Who's counting? Spatial politics, ecocolonisation and the politics of calculation in Boundary Bay

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Article

Publication Date

6-1-2013

Abstract

Answering the simple question, 'who's counting', reveals much about the spatial and cultural politics of ecosystem management. In this paper, I unite the concept of 'ecocolonisation' with the body of work on the politics of calculation. I argue that political technologies - including calculative techniques such as the enumeration of contamination levels - are a form of ecocolonisation that have considerable political effects on Indigenous communities. I explore the ways that historically connected Indigenous communities are divergently impacted by shellfish regulations and water pollution through an investigation of Boundary Bay, which straddles the Canada-US border on the Pacific coast. In closing, I suggest the on-going need to decolonise our understanding of calculative techniques for ecosystem management, and offer a more nuanced interpretation of space that accounts for both traditional boundaries and connected ecosystems. © 2013 The Author. Area © 2013 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).

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