Year of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis - Campus Access Only

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Anthropology

Department or School/College

Department of Anthropology

Committee Chair

Kimber Haddix-McKay

Commitee Members

Richard Sattler, G. G. Weix, Janet Finn

Keywords

alaska, fishery, mining

Publisher

University of Montana

Abstract

The Bristol Bay fishery in Southwest Alaska boasts the world’s largest remaining commercial harvest of sockeye salmon (Oncorhyncus nerka). In the previous decade, the transnational mining industry has intensified its efforts to develop open-pit mining operations near the headwaters of the region’s Kvichak and Nushagak river drainages. In light of these pursuits, a multifaceted debate has emerged regarding the environmental and economic future of Bristol Bay and its commercial and subsistence resources. Demonstrating the utilization of legal and media tools, this research examines the diverse concerns raised as local communities both resist and support the prospect of newly arriving industries. Concurrent with existing literature on the emergent digital culture, I argue that communication technologies and cyberactivism are key aspects of contemporary resistance campaigns. Additionally, I attempt to show the social practice of collective action to be implicated in the persistence of cultural and political identities of these coastal fishing communities.

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© Copyright 2011 Amanda Rose Wlaysewski