Antarctic Social Sciences

The Antarctic Treaty (1959) was adopted for the purpose of bringing peace and stability to Antarctica and to facilitate cooperation in scientific research conducted on and around the continent. It has now been over fifty years since the signing of the treaty, nevertheless security continues to drive and shape the laws and policy regime which governs the region. Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives assess Antarctic security from multiple legal and policy perspectives. This book reviews the existing security construct in Antarctica, critically assesses its status in the early part of the Twenty-First century and considers how Antarctic security may be viewed in both the immediate and distant future. The book assesses emerging new security threats, including the impact of climate change and the issues arising from increased human traffic to Antarctica by scientists, tourists, and mariners. The authors call into question whether the existing Antarctic security construct framed around the Antarctic Treaty remains viable, or whether new Antarctic paradigms are necessary for the future governance of the region. The contributions to this volume engage with a security discourse which has expanded beyond the traditional military domain to include notions of security from the perspective of economics, the environment and bio-security. This book provides a contemporary and innovative approach to Antarctic issues which will be of interest to scholars of international law, international relations, security studies and political science as well as policy makers, lawyers and government officials with an interest in the region.

Hemmings, A.D., Rothwell, D.R. and Scott, K.N. (Ed.) (2012) Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge. 368pp. 

The polar regions (the Arctic and Antarctic) have enjoyed widespread public attention in recent years, as issues of conservation, sustainability, resource speculation and geopolitical manoeuvring have all garnered considerable international media interest. This critical collection of new and original papers – the first of its kind – offers a comprehensive exploration of these and other topics, consolidating the emergent field of polar geopolitics. The expert international contributors to this volume offer a range of insightful comparative, interdisciplinary and global perspectives on polar issues. Key topics discussed include resource extraction, regime formation, knowledge construction, border issues, governance and treaties, and indigenous livelihoods. Contributions from scholars of history, geography, political science, anthropology and international law make this a truly comprehensive take on the current state and future prospects of both the polar regions and polar geopolitics as a distinct discipline.

See in particular chapter 13: "Militant geography and frontier vigilantism: Australia, Australian Antarctic Territory and the 'Southern Flank'" by Klaus Dodds

Polar Geopolitics: Knowledges, Legal Regimes and Resources. (2014) Dodds, K. & Powell, R. (eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar

First published in 1986, this book considers the nature of international interest in Antarctica and the positions of those involved. It looks at the significance of the historical dimension, the development of the treaty system, the management of marine and mineral resources, the role of the United Nations and the impact of such non-governmental organisations as Greenpeace International. The Antarctic implications of the Falklands War of 1982 are also discussed, as well as the underlying relationship between America and the Soviet Union during the 1980s. With a truly international scope, this reissue will be of particular relevance to students with an interest in the political, legal, economic and environmental concerns surrounding the Antarctic region, both in the present and historically.

The International Politics of Antarctica. (1986) Beck, Peter J. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

This book examines the post-Cold War challenges facing Antarctic governance. It seeks to understand the interests of new players in Antarctic affairs such as China, India, Korea and Malaysia, and how other key players such as Russia and the USA or claimant states such as New Zealand or France are coping in the new global order. Antarctica is the world's fifth largest continent and its territories are claimed by seven different states. Since 1961 Antarctica has been managed under the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), a regime which, according to its critics, by the terms of its membership effectively excludes most of the nations of the world.

The Emerging Politics of Antarctica. (2012) Brady, Anne-Marie, Abingdon: Routledge.

Recent controversies over the political and environmental management of the Antarctic ensure that it will remain an important global issue. Drawing on recent developments in critical geopolitics and cultural geography, Klaus Dodds examines the six major nations of the Southern hemisphere currently involved in the Antarctic. Each of these nations - Argentina, Australia, Chile, India, New Zealand and South Africa - claims a 'natural' interest in the future of the polar continent. Geopolitics in Antarctica presents a detailed exploration of the rhetoric and politics behind each of these claims, arguing that they are often based on uncritical understandings of territory, geographical proximity and national identity. The book concludes with an examination of how geographical understandings of the Antarctic continue to influence the management of the frozen continent and Southern Ocean.

Geopolitics in Antarctica. Views from the Southern Ocean. (1997) Dodds, Klaus. Rim. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Providing case study analyses of the politics of science in and around the International Polar Year of 2007–2008, this volume makes a distinct contribution to ongoing research focusing on the relationship between science, international politics, law and history. The contributors combine both interdisciplinary and multi-theoretical approaches to engage directly with the most recent debates in international relations scholarship, to include discussions of arctic climate change, governance issues, reflections on the Antarctic Treaty and the science–geopolitics interface amongst others. This is the first comprehensive account to look explicitly at the relationship between global politics and science through an account of the International Polar Years.

Legacies and changes in Polar Sciences. Historical, legal, and political reflections on the International Polar Year. (2009) Shadian, Jessica and Tennberg, Monica. Ashgate Publishing Limited.

The Antarctic Treaty regime is a uniquely successful legal system which preserves Antarctica for peaceful purposes and guarantees freedom of scientific research. This volume based on an international conference, examines the legal, political and environmental issues that it raises. After setting the scene of the Antarctic environment, the early chapters discuss the legal issues involved in the Treaty. Later chapters consider protection of the marine environment and the regulation of mineral exploitation. The book concludes with a discussion of Antarctica and its development.

The Antarctic Treaty Regime. Law, environmental and resources. (2008) Triggs, Gillian, D. Cambridge University Press.

The system of international co-operation in the Antarctic has been evolving rapidly since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. Inextricably linked to this co-operation is the question of the rational management of Antarctic resources. In this book Professor Orrego Vicuna examines in depth the legal framework – the Antarctic Treaty, sovereignty, jurisdiction and the law of the sea – as it relates to the exploitation of Antarctic minerals. This is fast becoming a live issue with the ever-growing potential for the development of these resources. The first part of the book examines the main characteristics of the international legal framework governing the co-operation of states in Antarctica, particularly in relation to resource conservation. Against this background, in the second part of the book, the regime for mineral resources is discussed in sufficient detail to identify the basic issues and interests which have to be accommodated in order to attain an acceptable convention. The final part of the book considers the important set of questions raised by the interest of the world community at large in the Antarctic: most significantly, the initiatives concerning a broader international participation under the auspices of the United Nations.

Antarctic mineral exploration. The emerging legal framework. (1988) Vicuna, Francisco. Cambridge University Press.

O livro de Rafael Villa, mantém a premissa de que o Estado continua se reservando a exclusividade dos aspectos relacionados do que o realismo chamava, de maneira também imprecisa, alta política, que teriam que ver com a dimensão estratégico militar e de segurança do sistema internacional. Porém, tendo por referência o estudo empírico das discussões ambientais na Antártida, o autor mostra que com a crescente incorporação de atores não- estatais transnacionais nos processos de decisão internacional, acentua-se uma tendência real, e não normativa, para a construção de um sistema internacional policêntrico, em áreas específicas da política internacional, tais como as problemáticas ecológicas globais.

A Antártida no Sistema Internacional. (2004) Villa, R. D. São Paulo: Hucitec

Antarctica as Cultural Critique arrives at an auspicious time in history and on earth. Amid the centennial celebrations of the European 'race' to the last place on earth, Antarctica - a continent of ice lacking natives - is finally emerging as a center of global concern. Antarctica as Cultural Critique connects the ice of environmental crisis to its past as an impediment to progress through visualizations and photographs of what Ursula Le Guin calls the 'living ice.' Glasberg opens new ways of thinking human/ non-human divides that disturb assumptions about gender and progress under scientific management, and about attachments to a heroic past that does not take into consideration the radically non-human and shifting ontology of ice itself.

Antarctica as Cultural Critique (2012) Glasberg, E. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

This article examines the continuing effect within and upon the contemporary Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) of the foundational values of that system. The ATS arose in response to particular historical contingencies, which resulted in the containment without resolution of territorial sovereignty, the regional de-fanging of Cold War antipathies, and the centrality of scientific activity. In Antarctica today we are trying to find a way to accommodate a number of different interests, including: global justice and equity; resource and geopolitical interests of states able to operate there; territorial aspirations of the seven claimant and two ?semi-claimant? states; the need to protect the Antarctic environment; continuing interest in Antarctica as a global laboratory; commercial interests in marine harvesting, tourism, bioprospecting and (notwithstanding the present prohibition) mineral resource activities in the medium term. The values which have been granted considerability within the ATS continue to shape the Antarctic regime today, and the Antarctic future will depend upon the sorts of values that can gain a hearing within this system.

Hemmings, A. D. Considerable Values in Antarctica. (2012) The Polar Journal, 2(1), 139-156