Knowledge politics in Environmental Impact Assessment
department or school: Science, Faculty of
department or school: Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Barnard-Chumik, Hannah
issued: 2021-01-06T18:44:02Z
issued: 2020
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) faces significant criticism with respect to its scientific approach and oft disjointed legislation. Although appeals for more rigorous science and legally binding obligations for decision-makers are warranted, it is also crucial to acknowledge that regulatory science is situated in specific social, institutional, and political contexts. Therefore, in addition to science and legislation, relevant social processes influence the way in which knowledge is gathered, legitimized, and interpreted, thus affecting regulatory decisions. However, there remains an important empirical gap in understanding how these processes affect knowledge construction in an EIA context. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, I use Situated Analysis to explore the knowledge politics around methylmercury contamination that emerged throughout the EIA of the controversial Muskrat Falls portion of the Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project, situated in Labrador, Canada. I focus on debates about knowledge related to downstream methylmercury impacts, human health, and mitigation measures to reduce the production of and exposure to methylmercury. I find that there are distinct knowledge orders that interact and collide, generating knowledge conflicts about framing of the policy problem, norms of knowledge construction, and reasoning about the policy problem. Using illustrative examples from the Muskrat Falls case study, this work highlights and categorizes knowledge conflicts that may emerge over the course of a controversial environmental regulatory decision. I also argue that power intersects with EIA in a way that privileges some knowledge orders over others. Privileged knowledge orders are often aligned with particular conceptualizations of human health, the environment, and natural resources. In Chapter 3, I propose an educational activity based on the Muskrat Falls case study that enables post-secondary students to explore how Structured Decision-Making (SD…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/76965
note: KNOWLEDGE POLITICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT by Hannah Barnard-Chumik B.Sc., The University of Toronto, 2017 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Resources, Environment and Sustainability) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2020 © Hannah Barnard-Chumik, 2020 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: KNOWLEDGE POLITICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT submitted by Hannah Barnard-Chumik in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Resources, Environment and Sustainability Examining Committee: Dr. Amanda Giang, Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Mechanical Engineering, UBC Supervisor Dr. Jiaying Zhao, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Psychology, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Terre Satterfield, Resources, Environment and Sustainability, UBC Additional Examiner iii Abstract Environmental impact assessment (EIA) faces significant criticism with respect to its scientific approach and oft disjointed legislation. Although appeals for more rigorous science and legally binding obligations for decision-makers are warranted, it is also crucial to acknowledge that regulatory science is situated in specific social, institutional, and political contexts. Therefore, in addition to science and legislation, relevant social processes influence the way in which knowledge is gathered, legitimized, and interpreted, thus affecting regulatory decisions. However, there remains an important empirical gap in understanding how these processes affect knowledge construction in an EIA context. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, I use Situated Analysis to explore the knowledge politics around methylmercury contamination that emerged throughout the EIA of the controversial…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0395478
language: eng
degree discipline: Resources, Environment and Sustainability
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76965