Diamonds are Forever: Extraction, Subsistence, and the Northern Mixed Economy

Canadian diamonds, mined primarily in the Northwest Territories, have come to represent the “ethical” alternative to the so-called “blood diamonds” of elsewhere. In particular, the industry has been lauded for its commitment to consulting Indigenous communities, and contracting Indigenous businesses and workers.

The diamond mines were established in the context of the northern mixed economy, which combines Indigenous and settler governance structures, and modes of production. Drawing on her fieldwork in the Yellowknife region, Dr. Hall will discuss the impact the diamond mines have had on the complex social relations that make up the mixed economy, women’s experiences of the diamond mines, and demonstrates that the romance and purity ascribed to Canadian diamonds runs counter to the colonial continuities evident in this new northern extractive regime.