Moral Economy

Abstract

The concept of moral economy is a powerful one in critical Arctic studies; it encourages scholars to direct analytical attention towards the kinds of moral imperatives people have invested themselves in, practice and expect when engaged in economic activities. The concept can be quite useful, as it focuses on how social values and moral expectations related to responsibilities and obligations are coupled with how the economy is organized and practised. Studies drawing on the notion of moral economy may open up an awareness of how people make sense of and see themselves in economic activities. Furthermore, such research fosters discussion of the kind of people and society particular economic activities give rise to. The article presents three cases from the Greenlandic fisheries to show how shifting practices and economic activities have changed the moral obligations and responsibilities between people, and thus how moral economies may become reconfigured over time.