Engaging, rich and nuanced, this book exposes the deep dilemmas facing this Arctic archipelago. A must for anyone with an interest in the challenges of a melting world. Ethnography at its best Marianne E. Lien, Professor, University of Oslo

Rich and deeply textured ... Zdenka Sokolíková demonstrates how the logic of extraction intersects awkwardly with community, environment, geopolitics and sustainability Klaus Dodds, Professor, Royal Holloway University of London

Lucidly captures the dilemmas of maintaining community in the worlds northernmost settlement, where climate change is particularly evident. Highly recommended! Cecilie Vindal Ødegaard, Professor, University of Bergen

Longyearbyen in the Arctic is the worlds northernmost settlement. Here, climate change is happening fast. It is clearly sensed by the locals; with higher temperatures, more rain and permafrost thaw. At the same time, the town is shifting from state-controlled coal production to tourism, research and development. It is rapidly globalising, with numerous languages spoken, and with cruise ships sounding their horns in the harbour while planes land and take off.

A small town of 2,400 inhabitants on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Longyearbyen provides a unique view into the unmistakable relationship between global capitalism and climate change. The Paradox of Svalbard looks at local and global trends to access a deep understanding of the effects of tourism, immigration and labour on the trajectory of the climate crisis, and what can be done to reverse it.

Zdenka Sokolíková is a researcher at the University of Hradec Králové, Czechia, and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her research in Longyearbyen was hosted by the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Thomas Hylland Eriksen 

Introducing the Fieldwalk: Field, Companions and Path

Part I: Fluid Environments

1. Fairy Tales of Change

2. Once Upon a Time - So What? Why and How a Changing Environment Matters

3. The Viscosity of the Climate Change Discourse 

Part II: Extractive Economies

4. The Art of Taking Out: From Extracting Coal to Extracting Knowledge and Memories

5. Big Powers and Little People: Scaling Economic Change

6. Sustainability with a Footnote: Missing out Justice

Part III: Disempowered Communities

7. The Trouble with Local Community

8. In the Neighbourhood

9. 'Make Longyearbyen Norwegian again': Denying Superdiversity

Conclusion: The Paradox of Svalbard

Afterword by Hilde Henningsen

References