Symposium is organized 12–13 October 2021 in Rovaniemi, Finland in a hybrid mode via Teams.

Theme 

The theme of this year’s symposium is How to govern
change in the Arctic? Are transformations governable?

”Arctic change” is a popular way to frame current
developments and to discuss the future of the region as a complex set of
interconnected environmental, social and economic changes taking place in the region
and leading to its fundamental transformation. Different forms of governance to
guide and govern these changes is yet another topical but a complex set of issues
connecting different levels of societal actors, forms of action, and concerns, such
as sustainability and equity. Also, the question remains whether these
transformations are in anyway governable, and what are the possible unintended and
unwanted effects of any efforts of governance. Consequently, it becomes evident that
governance in Arctic regions goes far beyond the schemes of regional authorities and
the policies of few supranational bodies (e.g. Arctic Council). This topical
diversity will be addressed at the symposium. 

In
recent years, social science-based research has produced a myriad of concepts,
approaches and methodologies to understand societal transformations and their
governability, such as collaborative governance, interactive governance,
metagovernance, governmentality and global governance, to name just a few. In order
to understand better (un)governability of Arctic change, we invite critically
oriented presentations to the Northern Political Economy Symposium 2021 to discuss
governance of Arctic transformations as well as examples of empirical research into
different processes of societal transformations and their
governability. 

Key note
speaker

The event will start with a key note
speech by Professor Olaf Corry, University of Leeds,
UK. His talk is titled Conceptions of
‘nature’ in International Relations: where from and where
next?

Olaf Corry is Professor of Global
Security Challenges at Leeds University, UK. His research and teaching is centred on
how natural and social phenomena, traditionally studied separately, might be grasped
together; in particular, how global and planetary environmental systems interact
with the fragmented and uneven international system. His current project
‘iSPACE’ focuses on the security implications of climate engineering
technologies (‘geoengineering’). He has published on climate security, the politics
of global risks, social movements and geopolitics, and IR theory and global objects.
His book ‘Constructing a Global Polity: Theory, Discourse and Governance’
theorises the emergence of global objects of governance (such as the climate) and
how they structure and shape world politics. 

Submission of abstracts

The deadline for abstracts of proposed presentations is 24
September 2021. The abstract should include 200-300 words with the
name(s) of the presenter(s), affiliation(s) and contact information for the
presenter(s). The accepted abstracts and symposium program will be announced online
by 1 October 2021. Abstracts should be sent to research professor Monica Tennberg,
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland (monica.tennberg@ulapland.fi). 

The event is one of the activities of the UArctic
thematic network “Critical Arctic Studies” (CAS) and
organized in collaboration with the doctoral programme of the University of Lapland
“The Arctic in a Changing World”.  Doctoral
candidates should consult their supervisors about receiving credits for presenting
and participating in the event.       
             
             
             
             
             
        

Warmly welcome!

Northern Political Economy
Symposium 2021
12-13.10.2021 Rovaniemi, Finland 
(in a hybrid mode via Teams)

More
information:
Research professor Monica
Tennberg 
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
monica.tennberg@ulapland.fi
+358 400 192 005

#NPEsymposium