Public Involvement in the London Mining Hearing Process

• Main Author: Thomsen, Eva
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Lunds universitet/Statsvetenskapliga institutionen 2013
• Subjects: deliberation; deliberative democracy; public hearing; participation; legitimacy; involvement; consultation; Greenland; inequality; decision-making; inclusion; Social Sciences
• Online Access: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3972895

Greenland constitutes one of the youngest democracies in the world and is a society characterised by significant social, economic and political inequality. Centuries as a Danish colony have left it with relatively weak institutional structures and with limited tradition for public dialogue. Today, as the country is at the verge of new large-scale industrial developments, calls for increasing public involvement in decision-making are mounting in a desire to strengthen the legitimacy of decisions. This thesis constitutes a case study of the hearing process on a proposed large-scale iron ore project by the company London Mining carried out in the autumn of 2012. The study is based on deliberative theory and argues that the hearing was characterised by a number of challenges in terms of reaching its deliberative potential, most notably the ones arising from the structural inequalities that continue to pervade and segregate society. While the challenges associated with power asymmetries and inequality of resources are not easily accommodated by a simple redesign of the hearing, the possible gains from improving conditions for deliberation in Greenland are substantial, leading this thesis to argue that targeted and sustained efforts at strengthening the deliberative component of decision-making processes remains worthwhile and should be pursued.