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Mining the Heartland: Nature, Place, and Populism on the Iron Range

Online ISBN:
9781479815241
Print ISBN:
9781479815197
Publisher:
NYU Press
Book

Mining the Heartland: Nature, Place, and Populism on the Iron Range

Erik Kojola
Erik Kojola
Texas Christian University
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Published online:
18 January 2024
Published in print:
6 June 2023
Online ISBN:
9781479815241
Print ISBN:
9781479815197
Publisher:
NYU Press

Abstract

Proposals to construct new mines in a historic mining region would seemingly be uncontroversial, but conflict over developing copper-nickel mines in Minnesota’s Iron Range has erupted, entangling the projects in decades-long political battles. The fight has pitted the regions’ mining legacy against its’ history of outdoor recreation and conservation – its next to the beloved Boundary Waters wilderness area. Drawing on ethnography of rural towns, in-depth interviews with people on all sides, and analysis of media and documents, the book digs into the identities, memories, and emotions that animate the conflict a in order to complicate the conventional jobs versus the environment storyline. This is a cultural, social, and political struggle about who defines the past, present, and future of a contested landscape shaped by legacies of colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. This case shows how the intersections of class, gender, race, and place animate the contentious politics of natural resources and conservation, arguing that these controversies matter for broader class and rural-urban divisions, and ascendant right-wing populism in white, working-class communities. The desire to protect a rural and working-class way of life based around masculine industrial jobs drives mining supporters, and is used by industry and politicians to evoke nostalgia and legitimacy. Environmentalists and Native American tribes are critical of the proposed mines that create pollution risks. Yet, there are tensions as some groups focus on protecting wilderness while others prioritize public health, environmental justice, and tribal sovereignty.

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