In the 1980s, Phil Bellfy pondered the question: Why does Sault, Ontario, appear to be so prosperous, while the "Sault" on the American side has fallen into such a deplorable state? Could the answer be that the "American side" was little more than a "resource colony"--or to use the academic jargon of "Conflict and Change" Sociology--an "Internal Colony."

In UP Colony, Bellfy revisits his graduate research to update us on the state of the Sault. The ultimate question: why has the U.P.'s vast wealth, nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States, left the area with poverty nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States? None of the conventional explanations from "distance to markets," to "too many people," to "disadvantageous production costs," have any credibility. Where did the $1.5 billion earned from copper mining, $1 billion from logging, and nearly $4 billion in iron ore go?

To get to the bottom, Bellfy looks at the possible economic pressures imposed by "external colonial powers." The pressure-points examined in this book include the presence of a complementary economy, lopsided investment in one sector, monopoly-style management, disparity of living standards, a repressive conflict-resolution system, and the progressive growth of inequality over time.