The Liquid Arctic and Digitalization

Following Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of ‘liquid modernity,’ this interdisciplinary chapter introduces Liquid Arctic as an extension of the Global Arctic discourse. Part I of the chapter discusses in basic terms what is meant by Liquid Arctic, including various global problems; decline of the nation-state; human migration and movement of people; sense of accelerated time; rise of non-places such as airports and hotels; consumer consumption by way of fast-food restaurants and shopping malls; and tourism. Part II provides an overview of the digitalization phenomenon as a characteristic of Liquid Arctic and explores digitalization in and of the Arctic by way of digital cultural heritage, specifically via discussion of the Arctic digital collections of libraries, archives, and museums, as well as research data management of Arctic digital datasets.