Data in Antarctic Science and Politics

The internationalization of Antarctica as a continent for science with the Antarctic Treaty (1961) was heralded as bringing about international cooperation and the free exchange of data. However, both national rivalry and proprietorship of data, in varying degrees, remained integral to Antarctic sci...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Social studies of science 2008-08, Vol.38 (4), p.571-604
Main Authors:	Dean, Katrina, Naylor, Simon, Turchetti, Simone, Siegert, Martin
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	20th century Aerial photography Aerial surveys Antarctic regions Antarctica Cartography Cold wars Credit policy Data Data analysis Earth sciences Echo sounding Exchanging Field work Fieldwork Geography Geopolitics Glaciers Globalization History History of science and technology Ice Ice sheets Institutions International Cooperation Mapping Photography Polar environments Politics Polls & surveys Radio Research expeditions Science policy Sounding Technology Territorial issues Territory Treaties Value
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Summary:	The internationalization of Antarctica as a continent for science with the Antarctic Treaty (1961) was heralded as bringing about international cooperation and the free exchange of data. However, both national rivalry and proprietorship of data, in varying degrees, remained integral to Antarctic science and politics throughout the 20th century. This paper considers two large field-surveys in Antarctica: first, an aerial photographic survey carried out by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition of 1946-8; and second, the Scott Polar Research Institute's radio-echo sounding survey of 1967-79. Both surveys involved geoscientific data but the context in which the investigations and the exchanges of their results took place changed. We argue that the issue of control of data remained paramount across both cases despite shifting international political contexts. The control of data on Antarctic territory, once framed in terms of geopolitics and negotiated between governments, became a matter of science policy and credit to be negotiated among scientific institutions. Whereas the Ronne data were of potential strategic value for reinforcing national territorial claims, the radio-echo sounding data contained information of potential economic and environmental value.
ISSN:	0306-3127 1460-3659