Gudmundur Alfredsson
Stefansson Arctic Institute, Law, Department Member
- An Icelandic lawyer (Cand. jur. University of Iceland 1975; Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (MCJ) New York Univer... moreAn Icelandic lawyer (Cand. jur. University of Iceland 1975; Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (MCJ) New York University Law School 1976; and Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) Harvard Law School 1982), now Senior Associate with the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri. He has held teaching positions at the University of Akureyri, American University in Washington DC, the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, the University of Greenland, the University of Lund, the Riga Graduate School of Law and the University of Strasbourg. He was Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights in Lund (1995-2006), UN staff member in New York and Geneva (1983-95), expert member of the UN Working Group on the Right to Development (1996-97), member of the UN Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (2004-06), Chairman of the UN Working Group on Minorities (2006), and chair of the expert meetings that drafted the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life (OSCE/HCNM 1998-99). He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook of Polar Law, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, and Co-Editor of the Nordic Journal of International Law (all published by Brill).edit
The right of self-determination is an attractive and popular concept. Who does not want to self-determine? An ever increasing number of peoples, groups, and even states and advocates on their behalf are wanting, demanding or fighting for... more
The right of self-determination is an attractive and popular concept. Who does not want to self-determine? An ever increasing number of peoples, groups, and even states and advocates on their behalf are wanting, demanding or fighting for their enjoyment of self-determination, with claims to a wide range of external and internal applications in the political, economic and cultural fields. With the multiplication of desires, the identification of all the different forms of self-determination, real and proposed, is becoming an increasingly difficult but necessary task.
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Editorial Note, Gudmundur Alfredsson, Timo Koivurova and Adam Stepien Articles: Cooperation and Geopolitics in the North Changing the Arctic Paradigm from Cold War to Cooperation: How Canada's Indigenous Leaders Shaped the Arctic... more
Editorial Note, Gudmundur Alfredsson, Timo Koivurova and Adam Stepien Articles: Cooperation and Geopolitics in the North Changing the Arctic Paradigm from Cold War to Cooperation: How Canada's Indigenous Leaders Shaped the Arctic Council, Thomas S. Axworthy and Ryan Dean Northern Europe and the Arctic Agenda: Roles of Nordic and Other Sub-regional Organizations, Alyson J. K. Bailes and Kristmundur Th. Olafsson Iceland: A Small Arctic State Facing Big Arctic Changes, Margret Cela Arctic Security - Global Dimensions and Challenges, and National Policy Responses, Lassi Heininen Multilevel Governance of Change in the Polar Regions Uranium Mining in Nunavut, Katja Gocke Climate Change Turn in the Regional Development Strategies of an Arctic Region, Case Finnish Lapland, Ilona Mettiainen Breaking the Wall of Monocentric Governance: Polycentricity in the Governance of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Arctic, Tahnee Lisa Prior The Polar Regions and the Development of International L...
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Professor Guðmundur Alfreðsson, University of Strasbourg, France & University of Akureyri, Iceland, talks here in the NRF 6th open assembly in Hveragerði, Iceland, in September of 2011. Please click on the link above to see the video.
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Research Interests: Human Rights and UN
The website of the Arctic Council rather proudly refers to the designation of Indigenous peoples as ‘permanent participants’ in the Council’s work as a unique feature, but some Indigenous leaders are less than fully satisfied. In this... more
The website of the Arctic Council rather proudly refers to the designation of Indigenous peoples as ‘permanent participants’ in the Council’s work as a unique feature, but some Indigenous leaders are less than fully satisfied. In this article it is argued that this arrangement in significant ways falls behind the role of Indigenous peoples in the United Nations, in particular its human rights and environment programs. Drawing on this comparison, the article concludes with placing a few suggestions before the Arctic Council.
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Hydrodynamics or thermoregulatory aerodynamics? Paper delivered at the Valkenburg Conference "The Aquatic Ape: Fact or Fiction?" WHITE, LESLIE A. I949. "The symbol: The origin and basis of human behavior," in The... more
Hydrodynamics or thermoregulatory aerodynamics? Paper delivered at the Valkenburg Conference "The Aquatic Ape: Fact or Fiction?" WHITE, LESLIE A. I949. "The symbol: The origin and basis of human behavior," in The science of culture. New York: Grove Press. WHITROW, G. J. I975. The nature of time. Harmondsworth: Penguin. WILLIAMS, LEONARD. I980. The dancing chimpanzee: A study of the origins of primitive music. London and New York: Allison and Busby. WYNN, T. I979. The intelligence of Late Acheulean hominids. Man I4:37I-9I. . I98I. The intelligence of Oldowan hominids. Journal of Human Evolution IO:529-4I.
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No Abstract
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Page 1. he Universal Declaration of Human Rights A Common Standard of Achievement Edited by Gudmundur Alfredsson and Asbjorn Eide Martinus Nijhofl-Publishers Page 2. Page 3. THEUNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS This One XEZR-9ZA-GDNJ... more
Page 1. he Universal Declaration of Human Rights A Common Standard of Achievement Edited by Gudmundur Alfredsson and Asbjorn Eide Martinus Nijhofl-Publishers Page 2. Page 3. THEUNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS This One XEZR-9ZA-GDNJ Page 4. ...
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This article surveys some of the many international human rights law issues that come up in connection with the Arctic, such as the rights of indigenous peoples and the formulation of these rights in a draft Nordic Sami Convention. The... more
This article surveys some of the many international human rights law issues that come up in connection with the Arctic, such as the rights of indigenous peoples and the formulation of these rights in a draft Nordic Sami Convention. The focus, however, is on recent developments concerning the status of Greenland as a result of an agreement concluded in 2008 between the Danish and Greenlandic authorities. This agreement foresees not only a significant increase in self-government but also opens the door for the Greenlandic people to create an independent State through the exercise of the right to external self-determination as a matter of political decolonisation of an overseas colonial territory.
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Page 1. guide Minority Rights: A Guide to United Nations Procedures and Institutions ... 6.5 Special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights Notes Minority Rights: A Guide to United Nations Procedures and Institutions ...
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Discussions are underway for a new Nordic Sami convention. A number of human rights issues of both substance and form need to be considered in the course of preparations for such a treaty. On substantive issues, a new convention must not... more
Discussions are underway for a new Nordic Sami convention. A number of human rights issues of both substance and form need to be considered in the course of preparations for such a treaty. On substantive issues, a new convention must not fall below existing minimum human rights standards under international law, including ILO Convention No. 169 and other indigenous and minority-specific rights in treaties, customary law and case-law. Access to procedural and other monitoring avenues at the national and international levels must also be guaranteed. Furthermore, it is suggested that the Sami should be a party/parties to an eventual convention because their participation is closely related to equal rights, dignity, identity and the justice to which indigenous peoples aspire.
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The current focus on human development in general global development efforts carries with it a need for building human resources with appropriate intellectual, communicative and operational skills for use in analyses, decision-making and... more
The current focus on human development in general global development efforts carries with it a need for building human resources with appropriate intellectual, communicative and operational skills for use in analyses, decision-making and action at all levels. Human resource building extends beyond conventional disciplinary training and fosters the capability to work together to solve often complex problems for which each
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The website of the Arctic Council rather proudly refers to the designation of indigenous peoples as 'permanent participants' in the Council's work as a unique feature, but some indigenous leaders are less than fully satisfied. In this... more
The website of the Arctic Council rather proudly refers to the designation of indigenous peoples as 'permanent participants' in the Council's work as a unique feature, but some indigenous leaders are less than fully satisfied. In this article it is argued that this arrangement in significant ways falls behind the role of indigenous peoples in the United Nations, in particular its human rights and environment programs. Drawing on this comparison, the article concludes with placing a few suggestions before the Arctic Council.
This is a panel at the conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), in Belfast, 26-29 July 2022. It addresses how anthropology and anthropologists interact with traditional, small-scale societies... more
This is a panel at the conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), in Belfast, 26-29 July 2022.
It addresses how anthropology and anthropologists interact with traditional, small-scale societies along two interconnected parameters: (a) the cultures in question are indigenous, and (b) the focus and rationale are applied, either in connection with development projects (typically involving public and civil society) or investment operations (typically involving private sector). Overarching this is a concern with human rights.
Anthropology has come a long way since the work of the founding fathers. Beginning in academia, it has embraced public sector, civil society, and private sector. It has moved into international, regional, national, and local development organizations, including in the global south, where anthropology departments train new generations of anthropologists.
The panel takes stock of these developments, assessing how anthropology has changed how it works with human rights and indigenous peoples. There is a focus on the relations between anthropology and the society at large, on cross-cultural interactions, and on interdisciplinary approaches, including the legal profession (proposals from legal scholars working in the UN are being solicited).
Finally, the panel aims to contribute to re-establishment of an EASA network on human rights and indigenous peoples, originally founded in 1992
Links:
(1) EASA Network on Indigenous Peoples and Human rights (1992) - https://lars.academia.edu/research#easahumanrightsindpeoplesnetwork
(2) Article on the panel (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anthropology-human-rights-indigenous-peoples-lars-soeftestad/
(3) Article on the panel (Devblog) - https://www.devblog.no/en/article/easa-and-indigenous-peoples
It addresses how anthropology and anthropologists interact with traditional, small-scale societies along two interconnected parameters: (a) the cultures in question are indigenous, and (b) the focus and rationale are applied, either in connection with development projects (typically involving public and civil society) or investment operations (typically involving private sector). Overarching this is a concern with human rights.
Anthropology has come a long way since the work of the founding fathers. Beginning in academia, it has embraced public sector, civil society, and private sector. It has moved into international, regional, national, and local development organizations, including in the global south, where anthropology departments train new generations of anthropologists.
The panel takes stock of these developments, assessing how anthropology has changed how it works with human rights and indigenous peoples. There is a focus on the relations between anthropology and the society at large, on cross-cultural interactions, and on interdisciplinary approaches, including the legal profession (proposals from legal scholars working in the UN are being solicited).
Finally, the panel aims to contribute to re-establishment of an EASA network on human rights and indigenous peoples, originally founded in 1992
Links:
(1) EASA Network on Indigenous Peoples and Human rights (1992) - https://lars.academia.edu/research#easahumanrightsindpeoplesnetwork
(2) Article on the panel (LinkedIn) - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/anthropology-human-rights-indigenous-peoples-lars-soeftestad/
(3) Article on the panel (Devblog) - https://www.devblog.no/en/article/easa-and-indigenous-peoples