Mining as Canadian Nation-Building: Contentious Citizenship Regimes on the Move

Abstract

This article presents Canadian mining abroad as an imperial, nationbuilding practice that can be traced to state discourses. In analyzing state discourses, it is argued that an ideal citizenship regime is constructed, in part, due to a specific set of values and identities. This citizenship regime is corporate in nature, and operates as a vehicular idea that facilitates the flow of travelling technocrats, minerals and capital by reshaping the policies and practices of host nations. In the discourses examined, it becomes clear that the Canadian state actively forms both the conditions for the expansion of nation-building projects and actively participates in securing and promoting contentious mining projects. By mobilizing corporate citizenship, Canada remains committed to managing resistance movements that pose a risk to accumulation instead of addressing corporate impunity. The article concludes by considering how MiningWatch Canada and the movements they support create fissures in the corporate citizenship regime.