Encountering the North. Cultural geography, international relations and Northern landscapes

Book abstract:

The often-used phrase 'the frozen North' presents a hackneyed view and might be more indicative of the frozen opinions of those further south as they perceive life and the peoples of the European North. This work aims to unfreeze those opinions and open minds to the cultural, geographical and political imaginations of Northern peoples and landscapes.

The work is organised over eleven chapters. The first chapter provides a general introduction and goes on to discuss the impact of military policies during the Cold War period and their impact on international relations, before moving to cultural issues. The shaping of cultural perceptions of the North by demands from the South form part of the discussion in chapter two which explores cultural geographies of the Barents region against the changes over time in academic geographies. The role of pictures and photography in political iconography are featured in chapter three. Study of the Skolt Sami nation and the attempts to simulate them into the mainstream of Finnish nationalism is the backbone to chapter four which explores the sense of geographical beings 'whose culture and personality had developed in close contact with Northern nature and history'. Finnish culture features again in chapter five which contrasts the cultures of the Finnish North with those of the Finnish South. The role of explorers in the Arctic is discussed in chapter six which examines the symbolism associated with Northern geography and expands upon the process of geographical imagination. The cultural influences on political structures and behaviours are examined in chapter seven which delves into Scandinavian legend and highlights the significance of the 'round table' nature of compromise and mutual understanding which is an eminent feature of Nordic political culture. Chapter eight explores the scepticism for European integration found in the North and particularly Northern Norway. Climate change is the theme of chapter nine and specifically the debate on its impact on the Arctic region. The interplay of nature and economic development in Finnish Lapland is examined in chapter ten. The work closes with a chapter on Europe's Northern Dimension created through an initiative taken by Finland in 1997. It explores its impact on EU development and considers the disappearing divisions in Europe of an East-West context as the North begins to reassert itself.

The work will interest scholars, students and policy researchers engaged in the fields of EU studies, European integration, environmental politics and international relations.

Frank Möller and Samu Pehkonen are both Research Fellows at Tampere Peace Research Institute, University of Tampere, Finland.