impact of culture and social inequality on risk communication : a case study of the roseau river anishinabe first nation, southern manitoba
abstract
this thesis examines the sociocultural factors that influenced risk perception and
risk communication among the residents of roseau river anishinabe first nation in
southern manitoba during the flood of 1997. i discuss the limitations of the technical
assessment of risk and the need to understand the cultural contexts in which risks are
framed and debated. i discuss how risk communication occurs within specific cultural
contexts and how the people of roseau river chose risks other than flooding as their
focus for concern.
this research is based on both primary and secondary data collection. primary
data sources include: i) a household survey of flood risk communication in the roseau
river anishinabe first nation community; 2) personal interviews with several residents
and key informants in the community of roseau river; and, 3) ethnographic field notes
from three visits to the community. secondary data sources include social science
literature on the social construction of risk and risk communication studies, and scholarly
and popular descriptions and analysis of the flood and its consequences.
similar to other studies, this research confirms that risk is socially constructed and
furthers our understanding of how persistent disagreements about risk have their origin in
different belief and value systems. the residents of roseau river had a different
dialogue of risk than other communities. this dialogue involved a rhetoric of rectitude
and a call for justice. i argue that risk is best understood when the social context of
framing is considered, rather than simply focusing on the physical or technological
agents. for the people of roseau river the flood of 1997 was more about injustice and
government policy than it was about floodwaters and property damage. my data supports the argument that culture plays an important role in framing of risk, i discuss that for the
people of roseau river, floodplain management is ultimately the product of a public
policy, the indian act, whose main thrust has always been, and continues to be, the
assimilation of aboriginal people. i argue that it is not risk from flooding but risk of
dependence that distresses the people of roseau river.
based on statements made by community members and the results of the
household survey, i argue that the members of roseau river must be consulted in the
development of future floodplain management policy. for these people, risk
communication is not about disaster warnings; it is about having a seat at the table during
policy formation. policymakers must open effective two-way communication between
themselves and the people of roseau river. effective communication must incorporate
the roseau river language of risk and not be biased towards a more technical language
of risk. this community must be supported in its efforts to rebuild and to heal.
rediscovery of culture and renegotiation of self-determination efforts must be
encouraged from within the community and from canada.
further research needs to be undertaken regarding the social construction of risk
in first nation communities. whether it is natural hazards like flooding in roseau river
or technological hazards like pollution or resource depletion. aboriginal people
continually struggle for protection from the imminent dangers they face. there is a need
to examine the various contexts in which aboriginal people negotiate risk. this may
provide us with solutions for minimizing risk and improving risk communication for aboriginal peoples.
collections
- retrospective theses [1604]