Topic of the research is Rethinking the territory of geopolitics: the spatialities, temporalities and materialities of Arctic geopolitics.

Väätänen examines what insights to academic and public discussion could be gained if territories were no longer seen as bounded spaces controlled by humans, but as the constellations of the relations of interdependence on which the existence of both humans and other entities rely? How about if geopolitics was not conceived anymore as the aspiration of states to gain control over territories, but as a part of the assembling of relations of interdependence? 

The objective of this research, conducted at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, is to answer these questions in the context of Arctic geopolitics through two empirical cases: the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, and the Arctic Ocean railway project between Finland and Norway. By analyzing interview, document and media materials and fieldnotes, the research discloses the relations that enable the existence of the research station, as well the relations that failed to be established leading into the abandonment of the railway project.

Academy Research Fellowship funding is 366 626 euros and the funding period is 1.9.2024–31.8.2028.

More information:
Vesa Väätänen, vesa.vaatanen(at)ulapland.fi, phone. +358 40 154 8896