Geography from the Margins Tero Mustonen (Ed.)
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Geography from the Margins Tero Mustonen (ed.) Snowchange Discussion Paper # 17 Photo: Eero1 Murtomäki Contents 3 Tero Mustonen Geography from the Margins 5 Anne Buttimer Interdependence 6 Jules Pretty Cultural Resilience at the Margins 8 Gunhild Setten Marginal(ising) geographies 10 Kenneth R. Olwig Marginalia: Siida and the Alta Petroglyphs – a Fractal Alternative to Cartographic Imperialism? 16 Michael Jones and Venke Åsheim Olsen The contribution of Kristian Nissen (1879–1968) to knowledge of cultural and geographical margins in the north 19 Matthew Sawatzky Marginalization in Canadian Forest Use Photo: Eero Murtomäki 2 Geography from the Margins Geography from the Margins Tero Mustonen Geography from the Margins collects together es- Questions forming the meta-level approach in these essays include for example in honour of the 60th anniversary of Professor • What are the space, relevance and role of ofsays Geography and scientific Ari Lehtinen texts that at Universityhave been ofwritten East- these ‘marginalized’ geographies from the ern Finland. They celebrate the writings, lifework peripheries? and academic approaches of Professor Ari Aukusti • What is the role of for example culturally endemic Sámi geographical time-space Professor Lehtinen turned 60 in October 2017. concepts and their transferability to power ProfessorLehtinen in Lehtinen the context is one of human of the geography. leading Nordic languages? • How could we ensure a culturally balanced theory, the European Greenbelt between Norway, and meaningful dialogue within the Finlandscholars andon for Russia, example the human taiga traditionalgeography, socialliveli- geographical disciplines on these marginalized hoods and Indigenous communities in the Rus- voices? sian boreal as well as Finland. He has been a close • Who is marginalized in human geography? supporter of the Snowchange Cooperative for over a decade. Snowchange is honoured to be able to publish a range of original English-language The essays included in this Lehtinen as a part of our Discussion Paper series. Discussion Paper are textsThese connected papers withalongside the celebration Finnish original of Professor scien- 1. “Interdependence” by Anne Buttimer book “Marginaalien maantiede” (Semi, Tanskanen 2. Cultural Resilience at the Margins by Jules andtific Mustonentexts were 2017)released on in30th the September Finnish language 2017 . Pretty The editors felt that the invited English-language 3. Marginalia: Siida and the Alta Petroglyphs – a materials should be made available to internation- Fractal Alternative to Cartographic Imperial- al readers. ism? By Kenneth R. Olwig The common thread for these invited essays is 4. Marginal(ising) geographies, Gunhild Setten the concept of ‘Geography from the Margins’. They 5. The contribution of Kristian Nissen (1879- are thought-provoking forum pieces that chal- 1968) to knowledge of cultural and geo- lenge the scholars of human geography and the graphical margins in the north by Michael readers to discover innovative thinking from the Jones and Venke Åsheim Olsen 6. Marginalization in Canadian Forest Use by cultural studies and human geography is left rath- Matthew Sawatzky er“margins”. open. Editors The exact are very positioning thankful ofto aall “margin” participat in- ing scholars. 3 References Semi, Jussi, Tanskanen, Minna and Mustonen, Tero. Marginaalien maantiede. Snowchange Cooperative: Kontiolahti, 2017. About the contributors: Late Anne Buttimer was Professor Emerita of Geography at University College, Dublin, Ireland Jules Pretty is a Professor of Environment and Society Kenneth R. Olwig is professor of landscape architecture& Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the Swedish at University the University of Agricultural of Essex, UK Sciences, Sweden Gunhild Setten is Professor at the Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Michael Jones is a Professor Emeritus from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Venke Åsheim Olsen is an Ethnologist from Norway Matthew Sawatzky with the University of Eastern Finland. He is originally from Canada. , Ph D, is a researcher affiliated Photo: Eero Murtomäki 4 Anne Buttimer Interdependence Anne Buttimer ‘The farther and more deeply we penetrate into matter, by means of increasingly powerful methods’, Teilhard de Chardin once remarked, ‘the more we are confounded by the interdependence of its parts. It is impossible to cut into this network, to isolate a portion, without it becoming frayed and unravelled at all its edges’. Interdependence - in life and in thought - lies at the heart of Ali Lehtinen’s scholarship. Reciproc- ity of core and periphery, of centrality and margin- ality, of home and horizon: with such themes he sheds innovative light on Europe and its northern peripheries, revealing fresh insight into the poten- tially creative tensions within and among them. Furthermore, he points directly toward the fundamental interdependence of two modes of knowing: the outward thrust of analytical endeav- on meaning. The appeal for heightened awareness ofour these and tensionsthe homeward constitutes thrust a ofmajor critical challenge reflection for scholars globally and especially for geographers. For this latter challenge, dear Ari, we all owe you an enormous debt of gratitude, affection and admiration. 5 Cultural Resilience at the Margins Cultural Resilience at the Margins Jules Pretty, University of Essex, UK - - rial progress is a modern invention. Hunters and cation and protection. Conservation, though, does foragers,The notion many of the farmers inevitable and herders benefits too, of alltend mate not notturally-created only derive landscapes from an intention are worthy to conserve. of identifi It to hold that their current community is any bet- can arise from belief systems that are embodied in ter than those of the past or at other places. Past a diversity of social institutions. The great major- and future are no more or less valued than cur- ity of non-industrial societies that have succeeded rent time. But economic development has too eas- in protecting the productivity of their ecosystems have done so primarily through the use of local places. Our environmental problems are thus hu- cultural mechanisms. One of the keys to success is manily justified problems. the lossesDisconnection of both species from the and land, special in the manifestation of nature as spiritual, culturally- the form of non-regular contact, already has the powerful symbols that command a sense of re- capacity to damage and even destroy cultures. spect, and are, in some cases, revered by society. Something important remains elusive to many Many cultures have independently evolved infor- moderns. It is much happiness. The proportion mal regulations, norms and social taboos that gov- of people in industrialised countries describing ern the respectful treatment of nature, and which themselves as happy has not changed since the have evolved into forms of environmental ethics middle of the 20th century, despite a trebling of (such as in the protection of sacred groves). Non- per capita wealth. Evolutionary history is framed by losses and gains. The same goes for humans and our cul- acceptablemarket based practices institutions and behaviours, co-evolved withand inspecific some tures. Ways of living emerged that were adapted ecosystems over time and act to define locally-- to local ecosystems. Wild places, farms and forests, ket signals. grasslands and gardens: none were invariant. And cases,Humans have a havegreater a long influence history than of developing external mar re- whether hunter or farmer, we changed things, and gimes and rules to protect and preserve natural in return our minds have been shaped by the land. places in a steady state. These diverse and loca- Then came the industrial revolution, the inven- - tion of machines that released abundant energy tional frameworks within communities, legitimat- from coal and oil. Then consumer culture trans- edtion-specific by shared rulevalues systems and appropriate form informal behaviours. institu formed the old equations about people and land. Where these systems are robust, they can main- Global connectedness now illuminates the upsides tain the productivity and diversity of the natural of consumption, and aspirations are converging. environment without the need for formal legal But now came environmental and social side-ef- enforcement sanctions. Compliance derives from informal internally-derived community sanctions, capacity to resource all our wants. Conventional economicfects, so serious growth they encourages threaten a this race finite to the planet’s top of embedded norms and institutions therefore arise consumption, even though many people currently fromsuch aas combination moral influence of local from knowledge elders. bases, Socially- cul- have no prospects of escaping poverty or hunger. tural belief systems and distinct worldviews. We still call this progress. There is growing acknowledgement that cul- are intimately linked to the land upon which they These contextual systems of collective action 6 Cultural Resilience at the Margins are based and, subsequently, are enormously di- Human cultures retaining, or striving to regain, verse. They govern the use of resources across a connections with the local environment could be improving their own resilience in light of the - many pressures they face, including global climate ity.wide How range humans of contexts, know thefrom world,