Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Throughout the twentieth century, glaciologists and geophysicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden made important scientific contributions across the Arctic and Antarctic. This research was of acute security and policy interest during the Cold War, as knowledge of the polar regions assumed military importance. But scientists also helped make the polar regions Nordic spaces in a cultural and political sense, with scientists from Norden punching far above their weight in terms of population, geographical size or economic activity.

This volume presents an image of Norden that stretches far beyond its conventional limits, covering a vast area in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Sea, as well as parts of Antarctica. Rich in resources, scarce in population, but critically important in global and regional geopolitics, these spaces were contested by major powers such as Russia, the United States, Canada and, in the Antarctic, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and others. The empirical focus on Danish, Norwegian and Swedish influence in the polar regions during the twentieth century embraces a diverse array of themes, from the role of science in policy and diplomacy to the tensions between nationalism and internationalism, with clear relevance to the important role science plays in contemporary discussions about Nordic engagement with the polar regions.


"1122760923"
Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Throughout the twentieth century, glaciologists and geophysicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden made important scientific contributions across the Arctic and Antarctic. This research was of acute security and policy interest during the Cold War, as knowledge of the polar regions assumed military importance. But scientists also helped make the polar regions Nordic spaces in a cultural and political sense, with scientists from Norden punching far above their weight in terms of population, geographical size or economic activity.

This volume presents an image of Norden that stretches far beyond its conventional limits, covering a vast area in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Sea, as well as parts of Antarctica. Rich in resources, scarce in population, but critically important in global and regional geopolitics, these spaces were contested by major powers such as Russia, the United States, Canada and, in the Antarctic, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and others. The empirical focus on Danish, Norwegian and Swedish influence in the polar regions during the twentieth century embraces a diverse array of themes, from the role of science in policy and diplomacy to the tensions between nationalism and internationalism, with clear relevance to the important role science plays in contemporary discussions about Nordic engagement with the polar regions.


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Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

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Overview

Throughout the twentieth century, glaciologists and geophysicists from Denmark, Norway and Sweden made important scientific contributions across the Arctic and Antarctic. This research was of acute security and policy interest during the Cold War, as knowledge of the polar regions assumed military importance. But scientists also helped make the polar regions Nordic spaces in a cultural and political sense, with scientists from Norden punching far above their weight in terms of population, geographical size or economic activity.

This volume presents an image of Norden that stretches far beyond its conventional limits, covering a vast area in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Sea, as well as parts of Antarctica. Rich in resources, scarce in population, but critically important in global and regional geopolitics, these spaces were contested by major powers such as Russia, the United States, Canada and, in the Antarctic, Argentina, Australia, South Africa and others. The empirical focus on Danish, Norwegian and Swedish influence in the polar regions during the twentieth century embraces a diverse array of themes, from the role of science in policy and diplomacy to the tensions between nationalism and internationalism, with clear relevance to the important role science plays in contemporary discussions about Nordic engagement with the polar regions.



Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472409713
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date: 10/28/2013
Series: The Nordic Experience
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 21 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Sverker Sörlin is Professor in the Division of History of Science and Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and Senior Researcher at Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden. In 2004 his two-volume history of European science and ideas from 1492-1918 won the August [Strinberg] Prize for the best non-fiction book of the year. His most recent book in English is Nature's End: History and the Environment (with Paul Warde) (2009).

Sverker Sörlin, Peder Roberts, Klaus Dodds Lize-Marié van der Watt, Julia Lajus, Stian Bones, Julia Lajus, Urban Wråkberg, Kirsten Thisted, Jessica M. Shadian, Anders Houltz, Dag Avango, Aant Elzinga, Lisbeth Lewander.


Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction: Polar extensions - Nordic states and their polar strategies, Sverker Sörlin; Part I Bipolar Extensions: the Geopolitics of Nordic Presence in the Arctic and Antarctica: Ice diplomacy and climate change: Hans Ahlmann and the quest for a Nordic region beyond borders, Sverker Sörlin; Nordic or national? Post-war visions of polar conflict and cooperation, Peder Roberts; ‘But why do you go there?’ Norway and South Africa in the Antarctic during the 1950s, Peder Roberts, Klaus Dodds and Lize-Marié van der Watt. Part II Eastward Extensions: Russia and the Nordic Nations: Field stations on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in the European part of Russia from the first to second IPY, Julia Lajus; Science in-between: Norway, the European Arctic and the Soviet Union, Stian Bones; Linking people through fish: science and Barents Sea fish resources in the context of Russian-Scandinavian relations, Julia Lajus; Science and industry in northern Russia from a Nordic perspective, Urban Wråkberg. Part III Westward Extensions: Greenland and the Ambiguities of Sovereignty: Discourses of indigeneity: branding Greenland in the age of self-government and climate change, Kirsten Thisted; The Arctic gaze: redefining the boundaries of the Nordic region, Jessica M. Shadian. Part IV Cultural Extensions: Ideas and Institutions: Displaying the polar nation: Nordic museum exhibits and polar ambitions, Anders Houltz; Heritage in action: historical remains in polar conflicts, Dag Avango; The Nordic nations in polar science: expeditions, International Polar Years and their geopolitical dimensions, Aant Elzinga; The Nordic Arctic periphery: fragments from field work; Lisbeth Lewander; Index.


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