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Arnett, Jamie Michelle

University of British Columbia

In Latin America, economic globalization and neoliberal reform resulted in the appropriation of land for the purposes of large-scale extractivism such as mining and tourism. This has generated local resistance around land and cultural rights, which in turn has been met with violence. In Honduras, the implementation of tourism-based development policy and projects has resulted in land appropriation, the expansion of Canadian-based projects, and the displacement of Garifuna communities. This research utilizes critical discourse and securitization theory to analyze the role that discursive, and political and social practices within development discourse— in relation to political, economic and military/police institutions— play in the creation, implementation and enforcement of economic-based development policies, while also exposing the vast differences between those policies and practices and the lived experiences of local communities. The thesis seeks to uncover how the negative impacts to territorial rights and cultural sovereignty of Garifuna communities along the Northern Coast of Honduras are legitimized by international, state, and corporate institutions through interlocking processes of security and development, despite community resistance. This research provides a dynamic answer to this question by considering several sub-questions regarding Honduras’s political and economic transitions and subsequent reforms, the nature of Canada-Honduran relations, how narratives of development are interlaced through the political and social practice of the state, international financial organizations, and corporate enterprises, and how such narratives diverge from the lived experiences of Garifuna communities. The findings demonstrate that key political and economic transitions occurred in the aftermath of points of crisis at both the global and local level. As a result, the Honduran state, supported by institutions such as IMF, World Bank, and the Canadian government, mobilized developmental priorities via a security agenda. This was achieved by utilizing narratives in support of dominant discourses of development. Examples include poverty reduction, sustainability, and cultural value, which are key concepts used to promote the tourism sector in Honduras. Processes of crisis and recovery in Honduras have served to secure elite groups (states, IFIs, corporations), while simultaneously disrupting or destroying the well-being and security of Garifuna communities of Honduras.

Text

2021-08-19

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79342

Interdisciplinary Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/