A few days ago Melanie Hientz emailed me to say that she enjoyed my recent post, Barlow's Bolivia Blather. She found my criticial and constructive analysis of Barlow's statements refreshing since Maude Barlow seems to be an 'uncontested iconic water guru' in Canada.
She went on to say that she had recently completed a Masters thesis in which she explored ten years of media releases posted by Barlow and the Council of Canadians and exposed much of the sensationalist language that Barlow employs (see abstract summary is below).
Here is a summary of her thesis, completed at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario, CA).
The attempt to define a dominant identity narrative in Canada has led to the appropriation of a number of symbols used to suggest nationhood. Exploring the case of bulk water exports in
I asked if I could link to or post a copy of her thesis or journal article and she replied by sending me a PDF:
Download Hientz, M. Liquid Identity- Navigating a Discursive Passage through Bulk Water
I have not read it in its entirety but have gone through a few tens of pages and I enjoyed what I read.
She does refer to NAWAPA and the GRAND [Great Recycling And Northern Development] projects [which I refer to as NARA]. Now those are bulk water exports!
I was naturally drawn to the CoC, a group founded by Maude Barlow and others, including author Margaret Atwood, whose anti-American sentiments have been tempered by her large American audience (so I was told by a friend in the book industry about 10 years ago). Hey, I loved The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye, and The Blind Assassin. Money talks, Margaret. But I digress.
Barlow and CoC have built a large following by injecting water - privatization, commodification, bulk export to the USA - into the public discourse on Canadian nationalism and keeping it there. Since the CoC gets its support solely from the public, it needs to keep harping on these issues, painting them as threats to Canada's security/sovereignty. And the CoC is not reticent to invoke 'morality' in making its point [see page 93].
Hientz notes that Canadians are less resistant to exporting water-containing products (beer, bottled water), virtual water, or natural resources that require water to produce (Alberta tar sands - 3 barrels of fresh water per one barrel of oil) than bulk water. And water is renewable. But that is not surprising - most USA residents would feel the same way.
I want to thank Melanie for allowing me to post her thesis. Unfortunately, doing so has caused me to lose a long-standing bet with my wife. I told her I'd never post an item containing the phrase 'Foucauldian discourse analysis.'
Very interesting and provocative.
"A powerful corporate water cartel has emerged to seize control of every aspect of water for its own profit." -- Maude Barlow, Blue Covenant: the Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, 2007 [cited on p. 8]
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