Much of the current Arctic studies aims at explaining and understanding change in the Arctic. These changes are a combination of complex, often interrelated environmental, social, cultural, economic and political transformations and efforts to tackle and adapt to them. However, these studies seem to grasp only partially multiple political aspects related to this change and thus, are left unproblematized.

The symposium welcomes contributions to discuss the politics of the “social”, as elusive and problematic it is, in the Arctic, for example, struggles over subjectivities and agencies, community viability, participation, resilience and performativity – and different ways to capture them through conceptual and theoretical development, methodological innovations and presentation of case studies.

Read more about the Tackling politics of “the social” in Arctic Studies - approaches, methodologies and case studies symposium.