Introduction: Back to the Futures of an Uncertain Arctic

Abstract

The conventional future of the Arctic trope is deterministic with climate and the extraction of natural resources as the chief two drivers of change, interlinked since long. This narrative has consequences for the possibility of action in the present. In this volume, we claim that it is important to unpack the nested arguments of this determinism, where science, environment, resources, economy, ideology, lifestyle, etc. are mixed to form projections on the future of the Arctic. History is a great repository of projections about the future of the Arctic. The exploration of such past futures forms the core of this volume.