Arctic Cartography:Making space and Claiming Sovereignty through the Danish Continental Shelf project
This thesis examines how The Danish Continental Shelf Project has laid claim to an extended continental shelf comprising 895,541 km2 of Arctic seabed and subsoil. Specifically, the thesis tries to understand how Denmark-Greenland’s expansion in the Central Arctic Ocean is made possible and how Denma...
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | English |
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2019
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| Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/arctic-cartography(f7b9f455-fa6b-432a-b71e-16d207d7fbc7).html https://www.martinbreum.dk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Speciale-Lin-A.-Mortensgaard.pdf |
| Summary: | This thesis examines how The Danish Continental Shelf Project has laid claim to an extended continental shelf comprising 895,541 km2 of Arctic seabed and subsoil. Specifically, the thesis tries to understand how Denmark-Greenland’s expansion in the Central Arctic Ocean is made possible and how Denmark-Greenland ‘knows’ where to draw this territorial boundary. Jeppe Strandsbjerg’s (2010) Territory , Globalization and International Relations is employed as a theoretical lens through which the research purpose can be investigated. The theoretical framework is based on the argument that we live in a “cartographic reality of space” (2010, p. 4) and it theorizes the role of cartography in producing autonomous space, through which territory and sovereign rights can be claimed. Strandsbjerg’s theory draws on Bruno Latour’s science studies, and therefore puts emphasis on the role of so-called non-humans in creating ‘reality’. This framework highlights the role of the Continental Shelf Project in creating a cartographic reality of space, where borders can be drawn, and territory divided. Simultaneously, the employment of the theory also brings to light how the creation of oceanic cartographic spaces cannot be directly compared to cartographic space created on the basis of landmass. The thesis also provides a thorough introduction to the legal framework, which shapes the existence of the Continental Shelf Project, namely the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in particular its article 76. The empirical basis of the investigation is interview data, produced through ten semi-structured depth interviews. The interviews were conducted with participation from central actors in the project, the majority of whom are scientists. The interviews have been transcribed and coded. The resulting analysis brings insights on the process of claiming an extended continental shelf, the role of national interest in map-making and the specific reality created in and through the claim north of Greenland. The thesis thus argues that we do live in a cartographic reality of space, as claimed by Strandsbjerg, but adds nuance to this assertion: In the process of creating Arctic cartographic space nonhumans are assigned a prominent role yet are also squeezed into certain shapes to fit political wishes of a maximized claim to an extended continental shelf. |
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