ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the 2013/2014 debates on uranium extraction to illustrate three visions of Greenlandic society and its place in the world: a legitimate and well-functioning democracy, a sustainable economy, and a clean environment that permits traditional Inuit practices, such as hunting and fishing. Depending on whether uranium extraction is constituted as an issue of politics, economy or ecology, it becomes both a threat to Greenland’s future and a necessary step to secure this future. Consequently, what is debated is threats and opportunities to Greenland’s future as an independent and sovereign nation-state and its independent role in the world.
