The Rock Where We Stand: An Ethnography of Women's Activism in Newfoundland

267 Pages·2000·13.73 MB·English

by  Glynis George

THE ROCK WHERE WE STAND
An Ethnography of Women's Activism in Newfoundland
Bay St George in western Newfoundland is a region shaped by the
establishment of the Earnest Harmon American Air Force Base and a
boom-and-bust economy. This ethnography explores how women at the
Bay St George Women's Council deal specifically with the issues of
poverty, single motherhood, child sexual abuse, and domestic violence,
and examines the interplay of feminist and Newfoundland identifica-
tion among these individuals.
Drawing on fourteen months of observation and interviews with
women at the council, Glynis George provides a much needed, specifi-
cally Canadian, contribution to ethnocultura! and feminist studies. The
research situates the particular concerns and political activism of these
women in this rural region of Canada within the larger context of
economic restructuring and neo-liberal economic and social policies
that continue to marginalize women in Canada and around the world.
Avoiding the common pitfall of folklorization in rural ethnographic
studies, The Rock Where We Stand represents a unique and innovative
contribution to the field.
(Anthropological Horizons)
GLYNIS GEORGE is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, University of Windsor.
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The Rock Where We Stand
An Ethnography of
Women's Activism in Newfoundland
GLYNIS GEORGE
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2000
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-4764-5 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8020-8317-X (paper)
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
George, Glynis R. (Glynis Rosamonde), 1964-
The rock where we stand: an ethnography of women's activism in Newfoundland
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-4764-5 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-8317-X (pbk.)
1. Feminism — Newfoundland — Bay St. George. 2. Women political activists —
Newfoundland - Bay St. George. 3. Women social reformers - Newfoundland -
Bay St. George. I. Title.
HQJ236.5.C2G46 2000 305.42'09718 C99-933077-2
The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts
Council.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and
Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publish-
ing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry
Development Program (BPIDP).
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Between Home and Field: Feminist Activism at the
Grass Roots 3
2 Gender, Ethnicity, and Labour before and after the
'Carefree Years' 23
3 Re-creating Home: The Local Construction of
Feminist Practice 59
4 Contextualizing Dependency: Single Mothers and
Feminist Politics 94
5 Sexual Abuse and Violence: Contested Meanings and the
Politics of Narrative 131
6 Grass-roots Activism and Feminist Politics 163
7 Rethinking Community: Feminist Activism and
Sustained Settlement 198
8 Conclusion 219
vi Contents
Notes 237
Bibliography 243
Index 255
Acknowledgments
This book and the field research I conducted for it benefited from the
sustained support and interest of numerous people. I extend my grati-
tude to Dorothy Inglis and Gordon Inglis for their hospitality in St
John's and for directing me westward, to Bay St George, and facilitating
my introduction to members of the Bay St George Women's Council. I
am indebted to residents of Bay St George for sharing their experiences
and insights with me and particularly to members of the Women's
Council, who included me in all activities. Two council members, Joyce
Hancock and Pegjones, whose insights are woven throughout this book,
ensured my integration within the community and included me in their
own family. Council members were extremely helpful, patient, and open
to ongoing dialogue with me, in particular, Sarah Ogletree, Sharon
Whalen, Michelle Skinner, Yvonne Gillingham, Rita Greene, Maria
Renouf, Stella Campbell, Cindy O'Neil, and Susan Fowlow. I also thank
Gilbert Higgins for providing me access to local archives and for his
sustained interest in my project. In St John's, Marilyn Porter, Peter
Sinclair, and Rex Clark offered helpful advice and I was welcomed by
members of the Anthropology Department at Memorial University.
In Toronto, numerous people have provided ongoing interest in and
support of my research, including faculty in the Department of Anthro-
pology: Gavin Smith, Krystyna Sieciechowicz, Michael Lambek, Rich-
ard Lee, Bonnie McElhinney, Janice Boddy, and Peter Carstens. Janice
Boddy insightfully pointed to the importance of 'home' in my study, and
Gavin Smith drew attention both to the social and economic context in
which ideas and activities are situated and to the significance of place
viii Acknowledgments
and regional economies. My discussions with Gavin Smith over the last
several years greatly influenced my intellectual development and have
challenged me to maintain a rigorous and theoretical engagement with
political and social realities. My debates with Gordon Inglis and Dorothy
Inglis were important in developing and rethinking my understanding
of the importance of Newfoundland 'distinctness.' I had invigorating
and challenging arguments with Gerald Sider, who helped me to de-
velop a 'voice' for the themes I address here. My discussions with Bonnie
McElhinney were useful for situating my work within a larger context of
feminist scholarship. I also thank anonymous reviewers for their useful
comments. Funding for this research was provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
I am especially grateful for the personal support of friends: June
Larkin, Fatima Correia, Christabelle Sethna, Pauline Aucoin, Albert
Schrauwers, and Nick Harney. Members of the political-economy work-
ing group (in particular, Belinda Leach, Winnie Lem, Claudia Vicencio)
provided an important context for me to develop this study.
I am most grateful to my former thesis supervisor, Professor Stuart B.
Philpott, whose friendship and wisdom I value greatly, for his persistent
reminder to 'tell the story.' I owe as much to him as to the women of Bay
St George for generating the spirit behind this ethnographic study. He
made himself available to listen and, along with Diana Philpott, pro-
vided much needed support and comfort while I wrote this book.
Finally, my family deserves thanks for their various contributions: I
thank my mother, Patricia, for her detailed editing; my brother, Tom, for
his computer 'know-how'; my sister Meredith for allowing me to 'bor-
row' her computer without too much complaint; and, for general sup-
port, my sister Mickey, rny sister-in-law Eileen, and my father, Michael.
Together, they cleaned out the cabin at our cottage on a warm summer's
day, so that my writing would not be too interrupted by the boundless
enthusiasm of my nieces and nephew.
THE ROCK WHERE WE STAND
An Ethnography of Women's Activism in Newfoundland