Credit: A Short Introduction to Pan-Arcticism was originally published by NORDTING / The Northern Assembly. Courtesy NORDTING. 

NORDTING / The Northern Assembly is a nomadic people’s parliament of the North, a party for the periphery, a separatist movement for the Arctic.

With an ambition to question and change both the present narrative of the North and the power regime of the North, The Northern Assembly has traveled extensively in the arctic region in recent years. With the help of marching bands, stockfish, powerpoint and political agitation, 60 people’s assemblies have been held so far. Tonnes of t-shirts have been sold. Gallons of vodka have been drunk. Songs have been sung, prayers have been made and people have voted for independence for the North—time and time again. 

The North is an area with classic colonial traits. Political and economic power is often located far away, always in the South. The economic and developmental discourse describes the land as an “arctic frontier”; an area between civilization and the unknown; a liminal zone, a tabula rasa, a land of possibilities for conquerors and investors. It is time for the people of the North to fight back. 

After mainly visiting the North of Norway during its first years, NORDTING has entered the next step. Assemblies have been held in Rovaniemi (FI), Akureyri (IS), Anchorage (US), Nuuk (GL) and Tórshavn (FO); Arctic hotspots that provoke very different investigations of the living paradoxes of the North.

This story is part of the Norway Partner Spotlight. View more content from the Spotlight here.