Publikationer

Research | Forskning - peer review

This article examines the conceptualization of nation-building in Greenland, challenging conventional views on sovereignty and suggesting an imminent emergence of an alternate governance model in the Arctic region. Drawing on the decoloniality perspective, we explore the Inuit myth, which suggests a… This article examines the conceptualization of nation-building in Greenland, challenging conventional views on sovereignty and suggesting an imminent emergence of an alternate governance model in the Arctic region. Drawing on the decoloniality perspective, we explore the Inuit myth, which suggests a unique connection of the Inuit to the Arctic environment and asserts their status as natural stewards of the region with special rights based on their cultural and political identity. We argue that this understanding of sovereignty has important implications not only for its departure from conventional Western notions of state formation but also for its potential to create alternative governance structures that do not reinforce existing political hegemonies from the “West”. We further analyze how the legacy of colonialism in Greenland has impacted power and gender relations in the region and has fueled a distinctive sense of nationalism that differs from those seen in the West. The article discusses how the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is playing a major role in promoting an alternative political legitimacy model against the conventional approach of nation-building. We note that the ICC depends on the maintenance of political myths which have evolved over time. We conclude by suggesting that conventional perspectives on state formation must be revised to incorporate the historical experiences and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and that further exploration of alternative governance structures is needed. Læs mere

Research | Forskning

Five and a half years after its first appearance as a printed book in 2014, the transdisciplinary anthology The Postcolonial North Atlantic: Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, edited by Professor Lill-Ann Körber (Aarhus Universitet) and Associate Professor Ebbe Volquardsen (Ilisimatusarfik),… Five and a half years after its first appearance as a printed book in 2014, the transdisciplinary anthology The Postcolonial North Atlantic: Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, edited by Professor Lill-Ann Körber (Aarhus Universitet) and Associate Professor Ebbe Volquardsen (Ilisimatusarfik), came out in an open-access second edition today. Stored on the document server of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the book can from now on be downloaded free of charge by anyone. Whereas a new preface, written by the editors, has been added, the articles in the volume have not been changed or amended since the first edition, and thus reflect the state of the art of the first half of the 2010s. Yet, the texts remain relevant and topical in that they provide fundamental insight into negotiations of the postcolonial status of the North Atlantic nations, and into manifestations of their interconnected, often competing, histories in literature, language, politics, art, fashion, and public discourse. They invite to comparative investigations into the region’s past and present as seen from its diverse and distinct viewpoints, and to explorations of this part of the Nordic region from a joint critical postcolonial perspective. It is the editors’ hope that The Postcolonial North Atlantic will find many curious new readers and re-readers among students, scholars, and the broader public; and we look forward to continued discussions and North Atlantic journeys. Læs mere

Communication | Formidling

For at afgøre om et monument bør bevares eller ej, må man diskutere, om det stadigvæk bidrager til fortællingen om et fælles vi, skriver lektor i kulturhistorie Ebbe Volquardsen.

Research | Forskning - peer review

Women in the Arctic: Gendering Coloniality in Travel Narratives from the Far North, 1907-1930

Recognising the diverse roles that women have played in the history of the Arctic, both as colonisers and colonised, this article uses travel writing or Arctic biographies by women writers to explore female colonisation strategies within the context of Scandinavian colonialism. Inspired by Maria Lug… Recognising the diverse roles that women have played in the history of the Arctic, both as colonisers and colonised, this article uses travel writing or Arctic biographies by women writers to explore female colonisation strategies within the context of Scandinavian colonialism. Inspired by Maria Lugone’s use of the concept of “coloniality of gender” (2008) the article investigates how gendered coloniality is produced and mediated through travel writing by women in the Arctic. While Lugones’ critique primarily addresses the racism and violence inherent in modern/colonial gender systems, the analysis uses her understanding of coloniality as a lived experience of Eurocentric domination in order to illuminate the gendered nature of complicity by white, elite women. Using the work of Emilie Demantt (1873-1958), later Demantt-Hatt, and Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889-1982) the article analyses both ‘Nordic’ and ‘transnational’ female strategies of colonisation as they are performed and articulated through biographical writing. Both in form and content, these texts demonstrate the many ways in which global and imperial power intersected with local hierarchies and systems of knowledge as part of multiple and concurring representations of reality over time. Læs mere

Research | Forskning

Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have in common their history as Danish dependencies within a historically and geographically coherent region. The complex aftermaths of Denmark’s sovereignty over its North Atlantic territories and their ongoing nation building processes lie at the core of th… Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands have in common their history as Danish dependencies within a historically and geographically coherent region. The complex aftermaths of Denmark’s sovereignty over its North Atlantic territories and their ongoing nation building processes lie at the core of this book. Today, we are witnessing region building processes beyond bilateral links to Denmark. How do the countries position themselves, individually and collectively, vis-à-vis the European metropolitan centres, a larger transcontinental North Atlantic region, the 'hot' Arctic, and global histories of colonialism and decolonisation? By examining the region from cultural, literary, historical, political, anthropological and linguistic perspectives, the articles in this book shed light on Nordic colonialism and its understanding as 'exceptional', and challenge and modify established notions of postcolonialism. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are shown to be both the (former) subjects as well as the producers of cultural hierarchisations in an entangled world. Læs mere