Paper short abstract:

The high-arctic islands of Svalbard are used as a case to demonstrate the need for comparative historical research into the ways scientific communities have influenced national as well as the international agenda of polar matters over the last centuries

Paper long abstract:

Since the 18th century colonial and sea-route oriented polar exploration has been informed by natural sciences and ethnographic scholarship. In the following century agitation appeared to coordinate Arctic research among states. This led to a series of multilateral endeavors called the Polar Years, with the first one undertaken in 1882-83 and the latest one in 2007-08.

In the negotiations around WWI, on the legal status and land uses on the then uninhabited terra communis of the Svalbard archipelago, scientists and pioneers of the environmental movement including Hugo Conwentz, played important roles. So did scientists from several of the nations engaged in the Spitsbergen negotiations in Oslo and Paris. Environmental and political agendas alike were presented by scientists, acting as advisors as well as lobbyists and de facto diplomats. This pattern showed continuity in the establishment of the Antarctic Treaty in the 1950s. It is a legacy that largely remains to be studied historically, including the 1996 establishment and activities of the Arctic Council.

Science diplomacy is at work in Arctic and Antarctic governance while the Western colonial heritage is identified as an obstacle by many representatives of emerging world economies. Indigenous peoples’ representatives articulate the need for post-colonial revisions of the hegemonic relation of science to traditional knowledge and livelihood in the Arctic.

International comparative projects can contribute insights into the ways scientific communities have steered agreements on polar matters, and their continuing role as advisor on national military and economic interests.