Narrating values, persuading government: The unsettled stories of agricultural land ownership in the rural Canadian Prairies

Beingessner, Naomi

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.04.028

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Cependant, et par-dessus tout, le mode de propriété dominant, en milieu rural ou urbain, correspond Melançon JCACS / RACÉC 135 aux modes de propriété se retrouvant ailleurs dans les pays trouvant leurs origines politiques et culturelles en Europe. L'accès à la propriété urbaine ou rurale dépend ainsi avant tout du capital financier et de la capacité à emprunter, qui sont surtout limités pour les nouveaux.elles arrivant.es (Beingessner, 2021;Bhandar, 2018;Turner et al, 2009). Il devient par ailleurs possible de demeurer ou de s'établir dans les régions rurales du fait de la présence d'organismes communautaires et d'écoles à la recherche de personnel pouvant travailler en français.…”

Section: La Relation Au Territoireunclassified

La position contradictoire des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire dans l’ordre colonial canadien

Melançon

2023

JCACS

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Les communautés francophones en situation minoritaire (CFSM) se trouvent dans une situation contradictoire, où elles bénéficient du colonialisme canadien tout en devant lutter pour obtenir la reconnaissance promise dans l’ordre constitutionnel. À l’encontre de la manière dont les francophones tendent à se représenter leurs communautés – à savoir dans une continuation avec une nation canadienne‑française dite colonisée – leurs droits et l’idée de la dualité canadienne sont ancrés à la fois dans un projet colonial français qui se continue au sein des colonialismes britannique et canadien ainsi que dans l’appropriation du territoire et l’effacement de cette appropriation. Les appels à l’action de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation (CVR) du Canada et les appels à la justice de l’Enquête nationale sur les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues et assassinées (ENFFADA) – et plus généralement les relations à créer et à maintenir avec les Peuples autochtones – revêtiront un sens qui émanera donc de ces contradictions. Cet article explique le défi qui consiste à comprendre la participation des communautés francophones au colonialisme par l’entremise de leur relation au territoire, à l’État, aux moyens de reproduction sociale ainsi qu’aux traditions et aux pratiques. Il dégage enfin quelques formes de responsabilités découlant du rôle joué par les CFSM au sein de l’ordre colonial.

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Section: La Relation Au Territoireunclassified

La position contradictoire des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire dans l’ordre colonial canadien

Melançon

2023

JCACS

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“…Many farmers drew upon the idea that the first generation of Euro-Canadian farmers moved to the Prairies to escape from a feudal system with a dream of owning something for themselves. Thus, ownership of farmland by pension funds, big corporations, and absentee landlords can be perceived as recreating a "feudal" system where a few wealthy landowners control the land, and those who work it do not (Beingessner, 2021). This type of discourse has been used by the NFU, which published a report entitled Losing Our Grip (or Serfdom 2.0) in response to investor purchases of farmland, in 2010.…”

Section: Institutional Ownership Of Farmland In Saskatchewanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Land imaginaries” in Western Canada: (financial) neoliberalism, agrarianism, and the contemporary politics of agricultural land

Beingessner

Magnan

Wendimu

2022

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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This article examines contemporary political controversies over agricultural land in the prairie region of Canada. We suggest that contemporary land politics reflect elements of continuity and change in a distinctive “land imaginary” connected to the region’s history and recent restructuring. While neoliberalism, and more recently, financialization, have been the main drivers of restructuring in recent decades, certain strands of agrarianism continue to shape social relations in the agricultural sector. We present three case studies, the first of which examines the controversy over institutional investment in farmland, focusing on the Canada Pension Plan’s large-scale purchase of Saskatchewan land. The second case study examines conflicts over the deregulation of government-run community pastures, with implications for the ranching sector, environmental conservation, and the future of native prairie. Our third case study focuses on the proposed sale and land-use conversion of government-owned pasture land in Alberta, dubbed “Potatogate”. We examine the role of farmers, ranchers, governments, NGOs, and private interests in shaping debates over land ownership and use. We argue that these conflicts reveal a tension between (financial) neoliberalism and agrarian arguments and values, with significant differences across agricultural sub-sectors.

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Envisioning prairie agroecology: Farmer visual constructions of place-based ecological agriculture in Canada

Bowness,

MacInnis,

Desmarais

et al. 2024

Elem Sci Anth

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Climate change is driving new challenges for farmers around the world, provoking a sense of urgency in the search for on-farm solutions and pathways to sustainable agricultural systems. While agroecology has gained recognition as a promising option for climate resilience, it remains nascent in the Canadian Prairies—a significant agricultural region dominated by large-scale conventional agriculture. Amid the sprawling fields of grains and oilseeds primarily destined for export markets, growing farm consolidation, and increased land concentration, farmers committed to ecological principles are building a prefigurative foundation for prairie agroecology. Far from cohering into a unified definition, this article captures what agroecology on the Prairies looks like. Through a community-engaged research design and in consultation with the National Farmers Union of Canada, we explore farmers’ reflections on agroecology and provide a participatory platform for farmer-led constructions of agroecology. Through dialogue with 19 farmers of different farm sizes and production types that began in the 2021 farming season—one marked by drought and extreme heat—we use photovoice, visual elicitation interviews, and participatory video to document and mobilize visual constructions of an emerging prairie agroecology. Despite a shared vision among the farmer participants about the need for a sustainability transition through diversified farming practices, three key questions emerged about the future of prairie agroecology: (1) Can prairie agroecology scale up and out, and if so, under what conditions? (2) To what extent is prairie agroecology possible without dense, place-based social networks? and (3) What are the possibilities for prairie agroecology when the future of farming in the region is uncertain, especially given the changing farmer demographics and Canada’s settler colonial context? We explore these questions and provide reflections on key issues confronting the future of prairie agroecology.

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Narrating values, persuading government: The unsettled stories of agricultural land ownership in the rural Canadian Prairies

Cited by 5 publications

References 26 publications

La position contradictoire des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire dans l’ordre colonial canadien

La position contradictoire des communautés francophones en situation minoritaire dans l’ordre colonial canadien

“Land imaginaries” in Western Canada: (financial) neoliberalism, agrarianism, and the contemporary politics of agricultural land

Envisioning prairie agroecology: Farmer visual constructions of place-based ecological agriculture in Canada

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