“The ice can be conquered”: scientific knowledge and mobilizing Arctic gas
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Date
2020-08
Authors
Wilt, James
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Abstract
This thesis examines the histories of two proposed natural gas transportation projects from the Canadian Arctic Islands in the 1970s and 1980s: the Polar Gas Project and Arctic Pilot Project. Specifically, it analyzes scientific inquiries into the issue of ice by the consortiums, which posed a major obstacle to successfully establishing commodity circulation. In total, more than 80 scientific and technical reports produced by the consortiums and contracted firms about the various challenges of ice facing the two projects were examined for this thesis. These scientific investigations covered an enormous range of focuses about the mechanics and behaviour of ice, including its thickness, coverage, patterns of formation and break-up, and strength. Three categories of theoretical approaches were used to analyze this scientific work: 1) production of cryo-nature; 2) scientific knowledge production; and 3) political ecology of failure. This thesis draws attention to the diverse and often ad-hoc scientific labour that produced Arctic natures as abstracted and exploitable spaces for capital accumulation. It also considers the alternative production of natures by Inuit societies, rooted in relations of kinship and reciprocity. The two case studies demonstrate that scientific inquiries were highly productive despite the eventual failure of the projects, with many of the same issues now resurfacing with the melting of Arctic ice and capitalist ambitions to maximize “accumulation by disappearance.”
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Keywords
Scientific knowledge, Arctic oil and gas, Political ecology, Ice science