Seal Hunting in the Canadian Arctic:Conflicting Perspectives on EU Regulation 1007/2009

On September 16, 2009 the European parliament adopted a Regulation (EC) 1007/2009 prohibiting the seal products from being imported and placed on the European Union market. Adoption of a Seal trade ban was a result of an effective anti-sealing lobby and increasing public concern over the perceivably...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jírová, Anna
Other Authors: Fiřtová, Magdalena, Kýrová, Lucie
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/111154
Description
Summary:On September 16, 2009 the European parliament adopted a Regulation (EC) 1007/2009 prohibiting the seal products from being imported and placed on the European Union market. Adoption of a Seal trade ban was a result of an effective anti-sealing lobby and increasing public concern over the perceivably cruel seal hunting methods that emerged in reaction to growing popularity of seal fur in early 2000s. Even though the Seal ban includes an exception for Inuit who hunt seals traditionally for subsistence and depend on monetary income to maintain their traditions, it proved to be highly ineffective as the demand for all seal products declined dramatically, threatening Inuit way of life in the process. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the key actors involved in the conflict, specifically the Inuit, the European Union, animal welfare NGOs and the Canadian government and to contextualize and analyze the specific narratives of the seal hunting discourse and their implications. By looking at the motivation and justification of the EU Seal ban as well as the implications of the different perspectives on the issue, this research will try to test the hypothesis that the seal hunting discourse is based on a colonial mindset and that decolonization of the mind is yet to be achieved by Western society. V září roku 2009 přijal Evropský parlament regulaci (EC) 1007/2009, zakazující dovoz a uvádění tuleních výrobků na trh Evropské Unie. Přijetí tohoto tuleního zákazu bylo kulminací dlouholetých kampaní proti komerčnímu lovu tuleňů, jejichž intenzita narostla na počátku 21. století, spolu s rostoucí popularitou a tržní poptávkou po tuleních kůžích. Informace o zdánlivě krutých metodách lovu, rozšiřované organizacemi bojujícími za práva zvířat, úspěšně vzbudily znepokojení široké veřejnosti, která se začala aktivně dožadovat změny, což vyústilo v přijetí Tuleního zákazu. Přestože zákaz dovozu tuleních výrobků obsahoval výjimku pro Inuitské komunity v Arktidě, které se lovem tuleňů tradičně živí a závisí na příjmu z prodeje ...