What Do Africa and the Arctic Have in Common? A Lot, It Turns Out

Legacies of Colonization

Africa and the Arctic share a standard historical past of “outsiders” investing in regional improvement, abandoning colonial legacies and techniques not match for goal. In the course of the Second Industrial Revolution, Western European powers divided up the African continent in what was known as the “Scramble for Africa.” By 1914, 90% of the continent was underneath formal European management. In most cases, the management took the type of proprietary rule, which allowed rulers to deal with African nations as colonial possessions and exploit their assets and populations for private achieve.

Throughout this time, colonizing nations extracted wealth whereas neglecting the event of native communities. In consequence, even after African nations established their independence, they remained weak to neocolonialism and the perpetuated financial or political dependency on their former colonial powers, which impeded their capacity to determine true autonomy and sustainable improvement.

Marks defined that fashionable African governments are largely constructed on colonial techniques, leading to tensions over decentralization and power-sharing inside nations. For instance, she pointed to grease and gasoline improvement, that are so capital-intensive that communities can’t revenue from them with out partnering with the central authorities.

A key distinction between colonization in Africa and the Arctic, Spence famous, is that within the Arctic, colonization is essentially an inner course of, occurring when nationwide governments in southern capitals take curiosity within the northern areas of the identical state. “This ‘home’ colonialism is much less seen to exterior observers, particularly as a result of it’s going down in nations which can be thought of extremely developed,” mentioned Spence. She cited a current instance wherein the Norwegian authorities allowed {a partially} state-owned wind farm to proceed working for 2 years, regardless of a ruling by the Norwegian Supreme Courtroom that the set up violated the land rights of the Sámi individuals.

There’s rising recognition of the necessity for native decision-making and company in each areas, however implementation has met with blended success. Spence highlighted that Arctic Indigenous Peoples “punch above their weight” by way of influencing coverage, due to their spectacular, long-term dedication to collaborating in native, regional, and worldwide governance via fora just like the Arctic Council. Marks lamented the shortage of an analogous multilateral establishment between African nations, however she was heartened by the truth that many components of Africa are usually not but locked into extractive Western fashions, akin to land privatization. “Africa remains to be poised to do higher than the West in some ways,” mentioned Marks.