Occasional Publication No. 45

§ecuring Northern Futures:Developing Research Partnerships

D. Wall, Conference Convenor and Principal EditorM.M.R. Freeman, P.A. McCormack, M. Payne

E.E. Wein, and R.W. WeinEditors

A publication of the

Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCI) PressUDiversity of Alberta

1999

LuieA universitetsbibliotek v

""" ,,(i r Ill'i 1111"I'707 0280 41162

Copyright © 1999 by Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCI) Press.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storageand retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in areview.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Main entry under title:Securing Northern Futures

(Occasional publication, ISSN 0068-0303; no. 45)Proceedings of a conference held May 1-4, 1997.ISBN 1-89644S-11-X

1. Canada, Northem-Congresses. 2. Arctic regions--Congresses.I. Wall, Denis, 1946-. n. Canadian Circumpolar Institute.Ill, Series: Occasional publications series (Canadian Circumpolar Institute); 45.

FC3956.S42 1999F1090.5.S421999

971.9'03 C99-910712-7

ISBN 1-89644S-11-X softcover

© 1999 The Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCl) PressCover design by Quality Color PressPrinted by Quality Color Press

Table of ContentsPreface . . ... ... ..'" 'Ii •. ••• ••• .• .• •• •• •• •• • • •• ••• •• ••• ••• .• • • .• •. • •• •. .• .• • • .• .• •. " .• •• .• ••• .• .• .• •• .• .•. •. • .• • •• •. •. III •• •. • '" " " iiiAcknowledgements " "" " """ " . I .•••••.•.•.•• " •.•.•• " ••••••••.•••••.•••• III .•.••.••.••.•.••.••••••.••..• " •••. " •••.• I • IV

Welcoming Remarks "III •.• " .••.•.•• I- .• " .• "II ••.••.•.••.•.••••.•••• " .••••••.•.•.•.••.••.••. 01- •••••.•••••.•.•.•••.•••••.•.• " • .• vClifford G. Hickey, Director, Canadian Circumpolar Institute (CCl)

Opening and Keynote Addresses: Abstracts. . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . viiHarriet Kuhnlein, Director, Centre for Indigenous People's Nutrition and Environment (CINE)Choices for a Warmer Future: The Challenge of Global Climate Change in Circumpolar RegionsStewart J. Cohen, Environmental Research Adaptation Group, Environment CanadaArctic Social Sciences Research. Ethical Principles. and the LawNoel Broadbent, Chair of Archaeology, University ofUmea, SwedenSustaining Our Resources/or the FutureStephen R. Edwards, Head, Sustainable Use Initiative, mCN - The World Conservation UnionCommunity Well-Being: Implications/or Circumpolar Indigenous PopulationsT. Kue Young, Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg

PLENARY SESSIONS

Chapter One: Critical Science Issues '" " " ". "I .••..••.• II • '" • , 1Ross W. Wein and David G. Malcolm. Editors

Cumulative Environmental Effects in Nunavut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3S.Y. (Joe) Ahmad, Jaida Edwards, and Alexandra Thomson

Climate Change, Northern Subsistence, and Land-Based Economies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Helen Fast and Fikret Berkes

Workshop Sessions:Bison Production and Management in Northern Canada: Research and Management Challenges. . . . . . 20Adapting the Concept of Conservation Nets to Northern Alberta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

David G. Malcolm and Ross W. WeinAbstracts of Oral and Poster Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter Two: Reconfiguring the North io •••.•.•••..• II • •• •• •• •• .• •. • •• •• ••• •• •• •• • • •• • .• •• • •. • 25Michael Payne and Patricia A. McCormack. Editors

Securing Relations and Sustaining Northern Futures: The Kola Peninsula and the ReformulatingSecurity Discourse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Richard LanglaisAn Assessment of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Mark V. PrystupaPostmodernism and Politics: The Constitutional Future 0/ the Western Northwest Territories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Gurston Dacks and Marina DevineThe Struggle/or Constitutional Recognition of Canada's North: 1970-1992 _.. _.. . . . . .. .. . .. . 55

Steven SmythSelf-Government, Sustainability, and Race-Ethnic Relations. .. 66

Ivar JonssonAbstracts of Oral and Poster Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Chapter Three: Sustainable Options Ii •••••••••••••• 'II • " * • • • • • • • • • • • • • 79Milton M.R Freeman, EditorSecuring the Future for Lake Sturgeon: The Debate About Co-Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Christopher Hannibal- PaciThe Arctic Council: International Partnerships/or Circumpolar Environmental and SustainableDevelopment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Wendy Parkes

Self-Government, Sustainability,and Ethnic-Race Relations

Ivar Jonsson

ABSTRACT. Thispaper concentrates on problems of developing self-government and securing cultural sustainability in the contextof institutionalized racism. External specialists are often imported to developing countries in order to introduce advanced technologyand know-how as well as to organize and run the administration. Native workers are presumed to gain know-how from work experienceand take over management and professional jobs gradually as they learn from {heforeign professionals. However, this strategy maysuffer from conflicts between the foreign professionals and natives due to different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Learningprocesses are undermined by these conflicts, creating mistrust and lack of confidence. These conflicts often develop intoinstitutionalized racism involving organized forms of exclusion such as overvaluation of formal education as opposed to nativeknowledge. The result is permanent reproduction of the need for imported specialized labor and 'destructive forgetting' of localculture. The paper takes theories of innovation and learning processes as a point of departure and elaborates on the case of theGreenlandic Home Rule government. Furthermore, struggle for self-government is observed in the context of the long term processof de-colonization and defense of local culture.

About the author: Ivar Jonsson is at the Institute of Economics and Management of the University of Greenland,

INTRODUCTIONFollowing the era of nee-liberalism in the 1980s and thesubsequent regional deregulation of western economies inregions covered by European Union (EU) and the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFT A), there has been anenormous emphasis on economic and political integration. Thisgoes both for political discussion and academic analyses andstudies of liprocesses of integration". Within political circles andpolitical science, the focus is on the extent to which thesovereignty of constitutionally independent states diminishes asthey join supra-national unions such as the EU or free tradecontracts such as NAFTA, Claims are made that the idea of thenation-state is doomed and that collective decision-making mustbe somehow organized around the principle ofmulticulturalism.On the economic side, one emphasizes the globalization of theorganization of production and services and the increase ininternational trade and foreign investment in recent decades(Dunning and Robson 1989. Jonsson 1989, Reich 1991, Lash andUrry 1994). For sociological and cultural studies, the impact ofglobalized media and communication systems as well as(im)migration is essential if one is to understand the viability oflocal cultures in the context of post-colonial fusion of local andforeign cultures (Tiffin and Lawson 1994).

Trends towards political, economic and social integrationmay appear to be strong, particularly if one's mind isprogrammed by eurocentric education and by media (Shohat andStam 1994). However, there are strong forces of disintegrationthat appear to undermine the processes of integration. bothwithin the western countries as well as in developing countries.These are forces that emphasize the sovereignty of ethnic groupsand/or nations within established nation states. Sometimes theseethnic groups or nations live within the borders of more than onestate. which makes their struggle for self-determination moredifficult. Let us discuss briefly the structural basis of thiscontradictory development before we observe the contemporarycontradiction between processes of integration and processes ofdisintegration.

STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS-LATE MODERNITYAND DE·COLONIZATIONIn recent years and decades the world economy has been goingthrough a substantive structural and institutional change that hasaffected the conditions for regional development anddevelopmental strategies, On the one side, financial services havebecome more globalized following the implementation ofinformation technology and deregulation of world trade. Directforeign investment by transitional corporations is predominantlyregional and limited to culturally separate regions. Asiancompanies invest predominantly in Asia, North Americancompanies invest predominantly in North America and Europeancompanies invest in Europe. However, the present trends ofglobalization and internationalization have largely beenexaggerated as around 90% of the production of OECDcountries is undertaken for the domestic market (Weiss 1997: 11).On the other side, the post co Id-war era ofinternational relations,following the diminishing role of American hegemony and thecollapse of the Soviet Union, has made cross border regionalcollaboration easier. The impact of this new situation on regionalpolitical development (or geopolitical development) is great. Ithas undermined the traditional role of 'nation states' indetermining conditions for investment, wage formation andincome distribution in the respective economies. However, at thesame time it has also called for a new role of the state aspromoter of institutional and technical change,

As a consequence, the role of the state is changing andbecoming more internationalized in terms of establishing groundsfor foreign direct investment and securing material preconditionsfor the reproduction and qualification of labor in order tominimize emigration. Furthermore, there is a growing problem ofuneven development between regions within states due todifferent economic structures and due to location of crisis-riddenindustries as opposed to growth industries. These unevenstructural economic divisions often coincide with regional/spatialethnic divisions that may become breeding grounds for social

66

tensions and organized conflicts. With intensified internationalregionalisation, such as the development of the EU, the 'nationstate' and domestic firms are no longer the only sources of fundsor capital to invest in restructuring the local/regional economies.Indeed, Elf-funds have increasingly become an important sourceof capital for restructuring, as have foreign firms and cross-statecollaboration between regional and local governments.

This context of globalization, uneven regional developmentand restructuring of the state and its functions, affects ethnicgroups and first nations within the traditional 'nation states'.Native first nations or nations that have been dominant for longperiods in history (in particular territories within these states), areincreasingly claiming sovereignty and autonomy. These claimsare not a simple product of the contemporary structuraldevelopment in late-modem societies, but have a long history andoften have roots in medieval history. As a consequence, thegrowing importance of sovereignty movements today have to beanalyzed in terms of a convergence between contemporarystructural development of late-modernity and the long-termprocess of de-colonization.

Self-GovernmentStruggle for self-government takes place in country specificconstellations of societal regimes, i.e., regimes of ethnic/racerelations, regimes of gender relations and regimes of welfare(Mosesdottir 1995). However, these regimes are affected by thelong-term structural development of external factors such ascolonial relations and capital accumulation. The struggle for self-determination is a part of the ongoing process of decolonization(Hannum 1996:33-34) which was institutionalized by the UNGeneral Assembly in 1960 by the adoption of the Declaration onthe Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries. Thisdeclaration changed the 'principle' of self-determination to the'right' to self-determination as this right is now accepted as ahuman right (Hannum 1996:33). The struggle for selfdetermination has led to an increasing number of independentstates and/or self-governed regions. At the end of the SecondWorld War, there are some 60 states in the international system,while today they are 192 (Bartman 1995). Today, there aremovements fighting for increased self-determination orconstitutional independence in numerous countries. To mentionbut a few examples, one can point to Greenland, the FaroeIslands, Kashmir in India, Hawaii, Northern- Ireland, the Catalansin Spain, the Basques in Spain and France, the Inuit in Canada,the Samis in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, or the Kurdsin Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

Self-determination as defined in the UN resolution securesthe right of all peoples to freely "determine their political statusand freely pursue their economic, social and culturaldevelopment" (UN: Declaration on the Granting ofIndependence to Colonial Countries). On the basis of the definedrights to self-determination, the UN defines three forms of self-government as a) sovereign independent state; b) free associationwith an independent state; or c) integration with an independentstate (UN Res. 1541 (XV) 1960). While the first two formsmentioned presume constitutional independence, the last one

Chapter Two: Reconfiguring the North

refers to self- government by the people living in a particularregion (for example, the Home Rule government in Greenland isa part of the Danish federation).

Self-government is a form of self-determination of peopleswho have secured themsel ves a certain degree of autonomy. Thestruggle for autonomy will include one or all of the followingelements that the peoples in question will attempt to realize andsecure in order to survive: language, education, access togovernmental civil service, land and natural resources, andrepresentative local government structures (Hannum 1996:458).One may compare actual cases of countries with an ideal typicalmodel of an constitutional independent state in order to estimatetheir degree of autonomy. Table 1 highlights the case ofGreenlandic Home Rule.

As the table highlights, the Greenlandic Home Rule regimeis relatively powerless compared to 'ideal typical' independentstates. Instead, the source of power of the Greenlandic HomeRule government is the Danish parliament that, in tum, allocatespowers to the Greenlandic Government. The Greenlandic nationis not a sovereign nation. Law and order is Danish rather thanGreenlandic. Force is not mobilized by the local GreenlandicHome Rule authorities, but by the Danish state that runs thepolice in Greenland. The Danish state is also responsible for thecourt system in Greenland.

The rights of the Greenlandic population to its territorialland, shelf, and waters are allocated by a foreign independentstate, i.e., the Danish state. Furthermore, the Greenlandicpopulation does not have full access to the exploitation ofterritorial resources as the Danish state claims 50% of taxrevenues from potential resources such as oil and minerals. As aconsequence, the Greenlandic Home Rule government can notindependently negotiate the use of its (?) territory with foreignstates or firms.

The role of the Home Rule government is greatly reducedby the fact that it does not control exchange rates and moneysupply. In addition, it lacks effective means to control inward andoutward flow of capital as well as to stabilize the economy.

The cultural sovereignty of the Greenlandic nation has fora long time, suffered from aggressive Danish integration policiesaccording to which modernization projects have required thepriority of the Danish over Greenlandic languages and Danishcultural values over Greenlandic values. Danish was the prioritylanguage of the primary schools until the early 1990s; the officiallanguages of the Greenlandic Home Rule are both Danish andGreenlandic. Furthermore, the ru1ing language in Greenland isDanish, as most professionals and managers are Danish.

There are two points that are important on which toelaborate. First, the 'ideal typical' independent state does notexist in reality, as no state is so 'genuinely' independent as wepresume in the table. Besides, more and more 'nation states' arejoining international organizations such as the EU. Against this,we will argue that, although an 'ideal typical' model of anindependent state highlights criteria that are valid for comparisonof actual states and different forms of the state, independence isalways relative, and some states are more independent thanothers. It is clear that states which have joined the EU are more

67

Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships. O.P. #45 CCI Press (1999)

i--------------------------~-------~--~------··------------.------~....----------- ..------.------- ..-.-------··-·---1i Decreasing sovereignty of I

I ~~~ I+ !

!

Increasing number of coloniesgaining independence

~ Increasing numberof first nations gaining autonomy

Constitutionalindependency

The process of4--------4------4-------+ decolonization1850

Colonialism1945Neo- colonialismand internation-alization of capitalace umulation

1970sLate-colonialismand globalization ofcapital accumulation

Figure 2. The long-term development of the struggle for self-government

,______________________J

independent than Greenland which is within the Danishcommonwealth, as the EU nations can vote themselves out of theEU because they are sovereign nations. The Greenlandic HomeRu1egovernment is allocated its powers from a foreign nation. Itis sometimes argued that nations are destined tojoin internationalorganizations as this is presumed to be unavoidable, but this maybe both eurocentric and determinist. However, one must notforget that the 15 EU member states are very few compared tothe number of independent states in the world today. Moreover,the number of independent states is increasing. In 1945 therewere some 60 states in the international system, now there are192, of which only eight are not in the UN (Bartman 1995:163).Furthermore, one must not forget that the EU is in the lastinstance an organization of independent states.

Secondly, the Home Rule order in Greenland today is buta phase in the independence struggle of the Greenlandic,predominantly Inuit, nation. The powers that the GreenlandicHome Rule government lacks, according to Table 1, will beclaimed in the future. Theoretically, the struggle for increasedindependence does not necessarily have to lead to theestablishment of an independent state; Greenland may becomemore independent in terms of self-government without becominga sovereign state. However, as economic development inGreenland is likely to increase domestic production-there aregreat possibilities for oil and mineral production-it is likely tobecome economically self-sufficient in the near future. Thissituation will very probably lead to a greater demand for thesovereignty of the Greenlandic nation and the establishment of an

independent Greenlandic state. The Greenlandic nation, as amulti-cu1tura1 population, will likely be predominantly Inuit, asmost foreigners that move to Greenland Iive there only for shortperiods (about 70% leave within three years) and therefore, theycannot be counted as immigrants (for a discussion of the conceptof migration see Fischer and Straubhaar 1996).

Historically, the struggle for sovereignty and thereforecultural sustainability has gone through evolutionary stages.

Figure 1highlights the process of decreasing sovereignty ofindependent states, referring to social and economic policyformation (see Jonsson 1997 for a discussion of policy fields andfunctions of independent states). This is particularly due to thedevelopment of GAIT, EU. EFTA and the EEA in the case ofEurope. The diagram highlights the formation of newindependent states as well, which increased in numbers after 1918and particularly after the Second World War when many coloniesof European countries gained independence. The high tide of thisdevelopment emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. In this process, de-colonization was institutionalized by conventions of the UnitedNations. Alongside this colonial independence struggle, thestruggle by first nations for autonomy has occurred. However,the struggle for autonomy has been growing particularly since the1970s, which has led to consequent establishment andior furtherdevelopment of autonomous territories within independentEuropean and North American states in the 1980s and 1990s.This process has occurred in Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway,Sweden, Canada and USA. In the United Kingdom, Welsh andScottish homeruJe is also on the government's agenda.

68

Self-Government of the People Versus Self-Government bythe PeopleIn Table 1, we highlighted formal characteristics of autonomyand self-government. In analysing self-government, one has tomake a clear distinction between formal and real self-government. TIlls distinction requires both a definition of the"self' part of self-government and the nature of "governing". Theformer concept refers to who governs while the latter refers topowers of those who govern.

The notion of the "self' in the international discourse onself-determination and self-government has changed throughhistory. In the first decades of this century, the concept was mostoften related to the concept of 'nation' and the right of nationsto establish nation states. In the post-war era, and within the UNcontext self-determination was and is associated with the conceptof 'people'. However, the primary definition of "peoples" wasthat of non-European inhabitants in former colonies, without anyfurther regard for ethnicity, language, religion, or other objecti vecharacteristics of such colonized people. Territory, notnationhood was the determining factor (Hannum 1996:36). Theformation of many of the nation states that have emerged in thepost war era has led to a different emphasis in the usage of theconcept of self-determination. The formation of theseterritorially-defined nation-states meant that ethnic minoritieswere often incorporated. With increased affluence and higherlevels of education, as well as migration between nation states,ethnicity has increasingly become a political issue and source ofpolitical identity/identification. Indeed, minority groups andindigenous peoples have often appropriated the term 'self-determination' to express the essence of their political claims. Inthe case of indigenous peoples, the description 'peoples' is currentusage (Thornberry 1994:14).

In short, we may refer to the notion of 'self' in self-determination as peoples within a territory that identifythemselves as having common interests. These interests are oftenbased on modernized ethnicity, sometimes subsumed by a nation-state within whose territory they must live or against a colonialstate power by which they are governed. Self-government tosuch peoples hence becomes the political bodies thatinstitutionalizes their self-determination. This means that self-determining peoples govern by means of institutions over whichthey rule. However, self-government of a people is not the sameas self-government by a people. While the former refers to thefact that a people rule over the governmental bodies, the latterrefers to a situation where the governmental bodies are actuallymanaged by the people in question and not by external personnel.

The concept of rule and ruling refers here to hegemonicrelations in which a group or groups secure their general long-term interests by way of concessions in terms of the interests ofthe other social groups (for a detailed discussion in the contextof class analysis, see Jonsson 1989, 1993). As a consequence, theconcept of ruling and hegemony refers to power relations.Hegemony is realized through an actual power struggle in whichsocial groups establish power blocs to gain the upper hand andpower over institutions that allocate resources.

Chapter Two: Reconfiguring the North

The concept of 'power bloc' refers to the collaboration ofdominant social forces with the strongest power positions,usually economic social forces or representatives and/or interestgroups of capital. State policies and interventions result fromprocesses of strategic interest intermediation of the differentsocial forces struggling to realize their interests. Depending ontheir evaluation of the 'strategic situation' the social forces joinshort term coalitions and collaborate with each other so as torealize their long term interests (Jonsson 1989, 1993).

Following this train of thought, one can expect that self-determination and self-government is a complicated processcharacterized by a struggle of hegemony and power relations. Inmost cases the "self' or the "people" in question are divided intodifferent social groups or categories based on ethnicity, classes,age, gender, kinship and geographical location. These, in turn,form the bases of different social forces that build power blocs torealize their interests. The picture can even become morecomplicated during periods when the societies in question gothrough a process of decolonization and are dependent both onthe institutional setup inherited from the colonial power andexternal professionals working in the higher levels of the publicadministration or local firms. These professionals form apowerful group in society that other social groups have to takeinto account when forming power blocs and they will ofteninclude them. Depending on how capable this last mentionedgroup is in realizing its interests and influencing the policyformation in society, self-determination and self-government willbe diminished. Furthermore, despite the formal self-governmentof the people, self-government by the people will be reduced.

The role of this particular group is very important becausethe state or public administration has its own laws of inertia anddynamics (see Jonsson 1989, 1993 and Mosesdottir 1995). Thestate apparatus is not simply an instrument of a particular socialclass or classes, but is characterized by relative autonomy. Therelative autonomy of the state is determined by the balance ofpower of social forces external to the state. In cases where laboror trade unions are weak due to social cleavages such asrace/ethnic relations, gender andlor regional division oflabor, ifthe level of concentration and centralization of capital is low, thestate-elite will have more space to manoeuver and hence morepower/autonomy. In a situation where labor is weak and capitalis highly concentrated and centralized, capital will have a strongpower position to influence state policies. This is particularly thecase if the bulk of the firms are owned by the state and state-capital is heavily concentrated, as in Greenland. In this situationthere will be strong tendency for a fusion of the business elitewith a political elite constituted by representatives from the eliteof the political parties and the state elite. However, the fusion ofthese different elites cannot lead to the conclusion that thedifferent interests of firms and political parties must analyticallybe reduced to either the interests of capital or the interestsstemming from civil society and reflected in the political parties.Civil society has its own relative inertia or dynamics ofdevelopment which determines the frame within which thepolitical elite can manoeuver.

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Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships, a.p. #45 CCl Press (1999)

Table 1: The Greenlandic home rule and independence

Functional Spheres Greenlandic Home Rule RegimeIndependent State

Source of power

The police, and theoretically in case of war, defense ismobilized by a foreign state, i.e., the Danish state.

Mobilization of force

Popular sovereignty of the nation.

Within the territory of the state, force ismobilized by the respective authoritiesin the form of police and militaryforces.

Foreign parliament, i.e., the Danish parliament,allocates powers to the Home Rule government.

Court system All levels of the court system aredetermined by the sovereign nation.

The court system in Greenland is determined by theDanish state and the high court is Danish and locatedin Denmark.

Legislature Legislature works, in principle, within aconstitutional framework determined bythe nation, and laws are determined bythe national parliament that decideswhether or not to join international lawand regulations.

The Greenlandic judicial system works only partlywithin a framework defined by Greenlandic law. TheDanish state is responsible for running the courtsystem in Greenland. Furthermore, in cases whereGreenlandic laws do not exist, Danish laws are valid. ,In practice, Greenlandic laws tend to mirror Danishlaws.

Foreign relations The territorial land. shelf, and waters of The rights of the local population to the territorialthe population are under the rule of land. !!helf, and waters are allocated to them by t.Itheir independent state. Consequently, foreign hulilp€ndli!fit ~tat~1I.~" th~ D!ifih!l.'l8mt~,1'h~negotiations with foteign coilhtrllllic alit Ore@tdaftl.Htl p0l'l1l11tlon dlJ\}§ not h~v~ full ~ilQl:!~~to

F~~='.-"=.-.'=...'-'~=...=..=....""'..Frn=_0=.~~6po~.=.H~·z=!d=.~,.;;y=•.~~_=€_=I~'-"d~~pe~,,=~=~~~n_t~Bti1=··=t~_",,' 4=th~i!=I!=x;..,pl=e1=ittl=t=i(:} ••••fi••••o=f_t€_ff1_··t=ij=fi==!l1=ft!=s=(}_ll.ftl=. =i!s••.•.-=.=. ,=,,='~~~~

Fiscal teverttie and monetary policydetermined by local lndependent state,i.e., taxes and tariffs, exchange rates,and supply of money, and hence inwardand outward flow of capital.

Economic reguhltioli Fiscal revenue Il!determinlld partly by th~ !lame ruleand local government,l,e,. ttlXei!And wlffa, However,the Danish state determines a substantial part of therevenues by allocating aid ('bloktilskud'). Monetarypolicy is determined by a foreign state, i.e., Denmark(exchange rates and supply of money). Hence, controlof inward and outward flow of money is severelylimited.

Cultural regulation Traditionally, cultural homogeneity hasbeen secured by means of one nationallanguage policy within the territory ofthe state and in the educational system.Furthermore, cultural and educationalpolicy is used to defend nationalculture. Today the principle ofmonoculturalism is in many westernstates undermined by policiesadvocating multiculturalism.

Cultural homogeneity is difficult to secure. The localadministration is obliged to use two languages, i.e.,local Greenlandic as well as 'foreign' Danish.Education, media, and cultural activity is heavilyinfluenced by Danish culture.

Social welfare and health Social welfare and the health system isfinanced and run by the independentstate, although parts of the services maytake place in other countries.

70

Parts of the social welfare system in Greenland aredetermined by the Danish state, e.g., the laborlegislation and the occupational health and safetyadministration in Greenland are under the jurisdictionof the Danish state. Social services and health servicesare financed by the Home Rule and a substantial partof health services take place in Greenland.

The 'State Nobility' in a Developing Country ContextIn the above analysis, we emphasized the role of balance ofpower of social and economic forces as a determinant of thepower position of the state elite. This structuralist approach is,however, inadequate as it does not take into account how thetaken-for-granted cultural background produces and reproducesthe collective identi ty of different social groups. We refer here toconscious and unconscious symbolism that creates the feeling ofbelonging to a group at the same time as it creates mechanismsof exclusion. This phenomenon is an essential part of how powerpositions of different groups are reproduced. In the case of thestate elite, one may refer to 'state nobility' (Bourdieu 1996). Thisconcept refers to professionals in the state apparatus who belongto the highest level in the state hierarchy of power and sharecommon socio-cultural backgrounds through socialization in eliteeducational institutions and share similar class background. Themembers of the state nobility not only share the same formaleducational merits, but share a 'habitus' as well (Bourdieu 1977).Their 'habitus' consists of informal symbolism and a taken-for-granted reference world of norms and proper as well as improperways of thinking and behaving, that together defines theboundaries between those who are insiders and those who areoutsiders. Class habitus defines the individuals opinions on whatis good, beautiful and just (Eder 1993:64). That way of life,experience and experiencing, as well the informal networks andformal educational merits and recommendations, constitute theindividuals culture-capital which is essential for their career andaccess to positions of power.

State elites usually play a crucial role in developingcountries in determining developmental strategies. Usuallyforeign professionals are part of the state elite and sometimesthey are a part of foreign development aid. The foreignprofessionals often shared different habitus from that of the restof the domestic state elite and those with different ethnicbackgrounds. As a consequence, they will share an ethno/racebased culture-capital that we may call ethnic-capital (Olsen1995: 15-17), that is particularly important in the developmentcontext as it secures foreign professionals special social statusand power along with their control of the foreign developmentaid. If this group becomes large enough as a proportion of thestate and business elite, ethno/race-relations become essential forthe development of mechanisms of exclusion from these elites.The local people will suffer from institutionalized racism' thatexcludes them from challenging careers and entering the elites. Inthis context, formal educational merits and ethnically determinednotions of who fits socially into the elite groups becomeimportant means of exclusion.

In the ethnic-capital context, language is an importantfactor in mechanisms of exclusion. In many former colonies thelanguage of administration is the language ofthe former colonialpower. In this situation the foreign professionals who speak the

I. (On institutionalised racism see Wieviorka 1995 and on racism inhistory and science see Mama 1995, and Wilson 1996.

Chapter Two: Reconfiguring the North

language of the colonial power will have special status as theyspeak more fluently, with "better" accents with a largervocabulary. They can more easi Iy express themsel ves "properly"and appear to be more trustworthy than the locals. The localprofessionals, who speak the native language as their mothertongue, will not have the same chances to fit into the elite. Thebulk of the foreign professionals are often from the same country,the former colonial power, and most share a background from ahandful of universities. They not only share the same kind ofhumor and jokes about the politicians from their country andimportant events in its history, but their networks and personalcontacts will also include some persons in common. Mostimportantly, they share opinions on which universities are goodand which are bad and usually they presume that they have thebest education. They will therefore systematically downgradelocal education and local knowledge/know-how, Often they havevery close personal ties, attending the same clubs and practicingthe same leisure activities and they will even live with theirfamilies in areas dominated by their kind.

Ethnic-Capital and Learning ProcessesThe mechanisms of exclusion and social distinction that ethnic-capital makes possible are important in both the development andself-government contexts. These mechanisms can and do hinderlearning processes that are essential iflocal people are to assumehigher level positions and accumulate know-how. Accumulationof know-how is essential for economic growth because itconstitutes the basis of a capacity to introduce new or improvedproducts/services and production! service processes (on differenttypes of innovation see Freeman 1987).

Learning is largely a social interactive process, but differentkinds of learning involve different levels of interaction. Somesimple, individual and isolated imprinting of immediateexperiences on memory takes place, but this is certainly not themost important form of learning. There is also rote learning, i.e.,one learns by repetition, but one does not necessarily understandwhat one is doing. This usually involves observing and learningfrom other people and therefore requires more human interactionthan simple imprinting. Much learning is done by feedback, whichinvolves still more interaction and consists oflearning from otherpeoples' responses to one's own conduct. Finally there issystematic and organized searching for new knowledge like thatfound in industrialized societies with their universities, (re)searchinstitutes and R&D departments, whether in firms or universities.Organized searching involves intense and complex forms ofinteraction inside the research community as well as between thisand other communities and individuals (Johnson 1993 :30-33). Asall forms of learning are a social interactive process, they areshaped by institutions, i.e., habits, norms and formal institutionsas well as social relations between groups. Hence, one maypresume that different institutional contexts wilt affect the levelor speed of learning as well as creative and destructiveforgetting. Let us have a closer look at this matter.

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Securing Northern Futures: Developing Research Partnerships, o.P. #45 cel Press (1999)

1--- --~------------ ..------.---..-..-....-----~---s·~c~o-e:~-on-'i~-----

! institutional factors:I ethnic relationsri level of unemploymentI level of educationI local know-how/culture

type of wei fare systemindustrial relations

class relationsender relations

Barriers of entSelection

interactive learning:learning by doinglearning by searchinglearning by exploring

·..---------1IIII

economicg.owth

-------_._-- ._--Figure 3. Social construction of the learning process.

Figure 2 highlights the institutional embeddedness of therelationship between institutional learning processes andinnovation leading to the accumulation of know-how,development and growth. This model is an elaboration ofJohnson's (1993:33) model of the relations between learning,growth of knowledge and innovation, but we emphasize the roleof institutional embeddedness of the Ieaming-innovation process(for more detailed discussion see Jonsson 1995a). Our main pointis that the learning-innovation process works differently indifferent societal contexts. The institutional factors determinebarriers of entry for different social groups. As discussed above,ethnic-capital is an important factor in determining socialexclusion. These mechanisms determine who enters what kind ofjobs that cover different kinds of learning (learning by doing,searching or exploring) and are therefore important factors inlabour market segmentation (Rosenberg 1989). Thesemechanisms are not only race/ethnic orientated, but gendered aswell.

Technical Change and Cultural Sustainability.The original model of the learning-innovation process aspresented in figure 2 is essentially Eurocentric by orientation, asit is based on the idea that interactive learning leads toinnovations that improve competitiveness of firms andeconomies, but the process of forgetting is reduced to creativeforgetting, i.e., knowledge that does not fit innovations andimproved competitiveness disappears. However, there is more to

the story. The learning-innovation process can be destructiveinsofar as local knowledge/culture is ruined and insofar as themechanisms of entry to the learning-innovation process lead toexclusion of particular ethnic groups, classes, or genders and theiraccumulated knowledge is ruined by unemployment, dissolutionand apathy.

There is a great chance for a vicious circle of destructiveforgetting in situations such as when self-government of peopleis not characterized by self-government by the people. Whenforeign professionals have a strong hegemonic position and theyare able to exclude local laborers from learning and accumulatingknowledge, they win, to a large extent, determine who isexcluded, but will also accelerate the process of destruction oflocal culture in so far as it does not fit to eurocentric or theirethnocentric criteria As a consequence, the process of interactionbetween local culture and foreign culturels embodied in importedtechnology is severely diminished and innovations as well asbusiness opportunities are reduced.

The case of Greenland and Inuit culture is interesting in thisrespect. Technical change refers to innovations as well astechnological transfer that leads to the implementation of newtechnology. Technology refers here both to organization ofproduction/services and the technique used inproduction/services. In the case of Greenland, since the 1950s thetechnological development has been predominantly eurocentric.The emphasis has primarily been on capital intensive massproduction of fish products on the one side, and taylorist

72

hierarchical organization of labor (see Jonsson 1995 on theindustrial structural development in Greenland). This Fordisttrajectory has not only reinforced ethnic based structures ofstatus and segmentation, but also ignored the potential of Inuitculture in terms of organizing work. At the same time the Fordisttrajectory undermines Inuit cultural sustainability and culturaltransformation. As Robert Petersen has highlighted, the hunters'culture of the Inuit was based on team work where a groupleader led the hunting team to the hunting area, but each hunterwithin the team hunted independently (Petersen 1992). This wayof organizing work is much more in line with contemporarymanagement strategies than the imported taylorist management.This local cultural base was suppressed and with it a strongpotential for a thriving local enterprise spirit. Withencouragement, this might have led to a small firm sectorproducing for the domestic market as happened in neighboringIceland; also is arnini-economy based on fishing (Jonsson 1997).As a consequence technical change has been characterized bydestructive forgetting.

The predominantly Fordist technical change in Greenlandhas been characterized by highly segmented labour market as wewill discuss shortly. As foreign professionals have monopolizedmanagement posts in business firms and public administration toa large extent, definitions of business opportunities/emphasishave been very skewed so that domestic production does notdevelop. Innovation activity in relation to production for thedomestic market relies greatly on local culture as to form and useof products. The important link between innovation activity andlocal culture is undermined as Inuit are excluded frommanagement positions in firms and public administration. Againthe result is destructive forgetting in terms of culturalsustainability. Let us have a closer look at how this process ofdestruction is organized in Greenland by way of institutionalizedracism.

Ethnic-Capital and Institutionalized Racism-The Case ofGreenland.A former colony of Denmark, Greenland was integrated intoDenmark as a county in 1953 and received home rule in 1979. AsGreenland became a county in Denmark, the process ofmodernization was heavily intensified. The aim was to realizesimilar living standards in Greenland as in Denmark in as short atime as possible. At the same time, Danish professionals wereimported to implant institutional preconditions and infrastructureso that Danish capital could invest in businesses in Greenland.However, Danish firms did not invest in Greenland to any realextent, so in the early 1960s it was decided that the state woulddevelop and invest in businesses instead. The result was a heavyinvestment in fisheries.

Foreign labor, mainly Danish, became, and continues to be,a substantial part of the labor force. The numberofforeign bornpersons in Greenland as a percentage of the total population hasgrown since the 1950s as follows: 1950=4.5; 1960=8.3;1970=16.4; 1980=17.7: 1990=17.0 and; 1996=12.9. However,the number of foreign workers reflected in population figuresdoes not tell the whole story. According to a survey from 1994,

Chapter Two: Reconfiguring the North

foreign workers (born outside Greenland) accounted for 14% ofthe labor force (18-59 years old) and 95% of them were skilledworkers or with higher education, while only 42% of those bornin Greenland were skilled workers or with higher education.Furthermore, 47% of those born outside Greenland belonged tothe highest income group, with 400 000 DKR in income per year,while only 9% of those born in Greenland belonged to this group.Unemployment was around 18% in 1994. At the same time, 45%of those born outside Greenland belonged to the group ofprofessionals, managers or directors, while only 9% of those bomin Greenland belonged to this group. Finally, 12% of those bornoutside Greenland belonged to the group of self-employed, whileonly 1% of those born in Greenland belonged to the same group(Statistics Greenland 1994). Consequently, Greenlandic societyis highly ethnically segregated both in terms of class and income.

Know-how and skills do not accumulate in Greenland to thesame extent as in the neighboring countries because Greenlandimports many expensive Danish 'professional' workers andexternal consultants, of whom over 70% move back again withinthree years. One of the main characteristics of wolman-powerpolicy in Greenland is the prioritizing of Danish professionals andacademic staff rather than local workers. As a consequence,Danish professionals are the bulk of the staff on managerial levelin the public and private administration.

This is very different from Iceland, a microstate likeGreenland with 265000 inhabitants in comparison to Greenland's55000 inhabitants. They are both Arctic countries with fisheriesas their main source of revenue (Jonsson 1995). UnlikeGreenland, in Iceland wo/manpower-policy emphasizes nativeknowledge, work experience and on-the job training. In Iceland,only 15% of senior officials and managers in firms and publicadministration had university degrees in 1995, at the same time63% ofprofessionals had such a degree (Statistics Iceland 1996).2

In 1997,53% of senior officials and managers within the publicadministration in Iceland (excluding municipalities) had academicdegrees and 68% of the professionals (Statistics Iceland 1997:special cross-tabulation for this paper).

In Greenland, the emphasis is on formal educational degreesrather than on native and local knowledge, local personalcontacts, networks, and local language. The result is thatmanagers and professionals in Greenland are most often Danishand, to a lesser extent, of other nationalities.

In Greenland, many have finished or attended technicalschools and gymnasiums (rSCED 2 and 3). In terms of enrollmentof students in such schools, about 85% of the 15-19 years oldgroup in Greenland attend such schools, while the ratio is 89% inUSA (UN: Human Development Report 1995:200 and GreenlandStatistics. Uddannelse 1995: 1 and Statistical Yearbook). Thisresource ofhuman capital is, however, not used. Opportunities in

2. This statistic is based on the standardized ILO labor market survey inIceland. The occupations are defined in accordance with ILO's ISCO-88categorization or occupations. The category 'professionals' refers tooccupations requiring academic education, hence the accumulation oflocal know-how and skills.

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the labor market are constrained due to the constant flow ofDanish workers and limited support for domestic production andconsumption. What is needed is for existing domestic producersand potential producers to have access to inexpensivetechnological facilities and assistance, as well as to a greatersupply of risk-capital for investments and experiments,marketing, etc.

Table 2: Evaluation Scheme for Hiring

Local EVU Foreign worker(worker with with Masters'.extended degree and nocommercial school background ineducation) G reenlandic

society oflanguage

Local knowledge! maximum: 3 pointsexperience /year

Local language 2 points/year

Relevant 3 points/year 3 points/yearbackgroundeducation (ISeED2)Further 2.5 points/yearbackgroundeducation

Bachelor degree 3 points/year

Master's degree 2 points/year

TOTAL 10.5 points/year 8 points/year

Finally, the struggle against institutionalized racism may bethe most important institutional precondition for increaseddomestic production in Greenland in the future. Institutionalizedracism hinders the accumulation of work experience for nativeworkers and hence the accumulation of local know-how andskills. 3 Institutionalized racism in Greenland involves systematicovervaluation of the know-how of a particular ethnic group; inthis case, Danish workers and their formal educational meritscompared to local know-how. This happens despite the fact thatmost of the Danish workers lack knowledge of the Greenlandiclanguage. Furthermore, the Danes lack knowledge of theparticularities of the GreenJandic society and its economy as wellas local personal contacts which are essential both foradministration and business. In addition, the Danish "requested"or "sent for" ("tilkoldt") workers constitute an extremelyunstable work force as around 70% leave again within three

3. On institutionalised racism see Wieviorka 1995 and on racism inhistory and science see Mama 1995 and Wilson 1996.

years. Their transport costs alone are estimated at about 5% (the GDP of Greenland (Paldam 1995). The productivity ofthforeign work force must be low since they need to get acquaint"with the Greenlandic society and many of them arrive directfrom universities without any work experience. An unstable atunfit labor force of this kind can hardly be ideal for any employe

How can one fight institutionalized racism atdiscrimination? This can be done by positively emphasizing lociknowledge and language in manpower policy. This can be dorby hiring persons according to points given for different kinds (know-how acquired in terms of years. In the scheme below Ioc:knowledge and language is emphasized and hypothetic;applicants are compared: when an applicant has higher educaticthan an Masters' degree, the application has to be evaluatecritically in order to prevent the hiring of overqualified persor(given that her/his educational background is relevant) ankeeping in mind opportunities for a local person of on-the jctraining.

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