RESOURCE

Framing space as a resource has shaped societies’ relationship to space, land, and human life in multiple ways. A resource implies a specific usage and value that are strategically determined in order to fulfill certain goals established by an individual or a group of people. In a utilitarian sense, a resource produces tangible profits. For a long time, outer space has been considered by nation-states as filled with resources. The Space Race that marked the Cold War era went from being a national affair of a few states to becoming the capitalist endeavor of private companies that profit from projecting satellites into the sky. It can be argued that exploration - whether on Earth or beyond - is the first step of extractivism; and in the process of exploring ‘unchartered (outer)territories’, the land, planets, and their resources are appropriated through mapping and naming.

The consideration of outer space as a resource is linked to colonial projects that have taken place on our planet. The doctrine of Terra Nullius that undergirded the colonization of Indigenous lands in the Americas and that allowed space stations to be built and used for spatial missions was also applied to outer space. Perceiving outer space as empty has created the possibility for nation-states to extract their resources for profit cumulation on Earth, at a time when natural resource reserves are becoming scarce. They have been framed (and promoted) as potential safe havens that can sustain humanity and produce wealth in an uncertain future. In the history of global imperialism since the 1500s, the ‘so-called’ discovery of resources has been the main purpose of human extractive activities that are needed to sustain colonial powers’ energy demands. In this sense, framing space or land as a resource is reductionist because it attributes value to the land insofar as it produces something profitable and measurable. This phenomenon is most apparent in (but not exclusive to) capitalistic economies and political powers motivated by profit.

Though we might be critical of the very notion of resource in this research, we consider it because it speaks volumes of the unsustainability of current land usages and human activity on Earth. We are speaking of resources because we are running out of them. However, resource scarcity also highlights a major anomaly in capitalism as a global system where it is manufactured out of abundance in order to create needs for more extractivism and production that would generate additional profits for a few nation-states and allow the system to sustain itself. In reality, it is more about an unequal distribution of wealth and resources than it is a problem of resource scarcity. Notwithstanding, extractivist forms of land use seldom mitigate the risks of resource scarcities as a result of overexploitation and the disastrous effects they may have on the environment and the people it sustains - which are reduced to mere afterthoughts. This does not mean that there aren’t other views of land usages that are framed outside of capitalistic goals. Understanding humans’ relationship to land in terms of resources is absent from many Indigenous cultures in the Americas, where trees and rivers are considered as persons. In this sense, anything that comes from the land is respected as having its own agency. However, these practices have been forgotten or erased as part of global capitalist expansion. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see Indigenous nations in Canada today endure the consequences of extractivism on their traditional territories - where important energy sources of the country are located.

Environmental degradation as a result of resource extraction does not only affect remote Indigenous communities. It is also present in urbanized and densely-populated areas. A good example of environmental degradation in Montréal is the Saint Lawrence River. The 1960s was a disastrous decade for the river because of the extractivist activities - including the building of the underground transit network and the 1967 World Fair - that took place in and around the island. In order to allow these large-scale projects to happen, the municipal government allowed the release of toxic substances in the Saint Lawrence without much concern for the environmental and health concerns that they would bring to the local wildlife and the city’s population. Though this disregard for the environment is less tolerated today, it is precisely the idea of the land as a resource that determines why governments are willing to turn a blind eye to the contamination of natural environments when it means an international exhibition or a hydroelectric project can be built to generate profit.

However, resource scarcity in the face of current global energy needs can be used as an opportunity of redress and for doing things differently and more sustainably. This brings to the fore the creativity of certain communities when dealing with the consequences of resource scarcity. Les Valoristes, for instance, used resource scarcity to enact new relationalities with waste materials such as discarded aluminum cans, and plastic and glass bottles. The co-op provided an environmental-friendly solution to the current shortage in silica by recycling used bottles and cans that contain this material. It also promoted financial independence for its members by turning material waste like empty cans into a marketable resource that created streams of income for them. Though only one in five of Les Valoristes members is homeless, their activities are a testimony of how a resource can be used to benefit people who have existed on the fringe of society. They re-appropriate the urban territory and strengthen their community through harvesting waste. Their regained sense of agency is a direct result of investing meaning into what can be considered elements of urban detritus. As a result, it shows that the notion of resource is not always a black or white matter. Though the concept is rooted in capitalist and colonialist systems that benefit from sustaining socio-economic inequalities and environmental degradation, it can also be used to challenge these very systems and imagine sustainable ways to relate to nature and society.