Open Access

Frank Sowa

• As the conflicts over the management of natural resources or the right to hunt whales show, the increasingly interconnectedness of the world has brought about new consequences for local people in Greenland. In my opinion the dispute over hunting and whaling results from the clash of different cultural concepts of nature, nature conservation and sustainability and the failure of the various parties to develop a sensitivity for inter-cultural processes of communication. Nature is no universal concept, meaning the same for everyone no matter what culture he or she belongs to. Whereas mostly European biologists and environmentalists try to implement their concepts of “nature conservation” and “sustainability” known from the societies of origin, the Greenlandic Inuit articulate their own concept emphasizing the unspoiled Greenlandic nature and the impossibility of its destruction. It is in fact a concept, which dates back to a concept used by European missionaries, traders, explorers and whalers who invented the Greenlanders as a primitiveAs the conflicts over the management of natural resources or the right to hunt whales show, the increasingly interconnectedness of the world has brought about new consequences for local people in Greenland. In my opinion the dispute over hunting and whaling results from the clash of different cultural concepts of nature, nature conservation and sustainability and the failure of the various parties to develop a sensitivity for inter-cultural processes of communication. Nature is no universal concept, meaning the same for everyone no matter what culture he or she belongs to. Whereas mostly European biologists and environmentalists try to implement their concepts of “nature conservation” and “sustainability” known from the societies of origin, the Greenlandic Inuit articulate their own concept emphasizing the unspoiled Greenlandic nature and the impossibility of its destruction. It is in fact a concept, which dates back to a concept used by European missionaries, traders, explorers and whalers who invented the Greenlanders as a primitive people who lived in harmony with nature. In taking over the role that was allocated by Europeans, Greenlanders got recognition in the global power struggle. They entered the discourse and were able to change it. After the publication of the book "Farvel til Grønlands Natur" ("A Farewell to Greenland's Wildlife") in 2001, where the journalist Kjeld Hansen is deconstructing the image of Greenlanders living in harmony with their environment, the scope for action will be limited for Inuit in the near future.…