In 2007, the planting of a titanium flag by a Russian expedition on the North Pole ignited a fierce public debate about Arctic sovereignty. In The politics of Arctic sovereignty Jessica Shadian delivers a critical contribution to inform these discussions from the perspective of some of the Arctic main historical occupants. Building on a thorough study of more than four decades of political agency of the Inuit in Alaska, Canada and Greenland, the author highlights how the colonization process in the Arctic and the imposition of the Westphalian political system provided the incentive for Inuit to organize themselves politically, a process that will ultimately result in the affirmation of an alternative conception of sovereignty.
Shadian structures her exposé in three main parts in which each of the ten chapters provide a specific chronological or thematic contribution towards the overall objective of her book. The interest of the book is strengthened by the insertion of long quotes from some of the main actors of these developments, providing direct access to the perspectives of those that contributed most to the establishment of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC).
The book opens with a short review of the key theoretical concepts discussed in the next chapters. In particular, the author introduces the notion of polities, which provides an alternative to the concept of Westphalian sovereignty, enabling to look beyond the artificially strong divide of international actors between the categories of sovereign states and non-governmental organizations.
The first part of the book – ‘Constructing Westphalia’ – describes the historical context in which the Inuit polity emerged. The second chapter discusses the colonization by the Europeans of Canada, Alaska and Greenland. This progressive process is relevant for the rest of the discussion as it explains how the Arctic came to be framed within the Westphalian political system.
Shadian then addresses how, in the context of the new political geography resulting from Arctic colonization, the nation-building processes at play in each of these three territories impacted the emergence of Inuit polities. Despite their differences, the strategies of Washington, Ottawa and Copenhagen led to somewhat comparable results across the Arctic. The import of the Westphalian system by Southerners into the Arctic led to the construction of a new circumpolar Inuit polity that would later progressively question the notion of sovereignty imposed through colonization.
The second part of the book, ‘Expanding the boundaries of Westphalia’, constitutes the most important section of the book. The author analyses meticulously through five chapters the origin and evolution of the ICC across four decades in each of the three countries, highlighting the relevance of parallel developments of international governance.
The emergence of the political agency of Inuit is first introduced in chapter 4 in the context of domestic governance in Alaska, Northern Canada and Greenland. In these three locations, political dynamics resulted in the need for the Inuit to consider how to best ascertain their claims in relation to central political powers. While the political situation prevailing in each country differed, those claims led to the parallel affirmation of indigenous political rights and resulted in land claims settlements in Alaska and Canada and in the adoption of the home rule in Greenland.
The following chapter discusses the role of oil extraction in the construction of a transnational Inuit polity. While institutional developments specific to each of the three territories framed differently Inuit domestic political claims, emerging issues related to the extraction non-renewable resources raised common concerns, resulting in the intensification of circumpolar cooperation. This cooperation would soon result in the establishment of the ICC. Consequently, the Inuit united to create an organization with the main mandate to protect the Arctic environment against the threat caused by offshore hydrocarbons exploitation.
Chapter six explores the role played by Arctic indigenous peoples during the processes that led to the establishment of the Arctic Council. Shadian emphasizes that long before Gorbachev's Murmansk speech, the ICC was actually one of the first advocate for the adoption of a regional instrument to enable international cooperation in the circumpolar world. By the time the eight Arctic states established the Arctic Council, Arctic indigenous peoples had secure strong political recognition in the region which resulted in their recognition as permanent participant.
Shadian then broadens the geographic scope of her analysis to offer an account of the international recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples. This discussion reviews the most relevant human rights instruments and resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly. The chapter also goes beyond these references and highlights how the discourse of sustainable governance supported the claims made by indigenous peoples in relation to participation in decision-making and the recognition of their stewardship.
The next chapter proposes case studies illustrating how the ICC has built on this international recognition of the agency and status of indigenous peoples. Firstly, Shadian highlights how the ICC worked towards the recognition of traditional knowledge in regional governance, in particular in relation to Arctic Council projects. Secondly, the role played by the Inuit in the negotiations towards a global agreement addressing Persistent Organic Pollutants provides a good example of how the international activism by the ICC leveraged international policy response. Thirdly, the Inuit attempted to influence domestic US climate policy through a petition to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. While the 2004 petition did not result in legal outcomes, it contributed greatly to raise awareness of the human rights implications of climate change. Shadian offers a particularly interesting discussion on how the growing focus on climate change discourses reduces the agency of Arctic indigenous peoples.
Part III builds on the previous detailed historical analysis to offer an analysis of the role of the Inuit polity in the context of contemporary Arctic governance. In the penultimate chapter of the book, the author briefly describes how the debate related to sovereignty in the Arctic has unfolded since 2007 and the planting of the Russian flag. Shadian offers a short account of recent political gains secured by indigenous peoples organizations in international institutions. As a conclusion, the final chapter looks back at the history described throughout the book and reaffirms Shadian's main thesis that ‘the ICC has been central in helping to reshape the central inside/outside boundaries defining the modern Wesphalian political system’. The author identifies, however, two emerging challenges to this development: the progressive shift from sustainable development to discourses focused on climate vulnerability, and the potential affirmation of a sovereign Greenland.
Two elements discussed in The politics of Arctic sovereignty make this book particularly captivating for all those researching or curious about ongoing developments in Arctic governance. Firstly, the book explores the emergence and the role of the ICC in the context not only of regional Arctic governance but also of the definition of norms and discourses through the United Nations. This approach allows the reader to appreciate how both regional and global developments have shaped the formation of an Inuit polity. But references to global governance go both ways as Shadian also highlights how the ICC has contributed to influencing global environmental regimes. As a result, the book avoids the flaws of many studies of Arctic governance that fail to assess the bidirectional nature of the relation between Arctic developments and international governance.
Secondly, the role of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic national and regional governance serves as a connecting thread throughout most of the book. These elements provide a strong basis for Shadian to develop the rather counter-intuitive argument that Inuit political agency emerged as a result of the development of the fossil fuel industry in the Arctic and might suffer from the growing importance of climate change discourse.
One could possibly regret that this otherwise very comprehensive research does not consider the relevance of Russian Inuit in the context of the emergence of a transnational Inuit polity. Shadian justifies this omission by the absence of political agency of the Russian Inuit at the time of the establishment of the ICC. As the author affirms that the ICC constitute a unique expression of sovereignty beyond existing national boundaries, the reader might wonder about the implications of the fact that some of the Inuit are, de facto, excluded from some of the benefits of the constitution of an Inuit polity on the basis of their nationality.
Since Chilingarov's expedition to the North Pole and Harper's ‘use it or lose it’ narrative, discussions of national sovereignty in the Arctic have been framed to a large extent by strongly positivist terms. In this context, The politics of Arctic sovereignty provides a much welcomed contribution to this discussion not only describing an alternative understanding of the concept of sovereignty in the Arctic but also offering a fascinating account of how the Inuit came to reaffirm their political agency.
