Linguists and other animals

Book reviewed in this article:
Joan Dunayer, Animal Equality: Language and Liberation     

Positive enough? A content analysis of settlement service organizations' inclusivity of LGBTQ immigrants

Little is known about how effective Canadian settlement organizations are in meeting the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) immigrants. The authors conducted a two-stage content analysis of the inclusion of LGBTQ immigrants in 34 settlement organizations in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, and on the delivery of services by nine settlement organizations that self-described as LGBTQ-positive spaces. Stage 1 deductive content analysis findings revealed poor inclusion and support for LGBTQ immigrants. Stage 2 inductive content analysis findings revealed four service priority areas: health/well-being, community connections, advocacy/education, and disability. Recommendations for best practices are discussed.     

First Nations,Métis and Inuit presence in the Newfoundland and Labrador curriculum

This article responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Canada’s 2015 call for the education of Canadians about ‘residential schools, treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada.’ It is an analysis of the Canadian and world studies curricula and texts in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1 of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada. The analysis is based on academic research and consultations with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples (FNMI) educators, educational administrators and knowledge holders. Although there is evidence of reform, as a whole the curriculum suffers from silences and lack of context, problematic placement and associations, the intrusion of settler perspectives, contradiction over judgement about issues related to FNMI peoples and inconsistency that undermine efforts at reform. This article provides guidance to curriculum designers, textbook writers, teachers and administrators participating in the decolonization of education in Canada.     

Contesting meaning: Newfie and the politics of ethnic labelling

The ethnic label Newfie is a site of ideological dispute: for some, it is simply an informal term for residents and expatriates of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, for others it may function as an in–group term of solidarity which takes on negative connotations when used by non–Newfoundlanders, and for still others it is the equivalent of a racial slur. In this study we first trace the history of the term, a fairly recent innovation. We then examine present–day attitudes as expressed in (provincial and national) media discourse and in self–report data. We argue that debate over Newfie is part of a larger ideological struggle concerning the commodification of an ‘invented’ Newfoundland culture, which itself must be understood in terms of Newfoundland’s socioeconomic position as Canada’s poorest province. Finally, we compare the Newfie case to other instances of contested group labelling.     

Above and Below the Water: Social/Ecological Transformation in Northwest Newfoundland

Marine fisheries and fishing societies develop around the resources provided by a particular ecosystem. As they exploit these resources, fisheries transform the ecosystem, which pushes fishery and society to adapt in turn. This process is illustrated by fisheries, ecological and social data tracking dramatic changes on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula and its adjacent marine ecosystem, the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. There a longstanding fishery for cod and other groundfish collapsed in the 1990s, and was replaced by fisheries targeting invertebrates. The new invertebrate fisheries have different socioeconomic characteristics than the former groundfish fisheries. The shift in target species reflects deep ecological changes that were underway at least a decade before official recognition of the crisis. Our analysis of biological data reveals that the main ecological changes occurred during the glory years of the 1980s, when Newfoundland's domestic fisheries were at their peak. Overfishing and interactions with adverse climatic conditions drove the changes. As the ecosystem transformed, human population declined due to outmigration, and social indicators show signs of distress. Accounts by outport residents paint a generational picture of social change.     

Above and Below the Water: Social/Ecological Transformation in Northwest Newfoundland

Marine fisheries and fishing societies develop around the resources provided by a particular ecosystem. As they exploit these resources, fisheries transform the ecosystem, which pushes fishery and society to adapt in turn. This process is illustrated by fisheries, ecological and social data tracking dramatic changes on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula and its adjacent marine ecosystem, the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. There a longstanding fishery for cod and other groundfish collapsed in the 1990s, and was replaced by fisheries targeting invertebrates. The new invertebrate fisheries have different socioeconomic characteristics than the former groundfish fisheries. The shift in target species reflects deep ecological changes that were underway at least a decade before official recognition of the crisis. Our analysis of biological data reveals that the main ecological changes occurred during the glory years of the 1980s, when Newfoundland's domestic fisheries were at their peak. Overfishing and interactions with adverse climatic conditions drove the changes. As the ecosystem transformed, human population declined due to outmigration, and social indicators show signs of distress. Accounts by outport residents paint a generational picture of social change.     

Unwelcoming communities: youth observations of racism in St. John's,Newfoundland and Labrador,Canada

While studies of racism have focused primarily on large urban centres, its effect on young visible minorities living in smaller centres has only recently been given increased attention. Using data collected from over 850 surveys, this article will analyse junior and senior high school students’ observations of racism. The results suggest that youth living in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada believe that racism is more as a problem at the provincial- and national-level despite overwhelming evidence that they have witnessed it at their school and in their city. While for these youth racism is both fluid and contextual, they also employ a number of strategies in order to appear non-racist.     

Work that –s!: Drag queens,gender, identity,and traditional Newfoundland English

Making use of three data sets of Newfoundland English, this paper uncovers the linguistic and social motivations and strategies used by young speakers to reclaim and re‐shape a traditional, local, relic language feature (verbal –s attachment, as in I goes). While each group that we discuss (young females, drag queens, and a sample of the Newfoundland population) is differently situated with respect to the broader local culture (i.e. they each have their own social identities), similarities and parallels in the reclamation and use of verbal –s indicate important processes that occur in the enregisterment and reappropriation of a salient, traditional linguistic form. Results indicate that the local social and linguistic reconstruction of a speech feature can change a path of decline and prove fertile ground for creating a unique identity that moves toward the global while still motioning to the past of a community.     

Internal Borders as Naturalized Political Instruments

This article explores how internal borders can become naturalized political instruments that are heavily implicated in the extension of state control over rural populations and rural landscapes. It shows how seemingly innocuous instruments such as national parks and hunting and sport fishing regulations can be utilized to create essentialist ecological arguments for the extension of class and urban-based centers of power. Specific examples of these forms of control are illustrated with material from island Newfoundland to show how neo-liberal agendas have been implemented in the name of ecological conservation. These processes create serious disruptions in the historic political ecology of rural areas and obfuscate the anti-ecological practices of contemporary capitalism and neo-liberal forms of government.     

ALL OR NOTHING: VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINAL GAMBLING AND ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN RURAL NEWFOUNDLAND

The sudden collapse of the cod fishery off Canada's east coast in the early 1990s directly affected the livelihoods of more than 30,000 fishers and fish-processing plant workers in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In response to the crisis, the federal government closed the fishery and introduced a series of adjustment programs with the aim of reducing capacity in the industry and encouraging displaced people to seek employment elsewhere. This article examines how a small group of people living in a fishery-dependent region on the east coast of Newfoundland began using free-spending video lottery terminal gambling as a way to engage with these efforts to downsize and restructure their industry. Despite the personal and financial strains that regular gambling often created, the communal spending associated with it became a way in which some people sought to affirm local ties and critique neoliberal adjustment programs designed to encourage mobility, personal ambition, and sound financial management. The power of this critique was, however, contingent on the capacity of the core players to continue to define their behaviour as an exercise in solidarity. This idea was perpetually undermined by government programs and media stories, which presented heavy gambling as an individual weakness or addiction, and by the increasing social stratification that accompanied the restructuring of the fishing industry, making the disparities between gamblers much more difficult to hide.