The Bakken Blind Field: Investigating Planetary Urbanization and Opaqueness in the Oil and Gas Fields of Eastern Montana

Abstract

This work advances the critical urban studies literature on “planetary urbanization” by emphasizing the everyday struggles experienced by the people who live in and through planetary transformations. Specifically, we empirically investigated people in eastern Montana who experienced the intensive and extensive oil and gas production of the Bakken Boom via interview and survey data. In the process, we interrogated Lefebvre’s notion of the “blind field” and conclude that what we call the Bakken blind field represents a deeply engrained “habit of the mind” that functions for the energy industry as a means of neutralizing the transformative potential that always lurks in response to persistent socioenvironmentally exploitative practices. We suggest that the degree of illumination that results from personal hardships can determine the degree to which local exploitation is rejected (or accepted) as a necessary result of living with oil and gas.

本文旨在推动对全球城市化的批判城市研究，关注身处、或者经历过全球化转变的人们的日常挣扎。特别地，通过采访和调查数据，我们经验性地研究了美国蒙大拿州东部，那里的人们经历了Bakken页岩油气繁荣带来的大规模石油和天然气生产。在此过程中，我们拷问了Lefebvre的“盲场”观点。所谓的Bakken盲场，是根深蒂固的惯性思维，是能源工业用来抵制改变其掠夺社会环境行为的一种手段。我们认为，个人困难导致的亮度，决定了对开采的反对（或接受）程度，是我们与石油天然气共存的必然结果。

Este trabajo amplía la literatura de estudios urbanos críticos sobre la “urbanización planetaria” haciendo énfasis en las luchas cotidianas que deben acometer quienes viven dentro de procesos de transformación planetaria. De modo específico, investigamos empíricamente a gente del oriente de Montana que experimentó la producción intensiva y extensiva de petróleo y gas del Boom Bakken, por medio de entrevistas y estudio de datos. Durante ese proceso, pusimos a prueba la noción de Lefebvre del “campo ciego” y concluimos que aquello que denominamos el campo ciego de Bakken representa un “hábito de la mente” profundamente arraigado, que funciona para la industria energética como uno de los medios para neutralizar el potencial transformador que siempre acecha en respuesta a prácticas de explotación socioambientalmente persistentes. Sugerimos que el grado de ilustración que resulta de las dificultades personales puede determinar el grado con el cual se rechaza (o acepta) la explotación local como algo necesario asociado al vivir con petróleo y gas.

Key Words:

• energy
• geography
• political ecology
• rural
• urban

关键词:

• 能源
• 地理
• 政治生态学
• 乡村
• 城市

Palabras clave:

• ecología política
• energía
• geografía
• rural
• urbano

Acknowledgments

The research team is appreciative of the people of Montana living within the Bakken field of oil and gas development. This project was dependent on their willingness to meet with us for extended conversations and their willingness to return completed surveys. We also thank the following scholars for their help with field activities: Shanna Lewis (undergraduate research assistant at Montana State University, Billings) and Drs. Jamie McEvoy and Nick Bergmann (both with Montana State University). Finally, we thank Dr. Joseph Hoover (Montana State University, Billings) for creating the map that appears as Figure 1, as well as Drs. Luke Ward (Rocky Mountain College) and Damon Hall (University of Missouri) for their comments on an earlier version of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (Award Number P20GM103474), via Montana IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE), and it was further supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) via the Montana Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR; Cooperative Agreement IIA-1443108 and EPS-1101342). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, Montana INBRE, the National Science Foundation, or Montana EPSCoR.

Notes on contributors

Susan J. Gilbertz

SUSAN J. GILBERTZ is a Professor of Geography in the Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies at Montana State University Billings, Billings, MT 59101. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include continuity within, and disruptions to, rural senses of place. She often focuses on narrative structures and components, especially as they can explain competing interests among members of Montana’s communities. She works collaboratively with local groups whose needs intersect limited, and sometimes damaged, public resources. Her work is often sponsored by such groups and by and state and federal authorities whose multiple jurisdictions intersect riverine contexts.

Matthew B. Anderson

MATTHEW B. ANDERSON is an Associate Professor in the Geography, Anthropology, and Planning Department at Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA 99004. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests, broadly speaking, are focused on the political economy of the contemporary U.S. city, the politics of water provision and governance in the U.S. Northwest, and critical social and spatial theory. His current research examines the dynamics of rent in gentrifying neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon, the environmental impacts of oil and gas production in eastern Montana, and the dynamics of water planning initiatives in Montana’s Yellowstone River Basin. In each case, he examines emergence and evolution, particularly in terms of the ways in which governing actors respond to rapidly changing sociopolitical conditions and economic realities.

Jason M. Adkins

JASON M. ADKINS is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Social Sciences and Cultural Studies at Montana State University Billings, Billings, MT 59101. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include public opinion, with a focus on racial and religious identity, using original survey data. He also is the director of the annual Mountain States Poll that surveys residents of Montana and Wyoming on various political issues.