The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Abstract The Svalbard Treaty established Norway’s full and absolute sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. At the same time, it also established special territorial status for the archipelago, providing nationals of all signatory nations equal access to its resources. During fieldwork...
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2023
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247422000365 2024-06-23T07:48:51+00:00 The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard Brode-Roger, Dina 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247422000365 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247422000365 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Polar Record volume 59 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247422000365 2024-06-12T04:04:47Z Abstract The Svalbard Treaty established Norway’s full and absolute sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. At the same time, it also established special territorial status for the archipelago, providing nationals of all signatory nations equal access to its resources. During fieldwork in Longyearbyen, conducted as part of a bottom-up exploration of place in 2018, several recurring issues came up in the analysis of interviews with residents using grounded theory methodology. Two of these issues, sometimes linked and sometimes seen as separate, were a questioning of the legitimacy of the community and a sense of geopolitical vulnerability. These emerging categories led to a series of focus groups, conducted between December 2018 and November 2019, that was designed to explore the impacts and implications of the Svalbard Treaty through the articulation of residents’ lived experiences in Longyearbyen. This paper examines the findings that emerged within an Identity of Place framing that point to an inherent conflict between the Svalbard Treaty’s special territorial status and the possibility of establishing a fully functioning local democracy in Longyearbyen. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Archipelago Arctic Longyearbyen Polar Record Svalbard Cambridge University Press Arctic Svalbard Longyearbyen Polar Record 59 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
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English |
description |
Abstract The Svalbard Treaty established Norway’s full and absolute sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. At the same time, it also established special territorial status for the archipelago, providing nationals of all signatory nations equal access to its resources. During fieldwork in Longyearbyen, conducted as part of a bottom-up exploration of place in 2018, several recurring issues came up in the analysis of interviews with residents using grounded theory methodology. Two of these issues, sometimes linked and sometimes seen as separate, were a questioning of the legitimacy of the community and a sense of geopolitical vulnerability. These emerging categories led to a series of focus groups, conducted between December 2018 and November 2019, that was designed to explore the impacts and implications of the Svalbard Treaty through the articulation of residents’ lived experiences in Longyearbyen. This paper examines the findings that emerged within an Identity of Place framing that point to an inherent conflict between the Svalbard Treaty’s special territorial status and the possibility of establishing a fully functioning local democracy in Longyearbyen. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brode-Roger, Dina |
spellingShingle |
Brode-Roger, Dina The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
author_facet |
Brode-Roger, Dina |
author_sort |
Brode-Roger, Dina |
title |
The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
title_short |
The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
title_full |
The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Svalbard treaty and identity of place: Impacts and implications for Longyearbyen, Svalbard |
title_sort |
svalbard treaty and identity of place: impacts and implications for longyearbyen, svalbard |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247422000365 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247422000365 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Longyearbyen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Longyearbyen |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Longyearbyen Polar Record Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Longyearbyen Polar Record Svalbard |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 59 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247422000365 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
59 |
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1802639180405145600 |