Alternate routes, new pathways: Development, democracy and the political ecology of transportation in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

A number of recent studies in the emergent field of urban political ecology have examined the role of discourse and symbolic representations of nature and the city in conflicts over urban development and infrastructure. In my dissertation, I expand upon this approach to consider why and how social movements mobilize counter-hegemonic narratives that challenge prevailing notions of development, democracy and nature. Through a case study of the decades-long conflict over the Red Hill Creek Expressway in the (post) industrial city of Hamilton, Canada, I trace the historical development of alternative narratives. I demonstrate how these narratives have been articulated through representations of urban nature, in a dialogical relationship with a hegemonic narrative of growth and progress. I argue that environmental discourses should not be treated as static political positions but must be understood through the interplay between competing narratives as they draw upon and influence each other, including attempts to modify or co-opt particular ideas and symbols. My research presents a methodological framework based on the historical analysis of political frames and ideologies, examining how the language of sustainability, development and democracy was appropriated, altered and re-appropriated over the course of this conflict.My dissertation research applies this approach to three areas that have yet to receive much attention in the field of urban political ecology: transportation infrastructure, industrial cities, and colonialism. Through my analysis of the Red Hill Creek Expressway conflict, I show how the development of transportation infrastructure is shaped by changing political economic conditions and normative representations of urban nature that are grounded in the unique socio-ecological history of this region as a steel-manufacturing centre. Further, I argue that conflicts over urban development and transportation in a Canadian context cannot be understood without considering the colonial relationships, past and present, between indigenous peoples and non-Aboriginal Canada. As I demonstrate, the interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal activists in this case challenges prevailing conceptions of environmentalism, along with related understandings of citizenship, democracy, and development in ways that point towards a post-colonial political ecology.