National identity politics and postcolonial sovereignty games : Greenland, Denmark, and the European Union / Ulrik Pram Gad.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gad, Ulrik Pram, author.

Series:

Meddelelser om Grønland ; bd. 353.

Meddelelser om Grønland. Man & society ; 43.

Monographs on Greenland = Meddelelser om Grønland ; vol. 353

Man & Society ; vol. 43

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National characteristics.

Nationalism--Greenland.

Nationalism.

Nationalism--Denmark.

Nationalism--European Union countries.

International relations.

Greenland--History.

Greenland.

History.

Greenland--Foreign relations--Denmark.

Denmark--Foreign relations--Greenland.

Denmark.

Greenland--Foreign relations--European Union countries.

European Union countries--Foreign relations--Greenland.

European Union countries.

Physical Description:

150 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Greenland, Denmark, and the European Union

Place of Publication:

Copenhagen, Denmark : Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen, [2017]

Summary:

The relationship between Greenland and the EU is to a great degree influenced by the image of Greenland being on the path towards independence from Denmark. In both countries, identity discourse idealizes the homogenous nation state, leaving the 'community of the realm' in need of a good explanation. However, attempts to explain Greenland's continued reliance on outside help in its development towards independence continuously risk infantilizing the country. As climate changes are establishing the Arctic as a site of mineral extraction and commerce, Greenland is finding new ways of diversifying its dependence. Important in this regard is the way Greenland's relationship to the EU is played out as a series of 'sovereignty games' that minimize Denmark's role as intermediary. This book looks at changes to national identity discourse find foreign policy through four analytical strategies - identifying the core concepts of Danish and Greenlandic identity through discourse analysis; reading political debates as identity-political negotiations; using qualitative interviews with key actors to see how clashing identity discourses are managed in diplomatic practice; and approaching legal texts as the 'frozen' outcome of these 'sovereignty games'. In conclusion, the book draws up scenarios for how the expiry date of the 'community of the realm' may be extended - by finding new metaphors that will facilitate equality, and by employing Danish diplomacy to make Greenland less dependent on Denmark. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The EU on Greenland's path to independence 9

1.1 Contributions: Sovereignty games between postcoloniality, paradiplomacy, and the EU 13

1.2 Theoretical basis: Identity politics in International Political Sociology 15

1.3 Methods and texts: Core concepts, debates, diplomatic practice, law, scenarios 22

1.4 Organization of the book: From bilateral discourse to triangular practice 29

Chapter 2 How Denmark makes room for a colony in a homogenous nation-state discourse 33

2.1 Family metaphors infantilizing Greenland 36

Chapter 3 How Greenland makes room for a colonizer in a postcolonial discourse 45

3.1 Prioritizing self-government versus increasing self-support 53

3.2 Formalities secured, back to substance 60

Chapter 4 Greenland's experience and experiments with sovereignty 67

4.1 Denmark playing games to protect sovereignty 69

4.2 Diversifying the relations to the outside world 73

4.3 The EU in the diversification of Greenland's dependency 80

Chapter 5 Greenlandic visions of sovereign equality with the EU 85

5.1 Photoshopping Denmark out of the picture 85

5.2 Inviting the EU to sovereign equality 88

5.3 Producing independent visibility in Brussels 91

Chapter 6 From unique continuity to practical Greenlandization of EU relations 101

6.1 The games allowed by continuity 101

6.2 When the chips are down 103

6.3 Employing Danish sovereignty to challenge Danish sovereignty 104

6.4 The benefits of losing memory 107

Chapter 7 Scenarios for the community of the realm 109

7.1 Radically changed foundations 110

7.2 Continuation and collision of established stories 111

7.3 Compatibility facilitated by Danish self-restraint 113

7.4 Compatibility facilitated by creative metaphors and diversification of dependence 115

7.5 Re-evaluating the past as a precondition for re-inventing the future 119

Chapter 8 Successful sovereignty games 121

8.1 Greenlandic futures within or without the community of the realm 121

8.2 EU and paradiplomacy speeding up slow-motion decolonization in the Arctic 124.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-146) and index.

ISBN:

9788763545020

8763545020

OCLC:

960291394