Climate Testimonies and Climate-crisis Narratives. Inuit Delegated to Speak on Behalf of the Climate

The empirical data analysed in this essay will focus on several Greenlanders who were invited to the COP15 parallel event Klimaforum09, held in Copenhagen in December 2009, as well as their experiences with the venue and the dilemmas they confronted as both local and global witnesses. This essay cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta Borealia
Main Author: Bjørst, Lill Rastad
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/2f4a172c-d7ee-4945-9a1c-a6298ce61167
https://doi.org/10.1080/08003831.2012.678724
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08003831.2012.678724
Description
Summary:The empirical data analysed in this essay will focus on several Greenlanders who were invited to the COP15 parallel event Klimaforum09, held in Copenhagen in December 2009, as well as their experiences with the venue and the dilemmas they confronted as both local and global witnesses. This essay challenges the use of climate testimonies in the international climatechange debate. Specifically, what is drawn upon in these personal experiences with the environment, and how is it useful in a public, political, or scientific context? In the conclusion of this article, it is argued that dominant climate-crisis narratives have framed ‘‘the Greenlandic case’’ in a certain way, which consequently freezes arguments and possible agency. However, at the same time as there is a global framing of climate change and a specific position in this narrative for ‘‘local witnesses’’, there is also room for an alternative empowerment and ways of engaging in and talking about global and local natures.