GREENLAND – DENMARK 1721-2021 Conference, Aalborg University, 9-11 June 2021

Lise Autogena gave the following presentation as part of Panel 5D: Danmark – Greenland mining (after) lives and legacies, which was convened by Lill Rastad Bjørst & Dag Avango

‘Community-based Research and the ‘afterlife’ of the Kuannersuit/Kvanefjeld Mine’
In the context of the possible ‘afterlife’ of the Kuannersuit/Kvanefjeld mine and a national election that suggests new approaches to development in South Greenland, this presentation will explore the newly established Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS) as a strategic initiative and space of possibility for community-led research and for experimentation and collaboration across the humanities, natural sciences and the arts

The Conference: GREENLAND – DENMARK 1721-2021

In 2021, Greenland and Denmark can look back at 300 years of colonization and resistance, continuous cultural encounters and relationship-building, cooperation and conflict. Whereas in Denmark the bicentennial year 1921 occasioned colonial self-congratulation, the tri-centennial anniversary arguably calls for reflection, assessment and re-evaluation of past and current relations – not least to enable both societies to better conceive of new ways of relating to each other in the years ahead. Recent governments in Greenland have initiated commissions on both reconciliation with the past and constitutions for the future. The resonance of both initiatives with the broader Greenlandic public, however, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Danish public debates oscillate between serious attempts at introspection, attempts to find new ways to re-relate, uncritical celebration of cultural difference, self-complacent paternalistic concern, and even outright animosity. In between, new generations of Greenlanders and Danes rediscover each other anew, sometimes in the spirit of creative coexistence, but often in the shadow of received wisdom and prejudice.
Non-scholarly debate and encounters thus continue to reaffirm or reconstruct aspects of the Greenland-Denmark relationship. Hence, this is a most pertinent time also for scholars in the human and social sciences to come together and add some academic perspective: Aiming to serve as a platform for a tri-centennial stocktaking, we invite panel sessions and papers presenting and discussing analyses from across the human and social sciences for a conference on

https://www.en.culture.aau.dk/research/conferences/greenland-denmark/