Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century
Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003 Reindeer herding throughout the circumpolar North is in decline. Investigating this decline, this dissertation takes a comparative approach with a focus on four case studies: the Chukchi of Chukotskii Peninsula, the Iñupiat of the Seward Pen...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/7964 2023-05-15T15:13:43+02:00 Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century Koskey, Michael Stephen 2003-12 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7964 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7964 Department of Anthropology Reindeer herding Alaska Seward Peninsula Russia (Federation) Chukchi Peninsula Kola Peninsula Norway Finnmarksvidda Arctic regions Domestic animals Sami (European people) Chukchi Inupiat Dissertation phd 2003 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:36:57Z Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003 Reindeer herding throughout the circumpolar North is in decline. Investigating this decline, this dissertation takes a comparative approach with a focus on four case studies: the Chukchi of Chukotskii Peninsula, the Iñupiat of the Seward Peninsula, the Saami of the Kola Peninsula, and the Saami of Finnmark. Because various rates and types of decline are occurring in these different cases, a comparative method leads to a systematic analysis of how patterns develop in the practice of contemporary reindeer herding, both locally and globally. Comparing and contrasting the trajectories of declines in reindeer herding identifies and explains the dimensions of specific local-global processes, and situates them in wider contexts. These dimensions include economic incompatibilities, ecological stresses, and power inequities. By focusing on changes in reindeer herding over the last decade, this study reveals the effects of the incorporation of reindeer herding into the global economy, which is heavily dependent on existing infrastructure. This study also demonstrates the social position of reindeer herders and the cultural meaning of reindeer herding to the herders themselves. The willingness of regional and national governments to subsidize herding, and to ensure its survival through consistent access to pastures, is critically important to the success of reindeer herding as a productive agricultural enterprise. Furthermore, changing ecological factors potentially threaten reindeer herding as a subsistence activity. The consequences of decline, then, are explained through the identification of decline-inducing factors, such as ecological change, political vagaries, and the inappropriateness of reindeer herding as a capital-based enterprise under existing conditions of market and transportation infrastructural development. Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Peninsula Finnmark Finnmarksvidda Inupiat kola peninsula saami sami sami Seward Peninsula Alaska Finnmark University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Arctic Fairbanks Finnmarksvidda ENVELOPE(23.744,23.744,69.113,69.113) Kola Peninsula Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Reindeer herding Alaska Seward Peninsula Russia (Federation) Chukchi Peninsula Kola Peninsula Norway Finnmarksvidda Arctic regions Domestic animals Sami (European people) Chukchi Inupiat |
spellingShingle |
Reindeer herding Alaska Seward Peninsula Russia (Federation) Chukchi Peninsula Kola Peninsula Norway Finnmarksvidda Arctic regions Domestic animals Sami (European people) Chukchi Inupiat Koskey, Michael Stephen Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
topic_facet |
Reindeer herding Alaska Seward Peninsula Russia (Federation) Chukchi Peninsula Kola Peninsula Norway Finnmarksvidda Arctic regions Domestic animals Sami (European people) Chukchi Inupiat |
description |
Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003 Reindeer herding throughout the circumpolar North is in decline. Investigating this decline, this dissertation takes a comparative approach with a focus on four case studies: the Chukchi of Chukotskii Peninsula, the Iñupiat of the Seward Peninsula, the Saami of the Kola Peninsula, and the Saami of Finnmark. Because various rates and types of decline are occurring in these different cases, a comparative method leads to a systematic analysis of how patterns develop in the practice of contemporary reindeer herding, both locally and globally. Comparing and contrasting the trajectories of declines in reindeer herding identifies and explains the dimensions of specific local-global processes, and situates them in wider contexts. These dimensions include economic incompatibilities, ecological stresses, and power inequities. By focusing on changes in reindeer herding over the last decade, this study reveals the effects of the incorporation of reindeer herding into the global economy, which is heavily dependent on existing infrastructure. This study also demonstrates the social position of reindeer herders and the cultural meaning of reindeer herding to the herders themselves. The willingness of regional and national governments to subsidize herding, and to ensure its survival through consistent access to pastures, is critically important to the success of reindeer herding as a productive agricultural enterprise. Furthermore, changing ecological factors potentially threaten reindeer herding as a subsistence activity. The consequences of decline, then, are explained through the identification of decline-inducing factors, such as ecological change, political vagaries, and the inappropriateness of reindeer herding as a capital-based enterprise under existing conditions of market and transportation infrastructural development. |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Koskey, Michael Stephen |
author_facet |
Koskey, Michael Stephen |
author_sort |
Koskey, Michael Stephen |
title |
Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
title_short |
Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
title_full |
Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
title_fullStr |
Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
title_sort |
cultural activity and market enterprise: a circumpolar comparison of reindeer herding communities at the end of the 20th century |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7964 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(23.744,23.744,69.113,69.113) |
geographic |
Arctic Fairbanks Finnmarksvidda Kola Peninsula Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Fairbanks Finnmarksvidda Kola Peninsula Norway |
genre |
Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Peninsula Finnmark Finnmarksvidda Inupiat kola peninsula saami sami sami Seward Peninsula Alaska Finnmark |
genre_facet |
Arctic Chukchi Chukchi Peninsula Finnmark Finnmarksvidda Inupiat kola peninsula saami sami sami Seward Peninsula Alaska Finnmark |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7964 Department of Anthropology |
_version_ |
1766344237587103744 |