Colonial Moments in Greenland: Mutable Tensions in the Contact Zone

Kirsten Blinkenberg Hastrup

doi:10.1017/s0165115319000251

Colonial Moments in Greenland: Mutable Tensions in the Contact Zone

Kirsten Blinkenberg Hastrup

1 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

In 2009, Greenland obtained self-government, terminating Danish supremacy, which had taken many forms over the centuries. This article analyses significant moments in Greenlandic-Danish relations by unpacking distinct contact zones that have emerged through the many encounters between locals and newcomers. Contact zones are always emplaced and create their own logic, which is not always easily readable as “colonialism” in the sense of appropriating lands and extracting surplus. While wrongs may have been perpetrated and ill-informed actions towards the inhabitants taken, relations between Greenland and Denmark illustrate how “colonialism” is neither uniform nor scalable. The analytical focus on colonial moments stresses the nonlinearity of colonial relations and allows for a subtler understanding of the postcolonial remains.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Itinerario: International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction
Vol/bind	43
Udgave nummer	2
Sider (fra-til)	243-261
ISSN	0165-1153
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0165115319000251
Status	Udgivet - 1 aug. 2019

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title = "Colonial Moments in Greenland: Mutable Tensions in the Contact Zone",

abstract = "In 2009, Greenland obtained self-government, terminating Danish supremacy, which had taken many forms over the centuries. This article analyses significant moments in Greenlandic-Danish relations by unpacking distinct contact zones that have emerged through the many encounters between locals and newcomers. Contact zones are always emplaced and create their own logic, which is not always easily readable as “colonialism” in the sense of appropriating lands and extracting surplus. While wrongs may have been perpetrated and ill-informed actions towards the inhabitants taken, relations between Greenland and Denmark illustrate how “colonialism” is neither uniform nor scalable. The analytical focus on colonial moments stresses the nonlinearity of colonial relations and allows for a subtler understanding of the postcolonial remains.",

keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, Greenland, contact zone, scalability, emerging citizenship, cosmopolitanism, Danish colonialism",

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N2 - In 2009, Greenland obtained self-government, terminating Danish supremacy, which had taken many forms over the centuries. This article analyses significant moments in Greenlandic-Danish relations by unpacking distinct contact zones that have emerged through the many encounters between locals and newcomers. Contact zones are always emplaced and create their own logic, which is not always easily readable as “colonialism” in the sense of appropriating lands and extracting surplus. While wrongs may have been perpetrated and ill-informed actions towards the inhabitants taken, relations between Greenland and Denmark illustrate how “colonialism” is neither uniform nor scalable. The analytical focus on colonial moments stresses the nonlinearity of colonial relations and allows for a subtler understanding of the postcolonial remains.

AB - In 2009, Greenland obtained self-government, terminating Danish supremacy, which had taken many forms over the centuries. This article analyses significant moments in Greenlandic-Danish relations by unpacking distinct contact zones that have emerged through the many encounters between locals and newcomers. Contact zones are always emplaced and create their own logic, which is not always easily readable as “colonialism” in the sense of appropriating lands and extracting surplus. While wrongs may have been perpetrated and ill-informed actions towards the inhabitants taken, relations between Greenland and Denmark illustrate how “colonialism” is neither uniform nor scalable. The analytical focus on colonial moments stresses the nonlinearity of colonial relations and allows for a subtler understanding of the postcolonial remains.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Greenland

KW - contact zone

KW - scalability

KW - emerging citizenship

KW - cosmopolitanism

KW - Danish colonialism

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DO - 10.1017/s0165115319000251

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0165-1153

VL - 43

SP - 243

EP - 261

JO - Itinerario

JF - Itinerario

IS - 2

ER -

Colonial Moments in Greenland: Mutable Tensions in the Contact Zone

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