Arctic Politics and Development
Research Programme
We study complex developments in the Arctic region and beyond, from multidisciplinary, critically oriented perspectives based on international relations and law, gender and indigenous studies, political science, sociology, geography, future studies and administrative science. Thus, we view the Arctic as a site for multilevel governance with interconnected local, regional, national and international dimensions.
Key Research Themes
- We seek to develop fresh posthuman alternatives to traditional state-centric and anthropocentric approaches to Arctic politics and governance and highlight their academic and societal relevance beyond the Arctic context as well.
- We advance the emergent field of critical Arctic research by utilizing a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches that allow us to improve our understanding of the Arctic and the region’s links with larger global processes.
- We examine the nexus between global heating, security and Arctic geopolitics from the perspective of various theories of International Relations and related fields. We analyse complex political, economic and legal relations within and connected to the Arctic and pay particular attention to the role of great powers (especially China) in making and shaping regional orders.
- We study and problematize Arctic social, political, legal and economic developments. We foster a multidisciplinary and ethically aware research environment that benefits the study of complex Arctic phenomena.
Research Staff and Networks
The program is led by Research Professors Monica Tennberg and Sanna Kopra. With the visiting researchers, we are a group of altogether about twenty people.
We coordinate the UArctic Thematic Network on Critical Arctic Studies , which was established in 2021 to strengthen and promote multidisciplinary, critical studies of the Arctic.
A Yearly Symposium
The research program organizes a yearly event – Critical Arctic Studies – to discuss topical issues from diverse perspectives. This year the theme of the event is Waterscapes in the Bothnian Bay and beyond (25-26 August in Kemi, Finland and in hybrid mode).
Examples of On-going Projects
- POST-Bothnia: Post-anthropocentric water relations in the Bothnian Bay
- Rethinking International Relations in an Era of the Planetocene: Case Arctic Ocean Up to 2050
- Autonomous Technologies for Ocean Governance: Maritime Autonomy, Responsibility, and Environment (AUTO-MARE)
- Rethinking the territory of geopolitics: the spatialities, temporalities and materialities of Arctic geopolitics.