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.

Challenges related to access and supply of fossil fuel generated energy in Arctic communities, together with a global agenda to fight the climate change, including through promoting renewable energy systems as alternatives to fossil fuels, are motivating implementation of renewables in the Arctic Region, as in the rest of the world. Various benefits are anticipated in relation to implementation of renewables in Arctic communities, a fact that is driving interest in an appraisal of the state of energy production in the Arctic toward a transition from fossil fuel generated electricity and heating, to an Arctic energy system based on renewable energy sources. To understand and promote the potential for increased implementation of renewable energy solutions, it is important to investigate the role of key factors such as the economy, infrastructure and technology for the transition process. This article is based on an explorative study and analysis of how these three key factors are driving and challenging implementation of renewables. It aims at contributing to the debate on how to promote renewables in the four Arctic areas: Alaska, Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Russian Arctic. Key findings are discussed and recommendations to tackle some of the identified challenges are provided.

I år har Grønland haft en central socialadministration i 50 år. Den blev et historisk vendepunkt for indførelsen af en mere systematisk social forsorg. Denne artikelserie, som er delt i to, beskæftiger sig i den første del med forløbet op til etableringen af den sociale administration, og hvorfor det var så vigtigt at få dette bureaukratiske led i forsorgen. I Grønland havde man på daværende tidspunkt ikke en systematisk eller ligeligt fordelt social indsats, hvilket skulle sikres med en socialadministration. Der kastes også et historisk tilbageblik på de ministerielle og politiske overvejelser, der lå bag formålet med at oprette den tidlige socialfaglige indsats, som ledte frem til uddannelsen af de første grønlandske socialhjælpere i 1966. I anden del af artikelserien (Tidsskriftet Grønland 4, 2017) er fokus på tiden efter hjemmestyrets indførelse med socialreformkommissioner, socialforskning og nutidens BA-uddannede socialrådgivere.