Abstract
The Arctic fox is considered a critically endangered species on Norwegian mainland, and has since 2003 been subjected to intense and high human involvement through conservation initiatives. These initiatives include a national Arctic fox captive-breeding program, a national Arctic fox monitoring program, support feeding, and eliminating the threats posed by the Red fox or escaped farm foxes. All in all, the Arctic fox conservation (AFC) is considered a successful and well-functioning project in Norway; there is great public support for the project, the network of actors involved cooperate well, and even though the Arctic fox still is critically endangered, the species is on its way to recovery. With a feminist political ecological framework, I investigate AFC as a successful project, placing the focus on the prevalent network of actors involved. Looking at AFC as a social and political phenomenon, I wish to improve our understanding of the resources, both material and immaterial, necessary to produce and use knowledge for conservation purposes. With this study, I hope to develop new ways of understanding what systems and processes are at work within a conservation project. I identify AFC as a biohegemonic project, and point to various ways the biohegemony is maintained. Lack of public participation, yet great public support and acceptance, is one way of maintaining the biohegemony. Furthermore, I found there to be an Arctic fox paradox in the Norwegian society, and an existing gender hierarchy maintained within the AFC, and I discuss some ways biopower is exercised.