The web of responsibility in and for the Arctic

Abstract

What does it mean to be responsible in and for the Arctic? This article addresses this question, noting that responsibility has become a core policy norm in different governance areas in recent decades. The article contributes to the recent debate on responsibility in global politics, arguing that one should consider not only who is responsible and what for, but also the capability foundations upon which responsibility is exercised, as well as the underlying normativity of this practice. Instead of focusing on capabilities as first principles from which responsibilities arise, this article suggests approaching responsibility as a web of relations. On the basis of this theoretical discussion the article turns to two cases of contemporary Arctic policy where we can observe responsibility 'at work'. The fields of search and rescue and sustainable development are both marked by a cooperative approach among (state and non-state) parties, whose interactions centre on a particular ethical understanding of responsibility rather than on power-oriented politics. Yet each policy field contains specific dilemmas, as Arctic governance is characterised by a web of responsibility that comprises multiple subjects in charge and/or objects for which they are responsible.

Arctic geopoetics: Russian politics at the North Pole

“…Also, widespread cooperation among states in the Arctic Council and an explicit commitment to the rules and norms of international law contradict the assumption of conflictual relations. Remarkably, since the mid-1990s, in the United States of America and Russia, the Arctic Council continues to bring together two Cold War foes in a close web of cooperation around environmental protection, human development and the practicalities of search and rescue operations (Hansen-Magnusson, 2019, forthcoming). How can analyses reconcile unilateral politics and a simultaneous commitment to unilateralism?…”

Arctic Justice

“…Current Arctic structures of governance are constructed in an international system understood through 'shared knowledge, material resources, and practices' (Wendt, 1995, p 73). Governance of the region is a system that has been pieced together, sometimes described as a 'web' (Hansen-Magnusson, 2019;Exner-Pirot, 2016). It addresses the needs of the Arctic states, closely mirroring the norms and structure of the international system, formed from a layering of institutions, regimes and other normative expectations.…”

Responsibility of and for Structural (In)Justice in Arctic Governance

“…Current Arctic structures of governance are constructed in an international system understood through 'shared knowledge, material resources, and practices' (Wendt, 1995, p 73). Governance of the region is a system that has been pieced together, sometimes described as a 'web' (Hansen-Magnusson, 2019;Exner-Pirot, 2016). It addresses the needs of the Arctic states, closely mirroring the norms and structure of the international system, formed from a layering of institutions, regimes and other normative expectations.…”