Publications

On 13th October 2015, Iceland quietly submitted its instrument of accession to the Antarctic Treaty to the US Department of State (the depositary for the Antarctic Treaty). Iceland’s accession was not accompanied by any official declaration or public discussion in Iceland or elsewhere. This paper investigates some of the factors that are likely to have spurred the decision to join the Antarctic treaty system, examines current Icelandic interests in the Antarctic and proposes constructive policies to enhance Icelandic involvement in Antarctic governance and cooperation following the accession. The authors conclude that logistical operations and adventure tourism involving Icelandic companies in the Antarctic are the most likely triggers for the accession and they propose that Iceland consider ratification of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol).

Det problematiseres at det politiske fokus herhjemme handler om middelklassens ve og vel. Man kunne skabe mere rummelige grønlandske socialpolitkker og fokusere på det brede samfund. Et kritiske modtryk til hvad der her kaldes neokonservatisme bør skabes.

Various kinds of user and patient involvement are spreading in healthcare in most Western countries. The purpose of this study is to critically assess the actual conditions for patients’ involvement in healthcare practice in Greenland and to point to possibilities for development. Patients’ perspectives on their own conduct of everyday life with illness and their possibilities for participation when hospitalized are examined in relation to the conditions in a hospital setting dominated by biomedical practice. On a theoretical level, it is argued that the concept of ‘participation’ is preferable to the concept ‘involvement’ in healthcare. The study shows that there are several interconnected areas for development: the structural frames of hospital practice, including professionals’ possibilities for handling patient participation, and the agency of the patients conducting their everyday lives when hospitalized. Consequences of the biomedical hegemony are discussed in relation to WHO´s broader approach to disease, illness and health and the still existing postcolonial traces of power and hierarchy. Finally it is argued that patient participation during hospitalization will promote the patients´ conduct of everyday life, the cultural knowledge of the professionals, and the democratization of the healthcare sector. Such changes might be connected to a more encompassing democratic societal development – in Greenland as well as globally.

This paper presents a case study on distance teaching in a school in Greenland. Data from work on Grounded Theory is used to investigate ways of utilizing distance teaching in the school. The analysis draws on a prevalent perspective on distance teaching as providing access to education. The perspective combines with Michel Foucault’s concept of “governmentality”.

I will show how progressive possibilities are not necessarily to be found in ICT-driven distance teaching. Pedagogical drivers operate behind the choices of ICT equipment and ICT solutions which, in this case, brings ICT under the command of a less progressive pedagogical agenda.

As I will show, the commitment from the municipality and from the teachers was to use distance teaching and ICT for conventional schooling. The case lays the ground for a discussion on the progressivity of distance teaching and the use of advanced ICT solutions in schools. My aim with the paper is to add to the understanding of the scope of distance teaching in schools. Does ICT and distance teaching serve progressive ends per se? What do we learn about distance teaching from this setup in the school in Greenland?

The article reports some results from a study about an Everyday rehabilitation-project in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq. Everyday rehabilitation in home care has spread rapidly in Scandinavia through the last few years and is part of a worldwide focus on ‘active ageing’ because of a growing share of people 65+ years. Many citizens benefit from rehabilitative services, but research shows that those in most need often are excluded from home care services because of a one-sided focus on ‘growth’. This can bring along conflicts between professionals and citizens and a lack of relevant support for citizens. The purpose of this study was to investigate citizens’ perspectives on a good life as old in Nuuk and how rehabilitation can support them in conducting a meaningful life from their own perspectives.

The study was conducted as an ethnographic field study. The methods were participant observations, qualitative interviews and document analysis.

The study shows that home care and rehabilitation services are concentrated on practical and instrumental help, disconnected from the citizens’ everyday life, their resources and values. This has a passivating and demotivating effect. Old people are proud of their achievements in life, they are actively managing their lives on a daily basis, and they have dreams for the future. But they do need professional assistance. Their everyday life-knowledge and perspectives have to be integrated in professional practice in order to improve the quality of home care services through cooperation between citizens and professionals. An action possibility is proposed, namely a certain approach to ‘life stories’ as an instrument to involve the citizens as participants in home care and rehabilitation.