The Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic argues that sustainability is a political concept because it defines and shapes competing visions of the future. In current Arctic affairs, prominent stakeholders agree that development needs to be sustainable, but there is no agreement over what it is that needs to be sustained. In original conservationist discourse, the environment was the sole referent object of sustainability; however, as sustainability discourses have expanded, the concept has been linked to an increasing number of referent objects, such as society, economy, culture, and identity.

This book sets out a theoretical framework for understanding and analysing sustainability as a political concept, and provides a comprehensive empirical investigation of Arctic sustainability discourses. Presenting a range of case studies from Greenland, Norway, Canada, Russia, Iceland, and Alaska, the chapters in this volume analyse the concept of sustainability and how actors are employing and contesting this concept in specific regions within the Arctic. In doing so, the book demonstrates how sustainability is being given new meanings in the postcolonial Arctic and what the political implications are for postcoloniality, nature, and development more broadly.

Beyond those interested in the Arctic, this book will also be of great value to students and scholars of sustainability, sustainable development, and identity and environmental politics.

About the Author

Jeppe Strandsbjerg is Editor-in-Chief for Social Science at Djof Publishing. Previously, he was Associate Professor at the Department of Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Ulrik Pram Gad is Associate Professor of Arctic Culture and Politics at Aalborg University, Denmark

Reviews

"Gad and Strandsbjerg have succeeded in gathering an interdisciplinary group of scholars that share their insight into the many aspects, understandings, perceptions and applications of the politics of sustainability in the Arctic. The multifaceted approaches and answers to the editors' key research questions: 'What is to be sustained?' 'In relation to what?' and 'How?' provide valuable reading for the academic community, politicians, indigenous peoples' organisations as well as other Arctic decision makers and stakeholders." - Birger Poppel, Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland

"As the SDGs are being implemented as a tool for monitoring both human and planetary well-being, the essays in The Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic: Reconfiguring Identity, Space, and Time serve as a crucial reminder that probing the reference object of sustainability, an historical gaze and empirical richness are necessary for understanding sustainability politics." - Annika E. Nilsson, Independent researcher, Sweden

Book Information
ISBN 9780367500603
Author Ulrik Pram Gad
Format Paperback
Page Count 262
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g