Rebuilding rural Newfoundland: Neoliberal discourse and narratives of rural development

This thesis draws on a governmentality approach to explore how rural development has been informed by the emergence of neoliberal governing in Newfoundland and Labrador. I explore how neoliberal techniques, specifically partnership and responsibilization, create an approach to 'community' and set the terms for local engagement in community initiatives. Using critical discourse analysis, I explore how government documents draw on neoliberal discourse to govern rural development initiatives and sketch the effects of this governing on the initiatives of a particular community, Goose Brook. I argue the monolithic approach to neoliberalism, which has been characteristic of governmentality studies, is limited. The neoliberal policy which is embedded in federal and provincial government documents is contested and reproduced by local actors' own interpretations. I conclude that further ethnographic research can bring forth the interpretive possibilities of actors towards modes of governing and can enhance our analysis of neoliberalism as a flexible, porous process.