Bret Edwards

Biography

My dissertation explores the material and discursive transformation of major Canadian airports in the early decades of the jet age and the wider socio-spatial impact of these changes. I argue that multiple, radical shifts in the form, function, and meaning of Canada’s largest and busiest airports between 1960 and 1990 was linked to local and national responses by state and non-state actors to the expansion of jet travel and the rise of a new global aero-mobility that accelerated the movement of bodies across borders. From this, I investigate how the multiple tensions – political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental – that characterized this process of engagement played out in and around airports, collectively altering how these environments were organized, administered, experienced, and negotiated in Canada during the late twentieth century. My dissertation explores the material and discursive transformation of major Canadian airports in the early decades of the jet age and the wider socio-spatial impact of these changes. I argue that multiple, radical shifts in the form, function, and meaning of Canada’s largest and busiest airports between 1960 and 1990 was linked to local and national responses by state and non-state actors to the expansion of jet travel and the rise of a new global aero-mobility that accelerated the movement of bodies across borders. From this, I investigate how the multiple tensions – political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental – that characterized this process of engagement played out in and around airports, collectively altering how these environments were organized, administered, experienced, and negotiated in Canada during the late twentieth century.

Research Interest

History