'Fish and oil don't mix' : power relations at the Bull Arm construction site, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland

Abstract

This thesis attempts to answer the underlying question of the extent to which social actors are constrained to act and think in the ways they do. More specifically, this research examines how a multinational oil corporation negotiated with local residents of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in such a manner that the interests of fishing men and women in protecting their culture and way of life were effectively masked by the industry. These negotiations resulted in the omitting of fishers' grievances from the agenda, the inadequate articulation of fishers' intrinsic interests and the exclusion of women's issues from the negotiation process. Underlying this empirical investigation is a theoretical analysis of social power, in particular the three-dimensional perspective advanced by Steven Lukes. The analysis is based mainly on 78 interviews with fishers and plant labourers, company and government officials, community leaders and other local residents.