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Recently, scholars have begun to explore questions of regionalism and regionalization in rural contexts. Regionalism is often understood and presented as a pragmatic solution to intractable problems of fragmentation, inefficiency, accountability, spillover and neglect in the face of economic restructuring and other external threats. These arguments have long been deployed in the top-down restructuring of rural public administration; for example, the amalgamation of service districts to keep schools, hospitals and other facilities open in the face of declining population. At the same time, regionalization may be understood as a "means" or process of becoming through the formation of new and shared regional identities, "structures of expectation" and institutions. Between 1996 and 2004 the number of municipalities in the Canadian Province of Ontario was reduced by more than 40 percent from 815 to 445. Evidence suggests that many of these amalgamations were undertaken reluctantly. In this paper we examine the issue of regionalism from the perspective of one rural municipality--the former silver mining centre of Cobalt, Ontario--that has resisted amalgamation. We argue that its resistance to amalgamation is a consequence of the conflictual social relationships that have been inscribed into the landscape over the past century. Using documentary and archival materials, supplemented by contemporary survey and ethnographic data, we trace how successive generations of miners, mine-owners, government officials, politicians and residents have constructed Cobalt as a distinct place. We show that this oppositional identity belies the extent to which the town and its citizens are embedded in regional housing, labour and consumer markets. (Contains 4 tables.)

Energy production is, without doubt, a subject of enormous economic importance and public interest in North America. Consequently, energy topics are widely reported in American and Canadian news media. This [...]

Objective: This study builds on research linking work culture and drinking behavior to examine the influence of the military work environment, especially deployment and liberty, on heavy and heavy episodic drinking among career enlistees and officers. Method: Both quantitative (self-administered cross-sectional survey data collected from 2,380 respondents) and qualitative (home-base and shipboard observations and ethnographic interviews with 81 enlisted and officer personnel) methods provided data. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between occupational factors (enforcement of alcohol policy, work problems, work-related stress, and length of deployment) and positive normative beliefs for heavy drinking during deployment liberty. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between positive normative beliefs and four drinking-related outcomes (past 12-month Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition [DSM-IV], alcohol abuse and frequent heavy drinking, and heavy drinking and heavy episodic drinking during most recent deployment liberty). Results: Occupational factors were significantly related to positive normative beliefs for heavy drinking during deployment liberty; in turn, positive normative beliefs were significantly associated with each drinking outcome. Although the prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse differed significantly between men and women (28.2% vs 15.1%), as did the prevalence for frequent heavy drinking (13.7% vs 8.9%), no gender differences were found in the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking or heavy drinking during the most recent deployment liberty. Ethnographic results provided descriptions of the cultural context of drinking behavior in relation to ambivalent alcohol policy, relief from work-related stress, ritual of free-range behavior on deployment liberty, and long-standing traditions. Conclusions: Prevention measures in the military may require policy and environmental changes., ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AMONG the world's military, particularly navies, has a long history of tolerated drinking traditions and rituals, including the daily grog ration (Pack, 1983). Concern about alcohol abuse within [...]

The former silver mining town of Cobalt, Ontario (pop. 1,128), has four history museums. The museums, created at different times and by different constituencies, reflect citizens' ongoing efforts to revive the town and imagine its urban future. Over the past 50 years, residents have also engaged in multiple attempts to establish the town as a mining heritage tourism destination and/or to reestablish mining. Although the museums are implicated in both aspirations, we argue that they work to situate the memory work of local history within discrete spaces. While the museums have been recruited to support tourism and heritage efforts, they sit uncomfortably within grander schemes to remake the town as a tourist destination. Indeed, we argue that the museums serve as tactics, per de Certeau, to contain and restrict tourism‐oriented development. As vernacular spaces where residents have recorded local histories, the museums serve as statements about both what the town should be and what it should not be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]