Ill-fated Mission: Canada’s Franklin Expedition and its Role in Arctic Securitization

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dc.contributor.advisorHuebert, Rob
dc.contributor.authorClifton, Robert
dc.contributor.committeememberSayers, Anthony Michael
dc.contributor.committeememberRice, Roberta L.
dc.contributor.committeememberHuebert, Rob
dc.date2025-06
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-16T15:42:24Z
dc.date.available2025-01-16T15:42:24Z
dc.date.issued2025-02
dc.description.abstractIn 1845, Sir John Franklin and his crew went missing while in search of a Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The shipwrecks were discovered in 2014 and 2016 (respectively) with the first, The HMS Erebus, discovered under the administration of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (2006-2015). Employing discourse analysis of qualitative research interviews and primary documents, and the process tracing method, this thesis investigates the role the Franklin Expedition searches and discoveries played in the Harper government’s Canadian Arctic securitizing move. This thesis tests the original Copenhagen, and Second Generation, Securitization theories for applicability to the Harper-era Franklin searches and communications in the context of Canada’s Arctic security policy. It finds mild support for the relevance of Second Generation theories over the original Copenhagen theory from which later theories of securitization evolved. Given analysis of theoretical underpinnings and after deep qualitative analysis, this study finds that the Franklin searches and discovery did not play a central role in Prime Minister Harper’s prior securitization of the Canadian arctic.
dc.identifier.citationClifton, R. (2025). Ill-fated mission: Canada’s Franklin expedition and its role in arctic securitization (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1880/120460
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgary
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectarctic
dc.subjectForeign policy
dc.subjectarchaeology
dc.subject.classificationPolitical Science--International Law and Relations
dc.subject.classificationPolitical Science
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Social Sciences
dc.subject.classificationCanadian Studies
dc.titleIll-fated Mission: Canada’s Franklin Expedition and its Role in Arctic Securitization
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplinePolitical Science
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudentI do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.
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