Underdevelopment in Two Norths: The Brazilian Amazon and the Canadian Arctic

The developmental scholar Andre Gunder Frank has constructed a model to explain regional underdevelopment within developed nations. Underdevelopment is defined as the inability to control the rents from local resources and limited input into political decision making. The model is based on the concepts of metropolis and satellite, the satellite being a region that is politically, socially, and economically dependent on the metropolis, Frank applies this concept to the Brazilian Amazon as a satellite of southeastern Brazil and concludes that the Amazon region has underdeveloped due to the abrupt entry and withdrawal of capitalist investment. This article applies the Frank model to the Canadian North as a satellite of southern Canada and, using the historical examples of the fur trade, the Klondike gold rush, and the whaling and petroleum booms, concludes by noting that the entry and collapse of capitalist investment in the Canadian Arctic has led to a similar form of underdevelopment or dependency in that region. Underdevelopment and dependency in both regions are seen as a result of the collapse of economic, and primarily resource extraction, booms.Key words:n orthern development, underdevelopment, dependency, André Gunder Frank, colonialism, fur trade, Klondike gold rush, natural resources, politicsMots clés: développement du Grand Nord, sous-développement, dépendance, André Gunder Frank, colonialisme, commerce des fourrures, ruée vers l’or du Klondike,ressources naturelles, politique

Youth Visitor Dynamics in Pacific Coast National Parks

Recent media reports have suggested that members of the Millennial Generation (born 1981- 1997) and Generation Z (born after 1997) are less inclined to visit national parks, compared to older generations. We used three methods to examine the validity of these media statements: Qualtrics-based social media surveys (on Facebook and Instagram), face to face semi-structured interviews with park rangers at four Pacific coast national parks—Redwood, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and Olympic—and on-site visitor counts at park visitor centers and on trails. We compared these observations with the limited historical data on visitor ages available from the National Park Service. Our results suggest that media reports are overstated, and that the number of both Millennial Generation and Generation Z members visiting national parks is at least stable and perhaps even increasing. A possible explanation for divergent results is that younger people may be accessing park information through online and social media sources, and therefore bypassing visitor centers and direct contact with park rangers.https://ir.una.edu/geography_studentpresentations/1002/thumbnail.jp

Investment Strategies for Northern Cash Windfalls: Learning from the Alaskan Experience

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971) and the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund (1976) provided Native and non-Native Alaskans with two means of trust capital investment. To date Native Alaskans have largely chosen a strategy of investment in local established and/or new businesses, while the Permanent Fund has pursued a portfolio management strategy. Both investment means were examined against their stated ends (for the former: profit, social responsibility and cultural preservation; for the latter: savings, profit, and dividend distribution). It is concluded that business risk investment in an isolated and remote northern state characterized by economic reliance on externally controlled business cycles is inherently risky and that a strategy of international portfolio management has paid far superior dividends. Given that the current situation in the Canadian North (two Northern Accord agreements-in-principle and the Dene/Metis and Yukon Comprehensive Land Claim agreements-in-principle achieved in 1988) parallels the situation in Alaska in the 1970s, the authors propose a strategy for the creation of a model developmental natural resource trust fund based on the best features of the Alaskan models. This model fund combines a portfolio management trust philosophy with the goal of sustainable economic development in the quest for northern fiscal autonomy.Key words: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Alaska Permanent Fund, resource management, Native people, economic development, sustainable development, trust funds, investment, Native land claimsMots clés: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Alaska Permanent Fund, gestion de ressources, autochtones, développement économique développement durable, fonds de placement, investissement, revendications territoriales des autochtone

Book review: Mining the borderlands: Industry, capital, and the emergence of engineers in the Southwest Territories, 1855-1910

Many hundreds of books have been written about the fascinating subject of mining in the American Southwest. Sarah E. M. Grossman's Mining the Borderlands takes a distinctive approach by focusing on the history of mining engineers in Arizona in the United States and the state of Sonora in northern Mexico. With this focus she reveals not only an underappreciated aspect of American mining, but also describes issues pertaining to the penetration of capitalism into the Southwestern frontier.The California Geographer 59: 85-88.0575-570

The Kola Peninsula: Geography, History and Resources

The Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia is one of the most important economic regions in the circumpolar North. The region contains valuable natural resources, including a wide variety of mineral and fish resources, and is proximate to the large gas fields of the Barents Sea. A large population, industrial complexes, and military infrastructure are also characteristic of the region. The Kola Peninsula developed rapidly during the Soviet period (1917-92) under the principles of socialist development policy. This policy favoured extensive resource extraction and industrialization and resulted in increased northern settlement, much of it involuntary. Soviet development policy prompted the opening of new mines and the construction of smelters and refining facilities, while Soviet military policy necessitated the establishment of large military basing operations. Resource development and processing have led to severe environmental damage in the region and beyond. This paper describes the geographical features of the Kola Peninsula and the region's development history and contains data on natural and labour resources.Key words: Kola Peninsula, Murmansk Region, Murmansk, Russian Arctic, Soviet Arctic, natural resources, economic development, militarizationLa presqu'île de Kola dans le nord-ouest de la Russie est l'une des plus importantes zones économiques du Grand Nord circumpolaire. La région contient de précieuses ressources naturelles, y compris une grande variété de ressources minières et de poisson, et elle est proche des champs gaziers de la mer de Barents. Cette région se caractérise aussi par une forte population, ainsi que par la présence de complexes industriels et d'une infrastructure militaire. La presqu'île de Kola s'est développée rapidement au cours de l'ère soviétique (1917-1992), selon les principes des politiques socialistes de développement. Ces dernières, qui mettaient l'accent sur une intensification de l'exploitation des ressources et de l'industrialisation, ont accru la colonisation - en grande partie forcée - dans le Nord. Les politiques soviétiques de développement ont amené l'ouverture de nouvelles mines et la construction de fours de fusion et de raffineries, tandis que les politiques militaires soviétiques ont rendu nécessaire l'édification d'importantes installations pour des bases militaires. L'exploitation et le traitement des ressources ont causé dans la région immédiate et au-delà de sérieux dommages écologiques. Cet article décrit les caractéristiques géographiques de la presqu'île de Kola et l'histoire du développement de la région, et il présente des données sur les ressources naturelles et en main-d'oeuvre.Mots clés : presqu’île de Kola, région de Mourmansk. Mourmansk, Arctique russe, Arctique sovibtique, ressources naturelles, développement économique, militarisatio

Intersexualidade e direito ao próprio corpo: garantia à integridade corporal da criança intersexual e direito à autodeterminação na adolescência

Recent discussions about the possibility of medical and biotechnological intervention for sexual readjustment purposes in intersexual people under the age of 18 have raised questions about the legitimacy of legal guardians and health professional teams for initiating such procedures. In our legal system, persons under 18 years of age have been deemed incapable - relative or absolutely - of providing free and informed consent for any medical interventions, be they small and simple or invasive and painful procedures, as is the case of readjustment surgeries. In the name of "biological and social urgency", children and adolescents diagnosed as intersexual are submitted to various medical and surgical procedures that ensure from early childhood the correction of any "anatomical sexual atypicality". In medical terms, it is believed that such conformity of the phenotype to "gender identity" would guarantee the adequate psychosocial and sexual well-being of these subjects. The surgical and hormonal procedures for sexual readjustment performed in intersex children and adolescents are based on normalizing discourses and practices that seek the adequacy of bodies considered abnormal to a gender pattern established in the heteronormative matrix. Such early biomedical interventions deny the intersexual subject the right to self-determination and the right to one's own body. The parameters adopted in Brazil for the management and medical treatment of intersex persons under 18 years of age hinders the right to their own bodies and selfdetermination. It puts at risk personal integrity (physical and psychological) and the free development of personality by allowing the decision on sexual readjustment to be made by a person other than the one who will undergo the intervention in their own body. We question here the legitimacy for the proceeding of an early medical intervention that denies participation to that subject who will have to endure in their own body all the surgical procedures, the effects of the treatment and the subjective, psychological, social and political repercussions of the choice about belonging to a sex / gender in a sexist and heteronomative society such as ours.Debates recentes a respeito da possibilidade de intervenção médica e biotecnológica para fins de readequação sexual em pessoas intersexuais menores de 18 anos têm suscitado questionamentos quanto a legitimidade dos responsáveis legais e da equipe de profissionais de saúde para a iniciativa de tais procedimentos. Em nosso ordenamento jurídico, as pessoas menores de 18 anos, de modo comum têm sido consideradas incapazes – relativa ou absolutamente – de fornecer consentimento livre e informado para quaisquer intervenções médicas, sejam elas pequenas e simples ou procedimentos invasivos e dolorosos, como é o caso das cirurgias de readequação. Em nome da “urgência biológica e social” crianças e adolescentes diagnosticados como intersexuais são submetidos à diversos procedimentos médicos e cirúrgicos que garantam desde a primeira infância a correção de alguma “atipicidade sexual anatômica”. No âmbito médico acredita-se que tal adequação do fenótipo à “identidade de gênero” garantiria o adequado bemestar psicossocial e sexual destes sujeitos. Os procedimentos cirúrgicos e hormonais para a readequação sexual realizados em pessoas crianças e adolescentes intersex são baseados em discursos e práticas normalizadoras que buscam a adequação de corpos considerados anormais a um padrão de gênero estabelecido na matriz heteronormativa. Tais intervenções biomédicas precoces negam ao sujeito intersexual o direito à autodeterminação e direito ao próprio corpo. Os parâmetros adotados pelo Brasil para o manejo e tratamento médico de pessoas intersex menores de 18 anos fere o direito ao próprio corpo e à autodeterminação de tais sujeitos. Coloca em risco a integridade pessoal (física e psicológica) e o livre desenvolvimento da personalidade ao permitir que a decisão sobre a readequação sexual seja tomada por pessoa diversa daquela que sofrerá a intervenção em seu próprio corpo. Questionamos aqui a legitimidade para a realização de intervenção médica precoce que nega participação àquele sujeito que terá que suportar em seu próprio corpo todos os procedimentos cirúrgicos, os efeitos do tratamento e as repercussões subjetivas, psicológicas, sociais e políticas da escolha sobre a pertença a um determinado sexo/gênero em sociedades marcadamente sexistas e heteronomativas como a nossa.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superio