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Papers by Ragnheidur Bogadóttir
Journal of Political Ecology, 2017
While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a he... more While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a healthy economy, the concept and agenda of degrowth beg for theorization about how culture and power render some economic strategies more viable and meaningful than others. In this article we discuss the highly contested practice of Faroese pilot whaling, grindadráp. Through autoethnographic methods we identify and analyze forces challenging this deep-rooted practice, both within and outside Faroese society. Faroese resistance to abandon the practice, expressed in local pro-whaling narratives suggest that, in the struggle to legitimize the grindadráp as a sustainable and eco-friendly practice, Faroese people are simultaneously deconstructing central tenets of the global food system, and comparing grindadráp favorably with the injustices and cruelties of industrial food procurement. In this sense, we argue that the grindadráp not only constitutes a locally meaningful alternative to growth-dominated economic practices, but may also, in this capacity, inspire Faroese people to reduce engagement with economic activities that negatively impact the environment and perpetuate social and environmental injustices in the world.
This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Ink... more This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Inka Empire (ca. AD 1400 – 1532) in order to illuminate the cultural organization of Inka imperial metabolism. Rather than understanding Inka imperialism simply as a political process with socioecological consequences, it is investigated as an ecological process organized through specific cultural categories. The Inka imperial economy is conceptualized in terms of transfers of time and space between different categories of people. The thesis thus addresses long-standing questions regarding the economic operation of the Inka Empire as well as central issues in general social theory. It demonstrates how imperial power is based on biophysical flows of embodied labor and land, organized by specific cultural permutations of reciprocity and redistribution. The thesis focuses on estimating these flows through analyses of time-space appropriation. This is done by reconstructing, on the basis of arc...
Sustainability Science, 2019
Blue Growth is promoted as an important strategy for future food security, and sustainable harves... more Blue Growth is promoted as an important strategy for future food security, and sustainable harvesting of marine resources. This paper aims to identify dominating ideologies and strategies of Blue Growth in the Faroe Islands, mainly regarding salmon farming and industrial capture fisheries, and to investigate how these ideologies materialize in the social metabolism of Faroese society. The analysis approaches the Faroese Blue Economy from a holistic perspective using analytical concepts and frameworks of social (island) metabolism, environmental justice and degrowth to assess how current Blue Growth strategies pertain to long-term sustainability and human well-being. It offers a critical analysis of aquaculture in the Faroe Islands and shows that although the rhetoric around Blue Growth is framed within mainstreamed sustainability discourse, the ideologies and visions underpinning current Blue Growth strategies result in a continuation of conventional growth through the exploitation of new commodity frontiers. Finally, the negative consequences of Blue Growth are assessed and discussed through a mapping of recent and ongoing social and ecological distribution conflicts in the Faroes.
A Taste of Islands 60 Recipes and Stories from Our World of Islands, 2012
In this field study, based on fieldwork during a period of two months, the impact of imported foo... more In this field study, based on fieldwork during a period of two months, the impact of imported food and goods on human health and the environment in the Pacific island state of Samoa is investigated. The focus is on the direct impact of imported food on human health, as well as the role of imported food and goods in changing human-environmental relations. It is argued that modern problems of health are part of our larger ecological crisis, and should be understood as such. Applying theories of ecologically unequal exchange to the field material, it is further argued that in a self-reinforcing way, the growing dependency on imported goods and industrial low-quality food in Samoa is a contributing factor to unsustainable use of local natural resources, as well as unsustainable patterns of consumption.
Sustainability, 2020
This paper investigates the interrelations between social metabolism and socio-ecological sustain... more This paper investigates the interrelations between social metabolism and socio-ecological sustainability in the Faroe Islands in a long-term perspective. It traces the trajectory and changes in socio-metabolic configurations from the time of settlement until today and shows how social metabolism has increased to very high per capita levels during the past century. The analysis departs from the recognition that a decrease in social metabolism, i.e., a net reduction in throughput of natural resources in human economies, is necessary in order to curb the impending ecological crisis. It is argued that parallel to the growth oriented formal Faroese economy, economic food-provisioning practices rooted in the traditional, and ecologically sustainable, land management system continue to be practiced by Faroese people. These practices can be conceptualized as practices of so-called “quiet sustainability” and their contribution is estimated in bio-physical metrics of weight. The analysis show...
While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a he... more While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a healthy economy, the concept and agenda of degrowth beg for theorization about how culture and power render some economic strategies more viable and meaningful than others. In this article we discuss the highly contested practice of Faroese pilot whaling, grindadráp. Through autoethnographic methods we identify and analyze forces challenging this deep-rooted practice, both within and outside Faroese society. Faroese resistance to abandon the practice, expressed in local pro-whaling narratives suggest that, in the struggle to legitimize the grindadráp as a sustainable and eco-friendly practice, Faroese people are simultaneously deconstructing central tenets of the global food system, and comparing grindadráp favorably with the injustices and cruelties of industrial food procurement. In this sense, we argue that the grindadráp not only constitutes a locally meaningful alternative to growth-d...
Sharing Knowledge for Land Use Management
Økonomi & Politik, 2020
På trods af at være et lille perifert øsamfund i Nordatlanten med en ganske lille befolkning, så ... more På trods af at være et lille perifert øsamfund i Nordatlanten med en ganske lille befolkning, så har Færøerne formået at udvikle en industriel sektor, der opretholder høje standarder og er internationalt konkurrencedygtig. Udviklingen af den færøske lakseindustri til en af verdens absolut førende eksemplificerer, hvordan småstater kan udnytte lokale ressourcer og viden til stor lokal værdiskabelse, og hvordan små ø-jurisdiktioner kan manøvrere storpolitisk for at positionere sig gunstigt på det globale marked. Artiklen belyser, hvordan den færøske lakseindustri er forankret i en meget lokal kontekst, og diskuterer udviklingen af den færøske lakseindustri i et storpolitisk og bæredygtighedsperspektiv.
Journal of Political Ecology, 2017
While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a he... more While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a healthy economy, the concept and agenda of degrowth beg for theorization about how culture and power render some economic strategies more viable and meaningful than others. In this article we discuss the highly contested practice of Faroese pilot whaling, grindadráp. Through autoethnographic methods we identify and analyze forces challenging this deep-rooted practice, both within and outside Faroese society. Faroese resistance to abandon the practice, expressed in local pro-whaling narratives suggest that, in the struggle to legitimize the grindadráp as a sustainable and eco-friendly practice, Faroese people are simultaneously deconstructing central tenets of the global food system, and comparing grindadráp favorably with the injustices and cruelties of industrial food procurement. In this sense, we argue that the grindadráp not only constitutes a locally meaningful alternative to growth-dominated economic practices, but may also, in this capacity, inspire Faroese people to reduce engagement with economic activities that negatively impact the environment and perpetuate social and environmental injustices in the world.
This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Ink... more This thesis analyzes some aspects of the appropriation of labor time and natural space in the Inka Empire (ca. AD 1400 – 1532) in order to illuminate the cultural organization of Inka imperial metabolism. Rather than understanding Inka imperialism simply as a political process with socioecological consequences, it is investigated as an ecological process organized through specific cultural categories. The Inka imperial economy is conceptualized in terms of transfers of time and space between different categories of people. The thesis thus addresses long-standing questions regarding the economic operation of the Inka Empire as well as central issues in general social theory. It demonstrates how imperial power is based on biophysical flows of embodied labor and land, organized by specific cultural permutations of reciprocity and redistribution. The thesis focuses on estimating these flows through analyses of time-space appropriation. This is done by reconstructing, on the basis of arc...
Sustainability Science, 2019
Blue Growth is promoted as an important strategy for future food security, and sustainable harves... more Blue Growth is promoted as an important strategy for future food security, and sustainable harvesting of marine resources. This paper aims to identify dominating ideologies and strategies of Blue Growth in the Faroe Islands, mainly regarding salmon farming and industrial capture fisheries, and to investigate how these ideologies materialize in the social metabolism of Faroese society. The analysis approaches the Faroese Blue Economy from a holistic perspective using analytical concepts and frameworks of social (island) metabolism, environmental justice and degrowth to assess how current Blue Growth strategies pertain to long-term sustainability and human well-being. It offers a critical analysis of aquaculture in the Faroe Islands and shows that although the rhetoric around Blue Growth is framed within mainstreamed sustainability discourse, the ideologies and visions underpinning current Blue Growth strategies result in a continuation of conventional growth through the exploitation of new commodity frontiers. Finally, the negative consequences of Blue Growth are assessed and discussed through a mapping of recent and ongoing social and ecological distribution conflicts in the Faroes.
A Taste of Islands 60 Recipes and Stories from Our World of Islands, 2012
In this field study, based on fieldwork during a period of two months, the impact of imported foo... more In this field study, based on fieldwork during a period of two months, the impact of imported food and goods on human health and the environment in the Pacific island state of Samoa is investigated. The focus is on the direct impact of imported food on human health, as well as the role of imported food and goods in changing human-environmental relations. It is argued that modern problems of health are part of our larger ecological crisis, and should be understood as such. Applying theories of ecologically unequal exchange to the field material, it is further argued that in a self-reinforcing way, the growing dependency on imported goods and industrial low-quality food in Samoa is a contributing factor to unsustainable use of local natural resources, as well as unsustainable patterns of consumption.
Sustainability, 2020
This paper investigates the interrelations between social metabolism and socio-ecological sustain... more This paper investigates the interrelations between social metabolism and socio-ecological sustainability in the Faroe Islands in a long-term perspective. It traces the trajectory and changes in socio-metabolic configurations from the time of settlement until today and shows how social metabolism has increased to very high per capita levels during the past century. The analysis departs from the recognition that a decrease in social metabolism, i.e., a net reduction in throughput of natural resources in human economies, is necessary in order to curb the impending ecological crisis. It is argued that parallel to the growth oriented formal Faroese economy, economic food-provisioning practices rooted in the traditional, and ecologically sustainable, land management system continue to be practiced by Faroese people. These practices can be conceptualized as practices of so-called “quiet sustainability” and their contribution is estimated in bio-physical metrics of weight. The analysis show...
While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a he... more While the doxa of growth continues to dominate mainstream understandings of what constitutes a healthy economy, the concept and agenda of degrowth beg for theorization about how culture and power render some economic strategies more viable and meaningful than others. In this article we discuss the highly contested practice of Faroese pilot whaling, grindadráp. Through autoethnographic methods we identify and analyze forces challenging this deep-rooted practice, both within and outside Faroese society. Faroese resistance to abandon the practice, expressed in local pro-whaling narratives suggest that, in the struggle to legitimize the grindadráp as a sustainable and eco-friendly practice, Faroese people are simultaneously deconstructing central tenets of the global food system, and comparing grindadráp favorably with the injustices and cruelties of industrial food procurement. In this sense, we argue that the grindadráp not only constitutes a locally meaningful alternative to growth-d...
Sharing Knowledge for Land Use Management
Økonomi & Politik, 2020
På trods af at være et lille perifert øsamfund i Nordatlanten med en ganske lille befolkning, så ... more På trods af at være et lille perifert øsamfund i Nordatlanten med en ganske lille befolkning, så har Færøerne formået at udvikle en industriel sektor, der opretholder høje standarder og er internationalt konkurrencedygtig. Udviklingen af den færøske lakseindustri til en af verdens absolut førende eksemplificerer, hvordan småstater kan udnytte lokale ressourcer og viden til stor lokal værdiskabelse, og hvordan små ø-jurisdiktioner kan manøvrere storpolitisk for at positionere sig gunstigt på det globale marked. Artiklen belyser, hvordan den færøske lakseindustri er forankret i en meget lokal kontekst, og diskuterer udviklingen af den færøske lakseindustri i et storpolitisk og bæredygtighedsperspektiv.