Colonial Moments in Greenland: Mutable Tensions in the Contact Zone

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

In 2009, Greenland obtained self-government, terminating Danish supremacy, which had taken many forms over the centuries. This article analyses significant moments in Greenlandic-Danish relations by unpacking distinct contact zones that have emerged through the many encounters between locals and newcomers. Contact zones are always emplaced and create their own logic, which is not always easily readable as “colonialism” in the sense of appropriating lands and extracting surplus. While wrongs may have been perpetrated and ill-informed actions towards the inhabitants taken, relations between Greenland and Denmark illustrate how “colonialism” is neither uniform nor scalable. The analytical focus on colonial moments stresses the nonlinearity of colonial relations and allows for a subtler understanding of the postcolonial remains.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftItinerario: International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction
Vol/bind43
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)243-261
ISSN0165-1153
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2019

ID: 225521890