SAMPOL research project holds kickoff workshop with esteemed scholars

The workshop brought scholars to the University of Bergen for two days of discussions about fights for control of frontiers, including Finnmark in Norway, the Yukon in Canada, and the Northern Territory in Australia. Such fights pit states, which seek to “standardize” frontiers, against locals, especially Indigenous peoples, who seek greater autonomy.

Workshop attendees came from as far away as the University of Melbourne in Australia; Carleton University in Canada; and Yale University, New York University, and Oberlin College in the United States. Closer to home, scholars attended from the Norwegian Nobel Institute and the universities of Stockholm, Oslo, and of course Bergen.

Attendees were disciplinarily diverse, representing comparative politics, political philosophy, constitutional law, and history. They included Maggie Blackhawk, arguably the world’s leading expert of US Indian Law; Jerry Sabin, specializing in the public administration of Canada’s North; and Alejandra Mancilla, a philosopher studying the relationship between peoples, territory, and nature.

In addition to the scholarly discussions, participants attended a public lecture by Blackhawk entitled “Must the US Constitution be a blueprint for empire?” Held in the UiB Egget auditorium, the lecture began with a public welcome by Katarina Isaksen of the Bergen Sami Association and was attended by roughly 100 students, staff, faculty, and members of the public.

The project will host a second international workshop in 2027, and a wrap-up conference in 2029.