Search

Rural gentrification, which is linked in particular to the migration and permanent settlement in the countryside of middle-class or affluent urbanites, is increasingly affecting contemporary rural communities. Despite the significance of this trend, the complex and many-sided phenomenon of rural gentrification has hardly been explored in scholarly research in Quebec (Canada), in contrast to the abundant research that exists on this topic in the United Kingdom. Accordingly, the present article will explore different representations by and of the various actors involved vis-a-vis the emergence and polymorphous effects of the gentrification of two regional county municipalities (RCMs) in the province of Quebec: Brome-Missisquoi and Arthabaska. Based on the results of qualitative interviews with the four types of actors (newcomers, long-time residents, directors of local and regional community organizations, and municipal officials), it shows the complexity of rural gentrification at various levels: 1) socio-demographically; 2) in terms of housing and economic impacts; 3) on the community and cultural levels; 4) on the physical, environmental and political levels. The findings demonstrate, among other things, the need to go further than simply portraying gentrifiers and, to this end, we have augmented our analysis with representations provided by other actors affected by rural gentrification. The article also stresses the importance of examining the overall effects of the phenomenon, both negative and positive, with a view to improving our understanding of it. (Contains 1 table.)

The present paper, which is based on the experience of the Baie-Johan-Beetz Solidarity Cooperative, examines the efforts of a small Northern community of 78 residents to empower itself and which, despite its unfavourable geographical location, is developing large projects. To address the issue of local development in Northern living environments, it draws on the literature bearing on centre-periphery models, social innovation and relationships to territory. Situated at the crossroads of academic and citizen-based knowledge, and rooted in fieldwork-related methodology, the paper is built around the story occurring over the last decade of the birth, development and vitality of the Baie-Johan-Beetz Solidarity Cooperative. Set against a backdrop of local struggles fighting the deterioration and closure of local services, the community in question provides an example of the ability to mobilize Northern communities around a collective and socially innovative project. The conclusions underscore the urgent need for change in the Northern governance model, with a view to promoting local development for the benefit of Northern communities, as well as improving relations between Northern and Southern Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a collaborative writing group explores how we, two rivers, express ourselves over time, place and space, our energies long interpreted as veins and arteries carrying the Country's life affirming blood. Voiced as River: I, River, this position reflects a worldview in which interrelationship with living river is normal, and River Spirit is ever‐present. It is a position underpinned by Indigenous narratives as riverine expressions of place‐based love. At times, the article is also voiced as a writing group or individuals, with voices being interchanged where required for smooth reading. We see this as part of the decolonising process, which feels liberating and healing among the writers. Each writer is equally valued as co‐creator, contributor, narrator and story teller. The two rivers, being Martuwarra Fitzroy River (Kimberley, Western Australia) and Unamen Shipu Romaine River (North Shore, Québec, Canada), illustrate a common condition of being, through heritage, life, change and possibility. Through stories and voices, the socio‐scientific implications of colonisation and lost connections become clear, considering the interaction, the dialogue and the cultural synthesis of living water systems that have always incorporated all life forms into rivers of life. As a way of navigating towards wholeness, Aboriginal knowledge systems and narratives for healing are used to bring together findings of this intercultural river learning journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Les gars du coin. Enquete sur une jeunesse rurale. 2005. Nicolas Renahy. Paris: Editions La Decouverte, collection Textes a l'appui/enquetes de terrain, 285 p. ISBN 2-7071-4670-6 Avec Les gars du [...]

Since 2009, Innu members of the community of Ekuanitshit have faced a major hydroelectric project on the Romaine River, an Unamen Shipuin innu-aimunlanguage, integral part of the Nitassinan, their ancestral territory. In this paper, we study the project's impacts on the material and ideational relationship the Innu have with the river. We explore the idea that the project transforms the traditional relationship to territory into a more pragmatic one, marked by economic and political interests. Our analysis reveals that the Innu's territorialities, though partly transformed by increased contact-and sometimes conflict-with hegemonic non-indigenous society, remain anchored in a strong cultural heritage and a deep identification with territory. We argue that these seemingly differentiated conceptualizations, of traditions on the one hand and development on the other, are not incompatible. These conceptualizations comprise dynamic cultural, social, and political territorialities which are thus internal and external, ancestral and contemporary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]