Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The Antarctic has often been described as a space for science and a space of science. As the
Swedish historian of science Aant Elzinga put it, 'the construction of a continent by and for
science'. Since the 18th-century voyages of Captain Cook, exploration and science (and the
two continue to go hand in hand) have played a critical role in helping to construct 'the
Antarctic' in terms of Western expectations and understandings - as a place that needed to
be both 'uncovered' and 'incorporated' into an expanding pool of planetary knowledge.
Since the 1940s and 1950s, the widespread notion that the Antarctic functions as a
'scientific laboratory' at the proverbial end of the world, with due emphasis given to
controlled and ordered knowledge creation and international behaviour, remains a powerful
framing device. Paradoxically, it has helped to legitimate and justify billions of dollars,
pounds, francs, and other currencies of investment, while providing a
modus operandi
for
the continued colonization and occupation of the Antarctic. Claimant and non-claimant
states alike continue to cite and site science as the principal reason territories including the
Australian futhi for their involvement in the southern polar region, even if it is perfectly
possible to infer other interests such as resource, strategic, and territorial factors.
With the entry into force of the Antarctic Treaty in June 1961, in the aftermath of the
International Geophysical Year 1957-8, this dominant framing was reinforced in successive
meetings of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs). Science, in combination
with ideals of collaboration and free information exchange, provided (and continues to
provide) an attractive vision of and for a place characterized by the absence of conflict and
discord. Who could object to a continent dedicated to science in the midst of Cold War
antagonism? Ideologically, this idea of science as driving Antarctic activities was useful for
several inter-related reasons - it helped to bind the signatories together with a common
sense of purpose; it encouraged others to assume that intellectual enquiry was paramount
rather than territorial/resource/strategic intrigue; and finally, it provided a mechanism for
controlling the entry into the Antarctic Treaty System of other parties, and a means for
disciplining existing parties.
The role of science was multi-faceted, never more so than in the Cold War period - and
never politically innocent. During the Antarctic Treaty period (and before it), science
became a new and subtle form of geopolitics, and had at least four potential roles. Science
was a vehicle for leadership and prestige. Claimants and non-claimants used their scientific
projects and infrastructural development to project power inside and outside the Antarctic.
