Unpacking Cultural Conceptions of Rivers: A contrast between New Zealand's Whanganui River and Canada's St-Lawrence River.


Manuel Vallee, University of Auckland

A symbolic-interactionist perspective emphasizes that culture plays a central role in how we view environmental entities (such as trees, rivers, soil, etc.), and that these views, in turn, profoundly shape how we interact with those entities. For instance, if culture inclines us to conceptualize trees as providers of oxygen, erosion control, biodiversity, carbon dioxide absorption, and other indispensable eco-system services, we will be inclined to be more reverent towards trees, reduce activities that harm them, and pursue actions to protect them for current and future generations. Conversely, conceptions of trees that do not consider their numerous services makes people more inclined to treat them in utilitarian terms (such as mere lumber resources), or, worse yet, obstacles to personal beautification agendas (such as eliminating trees to fashion million dollar views). Given culture’s significant role in shaping environmental behaviour, it behooves sociologists to study dominant conceptions of environmental entities, and the impacts they have on our behaviour. A symbolic interactionist perspective also encourages us to view dominant conceptions as social constructions, which includes understanding who seeks to create/shape the dominant conceptions, as well as the strategies and tactics they use to achieve their ends. Useful in this regard is Gary Alan Fine’s “naturework” concept, which refers to the everyday work that people pursue to convert the environment into culture. While Stella Capek calls for a specific focus on the naturework that dominant institutions (such as corporations, media companies, and government agents) carry out to perpetuate dominant conceptions, there is also a need to understand the naturework carried out by citizen groups and others who contest dominant conceptions. Lastly, there is a need to understand how struggles over dominant conceptions are mediated by contextual factors, such as cultural history, legal systems, and economic activity.  This paper will endeavour to do three things. First, it will illuminate the dominant conceptions of rivers in the Euro-centric countries by comparing conceptions associated with Canada’s St-Lawrence river with those associated with New Zealand’s Whanganui river. The Whanganui is a unique case as it first river in the world to be granted legal personhood (in 2017). This uniqueness helps cast in relief the conceptions associated with one of the world’s largest rivers, and will tease out the taken-for-granted assumptions about rivers in the Euro-centric world. Second, the paper will discuss the implications of the different conceptions, including those for environmental behaviors (including polluting activities), as well as implications for environmental, cultural, and social sustainability. Third, the paper will examine the processes behind the social construction of the conceptions. This will include tracing who was behind the Whanganui case, why they sought legal personhood for the river, what strategies they pursued towards that end, and what enabled them to succeed. As well, it will include a discussion of social forces and processes that perpetuate the dominant conception of the St-Lawrence river. Finally, the paper will consider what would be required for the St-Lawrence and other rivers in the Euro-centric world to one day gain legal personhood. The paper will contribute to the “Culture and the Environment” section by illuminating the profound impact that culture plays in shaping both environmental behaviour and our capacity to live sustainably. As well, by examining the Whanganui example, the paper will present a pathway through which dominant cultural conceptions of nature can be transformed to reduce our environmental destructiveness and increase our capacity to live sustainably.

This paper will be presented at the following session: