<aside> 🌐 What has allowed the country to flourish or what has hindered its development? You can choose the scope and focus (i.e. examine the role of cartels, the value of resources, political conflicts, government policies, etc.)

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Intro

In the 2021 World Happiness Index, Denmark was ranked as the world’s second happiest country, however, the other nations in its realm do not enjoy the same luxury

• One would think that Greenland follows the trend of happy Scandinavian countries
• Suicides make up 8% of the total deaths in the country
  • Most prevalent among young men aged 15-29 (Sargeant et al., 2018)
• Midnight sun and insomnia is a possible theory, but the Inuit people living there have lived in those conditions for centuries, it was only until recently where Danish post-colonial policies went into effect

Thesis: Danish influence and colonial policies have left Greenland’s Inuit population vulnerable to social disruptions regarding their identity, highlighting the urgency for Greenland’s self-dependance, especially in the face of climate change.

Paragraph 1 [culture and Greenlandic values]

<aside> 🌐 “Due to the rapid modernization of the 1970s and 1980s, many people emigrated to the cities and larger settlements for economic and educational mobility. However, once there, they needed to assimilate to appear more Danish. The loss of identity that followed saw communities turn to alcohol, which in turn led to child abuse and neglect — two major risk factors for suicide. This erosion of family structure made it hard for individuals to cope with emotional and psychological hardships.”

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Urbanization, modernization, danization

• Moving people from their communities into urban homes
• Similar to the residential schools in its education system
  • Danes attempted to wipe out the Greenlandic language by taking Inuit children and sending them to Greenland for education (Petersen, 1995; Blanc-Noël, 2010).
• High rates of alcoholism, domestic violence as a result of social disruption
  • Most of the population is located in small settlements where access to a psychologist is not readily available
• Cultural conflict between Danes and Greenlandic population
  • Western Greenland was colonized first, so they had time to adapt to the modern industrialized society
  • Whereas east Greenland was comprised of hunter-gatherers until recently, so this has been a shock to them
  • Inuit peoples have been forced to adapt to European values, hard for people to leave tradition

Paragraph 2 [economy]

Although [make reference to paragraph 1] ...Denmark is also trying to preserve traditional hunting and fishing for the economy

• Contradictory social engineering practices

  <aside> ☝ This result suggests that although Denmark was attempting to promote the fishing industry and generate higher living standards in Greenland, it resulted in social disruption seen in increasing suicide rates.

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• Greenland’s HDI (0.94) and other development indicators

  • Its stats are merged with Denmark’s, which is why we don’t hear about them in the news often

• Danish fish farms were operating in Greenland under the control of the Danish government

• “Greenland continued to be governed politically, economically, intellectually and geographically by Denmark” (Nielsen, 1975)

  • Greenland wants to become more self-reliant, especially in the face of climate change

    These complex and sometimes contradictory social engineering techniques of governance have been linked to long- term problems of Greenlandic identity