RPD Thesis Defence: Angela Asuncion

Angela Asuncion, a Master of Science in Rural Planning and Development student, will defend their thesis research titled “Building Agency in a Landscape of Extraction: The Global Politics of Canadian Transnational Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Local Communities in the Philippines”. A brief description of their thesis research is listed below:

As the world’s dominant actor, the Canadian mining industry has historically been scrutinized for its socio-environmentally egregious operations in the Global South, particularly in mineral-rich nations, such as the Philippines. Canadian multi-national corporations (MNCs) have been known for causing extensive ecological devastation; contaminating critical watersheds; and exhausting areas of its culturally valuable resources. With over 60 percent of large-scale mines operating in ancestral territories in the Philippines, clashing worldviews on land ownership have driven violent confrontations between Indigenous and local communities, national governments, and corporations. This exploratory study aims to examine Canadian corporate mining behaviors in the Philippines. This study employs an action-oriented research approach applied to a single qualitative macro-level case study. Utilizing document review and semi-structured key informant interview methodologies, the research results indicate that international and domestic actors have used the legal system favoring corporate interests to suppress mining resistance and advance neoliberal modes of extraction.

Members of the examination committee will include: Prof. Nicolas Brunet (Advisor, SEDRD), Prof. Silvia Sarapura (Graduate Faculty, SEDRD), Prof. Dominique Caouette (Graduate Faculty, Université de Montréal), and Prof. Ryan Gibson will serve as chair. The thesis defense will take place via video conference on December 3, 2021 from 12.00 – 3.00 pm. The thesis is open to the public and instructions for joining the video conference can be requested from rpd@uoguelph.ca.