UArctic Chair in Political Geography Philip Steinberg (Durham University) delivered one of two keynote lectures at the second annual Critical Arctic Studies Symposium, 1-3 October 2024. The symposium, sponsored by the UArctic Thematic Network in Critical Arctic Studies, gathered around 30 Arctic scholars from a variety of disciplines (plus another 20 or so online attendees) in Rovaniemi, Finland, for 3 days of paper presentations and discussion where critical approaches were taken to Arctic water issues.
Steinberg's keynote, "An edge of an edge of an edge: Aesthetics, science, and the innovation of a nation in Norwegian sea ice," was based on the book chapter "A slippery signifier: Sea ice in the Norwegian imaginary," co-authored with Ingrid Agnete Medby (Newcastle University), Berit Kristoffersen (UiT The Arctic University of Norway), and Isabelle Gapp (University of Aberdeen). The talk traced the evolution of sea ice in the discursive and material construction of the Norwegian nation -- from being an outer limit to be conquered, to a special zone requiring exceptional management, to a part of the national patrimony to be exploited for resource value -- all the while acknowledging that most Norwegians, in fact, will never encounter sea ice in Norwegian waters.
The symposium's other keynote speaker was Solveig Joks (Sámi Allaskuvla / Sámi University of Applied Sciences), who presented on "Sámi water practices: Ways of protecting lakes and rivers."