Saqqummersitaq

Climate change and globalisation are opening up the Arctic for exploitation by the world – or so we are told. But what about the views, interests, and needs of the peoples who live in the region? What about the myriad of other factors affecting the Arctic and its peoples? This book explores opportunities and limitations in engaging with the Arctic under change, and the Arctic peoples experiencing the change, through the lens of understanding Arcticness: what the Arctic means to Arctic peoples socially and physically. The chapters bring together a variety of disciplines, such as law, politics, geography and the arts, to examine what Arctic peoples could learn from and teach elsewhere, across disciplines and across locations. The authors reflect on philosophies of change in tandem with philosophies of the Arctic, particularly as represented by everyday experiences, memories and geographical imaginations.

External imaginings of the future Arctic range from protected wilder- ness to booming oil and gas province, and proponents of different visions frequently clash in global public arenas. At the same time, external per- ceptions, whether pro-development or pro-conservation, frequently fail to reflect the realities of living in the Arctic, or to incorporate the views (and imaginings) of local inhabitants – those most affected by Arctic resource projects. The Arctic region does have significant resource potential. The United States Geological Survey estimated that 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered petroleum reserves were to be found in the Arctic.1 The Arctic also represents around 10 per cent of the global nickel, cobalt and tungsten markets, 26 per cent of diamond gem stones and up to 40 per cent of the global production of palladium.2 Yet uncer- tainty about the viability of natural resource projects is ever-present. Companies may be highly visible and a project intensely debated long before it is clear whether natural resource deposits, national-level negotiations and global markets will result in actual extraction for the market. Often local communities have very little information availa- ble at this point and yet the very prospect of an industrial project can transform the way a local community imagines – and prepares for – its own future.