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Impact Of The Hydrocarbon Development Industry On The Ecology Of Greenland And Traditional Inuit Way Of Life

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Environmental narratives can diverge based on the perspectives from which they are formed, and this can affect the appreciation of a regions ecological complexity. Whether examined from a global or spherical perspective, obtaining an understanding of the world requires careful consideration when undergoing interpretation to prevent a loss of its complexity. Both global and spherical perspectives of the world limit the perception of ecology when applied individually. However, when combined, both perspectives provide a comprehensive view of the “world about us” (Ingold). In this paper, a detailed analysis of the influence of environmental characterization on competing narratives is explored to asses the impact of the hydrocarbon development industry on the ecology of Greenland and the traditional Inuit way of life.
According to Tim Ingold’s “Globes and Spheres: the topology of environmentalism”, humans can perceive the world around them from two different perspectives, globes or spheres. The globes perspective is introduced through Western schooling and “signals the culmination of a process of separation” (5). The global perspective requires abstract models such as maps which foster the notion of human detachment; providing an image of the world where humans live on its surface rather than within. These abstract models display a world which “consists of pure substance, physical matter, presenting an opaque and impenetrable surface of literal reality upon which form and meaning

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