This is a book about power in small places, its perceptions and realities; where these conflict and where they come together. Based on research conducted on Canada's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the chapters analyze the interaction of people and environment in coastal settings, the way power operates now, and how it has operated in the past. The book covers a wide range of natural resource issues and people's responses to change. It insists on a holistic perspective that recognizes the vital importance of social and ecological interconnectedness. This work breaks old disciplinary constraints and mirrors the ways in which people, the places in which they live, and the culture that sustains them are a seamless whole.

This book is part of "Coasts Under Stress," a research project concerned with the impact of social and environmental restructuring on environmental and human health. The project is an initiative between Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Victoria, funded by SSHRC and NSERC.