Rights of Passage: The Intersecting of Environmentalism, Arctic Sovereignty, and the Law of the Sea, 1968-82

Meren, David; Plumptre, Bora

doi:10.3138/jcs.47.1.167

Journal of Canadian Studies

2013

DOI: 10.3138/jcs.47.1.167

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Rights of Passage: The Intersecting of Environmentalism, Arctic Sovereignty, and the Law of the Sea, 1968-82

David Meren¹,

Bora Plumptre²

Abstract: This essay brings environmental and diplomatic history into conversation in order to examine the Trudeau government’s response to the 1969-70 voyages of the oil tanker Manhattan through the Northwest Passage. By passing the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act and extending Canada’s territorial sea to 12 miles, Ottawa successfully instrumentalized the heightened environmental concern of the period in order to press Canadian claims to sovereignty in the Arctic. The essay demonstrates that this custodial appro… Show more

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Cited by 2 publications

References 62 publications

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Connecting Atlantic and Pacific: Theorizing the Arctic

Waller

2018

Atlantic Studies

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This essay sets out to theorize the "new" Arctic Ocean as a pivot from which our standard map of the world is currently being reconceptualized. Drawing on theories from the fields of Atlantic and Pacific studies, I argue that the changing Arctic, characterized by melting ice and increased accessibility, must be understood both as a space of transit that connects Atlantic and Pacific worlds in unprecedented ways, and as an oceanic world and contact zone in its own right. I examine both functions of the Arctic via a reading of the dispute over the Northwest Passage (which emphasizes the Arctic as a space of transit) and the contemporary assessment of new models of sovereignty in the Arctic region (which concentrates on the circumpolar Arctic as an oceanic world). However, both of these debates frequently exclude indigenous positions on the Arctic. By reading Canadian Inuit theories on the Arctic alongside the more prominent debates, I argue for a decolonizing reading of the Arctic inspired by Inuit articulations of the "Inuit Sea." In such a reading, Inuit conceptions provide crucial interventions into theorizing the Arctic. They also, in turn, contribute to discussions on indigeneity, sovereignty, and archipelagic theory in Atlantic and Pacific studies.

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Connecting Atlantic and Pacific: Theorizing the Arctic

Waller

2018

Atlantic Studies

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Debating the Arctic during the Ukraine Crisis – comparing Arctic state identities and media discourses in Canada and Norway

Burke

Rahbek-Clemmensen

2017

The Polar Journal

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Previous studies have argued that domestic factors, including each state's Arctic state identities, may explain why some Western states (e.g. Canada) have been more critical of Russia in the Arctic than others (e.g. Norway). The present study analyses part of the link between Arctic state identities and foreign policy by showing that these identifications affected domestic media discourses about the Arctic in Canada and Norway during the first years (2014-16) of the Crisis. Canada's territorial identification made it difficult for the newly elected Trudeau government to push for a less assertive course vis-à-vis Russia. In Norway, the strong economic discourse coloured early debates about the crisis, but after the widening of economic sanctions against Russia in the summer of 2014, territorial discourses played a more important role. The article thus illustrates that Arctic state identities shape media debates, but that the identifications themselves can change. In general, the article advocates for a comparative approach towards the analysis of Arctic state identities.

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Rights of Passage: The Intersecting of Environmentalism, Arctic Sovereignty, and the Law of the Sea, 1968-82

Cited by 2 publications

References 62 publications

Connecting Atlantic and Pacific: Theorizing the Arctic

Connecting Atlantic and Pacific: Theorizing the Arctic

Debating the Arctic during the Ukraine Crisis – comparing Arctic state identities and media discourses in Canada and Norway

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