The GlobalArctic MOOC introduces you the dynamics between global changes and changes in the Arctic. This course aims to highlight the effects of climate change in the Polar region. In turn, it will underline the impacts of a warmer Arctic on the planet Earth. For human civilization, the Arctic stands both as a laboratory and a warning for human kind. Besides, this course gives course followers an understanding of the key challenges and pathways to sustainable development in the Arctic region. This course is unique as it gathers several world’s experts for the first time to speak about the Arctic. Their respective inputs from different academic perspectives and disciplines offer a relevant and complete assessment of the Arctic region and its connection to the rest of the planet. At the end of the day, the course intends to offer in full scope the keys to understanding as the Arctic plays as a mirror of the human and geological dynamics.
Early industrialization of the Arctic
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來自 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 的課程
Global Arctic
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從本節課中
WEEK 3 The evolving image and significance of the Arctic from early colonization to the ultimate industrial frontier
This third week will tackle historical perception of the Arctic in the frame of the Anthropocene era. From early colonization under the Viking rule until the Chinese Polar Silk Road project, lectures will guide you through this evolving and transforming image and significance to the world.
與講師見面
Matthias FingerProfessor
EPFL, ITPP, MIR, IGLUS Lab
Hi, my name is Christopher.
I'm a professor at Lakehead University.
Today, I'll be talking about the impacts of early industrialism on the Arctic.
The industrial period differs in many ways from
the earlier pre-industrial colonial period.
A period that one could say started as early as
the 12th century in some areas and lasted until the early 20th century.
That period saw a transformation of relations between
Europeans and non-Indigenous populations and the people of the North.
Contact was intensified and colonial relations were
established whereby Europeans came to dominate these Arctic societies.
At the same time,
the period prior to industrialism was
characterized by a certain degree of interdependence.
The colonial powers relied on
indigenous populations for assistance in the harvesting of furs and other goods.
There was an interdependence between colonial economic development and the environment as
economics success depended at least in
the long-term on the environment producing the goods necessary to be harvested;
The furs, the fish, the whales.
Industrialism saw a dramatic shift in these relations.
Early industrialism did not need
the Arctic because raw materials were found close to home,
but by the early 20th century,
industrialism needed more sources
of raw materials and they started to look towards the Arctic.
At the same time,
the costly nature of accessing resources meant that
exploiting them required large scale capital and planning.
This needed larger companies to operate and closer state industry relations.
Local indigenous populations we're no longer
essential for economic production and as a result they became
even more marginalized from
the main economic activities than they had under pre-industrial colonialism.
Their natural environment also became less important and were subject to degradation.
So, seen first in Fennoskandia.
The development of this region was based on
new international markets for forest products and mining.
New nation seat structures start to be used for the purposes of accessing resources and
transforming smaller craft liked activities into modern industrial activity.
A good example of this can be seen in the development of the L. Cobb,
a mining company in Northern Sweden at the end of the 19th century.
Industrial interests worked with the Swedish state to develop
the railroad necessary to transport the iron ore to markets,
to develop the mines themselves and
finally to develop the communities for the workers to live in.
Industrialism was not limited however to the large-scale operations.
The logic of industrial activity started to also
transform traditional activities such as reindeer herding and fishing.
In North America, it was the gold rush at
the end of the 20th century that first introduced industrialism to the Arctic.
Following the discovery of gold on the conduct Creek in 1896,
thousands of miners arrived in the region and later
spread out to Alaska and Canada's Northwest territories.
Individual mining however quickly changed to industrial mining as
the use of dredges and new technologies were seen to dramatically improve productivity.
These activities remain marginal however until after World II because
transportation infrastructure was basic and
cost to access materials in this region was high.
Prior to the creation of the Soviet Union,
industrial development in Russia was limited.
At the end of the 20th century,
Russia started to partner with
international capital to develop gold and other precious metals.
The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
led to new industrial activities in the southern regions of
Siberia and construction started on
a railway to the mineral rich region the Kola Peninsula.
The creation of the Soviet Union meant an increase need to access Arctic resources.
Isolation from other sources meant that
the Soviet Union needed to develop its own domestic sources of raw materials.
Many of these were in the northern regions.
This meant the increased importance of the railway to
the Kola Peninsula and the development of mineral resources there.
Gold mining was expanded to access foreign currency for the Soviet regime.
The huge base metal complex at Noril'sk was started in the late 1930s.
Some of the unique aspects of industrial development
under the Soviet Union was the use of forced labor.
But also, massive infrastructure developments such as
the use of the rivers of Siberia in conjunction with the Northern Sea Route.
The development of large-scale hydroelectric facilities
and the building of Canals and railroads.
The second World War had
an extremely important impact on the industrialism in the Arctic.
In Greenland and in North America,
the war saw a new transportation, communication infrastructures.
New roads and landing strips meant the region became much more accessible.
The war also showed the value of
greater industry and state cooperation to develop the region.
This led to a new vision of the industrial potential of the Arctic.
In Russia, the war saw an enormous intensification of industrial activities in Siberia.
It also led to an intensification of
resource exploitation and further centralization
of industrial planning in the Arctic region.
Generally, we can see that early industrialism has
had several important impacts on the Arctic.
Probably the most important for the people that live in the region,
is the further marginalization of indigenous peoples.
The fact that these peoples were no longer needed to produce
economic activities meant that their land
became the most important object of value to industrialism.
The objective of industrialism therefore was to alienate
these people from the land and to marginalize these people from the economic processes.
It also led to the development of new transportation and communication infrastructures.
New roads, new railways,
new landing strips, meant that the region became much more accessible.
Companies could now access the region to find out what
the extent of resource wealth was in that particular region.
It transformed pre-industrial activities,
taking standards subsistence activities
in many instances turning them into industrial activities.
It intensified colonial relations as governments and companies
tried their best to marginalize the rights of
indigenous peoples so as to increase their access to the land.
It also led to an intensification of environmental degradation as
the environment became less important for the production of raw materials. Thank you.
