The Great White Beast: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:54, 18 July 2025

Mx. Science as a liminal figure, conjures many shapeshifting, associative frames, depending on who encounters them. Such an idea may potentially be put into dialogue with traditional Inuit beliefs and legends around the polar bear, which is sometimes traditionally referred to as the "Great White Bear", or the "Great White Beast" (Jimmy Qirqut, Gjoa Haven Elder, 2022). According to some of these legends, the polar bear is also a shapeshifting figure. Sometimes human, sometimes bear.

Although some resonance can be found between Mx. Science and Inuit legends of shapeshifting polar bears, I have focussed on the how the liminal presence of Mx. Science can affectively and performatively invoked other "Great White Beasts". For example, the one of ever shapeshifting settler-colonialism, that continues to haunt polar bear management and monitoring and other Arctic-science spaces. Another figure that Mx. Science can be considered to invoke is the (Great White) "Beast" of the "polar bear problem",^[1] a "wicked problem" that is seemingly im/possible to "tame" ^[2]

Mx. Science as such could be understood to engage with ICC's Protocol 3, directive 2 that points out the importance of addressing power dynamics. "... including those embedded in formal processes (...) within specific settings, approaches, processes and work.^[3]"

↑ MacLean, J., Clark, S. G., Foote, L., Jung, T. S., Lee, D. S., & Clark, D. A. (2020). Polar Bears and the Politics of Climate Change: A Response to Simpson. Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, 23(2), 141-150.
↑ Termeer, C. J., Dewulf, A., & Biesbroek, R. (2019). A critical assessment of the wicked problem concept: relevance and usefulness for policy science and practice. Policy and Society, 38(2), 167-179.
↑ Inuit Circumpolar Council (2022). Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement.

Return to Cut 2: "Mx. Science"

[1] MacLean, J., Clark, S. G., Foote, L., Jung, T. S., Lee, D. S., & Clark, D. A. (2020). Polar Bears and the Politics of Climate Change: A Response to Simpson. Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, 23(2), 141-150.

[2] Termeer, C. J., Dewulf, A., & Biesbroek, R. (2019). A critical assessment of the wicked problem concept: relevance and usefulness for policy science and practice. Policy and Society, 38(2), 167-179.

[3] Inuit Circumpolar Council (2022). Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement.

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[2]

[3]

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-What had become clear at the final workshops, at the ASM conference and was also reiterated at the interviews was that most people expected Mx. Science to re-present, or reveal a clear underlying message about science or scientists, at some point. The majority of people who approached me at the conference, asked me about my underlying methodology or "what" my presence was supposed to represent.
+Mx. Science as a liminal figure, conjures many shapeshifting, associative frames, depending on who encounters them. Such an idea may potentially be put into dialogue with traditional Inuit beliefs and legends around the polar bear, which is sometimes traditionally referred to as the "Great White Bear", or the "Great White Beast" (Jimmy Qirqut, Gjoa Haven Elder, 2022). According to some of these legends, the polar bear is also a shapeshifting figure. Sometimes human, sometimes bear.
-The Great White Beast is a figure that conjures many associative frames. Firstly, and foremost reference to polar bears, or more accurately a moniker that is employed within Inuit custom, to respectfully avoid talking about polar bears’ (Jimmy Qirqut, Gjoa Haven Elder, 2022), it also gestures towards the great white beast of colonialism, while simultaneously evoking a frame of powers and agencies that extend beyond our own comprehension or capacities: a “beast of a problem”.
+Although some resonance can be found between Mx. Science and Inuit legends of shapeshifting polar bears, I have focussed on the how the liminal presence of Mx. Science can affectively and performatively invoked other "Great White Beasts". For example, the one of ever shapeshifting settler-colonialism, that continues to haunt polar bear management and monitoring and other Arctic-science spaces. Another figure that Mx. Science can be considered to invoke is the (Great White) "Beast" of the "polar bear problem",<ref>MacLean, J., Clark, S. G., Foote, L., Jung, T. S., Lee, D. S., & Clark, D. A. (2020). Polar Bears and the Politics of Climate Change: A Response to Simpson. Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, 23(2), 141-150.</ref> a "wicked problem" that is seemingly im/possible to "tame" <ref>Termeer, C. J., Dewulf, A., & Biesbroek, R. (2019). A critical assessment of the wicked problem concept: relevance and usefulness for policy science and practice. Policy and Society, 38(2), 167-179.</ref>
-<span class="return to-cut-2 link" data-page-title="Point of Beginning Mx. Science" data-section-id="5" data-encounter-type="return">[[Point of Beginning Mx. Science#The Liminal and the Ethical Space|Return to Cut 2: "Mx. Science"]]</span></span>
+<div class="next_choice">Mx. Science as such could be understood to engage with ICC's Protocol 3, directive 2 that points out the importance of addressing power dynamics. "... including those embedded in formal processes (...) within specific settings, approaches, processes and work.<ref>Inuit Circumpolar Council (2022). Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement.</ref>"</div>
+<small><references /></small>
+<span class="return to-cut-2 link" data-page-title="Point of Beginning Mx. Science" data-section-id="8" data-encounter-type="return">[[Point of Beginning Mx. Science#Another Point of Beginning|Return to Cut 2: "Mx. Science"]]</span>