Documents that demystify NAFTA, a case study of Canadian NGOs opposing neoliberalism

grantor: University of TorontoThis research is an analysis of 24 anti-NAFTA documents produced by a broad range of Canadian NGOs. It analyzes the content of the anti-NAFTA documents, critiques them as sites of praxis, and reflects on the visions of alternatives which are put forward in the documents. The theoretical framework for the research is in praxis-based theories: Critical Pedagogy, Critical Adult Education, and Popular Education. Gramscian notions of hegemony and counter-hegemony are drawn on, as well as post-structuralist notions of anti-hegemony. The research is consciously embedded within the anti-NAFTA struggle. It is an effort to do research as praxis, and models its structure around cycles of grounding, reflecting, and acting. A key finding is around portrayals of power. The documents construct their readers within "Canadian" and "worker" identities, but visual images portray these communities as weak and powerless in comparison to the United States and Big Business.M.A