Dr Carol Brown-Leonardi

Carol Brown-Leonardi (formerly Carol Moore) is a Cultural Anthropologist/Ethnographer. An Associate Lecturer in Social Science and an Honoaray Associate in the Department of Geography (FASS) at the Open University.

Education

Carol Brown-Leonardi studied her undergraduate degree in Social Sciences at the Open University 1995 and then went on to take a Master of Philosophy in Polar Studies at the University of Cambridge. She then completed a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnography at the Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge in association with the University of Cambridge in 2005.

Career

Since 2000, Brown-Leonardi has carried out long-term fieldwork and research projects on political discourse and non-renewable resources in the Mackenzie Valley, Canada and the reindeer herders in Northern Finland. Her research examined oral narratives and the subtleties of political discourse amongst Deh Cho Dene in northern Canada. It considered how indigenous people approach and debate the current land settlement and self-government agendas. This corresponded with her master’s Thesis, which focused on the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) and the aboriginal peoples’ political inclusion in the decision-making on issues of environmental protection in the region. Her recent work in Northern Finland explored the culture of reindeer racing, focusing on three aspects. These are how the reindeer are selected for racing, the unique relationship between the trainers and the animals, and the impact that reindeer racing has on Arctic tourism. Her current research investigates how Britain’s exit from the European Union has affected the perceptions and decision-making of mixed nationality couples (British and Finnish) to stay and live permanently in Finland or the United Kingdom.

The aim is to understand how these couples view their prospects in their country of residence. This will give insight into how they understand the impact of the European Union and Brexit on their family and social life. The research aims to investigate some of the social tensions and cohesion related to national identity and culture. The research aims to understand the perspectives of many couples and families in mixed nationality relationships across the Finland and the United Kingdom and the impact on their sense of national identity and the decision-making that occur with the social transitions that arise as they live and work in the country of residence.

Media Work

2016 BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 Interview for documentary. Burn Slush. 19 December 2016.

2015 Guardian Newspaper Interview for News Story. This is not a beauty contest: the serious business of reindeer racing.

Journal Articles.

2016      Brown-Leonardi, C. J. 2016. Reindeer Champions: Culture, Ritual and Reindeer Games.  Polar Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2012      Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fossland, T., Fryer, P., (Eds) 2012. Contested identities and boundaries in the Arctic. Special Issue. Polar Record. Vol. 48. (03). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2012      Brown-Leonardi, C. J. Notions of property; traditional land use and boundaries in the Deh Cho region. In Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fossland, T., Fryer, P., (Eds) 2012. Contested identities and boundaries in the Arctic. Special Issue. Polar Record. Vol. 48. (03). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

2012      Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fossland, T., Fryer, P. Contested borders and Identities. In Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fossland, T., Fryer. P., (Eds) 2012. Contested identities and boundaries in the Arctic. Special Issue. Polar Record. Vol. 48. (03). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  

2010      Soppela, P., Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fryer, P., (Eds) 2010 Arctic Centre Report 54. Encountering the Changing Barents – Research Challenges and Opportunities. Rovaniemi: University of Lapland.

2010      Brown-Leonardi, C. J. et al. The Changing Barent Region: Challenges and Opportunities for Research.  In: Soppela, P., Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fryer, P. (Eds) 2010 Arctic Centre Report 54. Encountering the Changing Barents – Research Challenges and Opportunities. Rovaniemi: University of Lapland. 

2010      Brown-Leonardi, C. J.  Political Discourse and Consensus Decision-making amongst the Deh Cho Dene:  First Nation Politics in the Northwest Territories, Canada. In: Soppela, P., Brown-Leonardi, C. J., Fryer, P. (Eds) 2010 Arctic Centre Report 54. Encountering the Changing Barents – Research Challenges and Opportunities. Rovaniemi: University of Lapland.

2004      Moore, C. J.  Leadership. Pg. 1174-1176. In: Nuttall, M (Ed) 2004. Encyclopaedia of the Arctic. New York: Routledge. ISBN 1-57958-438-1.

2003      Moore, C. J. et al.  The Power of Perceptions in and of the North. In: Duhaime, G. 2003. Arctic Economic Development and Self-government. Pg. 297-313. Circumpolar Arctic Social Sciences PhD Network. Fourth Conference Proceedings, Quebec: GETIC Publications. ISBN: 2-921438-58-5 Place: Date: