Lize-Marié van der Watt

Antarctica and the Humanities

The continent for science is also a continent for the humanities. Despite having no indigenous human population, Antarctica has been imagined in powerful, innovative, and sometimes disturbing ways ...

Return to Gondwanaland: South Africa, Antarctica, minerals and apartheid

During the 1980s, the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) faced intense international scrutiny. A new power bloc of developing countries, utilising the language of colonialism and using the United Nations as one of their main platforms, called into question the legitimacy of the ATS. The developing countries’ lobby also challenged apartheid South Africa’s membership of the Antarctic Treaty. One of the main driving forces behind these tensions was widely acknowledged to be resources, living and mineral and the rights of access to them. The debate on mineral exploration and extraction culminated in the Convention on the Regulation of the Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA). Preparations started in the mid-1970s, CRAMRA was adopted in 1988 but it never went into force. This article investigates some of the historical complexities and contingencies involved in the CRAMRA process, using South Africa as a case study. It looks at how Gondwanaland–broadly conceived–surfaced in the debates in terms of geology as well as geopolitics. “Gondwanaland” highlighted the proximity of South Africa to Antarctica, and the shared geological formations between parts of southern Africa and Antarctica implied shared mineral potential. In South Africa, debates about Antarctic mineral resources and the Antarctic Treaty were invested with concerns about the apartheid state’s status as pariah state on the one hand, and its “first world”, anti-communist status on the other. Diplomats were anxious for South Africa to maintain its membership of the Treaty, one of the few multilateral bodies that still welcomed the country. In public, fears about a “third world grab” in the Antarctic resonated with the “total onslaught” rhetoric of the South African police state.

The Role of Science Diplomacy: A Historical Development and International Legal Framework of Arctic Research Stations under Conditions of Climate Change Post-Cold War Geopolitics and Globalization/Power Transition

The Arctic is undergoing transformation, where three important drivers are climate change, post-Cold War geopolitics and globalization/power transition from the rise of China. This transformation defines the nexus between science diplomacy, geopolitics, law and globalization under climate change, which is shaping the future of the Arctic and will bring considerable opportunity at national, regional and global levels. Research infrastructures (research stations both military and non-military, observation and monitoring networks) are opening access and data to new Arctic and non-Arctic players. Additional logistics hubs than those already existing are and should be established. Countries are sustaining and building new research as well as search and rescue bases/stations. Stations can be used as indicator of this transformation as well as their implications to improve cooperation, engage in multilateral rather than unilateral actions to protect the Arctic infrastructures and to improve military capabilities. These actions have started to attract also non-Arctic actors, such as China and the European Union (EU), which are developing new policies. Stations may not be developed and maintained only not only for the purpose of the scientific understanding of climatic and environmental impacts but also for function as entities that legitimize national or sovereign claims. At the nexus are the scientists that utilize the research bases and their international colleagues. Arctic/Northern bases are primarily military for historical reasons and for reasons of logistics and expertise, as historically indicated through the American presence in Alaska. This is not the same as saying that the bases are militarized—or part of some national militarization strategy in the Arctic. New steps to identify the role of stations at national, regional and global levels are needed. In this essay, we explore the implications and opportunities for these stations to act as pivots between scientific and geopolitical issues. We argue that where there is scientific collaboration, there is less risk of military conflict and that the Arctic is not “militarized” based on the international politics and science diplomacy of the Arctic.

'To kill the locusts, but not destroy the farmers': Officials, farmers and the plagues of Pharaoh, c. 1920-1935

ABSTRACT Of all the agricultural pests farmers in the Union of South Africa had to endure, few evoked such strong, visceral, and often highly personal debates within the Afrikaner farming community as locust plagues. As a contribution to the dialogue between historians who have explored science, farmers and state intervention in agriculture within the broader theme of agricultural pests, this article seeks to add to the socio-environmental history of Afrikaners within the context of the southern African environment. It discusses the explicitly scientific, entomological issues, including the knowledge exchange process, and then turns towards the political themes on macro as well as micro level. Finally, it examines the more ephemeral themes of religious and racial identity as highlighted by the locust infestations.Of all the agricultural pests farmers in the Union of South Africa had to endure, few evoked such strong, visceral, and often highly personal debates within the Afrikaner farming community as locust plagues. As a contribution to the dialogue between historians who have explored science, farmers and state intervention in agriculture within the broader theme of agricultural pests, this article seeks to add to the socio-environmental history of Afrikaners within the context of the southern African environment. It discusses the explicitly scientific, entomological issues, including the knowledge exchange process, and then turns towards the political themes on macro as well as micro level. Finally, it examines the more ephemeral themes of religious and racial identity as highlighted by the locust infestations.

Antarctica: A Continent for the Humanities

In the introduction we unpack the idea behind the volume, both as a contribution to Antarctica scholarship, but also as a reflection on the humanities, more specifically the environmental humanities. Antarctica has never been a stable concept within the realm of human discourse and we interrogate the prevailing perception of Antarctica as a continent for science. Noting that there have been many ways to imagine and experience Antarctica in the past, and that there are at least as many possibilities for the future, we chart the expansion of humanities scholarship in Antarctica, and what that could mean for our understanding of Antarctica. We also point toward the pedagogical value of deconstructing Antarctica as a continent for science—and the paradox in using the humanities to do so. Finally, the introduction sets out the structure of the book, providing a short overview of the chapters and thematic lines running through them.

Refracting (geo)political choices in the Arctic

Abstract Geopolitics as a field was originally intended as a theoretical modelling of the relationship between fixed geographical circumstances and political choice. Now, the field is largely dominated by critical studies. It is almost considered axiomatic to include geopolitics as a theme in descriptive and analytical studies of the Arctic in global, regional, national and local contexts. This essay aims to review the core tenets of geopolitical thought and trace the categories and distinctions between the classical and critical approaches as applied in Arctic scholarship. It draws on highlights from the Arctic policy texts of three states demonstrating how assumptions and political options in terms of Arctic geographies can be expressed in different geopolitical frameworks. It is argued that revisiting and reviewing the core categories of geopolitics and their application in Arctic affairs can contribute to a better-informed understanding of how developments in the Arctic may unfold, as well as provide insights into the different functionalities of geopolitics.

The Whiteness of Antarctica: Race and South Africa’s Antarctic History

This chapter considers how Antarctica has been imagined as a white continent—in the sense of race as well as snow and ice. The prevalence of whiteness in descriptions of the continent not only reflects the appearance of its topography, but also the changing values associated with ‘whiteness’ as a racial trope. The chapter focuses on how apartheid South Africa constructed Antarctica as a white continent, particularly a white continent for men. It explores how apartheid South Africa’s involvement in the Antarctic and the experiences of white South African men in Antarctica could be seen as a distillation of mainland attitudes, stripped bare by the harsh and alienating Antarctic environment. The chapter concludes with reflections on the links between cultural, political, and aesthetic concepts of whiteness—and how a physical geographical characteristic can become loaded with additional layers of meaning.

Falling off the Map: South Africa, Antarctica and Empire, c. 1919-59

During the first half of the twentieth century, despatches about the coldest corner of the British Empire were circulated to three, sometimes four, of its southern neighbours under the British crown: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Falklands. Of these four, South Africa seemed the least interested in Antarctica, despite the keen interest of some influential individuals and a strategy of bringing Antarctica into the imperial fold through British dominions that were proximate to Antarctica. In this context, we ask how South Africa viewed itself in relation to the Antarctic to the south and the British metropole to the north. We discuss the key activities that connected South Africa to Antarctica—whaling and weather forecasting. Moreover, we consider some of the enterprising plans for a South African National Antarctic expedition, and what these plans reveal of South Africas perception of itself as a southern country. This article interlinks with a growing scholarship that is critical of treating Antarctic history as politically and culturally isolated, including showing how the relatively simple natural and political ecology of the Antarctic can throw into relief multiple national and international concerns.

On Past, Present and Future Arctic Expeditions

Today the term “Arctic expedition” conjures up images of heroic men chasing knowledge, but also personal and national glory. Geographical goals such as the North Pole, the Northwest and Northeast Passages and the discovery of new lands became major cultural touchstones during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Individuals such as Sir John Franklin, Fridtjof Nansen, and Robert E. Peary became household names. Many smaller expeditions also ventured to the Arctic from Eurasia and North America. This chapter is about how large, publicity-friendly expeditions related to smaller, more prosaic ventures, and how the term expedition is used in the present to denote everything from seasonal fieldwork conducted by scientists to one-off feats of travel. We conclude with some reflections on how Arctic expeditions may look in the future – and how the term expedition continues to carry meaning in terms of culture and memory.

The emerging politics of Antarctica

of colour photography, black and white photography, Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic islands, penguins, seals, ice, light and the colour blue. David Neilson’s work is genuine. You first get the sense of this in his introduction when he attempts to describe in words the predominant colour: “The names seem inadequate for the infinite shades of Antarctic blue” (p. 6). And so they are; in fact anyone who has been to Antarctica knows it is best described in pictures since words are hopelessly unsatisfactory (although perhaps not to poets). David has travelled to the Antarctic numerous times, including by yacht, and despite the “worst case of mal de mer” has produced a collection in Southern Light (with a handful of images from other photographers) representing the attributes of sub-Antarctic islands and the Antarctic continent, the wildlife (and bravely, even a few stormy seas) at their absolute finest. There’s no frivolity in these images. The colour photographs soften the harshness and make it more sinuous, but the black and white photographs seize the robust and somewhat unknowable essence of Antarctica in quite a different way. David ensures that you take this book seriously by giving a good account of the scientific understandings about Antarctica and climate change at the beginning (with references and further reading at the end). As you venture through the images, it is impossible to forget how vulnerable the physical and biological attributes are and the role that humans play in that. There are many two-page images and gatefolds (three-page fold-out panoramas) which are well chosen to enhance your understanding of the scale of the place – from the looming peaks of the Trans Antarctic Mountains, to the wide-jagged spaces on the plateau where you can see forever, to the verdant sub-Antarctic contrast that hurts your eyes. David completes the narrative with a travelogue of his voyages, an appeal to protect the Antarctic environment and photographic notes. This is not a gentle book, but it is one you must have if for no other reasons than the detailed photograph of King Penguin feathers on p. 149 and the midnight sun at Auster Emperor penguin rookery on pp. 76–77.