, as well as the fundamental ecological contradictions of our mineral and energy-intensive society.
For indigenous communities throughout the globe, mining has been a historical forerunner of colonialism, introducing new, and often disruptive, settlement patterns and economic arrangements. Although indigenous communities may benefit from and adapt to the wage labour and training opportunities provided by new mining operations, they are also often left to navigate the complicated process of remediating the long-term ecological changes associated with industrial mining. In this regard, the mining often inscribes colonialism as a broad set of physical and ecological changes to indigenous lands.
This collection examines historical and contemporary social, economic, and environmental impacts of mining on Aboriginal communities in northern Canada. Combining oral history research with intensive archival study, this work juxtaposes the perspectives of government and industry with the perspectives of local communities. The oral history and ethnographic material provides an extremely significant record of local Aboriginal perspectives on histories of mining and development in their regions.