LE3 .A278 2020

2020

MacNeil, Ryan

Acadia University

Bachelor of Community Development

Honours

Community Development

Community Development

This thesis will tell histories of Springhill, Nova Scotia and thereby explore the role that ‘identity work’ played for the community in its transition from a single-industry, carbon-based economy. Identity work involves “forming, repairing, maintaining, strengthening or revising self-meaning” (Alvesson & Willmot, 2002, 626). Identity work is often left out of community transition planning and this impedes transition efforts (Della Bosca & Gillespie, 2018). In this thesis, I use a critical organization historiography approach to unpack the identity that coal mining culture provided to Springhill. To do so, I immersed myself in the traces of past lives in Springhill and Cumberland County by reading four published history books and over 15 shorter articles and publications, listening to over 20 Nova Scotian coalmining folksongs, and visiting both the Springhill Miners’ Museum and the Springhill Heritage Centre. Throughout the process I allowed music to lead my inquiry and my storytelling. I worked to listen to the voices in the songs and piece together a lived history that incorporates a variety of sources. My use of emotion through music is an advancement of critical organization historiography. This work is a call to consider and incorporate understanding of deep identity in single industry-based communities that are facing the need for transition off of fossil-based economies.

The author retains copyright in this thesis. Any substantial copying or any other actions that exceed fair dealing or other exceptions in the Copyright Act require the permission of the author.

https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3675