Making sense of contemporary Greenland: indigeneity, resources and sovereignty

Strandsbjerg, Jeppe

doi:10.4337/9781781009413.00024

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, up until World War II, Greenland remained isolated. Even the Danes outside state institutions, such as journalists, had to apply for permission to visit the island (Strandsbjerg 2014).…”

Section: Greenlandic Colonial Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenland and the Faroe Islands: Denmark’s autonomous territories from postcolonial perspectives

Kočí

Baar

2021

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In July 2021 Greenlanders will be commemorating the 300th anniversary of Danish colonization. The anniversary has come at a time when the world is facing a wave of reflections on the injustices of colonialism. The article aims to contribute to this discussion and frame the history of Greenlandic dependence on Denmark, considering contemporary political development. For comparison, the authors refer to the Faroe Islands as an additional autonomous territory of the Danish realm. Greenland was a colony until 1953 and acquired autonomy in 1979, while the Faroe Islands have never been considered a colony and gained autonomy more than 30 years earlier (1948). To find further similarities and differences in the postcolonial realities in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, the authors compare both countries, using concepts from literature on postcolonialism. Their findings reveal that the number of differences between Greenlandic and Faroese postcolonial realities outweigh the discussed similarities. The authors conclude that the consequences of coloniality are more serious in Greenland. Furthermore, given Greenland's important strategic location in the Arctic region, Greenlanders should be more wary of world powers exploiting their country for economic profit.

show abstract

Section: Greenlandic Colonial Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenland and the Faroe Islands: Denmark’s autonomous territories from postcolonial perspectives

Kočí

Baar

2021

Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While Greenland requires social impact assessments, these do not refer to indigenous rights at all but instead only ask developers to consider traditional knowledge and land use. As a consequence, the social impact assessments compiled by extractive firms rarely reference indigenous rights (Strandsbjerg, 2014).…”

Section: The Greenland Government's Position On Indigenous Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of international law on natural resource governance in Greenland

Johnstone

2020

Polar Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The paper demonstrates how the evolution of international law on colonial and indigenous peoples, in particular evolving rights to sovereignty over natural resources, shaped the changing relationship between Greenland and the rest of the Danish Realm. Greenland today is in a unique position in international law, enjoying an extremely high degree of self-government. This paper explores the history, current status and future of Greenland through the lens of international law, to show how international obligations both colour its relationship with the Kingdom of Denmark and influence its approaches to resource development internally. It considers the invisibility of the Inuit population in the 1933 Eastern Greenland case that secured Danish sovereignty over the entire territory. It then turns to Denmark’s registration of Greenland as a non-self-governing territory (colony) in 1946 before Greenland’s-purported decolonisation in 1953 and the deficiencies of that process. In the second part of the 20th century, Denmark began to recognise the Greenland Inuit as an indigenous people before a gradual shift towards recognition of the Greenlanders as a people in international law, entitled to self-determination, including the right to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. This peaked with the Self-Government Act of 2009. The paper will then go on to assess competing interpretations of the Self-Government Act of 2009 according to which the Greenland self-government is the relevant decision-making body for an increasing number of fields of competence including, since 1 January 2010, the governance of extractive industries. Some, including members of the Greenland self-government, argue that the Self-Government Act constitutes full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP 2007), but this view is not universally shared. The paper also considers the status and rights of two Greenland minorities: the North Greenlanders (Inughuit) and the East Greenlanders, each of whom has distinct histories, experiences of colonisation, dialects (or languages) and cultural traditions. While the Kingdom of Denmark accepts the existence of only one indigenous people, namely, the Inuit of Greenland, this view is increasingly being challenged in international fora, including the UN human rights treaty bodies, as the two minorities are in some cases considered distinct indigenous peoples. Their current position in Greenland as well as in a future fully independent Greenland is examined, and the rights that they hold against the Greenland self-government as well as the Kingdom of Denmark explored. Greenland’s domestic regime for governance of non-renewable natural resources (principally mining and hydrocarbons) is briefly analysed and compared with international standards, with a particular emphasis on public participation. The paper assesses the extent to which it complies with the standards in key international instruments.

show abstract

“…As co-host of the Ilulissat meeting and a founding member of the ICC, Greenland formally had a leg in both camps. From the official communication of shifting Greenlandic governments it is, however, clear that they seldom emphasize the transnational Inuit ethnic identity nor share the conceptual contestation of the dominant sovereignty understanding (see Gerhardt, 2011; Strandsbjerg, 2014). Rather they ascribe to a civic-national perception of what it means to be a Greenlander and embrace the traditional idea of either/or sovereignty in the strive towards becoming a state.…”

Section: Greenland’s Arctic Sovereignty Gamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Greenland’s Arctic advantage: Articulations, acts and appearances of sovereignty games

Jacobsen¹

2019

Cooperation and Conflict

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Greenland representatives successfully use the renewed international geostrategic interest in the Arctic to enhance Greenland’s foreign policy sovereignty. This is facilitated by Denmark’s dependence on Greenland’s geographic location and continuous membership of the Danish Realm for maintaining the status of an Arctic state, which recently has become one of the five most important security and foreign policy priorities. The dependency gives Greenland an ‘Arctic advantage’ in negotiations with Denmark, while turning circumpolar events into strategic arenas for sovereignty games in the aim to move the boundary of what Greenland may do internationally without Danish involvement. This article analyzes how these games unfold in the Arctic Council, at the high-level Ilulissat meetings and at circumpolar conferences where Greenland representatives articulate, act and appear more foreign policy sovereignty through outspoken discontent, tacit gestures and symbolic alterations. Altogether, this contributes to the expanding of Greenland’s foreign policy room for maneuver within the current legal frameworks, while enhancing Greenland’s international status and attracting external investments, important in their striving towards becoming a state with full formal Westphalian sovereignty.

show abstract

Making sense of contemporary Greenland: indigeneity, resources and sovereignty

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Greenland and the Faroe Islands: Denmark’s autonomous territories from postcolonial perspectives

Greenland and the Faroe Islands: Denmark’s autonomous territories from postcolonial perspectives

The impact of international law on natural resource governance in Greenland

Greenland’s Arctic advantage: Articulations, acts and appearances of sovereignty games

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About