Power from the north : territory, identity, and the culture of hydroelectricity in Quebec / Caroline Desbiens ; foreword by Graeme Wynn.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover -- Contents -- List of figures -- Foreword : Ideas of North / by Graeme Wynn -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction : Looking North -- Part 1. Power and the North -- 1. The nexus of hydroelectricity in Quebec -- 2. Discovering a new world : James Bay as Eeyou Istchee -- Part 2. Writing the Land -- 3. Who shall convert the wilderness into a flourishing country? -- 4. From the 'Roman de la Terre' to the 'Roman des Ressources' -- Part 3. Rewriting the Land -- 5. Pioneers -- 6. Workers -- 7. Spectators -- Conclusion: Ongoing stories and powers from the North -- Notes -- Selected bibliography -- Index.

In 'Power from the North', Caroline Desbiens explores how this culture of hydroelectricity helped shape the material landscape during the first phase of the James Bay Hydroelectric Project. She analyzes the cultural forces that contributed to the transformation of the La Grande River into a hydroelectric complex. Policy makers and Quebecers did not, she argues, view those who built the dams as mere workers - they saw them as pioneers in a previously uninhabited landscape now inscribed with the codes of culture and spectacle.

Includes some text in French.

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