Understanding cooperation in the Arctic : a neo-gramscian perspective

• Main Author: Sharp, Gregory
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2016
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/59290

Reading the popular media, it would be easy to think that the Arctic is on the verge of conflict. The narrative reflected in the news is a decidedly conflictual one that stands at odds with the cooperation that has come to characterise the region over the last two decades and has been repeatedly debunked by scholars. Surprisingly, this cooperation has largely continued even following the annexation of Crimea and the imposition of sanctions. This raises an important question: why? By way of response, and in an effort to expand the discussion on the Arctic beyond traditional positivist approaches, neo-Gramscian theory is employed using process tracing. By drawing on a diversity of examples and testing them against concepts drawn from the literature, support is found for the neo-Gramscian explanation: that cooperation in the Arctic is the by-product of a neoliberal hegemonic bloc pursuing their interests in the region. Arts, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Graduate