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- Convenors:
-
Sophie Elixhauser
(University of Vienna)
J. Otto Habeck (University of Hamburg)
Gertrude Saxinger (Uni Vienna)
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- Format:
- Workshop
- Regional groups:
- Circumpolar and Siberia
Short Abstract:
Arctic societies’ legacy of egalitarian relations and commoning has been impacted by colonial governance. We explore new practices of commoning in line with self-determination, cultural revitalisation, and environmental justice. We ask how ideas of egalitarianism inform current modes of activism.
Long Abstract:
Practices of commoning and egalitarian relations in the Arctic and Siberia have changed significantly over time. Both concepts emphasise shared responsibility, collective decision-making, and equality. In pre-colonial societies, commoning practices involved the shared use, management and control of resources. Egalitarian relations were manifested in minimal social hierarchies, flexible gender roles, relatively equal distribution of power, and respect for the autonomy of each person (human and non-human). However, the image of all northern societies as egalitarian has also been challenged, so the concept of egalitarianism may require a reassessment. With the arrival of colonial powers, new social, economic, and legal frameworks were imposed that often conflicted with Indigenous ways of life: the introduction of private property, centralised resource management, hierarchical governance, and rigid gender norms. Today, many groups in the Arctic and Siberia are working to revive commoning practices. These resonate with broader movements for self-determination, cultural revitalisation, and environmental justice. New such practices have also emerged, including forms of self-governance or self-reliance projects involving young people and aimed at alleviating social problems. Relevant questions are:
• To what extent do current political and social systems incorporate, or are willing to incorporate egalitarian values?
• What new forms of commoning and egalitarian relations are emerging?
• How do practices and discourses of commoning and egalitarian values differ across generations, genders, and different forms of social and economic organisation?
• How are people in the North re-imagining their respective histories? How does this influence current approaches to governance and activism?
Accepted contributions:
Contribution short abstract:
This research explores how economic, environmental and social changes affect the practice of sharing locally harvested foods in Nunavut, Canada, examining its transformation, commodification, and implications for access and community relations.
Contribution long abstract:
Seals, whales, caribou and char are staples in an Inuit country food diet, food harvested from the land and waters in Nunavut, Canada. Harvesting, preparing and sharing country food is foundational to Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, or Inuit knowledge, and has become a central aspect in movements towards Inuit food sovereignty. However, in the last 60 years, contact with Canadian settler-colonial society has led to increased reliance on market-based systems, paired with pressures of food insecurity, and shifting norms of food consumption – all of which challenge the practice of food sharing in Nunavut today. Grocery stores in the Arctic territory seldomly sell country food products; instead they are stocked with foods shipped up from the “south”. There is no agriculture in Nunavut, and there are no roads that connect Nunavut to the rest of Canada, requiring food, diesel, and other products to be transported up by ship or airplane cargo. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2022 and 2023, I explore how practices of sharing locally hunted and harvested foods may be transforming in response to economic, environmental, and social changes. I ask whether the commodification of locally hunted and harvested foods disrupts the commoning effect of sharing, and how such changes may reconfigure Nunavut residents’ access to food. By framing sharing practices as acts of “communing”, this analysis highlights the relational and political dimensions of food sovereignty in Canada’s youngest Arctic territory.
Contribution short abstract:
We explore how country food consumption in has changed in two Inuit communities over the past decade. We examine the relationship between country food consumption frequency and country food sharing and how ecological, economic, and social factors influence access to country food.
Contribution long abstract:
A large body of research testifies to the continued importance of locally-harvested "country foods", like caribou, arctic char, and beluga, for Inuit nutrition. Access to country food is also important for Inuit social and psychological well-being, because positive relationships with others are central to Inuit concepts of health and wellness. As such, the exchange of country food in Inuit communities is tangible evidence of well-being: it reflects an enduring ethos of sharing and mutual aid. Yet, because contemporary harvesting also requires substantial financial investment (in boats and snowmobiles), some would-be hunters are unable to participate as much as they wish, while others question the expectation that country food should be freely shared. Consequently, access to country food is a topic that taps into deep concerns among many Inuit about their livelihoods and about the nature of their relationships with one another. Such concerns motivate our current project, Sanguatsiniq, which is conducted in collaboration with the communities of Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik) and Ulukhaktok (NT). Here, we present data from household questionnaires conducted in 2013 and 2023 in Kangiqsujuaq and in 2015 and 2024 in Ulukhaktok. We examine the relationship between country food consumption frequency and country food sharing and how ecological, economic, and social factors influence access to country food among different segments of the population.
Contribution short abstract:
This contribution adds to broader discussions on how Arctic and sub-Arctic communities reimagine commoning practices and egalitarian relations amidst extractivist pressures, highlighting the critical role of cultural and narrative practices in fostering resilience and self-determination.
Contribution long abstract:
This paper explores the intersections of commoning practices, egalitarian relations, and Indigenous resurgence in the Yukon Territory, with a focus on the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun. Drawing from my dissertation research, I examine how Indigenous planning, cultural revitalization, and narrative reinhabitation are mobilized as responses to extractivism and ongoing colonial pressures. The long history of mining in the Yukon, marked by disruptions to Indigenous governance, resource management, and social relations, provides the backdrop for this study. Through a decolonizing, community-based participatory research approach, I analyze the ways in which Yukon First Nations navigate and resist extractivist narratives and practices. Key findings include the role of Elders' oral histories in complicating glossed-over narratives of mining history and contemporary operations, the visions of Indigenous youth for equitable futures, and the participatory planning processes for cultural infrastructure, such as the planned Northern Tutchone cultural centre. These processes exemplify efforts to reimagine governance and activism through Indigenous-led frameworks of collective responsibility and shared decision-making. The concept of narrative reinhabitation emerges as central to these practices, intertwining oral histories, language revitalization, and the built environment to restore Indigenous homelands and challenge dominant resource imaginaries. This paper contributes to broader discussions on how Arctic and sub-Arctic communities reimagine commoning practices and egalitarian relations amidst extractivist pressures, highlighting the critical role of cultural and narrative practices in fostering resilience and self-determination.
Contribution short abstract:
University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Professors Charleen Fisher, PhD and Jennifer Adams, MBA will share positionality through social justice, activism, and experiences establishing commonality through service to their Indigenous communities.
Contribution long abstract:
Indigenous faculty from the interior of Alaska will speak about their personal experiences working for and with their communities. Professor Fisher, PhD (Gwich’in) and Professor Adams, MBA (Dene’ and Iñupiaq) will share how relationality and positionality are critical to establishing commonality. This candid discussion will highlight critical elements of capacity building in relevant program planning, implementation, and evaluation of working with Indigenous Dene’ and Iñupiat people in the American colonial context.
Dr. Fisher and Ms. Adams have long careers working in the rural Arctic. Dr. Fisher has worked extensively in the Upper Yukon Flats region and is a Tribal citizen of the Beaver Tribe in Beaver, Alaska. Dr. Fisher has testified on many issues and currently serves on multiple statewide boards in Alaska including the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute of Alaska, Gwich’in Council International, the Alaska Humanities Forum and Doyon Ltd. Ms. Adams has worked in the interior of Alaska and is a Tribal citizen of the Allakaket Tribe in Allakaket, Alaska. Ms. Adams has brought over $22 million USD into rural Alaska through grants writing and working with communities to fund critical needs and infrastructure.
Both Fisher and Adams are grounded in their cultures and rely on their values and ancestral practices to find purposeful commonality in program development that connects outcomes and outputs to the needs of their communities. Learn about the resulting tools and products that communities then own, which lead to increased capacity and resilience. These ancestral cultural practices drive application, relevance, and program design.