A political ecology of home: attachment to nature and political subjectivity

Abstract

At the Joint Review Panel (JRP) for Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline across northern British Columbia, many participants presenting oral statements situated themselves as decidedly ‘ordinary’ people, with rich connections to the land and landscape. Without speaking of ownership, they nevertheless made claims to the area as their home through highly detailed articulations of knowledge and experience of its natural features. For some, it was also connected to a collective, indigenous territorial claim. In all cases, we argue that it is an articulation of ‘home,’ and that this formed the basis for the political subjectivity that led to their participation in the JRP hearings. Linking the scholarly literature on home with that of political ecology, in this paper we explore the significance of the assertion of experience and knowledge of the physical environment as the basis to claim it as ‘home’ and to assert a political right to defend it from perceived intrusion.