Full Proposals for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Proposed IPY Activity Details

1.0 PROPOSER INFORMATION

(Activity ID No: 436)

1.1 Title of Activity
Moved by the State: Perspectives on Relocation and Resettlement in the Circumpolar North

1.2 Short Form Title of Proposed Activity
MOVE

1.3 Activity Leader Details
Peter Schweitzer
University of Alaska Fairbanks
USA

1.4 Lead International Organisation(s) (if applicable)

1.5 Other Countries involved in the activity
Canada
Finland
Greenland
Russia

1.6 Expression of Intent ID #'s brought together in this proposed activity
000

1.7 Location of Field Activities
Arctic

1.8 Which IPY themes are addressed
2. Change in the polar regions
6. The human dimension in polar regions

1.9 What is the main IPY target addressed by this activity
1. Natural or social science

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2.0 SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY

MOVE is an international, collaborative attempt to address a major shortcoming in conceptualizing northern histories, presents and futures. While the phenomenon of state-induced population movements in the circumpolar North in the 20th and 21st centuries is well-known, to date no comparative analysis of their local and regional contexts and impacts has been undertaken. Although the role of the state in shaping the North has received some belated attention in recent years, the local expressions of moving, coping, rebuilding and remembering remain to be understood.

If seasonal and permanent population movements in the lives of circumpolar peoples were in the past responsive to the local conditions upon which subsistence lifeways were based, population movements in the recent history of the North have been imposed by market and state logics of a conspicuously non-local character. Previous research on forms of relocation and resettlement sponsored by outside institutions has focused almost exclusively on the political motivations and repercussions, as well as demographic consequences of such movement. While these lines of inquiry are important, they provide few clues about local perceptions and impacts, or the persistent power of local agency to resist and condition projects of relocation. Similarly, while there is a long history of social science involvement with northern development planning – and more recently with the “sustainability” of development -, there is a general failure to address the importance of “social fabric” within the context of resettlement and other population movements.

“Moved by the state” refers to the commonality of having to cope with relocations and other population movements triggered by outside decisions. In analyzing a broad array of case studies (small and large, indigenous and non-indigenous communities, in free market and central command systems, ranging from the mid-20th to the early 21st century), the collaborative research project intends to test the extent of commonality. Demographic, political, social and cultural variables will be used to track the similarities and differences, both among communities facing being moved now and those that have been moved in the past. Extensive fieldwork, combining participant observation, various interview and survey strategies, and the recording of oral and life histories, as well as demographic and economic data collection and analysis, will form the methodological backbone of the project. Thus, the impact of past and present relocations will be addressed through a dual strategy. On the one hand, a series of regional analyses of aggregate economic and demographic data will provide an overall picture of the population movements in question. On the other hand, ethnographic fieldwork in selected villages and towns of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia will add local context and emic perspectives.

In theoretical terms, the proposed research addresses the tension between the increasingly “translocal” and various “senses of place”. The question of how local identities, “in” or “out of place” (of origin) are constituted leads to a critical interrogation of the roles of “cultural” and “practical” engagements in creating and recreating place within a particular environment. The results of this research will become increasingly relevant in the ongoing negotiations between states and communities about location and relocation in the face of increasing social and climate change.

2.1 What is the evidence of inter-disciplinarity in this activity?
The individual researchers within MOVE come from a variety of social science backgrounds, including anthropology, demography, economics, ethnohistory, and geography. While inter-disciplinary work across natural and social science disciplines in the Arctic has received increased support in recent years, the importance of inter-disciplinary Arctic social science research has been slightly overlooked. A variety of qualitative and quantitative methods will be employed and several project-wide meetings and workshops will be used to achieve methodological and inter-disciplinary integration.

2.2 What will be the significant advances/developments from this activity? What will be the major deliverables? What are the outputs for your peers?
In addition to a variety of articles in peer-reviewed journals, the main deliverable of MOVE will be an edited volume addressing the main themes of the research project. This collaborative effort will be preceded by a workshop during year 3, in which MOVE researchers – as well as selected non-project related individuals – will participate (the results of which will be the starting point for the edited volume). In addition, there will be a variety of case-study specific results and deliverables, detailing regional and local results in articles, dissertations, and presentations. While the project hopes to provide a definitive assessment of certain types of 20th century population movements in the North, it is obvious that the whole complex of themes cannot be treated exhaustively within MOVE. Thus, one anticipated result of the project is to stimulate further research on particular aspects of the theme. Finally, it is to be expected that local communities will want to build up “archives” of written and oral (and visual) relocation testimonies and MOVE will assist in these activities.

2.3 Outline the geographical location(s) for the proposed field work (approximate coordinates will be helpful if possible)

2.4 Define the approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities?

2.5 What major logistic support/facilities will be required for this project?

2.6 How will the required logistics be supplied? Have operators been approached?

2.7 If working in the Arctic regions, has there been contact with local indigenous groups or relevant authorities regarding access?
Many of the researchers involved in MOVE have established long-term relationships with the individuals and communities they will be working with. At the same time, the final selection of the fieldsites only will occur during year 1 (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2007) of the project. More formal agreements with the involved communities will be developed in the course of these negotiations. As a general rule, we will follow the national/regional regulations concerning access to fieldwork (e.g., in Nunavut, we will go through the established licensing procedure of the Nunavut Research Institute).

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3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE ACTIVITY

3.1 Origin of the activity
This is a new activity developed for the IPY period

3.2 How will the activity be organised and managed? Describe the proposed management structure and means for coordinating across the cluster
The management of MOVE will be the responsibility of the PI located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Given the overall aims and objectives of the project, MOVE will operate in a dual mode, supporting the methodological independence of individual projects (IPs) and encouraging their analytical integration at the same time. In order to achieve this integration and communication within the overall project, one IP (IP5 – University of Maryland) will provide a circumpolar perspective, two IPs will cover intersecting axes (Alaska and Russia in the case of IP1 [University of Alaska Fairbanks] and indigenous and incomers in the case of IP3 [University of Lapland]), even though four of the five IPs can be best seen as primarily contributing to one or the other of two theme blocks. The reason that IPs 2 [University of Greenland] and 4 [University of Alberta] have to remain more limited in scope than the other parts of MOVE is that their respective national funding agencies cannot provide the support necessary to engage more personnel. Thus, the following project structure emerges:
- IP1 and IP2 will work primarily in the non-Russian North and will focus on indigenous communities. IP1, however, will conduct limited fieldwork in the Russian North and will incorporate a non-indigenous case study in Alaska.
- IP3 and IP4 will work primarily in the Russian North and will focus on non-indigenous groups and communities. IP3, however, will conduct limited fieldwork with indigenous communities in Russia.
IP5, while somewhat focused on Russia, will provide a broad circumpolar perspective on demographic and economic parameters of settlement patterns. This IP will be engaged in data exchange with all other IPs.

In order to achieve this integration and communication within the overall project, one project part (located at the University of Maryland) will provide a circumpolar perspective, two project parts will cover intersecting axes (Alaska and Russia – University of Alaska Fairbanks - and indigenous and incomers – University of Alberta), even though four of the five IPs can be best seen as primarily contributing to one or the other of two theme blocks. The reason that IPs 2 and 4 have to remain more limited in scope than the other parts of the CRP is that their respective national funding agencies cannot provide the support necessary to engage more personnel. Thus, the following project structure emerges:
- IP1 and IP2 will work primarily in the non-Russian North and will focus on indigenous communities. IP1, however, will conduct limited fieldwork in the Russian North and will incorporate a non-indigenous case study in Alaska.
- IP3 and IP4 will work primarily in the Russian North and will focus on non-indigenous groups and communities. IP3, however, will conduct limited fieldwork with indigenous communities in Russia.
- IP5, while somewhat focused on Russia, will provide a broad circumpolar perspective on demographic and economic parameters of settlement patterns. This IP will be engaged in data exchange with all other IPs.

Year 1 of the project will be devoted to an intensive exchange of existing data and methodological approaches, culminating in a first overall project meeting. This integrative process might be counteracted on the local level, given the fact that we intend to partner with local communities on questions about where the research should go and which methods should be employed. The project meetings and workshops will have the important function of providing analytical integration under conditions of local methodological autonomy.

3.3 Will the activity leave a legacy of infrastructure and if so in what form?
No

3.4 Will the activity involve nations other than traditional polar nations? How will this be addressed?
No

3.5 Will this activity be linked with other IPY core activities? If yes please specify
We are certain that MOVE will be linked with a variety of IPY core activities. At this point, however, it is difficult to determine the specifics of these emerging links. One goal is to work closely with the University of the Arctic, in contributing to their curriculum (one of the principal investigators has co-authored a teaching module on northern relocations, which will be updated as a result of MOVE). Another foreseeable link is the prominent participation of MOVE in the Sixth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VI, to be held during IPY 20072008), an IPY-endorsed activity (endorsement #69 by the ICSU/WMO JC).

3.6 How will the activity manage its data? Is there a viable plan and which data management organisations/structures will be involved?
Qualitative social science data are often highly sensitive and cannot be treated in the same way as data obtained by the natural sciences. Still, we intend to follow the guidelines of the recently established IPY subcommittee on data management regarding data from research with human subjects, once they become available. In addition to local repositories, the University of Alaska Fairbanks will serve as the main repository for data which are cleared for use outside their local/national contexts.

3.7 Data Policy Agreement
Will this activity sign up to the IPY draft Data Policy (see website)
Yes

3.8 How will the activity contribute to developing the next generation of polar scientists, logisticians, etc.?
The individual project participants plan to incorporate the younger researchers (graduate students, post-docs) as much as possible (that is, as much as possible given national funding constraints within ESF). At this point, the University of Alaska Fairbanks intends to hire 2 M.A. students, 1 Ph.D. student, and 1 post-doctoral researcher solely for the purposes of MOVE. Similarly, the University of Lapland will hire 2 post-docs, the University of Alberta and the University of Maryland 1 post-doc each, and the University of Greenland 1 Ph.D. student. All of these young researchers will be centrally involved in data collection and analysis. Thus, MOVE will provide an important training component for the next generation of arctic researchers.

3.9 How will this activity address education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Education will be an important aspect of MOVE from the onset (see paragraph 3.8). Naturally, the majority of outreach activities will be during the second part of the project, once preliminary results have been obtained. Still, since the concrete design and execution of the research activities will be achieved on close consultation with local communities, outreach activities will pervade all phases of the project.

As preliminary results become available, they will be presented to and discussed with the communities where fieldwork will be carried out. One possible outreach activity might be the compilation of short, popular texts for use in northern schools (to be written in the appropriate local language(s)). Another possibility is the assistance in building up local “archives” of written, oral, and visual relocation testimonies. The final decision about these activities will rest with the communities concerned.

The communication of results will not be limited to local communities but will include Arctic science communities and the wider public. Peer-reviewed journal articles, an edited volume, newspaper articles, curriculum contributions (to the University of the Arctic and other northern institutions) will be used as vehicles to achieve this goal.

3.10 What are the proposed sources of funding for this activity?
A funding proposal is under consideration by the EUROCORES BOREAS program of the European Science Foundation.

3.11 Additional Comments
This proposed IPY activity does not have a EoI #; [000] was entered so the system would accept the submission.

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4.0 CONSORTIUM INFORMATION

4.1 Contact Details

Lead Contact
Prof Peter Schweitzer
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Department of Anthropology P.O. Box 757720 Fairbanks, Alaska
99775
USA

Tel:          +1-907-474-5015
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         +1-907-474-7453
Email:       ffpps@uaf.edu

Second Contact
Prof Yvon Csonka
University of Greenland
Department of Cultural and Social History Box 279, Nuuk
DK-3900
Greenland

Tel:          +299-324566
Mobile:   N/A
Fax:         +299-324711
Email:      ycsonka@gmail.com

4.2 Other significant consortium members and their affiliation