Book Launch: Danita Catherine Burke - WWF and Arctic environmentalism
CWS will host the launch of Danita Catherine Burke's latest monograph on May 3 from 12-13.30. Everyone is welcome to attend either online or at SDU's O-95 Conference Room.
Based on interviews with WWF representatives and other experts, the book explores WWF’s approach to engagement in the Circumpolar North. It argues that the foundation of WWF’s success in circumpolar engagement is based on four inter-related pillars: legacy, networks, scientific research and communication style. The book argues that WWF has made remarkable strides to distinguish itself in Arctic and northern engagement through its Global Arctic Programme and national organisations and associated offices in the Arctic states. However, WWF’s work and successes are illustrative of the need for environmental and animal rights organisations to adopt a long-term strategy that show commitment to helping in the Arctic and North which factor in the needs and desires of northerners if they want their work to resonate and be welcomed by key northern audiences.
Dr Danita Catherine Burke is the founder of the Women in the Arctic and Antarctic initiative and a research fellow based at the Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark, where she works on issues such as Arctic diplomacy, cultural violence in eco-activism, environmental and animal rights activism accountability, environmental policy as a tool for sovereignty assertion, and Canada’s relationship and identification with the North. She completed her PhD studies in International Politics at Aberystwyth University in 2016, supported by a fellowship from the Rothermere Foundation. Since 2016, Dr Burke’s academic work is based in Denmark and her research has been supported by a Carlsberg Foundation Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship and a research fellowship from the JR Smallwood Foundation for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. Her publications include the forthcoming Cultural Violence, Stigma and the Legacy of the Anti-Sealing Movement (Routledge), and “The Case for a Greenpeace Apology to Newfoundland and Labrador” (The Northern Review, 2021), “Re-establishing Legitimacy after Stigmatization: Greenpeace in the North American North” (Polar Record, 2020), Diplomacy and the Arctic Council (McGill-Queens University Press, 2019), International Disputes and Cultural Ideas in the Canadian Arctic: Arctic Sovereignty in the National Consciousness (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
Purchase the book here
