Born Again Urbanism

New Missionary Incursions, Aboriginal Resistance and Barriers to Rebuilding Relationships in Winnipeg's North End

Bibliographic Data

ID12979404
AuthorsDavid Hugill (0000-0002-1813-9321, York University, corresponding author), Owen Toews (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
Year2014
Volume7
Issue1
Pages69-84
Publication date2014-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1942-7786 • E-ISSN: 2633-674X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/194277861400700112
OpenAlexW2462992167
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited25

This paper examines the controversy that emerged as the City of Winnipeg debated committing public funds to an evangelical Christian group seeking to build a youth centre in an urban neighborhood with a large Aboriginal population. It traces the emergence of a coordinated opposition to the project and demonstrates why many felt that municipal and federal support was not only inappropriate but also worked to recapitulate longstanding patterns of disregard for the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal peoples. In an era where it has become common for Canadian governments to speak of “reconciliation” we demonstrate how such ambitions continue to be impeded by pervasive logics of governance that work against genuine processes of decolonization. We argue that events in Winnipeg reveal the persistence of longstanding colonial dynamics and demonstrate how such dynamics are exacerbated by the regressive tendencies of the city's neoliberal orientation. We insist that colonial practices and mentalities not only permeate the present but also that they interact with, and are shaped by, the exigencies of actually existing political economies. Ours is an attempt to show how insights about the form and content of urban neoliberalism can be productively engaged with insights about how colonial relations have been reproduced and transformed in the contemporary moment. It is also an effort to demonstrate how such mentalities and practices are being resisted and challenged in important ways in contemporary Canada. Our observations are based on a range of interviews with local activists, politicians and service providers as well as a close reading of a range of political documents available on the public record

Colonialism · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Gentrification · Neoliberalism (international relations · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Urbanism · Gender Studies · History · Homelessness and Social Issues · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Law · Urban Planning and Governance · Ecology

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