Arctic state identity: Geography, history, and geopolitical relations

by Ingrid A. Medby

Overview

This book sets out to answer what it means to hold a formal title as one of the eight ‘Arctic states’; is there such a thing as an Arctic state identity, and if so, what does this mean for state personnel? It charts the thoughtful reflections and stories of state personnel from three Arctic states: Norway, Iceland, and Canada, alongside analysis of documents and discourses. This book shows how state identities are narrated as both geographical and temporal – understood through environments, territories, pasts and futures – and that any identity is always relational and contextual. As such, demonstrating that to understand Arctic geopolitics we need to pay attention to the people whose job it is to represent the state on a daily basis. And more broadly, it offers a ‘peopled’ view of geopolitics, introducing the concept and framework of ‘state identity’.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526153906
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	01/28/2025
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ingrid Agnete Medby is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Newcastle University.

Table of Contents

List of figures
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction: A conceptual framework of state identities
1 – The Arctic: A contested region
2 – State geographies: The spatiality of Arctic state identities
3 – State temporalities: The past, present, and futures of Arctic state identities
4 – An Arctic state among states: Positions and positionings in an international region
5 – The Arctic state and the nation: Narrating identity in and as the north
6 – Identities within the Arctic state: Domestic differences and diversity
7 – The Arctic state as personal and professional: Identities of state personnel
Conclusion: Pluralities of state identities and ongoing geopolitical practices
Bibliography