Assessing the role of resource extraction companies in Arctic decision-making: a new methodological approach

摘要

This paper proposes new research pathways to examine decision-making by private sector actors in the Arctic and Subarctic. I emphasize resource extraction companies as some of the region's most powerful and least-studied decision-makers. Analyzing policies as open-ended social processes clarifies the relationships and contingencies that underlie policy-making. This approach highlights the role of private sector actors in evolving forms of regional governance. It also improves our understanding of transnational policy processes, as well as population and economic development in the Arctic.