Environment and Sovereignty in the Antarctic The Terre Adélie Airstrip

• Published in: Journal for the History of Environment and Society
• Main Author: Janet Martin-Nielsen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: German; English; French
• Published: Brepols Publishers 2022
• Subjects: Antarctic; Environment; France; Sovereignty; Terre Adélie; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Terre-Adélie; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.134043; https://doaj.org/article/56b7391a04884d52a4d8174798c2648b

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between environment and sovereignty in France’s Antarctic territory, Terre Adélie. Using the story of the French effort to build an airstrip in Terre Adélie, I show how sovereignty performances are rooted in strategic and political dynamics. For over a decade, the airstrip was held up as both the critical ingredient for securing French presence in Terre Adélie and a gateway for France to become a world leader in Antarctic science – but it was ultimately terminated as France’s strategic considerations in the Antarctic changed. By tracing the interactions of sovereignty dilemmas, environmental issues, and political considerations (both domestic and international), I show that the French championing of the environment in Antarctica since the late 1980s has strong political rationales.