Greenlanders, whales, and whaling : sustainability and self-determination in the Arctic / Richard A. Caulfield.

ISBN:

9781611681338

9780585251592

Title:

Greenlanders, whales, and whaling : sustainability and self-determination in the Arctic / Richard A. Caulfield.

Author:

Caulfield, Richard A.

Personal Author:

Caulfield, Richard A.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 203 pages) : illustrations, maps.

Series:

Arctic visions

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Illustrations and Tables; Acknowledgments; INTRODUCTION: Whaling and Co-management in Greenland; Part One Connections- Greenland and World Systems; CHAPTER 1: History and Political Economy in Greenland; CHAPTER 2: Changing Production Relations in Greenland: The Case of Qeqertarsuaq Municipality; Part Two Local Dynamics, Global Concerns: Conflict and Contradictions in Greenlandic Whaling; CHAPTER 3: Vessels, Kin, and Harpoons: Continuity and Change in Whaling.

CHAPTER 4: Greenland's Whaling Regime: Costs and Benefits of Co-managementCHAPTER 5: Initiatives on the Periphery: Home Rule and the Politics of Whaling; CONCLUSION: Whaling and Sustainability in Greenland; Notes; Appendix: Book Abstract in Greenlandic: Atuagaq Kalaallit Nunaanni arfanniameq pillugu eqikkamera (Kalaallisut); Index.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Inuit -- Fishing -- Greenland.

Inuit -- Greenland -- Government relations.

Inuit -- Greenland -- Economic conditions.

Whaling -- Government policy -- Greenland.

Baleen whales -- Government policy -- Greenland.

Sustainable fisheries -- Greenland.

Human ecology -- Greenland.

Self-determination, National -- Greenland.

Geographic Term:

Greenland -- Politics and government.

Greenland -- Economic conditions.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

1997

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
338.3729509982 21	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Whaling has been central to the life of Greenland's Inuit peoples for at least 4000 years, but political, economic, technological, and regulatory changes have altered this ancient practice. Richard A. Caulfield reveals these impacts first by analyzing Home Rule and its success in Greenland, and then by looking at whaling's place in the contemporary Greenlandic economy and its evolving co-management regime. What emerges from his investigation is an intricate web connecting traditions of indigenous peoples, the promises and pitfalls of co-management, the influence of international whaling policies, the complexities of sustainability, and the power of culturally determined views shaping relationships between humans and their environment. Caulfield finds that controversy over whaling often arises from conflicting idea systems, rather than disagreement over biological resource management. Understanding the ways Greenlanders and outside interests have defined and negotiated these conflicts "gives us more than just an insight into how indigenous peoples are coping with a changing world," he writes. "It also provides us with a sense of the challenges we face as well."

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Caulfield's book deals with some of the most difficult moral questions in the world today. In Greenland, as in many other places, traditional subsistence-based societies are finding themselves on the world stage, involved in resource conflicts with broad implications. In the process, the societies are changing. The Kalaallit (Greenland "Eskimo") traditionally took whales for subsistence, harpooning them from open boats. Today, Greenlanders (descendants of Kalaallit and Danish colonists) use modern explosive-head harpoons to take a few whales, for subsistence and for limited sale. This has raised questions about "tradition." Meanwhile, a Home Rule government has arisen; it negotiates whaling rights and quotas with the International Whaling Commission. No one has found perfect answers to the questions of who deserves rights to hold a "traditional subsistence" fishery, how many whales should be taken, or whether whales should be taken at all. Caulfield does a truly exemplary job of placing such questions in their full cultural, moral, and historical context, and of showing how local and specific issues relate to general worldwide problems. Important for students and professionals in resource management fields. E. N. Anderson; University of California, Riverside