Resisting Neo-Liberalism: the Poisoned Water Disaster in Walkerton,           Ontario

Snider, Laureen

doi:10.1177/0964663904042554

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This occurs because the public must believe that experts have properly calibrated their tests (to pick up contaminants at levels where they begin to cause health problems in humans), have tested for all possible contaminants (tests cannot detect what they are not programmed to detect), and will communicate even borderline results efficiently to the public, rather than keeping them hidden in order to avoid inciting "panic." However, as Snider (2004) finds, neoliberal government reforms have drained money and resources away from public officials responsible for such testing, as well as for training of these individuals and reporting regulations (often considered bothersome "red-tape" in the neoliberal context). The result is a lacuna of information for local residents who worry that their immediate environment may be contaminated, but do not have the resources to generate and mobilize their own knowledge about environmental risk and contamination.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The River is Not the Same Anymore": Environmental Risk and Uncertainty in the Aftermath of the High River, Alberta Flood

Haney¹,

McDonald‐Harker²

2018

Preprint

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Even when individuals are aware of and well educated about environmental issues like climate change they often take little action to mitigate these problems. Yet catastrophic events, like disasters, have the potential to rupture or disrupt complacency toward environmental problems, forcing individuals to consider the potential effects of human activity on the environment as they expose how environmentally harmful practices put people at risk. This article is based on focus group interviews with 46 residents of High River, Alberta, a rural community hardest hit by the 2013 Southern Alberta flood. It examines if and how experiencing the flood prompted residents to think about the environment or interact with it in new ways. Findings suggest that residents voice a contradiction- while they believe that pre-flood human activity like deforestation, river diversion, and home-building altered the environment and placed communities like their own at risk, they also argue that natural forces like disasters are immune to human efforts to control them. Residents feel their environment is less stable and predicable since the flood, and they worry more about toxicity and associated environmental health risks. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for environmental sociology and public policy.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The River is Not the Same Anymore": Environmental Risk and Uncertainty in the Aftermath of the High River, Alberta Flood

Haney¹,

McDonald‐Harker²

2018

Preprint

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“…In a case study of a poisoned water disaster in Canada, Snider (2004) focused on competing ways of framing the neoliberal drive for deregulation and privatization. Thus, for example, she showed that advocates of deregulation consistently emphasize commitments that they frame in terms of being “results‐oriented,” “cost‐effective,” and “flexible.” In this process of reframing, “voluntary action” replaces “harsh penalties,” being “responsive to stakeholders” replaces the traditional “command and control” regulatory model, and notions such as “partnership between adults,” “contract between equals,” and “culture of trust” replace “regulatory rules and red tape.” Similarly, at the Forum meetings there were many exchanges in the course of which “responsibility” was framed as “maintaining good relations with stakeholders,” “social responsibility” was framed as “social involvement,” “society” was framed in terms of “communities,” and “social change” was framed as addressing the needs of communities.…”

Section: The Forummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Language As Initiation: Learning To Speakmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind the Gap: The Commodification of Corporate Social Responsibility

Shamir

2005

Symbolic Interaction

104

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This article, based on two years of participant observation, in‐depth interviews, and informal exchanges, offers an ethnographic account of a nonprofit organization that promotes the idea of corporate social responsibility. It follows the ways and means by which midlevel corporate executives are initiated into the universe of “corporate citizenship,” learning to deploy terms such as “stakeholders,” “brand loyalty,” “social investment,” and “community empowerment.” Through an analysis of workshops, lectures, and ceremonial events, I show how the idea of social responsibility is transformed into a managerial tool, designed to enhance employee loyalty and to improve brand loyalty. From a constructivist sociological perspective, I also show that the idea of corporate social responsibility, when framed and advocated by a corporate‐friendly organization, fits the neoliberal emphasis on corporate self‐regulation.

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“…With the advent of the failures in Walkerton, political divisions widened. The crisis acted as a catalyst for an array of counter-Harris interests among environmental groups, educational/legal élites, trade unions and citizens (Snider 2004). The Walkerton tragedy was also one of the reasons behind Harris's resignation in April 2002 and the failure of his successor, Ernie Eves, to get re-elected in October the following year.…”

Section: The Politics Streammentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Colin Perkel's book, Well of Lies, on the Walkerton tragedy argues that ''[i]n criticizing public inquiries as a cumbersome, ineffective, and seemingly never-ending process, Premier Mike Harris might have misjudged the man chosen to lead it, Dennis O'Connor'' (Perkel 2002: 201). The risks to public water supplies, in conjunction with O'Connor's leadership, meant that the inquiry was able to investigate and construct narratives around the pillars of modernism (science and the law), avoiding accusations of politicization yet nevertheless being critical of the Harris government, its budget cutbacks at the Ministry of the Environment and the privatization of water laboratories (Snider 2004). Therefore, the O'Connor-led investigation was clearly a catalyst for change, although -as indicated -we must exercise some caution in seeing the investigation as a revolutionary indictment of the Harris years.…”

Section: The Politics Streammentioning

confidence: 99%

Do crises help remedy regulatory failure? A comparative study of the Walkerton water and Jerusalem banquet hall disasters

Schwartz¹,

McConnell²

2009

Can Public Adm

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This study explores whether and how policy changes in the aftermath of a crisis. The authors ask why pre-existing regulatory regimes that are identified as contributory factors to "failure" are not necessarily reformed in the wake of a crisis. The investigation adds to the literature that addresses the classic tension between reformism and conservatism in post-crisis periods. Regulatory failure is identified as being largely responsible for two crises - the tainted drinking-water tragedy in Walkerton, Canada, and the collapse of a banquet hall in Jerusalem, Israel. Despite similarities in the nature of media coverage, institutional procedures for investigation and commission findings, these two tragedies differ dramatically in policy change outcomes. A policy streams prism is used to identify, characterize and analyse reasons for very different policy responses to crises associated with regulatory failure

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Resisting Neo-Liberalism: the Poisoned Water Disaster in Walkerton, Ontario

Abstract: This article examines how relations of governance generate particular forms of resistance, and the mechanisms through which resistance can reconfigure governance.

Cited by 27 publications

References 34 publications

“The River is Not the Same Anymore": Environmental Risk and Uncertainty in the Aftermath of the High River, Alberta Flood

“The River is Not the Same Anymore": Environmental Risk and Uncertainty in the Aftermath of the High River, Alberta Flood

Mind the Gap: The Commodification of Corporate Social Responsibility

Do crises help remedy regulatory failure? A comparative study of the Walkerton water and Jerusalem banquet hall disasters

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