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CALL FOR PAPERS: CRITICAL ARCTIC STUDIES SYMPOSIUM 2023
Post-Human Dialogues: Rethinking human-nature relations in and through the Arctic
We live in the age of polycrisis (or permacrisis), characterised by the combination of long-term, complex and intertwined risks related, inter alia, to health, energy, climate change and economic shocks. New imaginaries, practices and knowledge are necessary to cope with this situation. Although the Arctic is often viewed as a showcase of ongoing global change, research on Arctic politics and governance tends to be very state-centric, and it often overlooks how non-state actors and non-human agents shape those processes. To challenge traditional approaches, this symposium invites critical, interdisciplinary perspectives that seek to expand our understanding of human-nature relations in and through the Arctic. The Symposium aims to reflect on and explore novel notions and approaches to the human-nature relationship from various onto-epistemological, normative, and methodological perspectives. We welcome papers discussing post-human approaches to Arctic politics from the perspective of social sciences, humanities, law, geography, and related fields.
Submission of abstracts: until March 31, 2023
Submission of full papers: until October 1, 2023
Symposium: October 10-12, 2023
More information: https://www.arcticcentre.org/cas2023
New book: Critical Studies of the Arctic. Unravelling the North
A new book Critical studies of the Arctic. Unravelling the North edited by Marjo Lindrooth, Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen and Monica Tennberg is now published by Springer. The book identifies and investigates some of the blind spots in human development in the Arctic that research in the social sciences had yet to broach. It offers a comprehensive outline of critical perspectives (aesthetics, affects, biopolitics, etc.) and ways to apply them in the Arctic context.
The Northern Political Economy Symposium 2022
The Northern political economy symposium 2022 – Making sense of the Arctic world in turmoil was held on November 22-23 in Rovaniemi and online.
CAS roundtable at the Arctic Circle Assembly
CAS organised a roundtable “Introducing Critical Arctic Studies” at the 2022 Arctic Circle Assembly. More information here.
New book: The Colonial Politics of Hope. Critical Junctures of Indigenous-State Relations
In their new book published with Routledge, CAS members Marjo Lindroth and Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen examine the entanglements between hope and politics and the ways in which hope has become a tool for the exercise of power. The book brings together studies on indigenous–state relations, social scientific discussions on hope, and critical postcolonial, feminist and governmentality analyses.
Marjo Lindroth ja Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen (2022) The Colonial Politics of Hope: Critical Junctures of Indigenous-State Relations. Routledge, Interventions.
Call for Panelists: CAS early career scholars panel at the Arctic Circle
The Arctic Studies department of the University of Iceland is looking for doctoral students wishing to participate to the Arctic Circle Assembly this year (Oct 13-16). The aim is to organise a public panel gathering PhD students who would discuss their work and the significance of Critical Arctic Studies within their projects.
If that is of any interest to you, please submit your paper titles/short descriptions by May 13th to the following adresses :
gap9 @ hi.is
grikey @ hi.is
jww3 @ hi.is
Panel Title: New insights for a New Arctic? Critical Arctic Studies in practice
Panel Description: A transforming Arctic region demands greater critical engagement, perhaps more than ever before. Between accelerating environmental and social change, recent geopolitical evolutions and ever-moving debates surrounding the role of science, the new generation of scholars is facing increasingly complex considerations in its work. Could critical approaches be an answer? In this panel, early career scholars discuss their PhD projects, including the significance of critical approaches and insights to their research aims, design and/or methods.
Building CAS community
An online discussion was organized on 27 April 2022 to discuss what critical Arctic studies means, why it is needed, what it is in practice and for whom by the UArctic TN Critical Arctic Studies (CAS). Altogether 19 participants from Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and USA participated in the event. The programme included short introductions by the representatives of the partner institutes followed by lively discussion. The aim of the event was to build the CAS community and plan activities for the near future.
Doctoral dissertation: The concept of the Arctic is often taken as a given
Joonas Vola defended his doctoral dissertation ”Homunculus: Bearing Incorporeal Arcticulations” at University of Lapland on 22 April 2022. In his dissertation, Vola investigates Arctic change and the way in which it is described in science, art, and popular communication. The results provide grounds for a novel, a more radical, and a more critical way to address the Arctic region and the Arcticness. More information here.
Thematic Network on Critical Arctic Studies 