"Essentially it's a large real estate deal": How the US' proposal to purchase Greenland has changed the way Danish politicians talk about the US and the relation between Denmark and Greenland
Author
Lindbjerg, Signe Lyngholm
Term
4. term
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-06-10
Pages
62
Abstract
This thesis examines how the United States’ August 2019 proposal to purchase Greenland affected Danish politicians’ discourse about the US within a broader landscape of actors and about the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. Adopting a post-structuralist stance that views discourse as identity constituted by narratives, the study draws on foreign policy identity theory using the concepts of Self/Other, radical Other, less-than-radical Other, and the plurality of the Self. Methodologically, it conducts a discourse analysis of two strategically selected Danish parliamentary debates on the Arctic from 2018 and 2019—held respectively before and after the purchase proposal. The analysis finds continuity in portrayals of Russia and China as almost exclusively radical Others and of other countries as less-than-radical Others across both debates. In contrast, narratives about the US change notably: in 2018 the US appears in mixed narratives as both a less-than-radical and a radical Other, whereas in 2019 it is predominantly constructed as a radical Other and is at times mentioned alongside Russia and China; the US also receives more attention in the 2019 debate. The way politicians discuss the Denmark–Greenland relationship also shifts: in 2018 Greenlandic and Faroese politicians are critical of Denmark and sometimes construct it as a radical Other; this criticism persists in 2019 but is weaker and accompanied by narratives of togetherness. In both debates, calls for equality and emphasis on Greenlandic agency are prominent. Danish politicians in 2018 chiefly frame the relationship as a plurality of the Self, while in 2019 this frame is less dominant in favor of narratives stressing Greenlandic agency, equality, and cooperation, suggesting a relationship closer to that of a less-than-radical Other.
Specialet undersøger, hvordan USA’s forslag i august 2019 om at købe Grønland påvirkede danske politikeres måde at tale om USA i et bredere aktørlandskab og om relationen mellem Danmark og Grønland. Med et poststrukturalistisk videnskabsteoretisk udgangspunkt forstås diskurs som identitet formet af narrativer, og der trækkes på teorier om udenrigspolitisk identitet med begreberne Selv/Anden, den radikale Anden, den mindre-radikale Anden og Selvet som pluralitet. Metodisk gennemføres en diskursanalyse af to strategisk udvalgte folketingsdebatter om Arktis fra 2018 og 2019, afholdt hhv. før og efter købsforslaget. Analysen viser kontinuitet i fremstillingerne af Rusland og Kina som næsten udelukkende radikale Andre og af øvrige lande som mindre-radikale Andre i begge debatter. Derimod ændres fortællingerne om USA markant: I 2018 konstrueres USA i blandede narrativer både som mindre-radikal og radikal Anden, mens USA i 2019 overvejende fremstilles som radikal Anden og til tider omtales side om side med Rusland og Kina; samtidig fylder USA mere i 2019-debatten. Også omtalen af relationen mellem Grønland og Danmark forskydes: I 2018 er grønlandske og færøske politikere kritiske over for Danmark og konstruerer det til tider som en radikal Anden; kritikken fortsætter i 2019, men i svagere form og ledsaget af fortællinger om fællesskab. I begge debatter fremhæves behovet for lighed og grønlandsk handlekraft. Danske politikere beskriver i 2018 relationen primært som en pluralitet af Selvet, mens denne ramme i 2019 er mindre dominerende til fordel for narrativer om grønlandsk agency, lighed og samarbejde, hvilket kan pege mod en relation tættere på den mindre-radikale Anden.
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