Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic
Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century a number of individuals in Norway participated in the transfer of animals from both the Arctic to the Antarctic regions and vice versa. These projects may be conceptualized as a form of imperial acclimatization, following in the footsteps of ea...
Published in: | Journal for the History of Environment and Society |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English French |
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Brepols Publishers
2016
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 https://doaj.org/article/a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c 2023-05-15T13:34:16+02:00 Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic Peder Roberts Dolly Jørgensen 2016-01-01 https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 https://doaj.org/article/a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c en fr eng fre Brepols Publishers doi:10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 2506-6749 2506-6730 https://doaj.org/article/a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c undefined Journal for the History of Environment and Society, Vol 1, Iss , Pp 65-87 (2016) geo droit Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2016 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 2023-01-22T18:38:52Z Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century a number of individuals in Norway participated in the transfer of animals from both the Arctic to the Antarctic regions and vice versa. These projects may be conceptualized as a form of imperial acclimatization, following in the footsteps of earlier attempts to transplant both plants and animals from their indigenous ranges to new geographic locations for both practical and recreational purposes. Reindeer were introduced to the island of South Georgia before World War I as Norwegian whalers turned a space previously uninhabited by humans into the operational hub of a booming Antarctic whaling industry. The successful transplantation of reindeer was followed by less successful attempts to transfer muskoxen from Greenland to Svalbard and the Scandinavian mainland, penguins from the Antarctic to the coast of Norway, and dreams of transferring fur seals from south to north. We argue that these attempts constituted both practical attempts to “enrich” the fauna of discrete habitats, but also expressions of Norwegian authority over the polar regions at a time when imperial ambitions in both the Arctic and Antarctic had significant traction within Norway. The transplanted animals may thus be conceived as geopolitical instruments – mastery over fauna as being a means of expressing mastery over space. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Greenland Svalbard Unknown Antarctic Arctic Greenland Norway Svalbard The Antarctic Journal for the History of Environment and Society 1 65 87 |
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Open Polar |
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English French |
topic |
geo droit |
spellingShingle |
geo droit Peder Roberts Dolly Jørgensen Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
topic_facet |
geo droit |
description |
Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century a number of individuals in Norway participated in the transfer of animals from both the Arctic to the Antarctic regions and vice versa. These projects may be conceptualized as a form of imperial acclimatization, following in the footsteps of earlier attempts to transplant both plants and animals from their indigenous ranges to new geographic locations for both practical and recreational purposes. Reindeer were introduced to the island of South Georgia before World War I as Norwegian whalers turned a space previously uninhabited by humans into the operational hub of a booming Antarctic whaling industry. The successful transplantation of reindeer was followed by less successful attempts to transfer muskoxen from Greenland to Svalbard and the Scandinavian mainland, penguins from the Antarctic to the coast of Norway, and dreams of transferring fur seals from south to north. We argue that these attempts constituted both practical attempts to “enrich” the fauna of discrete habitats, but also expressions of Norwegian authority over the polar regions at a time when imperial ambitions in both the Arctic and Antarctic had significant traction within Norway. The transplanted animals may thus be conceived as geopolitical instruments – mastery over fauna as being a means of expressing mastery over space. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peder Roberts Dolly Jørgensen |
author_facet |
Peder Roberts Dolly Jørgensen |
author_sort |
Peder Roberts |
title |
Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
title_short |
Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
title_full |
Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Animals as instruments of Norwegian imperial authority in the interwar Arctic |
title_sort |
animals as instruments of norwegian imperial authority in the interwar arctic |
publisher |
Brepols Publishers |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 https://doaj.org/article/a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Greenland Norway Svalbard The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Greenland Norway Svalbard The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Greenland Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Greenland Svalbard |
op_source |
Journal for the History of Environment and Society, Vol 1, Iss , Pp 65-87 (2016) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 2506-6749 2506-6730 https://doaj.org/article/a78f26cf1c6f43ff8f513a1e468fb82c |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1484/J.JHES.5.110829 |
container_title |
Journal for the History of Environment and Society |
container_volume |
1 |
container_start_page |
65 |
op_container_end_page |
87 |
_version_ |
1766051126473392128 |