Work

In the name of profit: Canada's Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve as economic development and colonial placemaking

Year: 2026

Type: report

Abstract: Taking a critical heritage approach to naming and placemaking in contemporary Canada, we discuss how the power to name reflects the power to control people, their land, their past, and ultimately their future. Our case study is the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve (MABR), a recently invented place on Vancouver Island, southwest British Columbia. Through analysis of representations and landscape, we explore MABR as state-sanctioned branding, where a dehumanized nature is packaged for and marketed to wealthy ecotourists. Greenwashed by a feel-good "sustainability" discourse, MABR constitutes colonial placemaking and economic development, representing no break with past practices.

Source: VIUSpace (Vancouver Island University Library)

DOI: 10.25316/kgks-e988

Authors: Richard Hutchings, Marina La Salle

Language: English

Topic: Cultural Identity and Heritage

Subfield: Archeology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Vancouver Island University

OpenAlex ID: W2604618248

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Related to: 1