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Mineral extraction in Swedish Sápmi: The regulatory gap between Sami rights and Sweden's mining permitting practices
Abstract
In Sweden, extractive industries are placing increasing pressure on the traditional indigenous Sami livelihood of reindeer herding.
Consequently, the intersection of indigenous rights and mining-related development in Sweden has become an increasingly contested socio-legal space. In this article, we analyse the extent to which there are meaningful opportunities for Sami reindeer herding communities in Sweden to effectively influence the permit procedures concerning proposed mines, in order to protect their rights and interests. We provide a comprehensive socio-legal analysis that highlights the weak level of recognition of Sami rights and related impact assessments within the mining permitting system in Sweden. We demonstrate the weakness is caused by several factors: an a priori assumption by Swedish authorities that reindeer herding and mining can generally coexist; the lack of a codified Swedish State duty to consult the Sami; the narrow scope and the weak status of cumulative impact assessments in Swedish EIA legislation and practice; and the weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a “property right” during the permit review process under the balancing of competing landuses.
Our results highlight the urgent need for legislative reform in Sweden, if the State is to fulfil its international obligations and improve its legal consistency concerning the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people.
... Twelve of Sweden's 15 active mineral mines and a vast majority of the value of mineral extraction are located within the traditional Sámi territory. Given that the Swedish government aims to strengthen its position as a leading mining state within the EU, it recently launched actions to facilitate iron ore extraction by making the process of granting mining permissions faster and smoother (Raitio et al., 2020). ...
... (Ahmed, 2004, p. 10) Through her talk, we learn that the painful sensation in Jannok's body arises as a response to the plot of a fictional story that resembles her own reality: A big mining company removing and destroying natives for the sake of extracting natural resources reminds Jannok of Sweden's mining policies in Sápmi, which come into conflict with Sámi reindeer herders that depend on having access to various open pastures and ecosystems. Reindeer herding is a traditional, nomadic, collective livelihood and cultural intergenerational practice of the Sámi people and in Sweden is currently organised into 51 reindeer herding communities (sameby in Swedish) (Raitio et al., 2020). However, reindeer herding is disrupted due to shrinking lands, damages done due to dams, power lines, noise, and dust from the blasting from the mining industries together with increasing wind energy, infrastructure development, forestry, etc.; a fact that strengthens the "green colonialism" critique (Normann, 2020;Raitio et al., 2020). ...
... Reindeer herding is a traditional, nomadic, collective livelihood and cultural intergenerational practice of the Sámi people and in Sweden is currently organised into 51 reindeer herding communities (sameby in Swedish) (Raitio et al., 2020). However, reindeer herding is disrupted due to shrinking lands, damages done due to dams, power lines, noise, and dust from the blasting from the mining industries together with increasing wind energy, infrastructure development, forestry, etc.; a fact that strengthens the "green colonialism" critique (Normann, 2020;Raitio et al., 2020). ...
... The exploration of a mineral deposit is a first step towards establishing a new mine, and the legal requirements for being granted an exploration permit are easily met by most companies. Permitting takes little consideration of other local interests, so appeals of permits are typically rejected by the courts with reference to the Minerals Act (Bäckström, 2015;Raitio et al., 2020). Nonetheless, within a few weeks, 546 appeals were sent to the local Administrative Court in response to the eleven permits granted in Scania. ...
... In the Swedish permitting processes, a typical extraction project moves through five steps before the extraction can start: exploration permit, concession permit, environmental permit, expropriation of land, and permits for associated infrastructure (Raitio et al., 2020). Here, I explore movements' actions in the exploration permit process, a step that is particularly 'closed' to legal success from the LOS perspective (Bäckström, 2015;Raitio et al., 2020). ...
... In the Swedish permitting processes, a typical extraction project moves through five steps before the extraction can start: exploration permit, concession permit, environmental permit, expropriation of land, and permits for associated infrastructure (Raitio et al., 2020). Here, I explore movements' actions in the exploration permit process, a step that is particularly 'closed' to legal success from the LOS perspective (Bäckström, 2015;Raitio et al., 2020). Actors having legal standing in the exploration permit process are landowners and actors holding other rights tied to the land in question (e.g. ...
Social movements and interest groups in Europe are increasingly using litigation as a form of legal mobilization in their campaigns. Current literature often depicts this as a result of favourable opportunities in movements’ legal contexts, with activists responding to rising prospects of legal success. This comparative study of fifteen cases of mobilizations against mineral exploration projects in Sweden explores a puzzle in relation to this view: Why do movements frequently litigate even when the prospects of legal success seem non-existent? Using frame analysis within a multi-institutional politics (MIP) approach, this study explores how movements interpret opportunities in appeal processes linked to mineral exploration projects. While confirming that the prospect of legal success is a relevant motivator in several cases, the results also indicate that some movements interpret the court as a democratic arena, presenting opportunities to mobilize adherents and signal popular resistance to policy makers and extractive companies. These diverging interpretations of the court are tentatively connected to organizational needs for mobilizing adherents, previous experiences of litigating and available institutional logics in society. Building upon the MIP approach, this study introduces the idea that the democratic understanding of the appeal process signifies a ‘creative infringement’. A democratic institutional logic is imported into the court, an arena typically dominated by an institutional legal-bureaucratic logic. Movements’ increasing use of litigation may thus be driven not only by goals of legal success, but also by creative reinterpretations of legal processes as arenas in which goals of popular participation and democracy may be achieved.
... In both countries, mine projects have evoked strong reactions and opinions on the part of proponents and opponents that are grounded in very different worldviews. A review of the literature analyzing the assessment and permitting processes related to the proposed Prosperity and Kallak mines reveals a number of environmental, economic, and socio-cultural reasons why these projects have been delayed or rejected at various points (Mehdic 2014;Haddock 2011;Raitio et al. 2020;Beland Lindahl et al. 2018;Sehlin MacNeil 2015). ...
... In Canada this involves the environmental assessment (EA) process where an approval provides an EA Certificate for the proponent, whereas in Sweden the threshold is the mining permit. In both cases, these approvals set the terms for other permitting processes that eventually lead to final approval for the mine and adjoining activities (Allard and Curran 2021;Raitio et al. 2020). ...
... In theory, state agencies are supposed to maintain a neutral position and assess the merits of the projects based on a variety of environmental, economic, socio-cultural indicators, yet in both cases state actors have been divided in their positions on the mine development and this division can be traced in part to the structures, rules and processes that govern the approval process, as well as the broader political systems in which they are embedded. The contentious relationship between Indigenous communities and mining companies has received a great deal of attention in both the scholarly research (O'Faircheallaigh 2010;Ali 2009;Allard and Curran 2021;Raitio et al. 2020;Beland Lindahl et al. 2018) and popular media (Linnitt 2019;Webb 2019) on these and other mining projects. This article, however, will focus on the important role that state actors at all levels of government have played in the environmental assessment process in Canada and in the mining permit process in Sweden. ...
Mining has proven to be a controversial form of resource development throughout the circumpolar north. This article compares two mining projects-the proposed Prosperity gold and copper mine in central British Columbia, Canada and the proposed Kallak iron ore mine in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden-that have endured long and protracted approval processes that have caused tensions and disputes between mining companies, Indigenous peoples, communities and state actors. In an effort understand the particular development paths taken by these two mining projects, this article examines the institutional determinants that structure relationships between industry, Indigenous communities and the state in Canada and Sweden. Using an historical institutionalist theoretical approach, the article focuses on the manner in which the structural features of the political systems and the environmental assessment and permitting processes in both countries have shaped the mine approval process. It also identifies particular critical junctures-important events and decisions that influenced the trajectory of the approval processes in profound and consequential ways. The article finds that institutional determinants, both historical and contemporary, have played a critical role in determining outcomes in both cases. In particular, it demonstrates the ways in which the structures of the Canadian and Swedish political systems have historically excluded Indigenous peoples from the decision-making process for resource development projects such as mines. It also shows how broader institutional contexts, as well as specific events and decisions, have complicated and politicized the mine approval processes, a situation that has heightened tensions on all sides.
... An extensive socio-legal analysis of the mining permitting process found that the narrow scope and weak status of CIA in Swedish EIA legislation and practice, and the weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a "property right" during the permit review process was not able to balance competing land uses. This has become an urgent issue for Sami herders as the accumulated area of land designated for mining in their territories has already more than doubled between 2010 and 2017, and the number of mineral exploration permits issued per year has increased from less than ten between 2002-2004, to 40 to 60 permits per year between 2014-2016 (Raitio et al. 2020). ...
... The three Swedish papers are focused on Sami Indigenous lands in northern Sweden and the increased pressure that the extractive industries are placing on the Sami livelihood of reindeer herding with 12 of the 15 Swedish metals mines are in traditional Sami territories (Raitio et al. 2020). However, they found that the narrow scope and the weak status of CIA in Swedish EIA legislation and practice, and the weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a "property right" during the permit review process was not able to balance competing land uses. ...
... However, they found that the narrow scope and the weak status of CIA in Swedish EIA legislation and practice, and the weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a "property right" during the permit review process was not able to balance competing land uses. 25 This has become an urgent issue for Sami herders as the accumulated area of land designated for mining in their territories has already more than doubled between 2010 and 2017, and the number of mineral exploration permits issued per-year has increased from less than ten between 2002-2004, to 40 to 60 permits per-year between 2014-2016 (Raitio et al. 2020). ...
Over the next 25 years, up to 50% of Australia’s large-scale mines are expected to close.1 Mine closures and regional transitions to post-mining economies will have major environmental, economic, and social impacts, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities. The cumulative impacts of mining and mine closure create both opportunities and limitations for future land use and development pathways. Despite recent advances in regulation, technology, and methodologies for assessing cumulative impacts across Australian and International jurisdictions, there is no comprehensive framework or guidance for cumulative impact assessment (CIA) for mine closure at regional scales. Current approaches to CIA mainly focus on either the project-proposal and environmental approval stage of mining, or on managing the cumulative impacts of specific industries – for example Franks, Brereton, Moran, Sarker, & Cohen’s (2010) Good Practice Guide for the Australian Coal Mining Industry. Likewise, although technologies and cultures of data sharing are improving, platforms for digitally sharing environmental, social and economic data require integration across jurisdictions (WABSI, 2021).
... The Swedish mineral extraction permit process is divided into four steps, namely, exploration permit, mining permit, environmental permit and land designation, and regulated by two main acts, the Minerals Act, 1991:45 and the Environmental Code, 1998:808 (Bäckström 2015, Raitio et al. 2020). The first step is to apply for an exploration permit at the MI. ...
... Conducting an EIA, including all consultations, is the sole responsibility of the proponent, and Swedish EIAs typically have a more limited scope than their Canadian counterparts (Allard and Curran 2021). Previous assessments of Sami RHCs' participation in the mine permitting process highlight several weaknesses: an a priori assumption by Swedish authorities that reindeer herding and mining can generally co-exist; a lack of a codified Swedish State duty to consult the Sami; a narrow scope and the weak status of cumulative impact assessments in Swedish EIA legislation and practice; and a weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a "property right" (Raitio et al. 2020). ...
... Overall, there are long standing and strong Sami concerns regarding the fairness and legitimacy of the Swedish permit process (The National Union of the Swedish Sami, SSR 2012, Sami Parliament 2014). The territorial rights of the Sami remain unresolved: neither the Reindeer Herding Act of 1971 (codifying the Sami right to reindeer herding), nor the Minerals Act, recognize the reindeer herding right as a full property right (Raitio et al. 2020). Consequently, reindeer herding continues to be regarded as a "public interest" and the specific legislation regulating mineral extraction does not give the Sami a status as an Indigenous people. ...
Opposition to mines endures even in countries with relatively strong environmental assessment processes and regulations. Why proposed mines fail to obtain a social license to operate is analyzed by developing a framework comprised of three concepts—process legitimacy, distributional outcomes, and values compatibility—drawing from the social license to operate, interactive governance, and environmental justice literatures. The framework is applied to understand opposition from local Indigenous people to two mine projects, one in Sweden and the other in British Columbia, Canada. Evidence from interviews with Sami legal experts and Reindeer Herding Community representatives and an advisor with the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, as well as from secondary sources is used to analyze the contestation. Despite the proposed mines being situated in different governance contexts, the reasons for the opposition are markedly similar - environmental assessment processes are illegitimate, distributional outcomes unfair, and values incompatible. The comparative empirical analysis leads to refining the framework as a scaffold with values compatibility as the foundational plank, rather than three independent planks contributing to a social license to operate. The analysis offers insights into company commitments to Indigenous engagement, enhancements to process legitimacy, and evolving and paradigmatic shifts in governance processes, as articulated by Indigenous peoples and international governance mechanisms such as the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
... Conflicts between the extractive sector and indigenous peoples have long been a subject of study and interest, and initially most researchers focused on the Americas, South East Asia and Australia (Downing et al. 2002;Warden-Fernandez 2001). But in more recent times, the geographical focus has widened to also include the Nordic countries and Sweden which is the subject of this paper (Carstens 2016; Lassila 2018; Lawrence and Moritz 2019; Persson et al. 2017;Raitio et al. 2020;Wilson 2019). ...
... This, in turn, has contributed to calls for changes to be made to the mining legislative framework by researchers (e.g. Kløcker Larsen et al. 2018;Raitio et al. 2020) and more generally contributed to the government assessing the consequences of implementing stronger rights for the Sámi (SWE Gov 2015; SWE Gov 2019). Much of the focus of researchers and Sami representatives in this regard is placed on arguing that Sweden should ratify ILO169 and change its Mineral Law (SFS 1991;Kløcker Larsen et al. 2017;Sametinget 2014), rather than proposing wider legal reforms of the legal system. ...
... Allocation of land, and any resettlement and compensation issues are also considered and decided upon in the mining license application process, and not in the environmental permitting process (see below). This, in turn, means that mining license application process is crucial for reindeer herding and overall Sámi interests (Raitio et al. 2020). ...
Mining and the permitting process for mineral projects in Sweden has been criticised as inadequately safeguarding the rights of Indigenous reindeer herding Sámi, who hold usufruct rights to more than half the country’s territory. There have been calls for Sweden to ratify the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO 169) and to change its Mineral Law. This paper evaluates the extent of protection of Sámi rights — and not only those engaged in reindeer herding — in Sweden’s minerals permitting process. It also considers the implications if changes were made to align this process with the Indigenous-rights framework. The paper demonstrates that reindeer herding Sámi are, broadly, treated similar to landowners in the mineral projects permitting process. However, there is discrimination when it comes to being able to have a share in the benefits of a project: impacted reindeer herders have no such option whereas landowners do. Also, the permitting processes do not consider social and cultural impacts, nor are there obligations for the state to be sufficiently involved in consultation processes. Addressing the identified shortcomings would require only small changes to the Mineral Law and/or to its application and would be possible with only limited impacts on mining because the sector is not a significant user of land whilst it creates large economic values. However, extending those changes (to give parity between landowners and Sámi rights holders) in other important economic sectors which use more extensive land areas, would entail a considerable transfer of resources and associated power. Furthermore, changing the Mineral Law specifically would mean little in terms of safeguarding the rights of the majority of Sami who do not engage in reindeer herding. This suggests that calls for changes to mineral-related legislation to resolve indigenous land right issues are mis-directed or at least insufficient, and that other type of legislative change is required, fundamentally including resolving how extensive and strong the Sámi’s rights to land should be .
... Efforts to influence planning processes are increased by the fact that-despite of reindeer herding being recognized as an indigenous people with strong user rights of the land for reindeer herding [26,27]-land use planning and permit processes in Sweden continue to be organized based on single projects or policy sectors, instead of the needs and rights of reindeer herding. Existing research has identified shortcomings related to: poor quality of impact assessment processes [28]; a weak connection between impact assessment and decision-making [29,30]; lack of capacity and resources of both the affected communities and the permitting authorities [20]; inadequate recognition of both indigenous knowledge and Sámi reindeer herding rights [31,32]; and, consequently, uneven power relations between the communities and their industry and government counterparts [8,24,33] (For international experiences on related issues, see [34] for an example.). However, no studies so far have quantified and analyzed the cumulative "meta-pressure" caused by the fragmented planning regime as a whole. ...
... As proposed land use change is likely to have an impact on reindeer herding as a traditional Sámi livelihood, EIA processes should ensure that Sámi culture and rights are promoted and protected. However, the ICCPR is not fully implemented in Sweden and other international treaties, like the FCNM, are too weak in their formulations to ensure the duty to consult the Sámi communities in land use planning processes [32]. Thus, despite the abovementioned conventions and a general state recognition of the Sámi as an indigenous people, Sámi reindeer herding communities have de facto weak legal protection of their right to influence planning processes in their traditional lands [26,27,29,31,32,48,50,51]. Instead, there is a strong reliance on corporate self-assessments and corporate consultations with the affected Sámi reindeer herding communities [28,29,32,33,52]. ...
... However, the ICCPR is not fully implemented in Sweden and other international treaties, like the FCNM, are too weak in their formulations to ensure the duty to consult the Sámi communities in land use planning processes [32]. Thus, despite the abovementioned conventions and a general state recognition of the Sámi as an indigenous people, Sámi reindeer herding communities have de facto weak legal protection of their right to influence planning processes in their traditional lands [26,27,29,31,32,48,50,51]. Instead, there is a strong reliance on corporate self-assessments and corporate consultations with the affected Sámi reindeer herding communities [28,29,32,33,52]. ...
Human induced land-use change through natural resource extraction has significant ecological, social and cultural effects for indigenous communities. Indigenous rights, cultural practices and identities are strongly interconnected with traditional lands. In northern Sweden, the cumulative effects from natural resource extraction have become increasingly problematic for Sámi reindeer herding. Land use planning and permit processes are organized based on single projects or policy sectors, instead of the needs and rights involving reindeer herding. Existing research has demonstrated loss of ground and arboreal lichen, fragmentation of pastures and reindeer avoidance of otherwise valuable pastures due to disturbance caused by competing land uses. There is however a lack of synthesis of the amount and scale of encroachments on traditional Sámi territories in Sweden so far. Likewise, while research has looked at weaknesses of the sectoral regulations in terms of cumulative impact assessment and the inadequate recognition of Sámi reindeer herding rights, no studies have analyzed the meta-pressure caused by the fragmented planning regime as a whole, as the amount of regulations regarding different land use sectors and permitting processes increases with each new type of competing activity. Through the concept of double pressure caused by the inter-related processes of fragmented landscapes and fragmented ‘planscapes’, this study seeks to capture the actual pressure the affected communities are currently experiencing. Using multiple quantitative and qualitative data sets consisting of Geographical Information Systems, policy documents, workshops discussions and interviews, we study how natural resource extraction like mining and wind energy has increased on traditional indigenous Sámi lands in northern Sweden. By expanding the analytical focus from today’s landscapes to both planscapes and the pressure from not-yet realized future projects, our results highlight the need for a holistic understanding of the situation reindeer herding is facing, calling for more relevant and legitimate land use permitting and planning mechanisms to reduce the industrial pressure on the landscape, and to address the social injustices caused by today’s planscape.
... Several non-right-holders also expressed their discontent (MI, 2012d); for example, Vaapsten Sïjte and Vadtejen Saemiej Sïjte criticized the lack of recognition of their status as right-holders, citing their ancestral rights, long-standing presence in the area, and involvement in reindeer herding and other Sami industries (interviews). Almost a year later, the government rejected all the appeals, prioritizing the mining-positive pathways of groups 4 and 5. Vapsten SRHC again appealed to the SAC, which a year later confirmed the government's decision (SAC, 2014), as its mandate includes only process-related matters (Raitio et al., 2020). Parallel to the formal permit process, reindeer herders from Vapsten SRHC appealed the approval of the mine to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) (Ågren et al., 2013). ...
... In the Rönnbäcken/Rönnbäck case, instead characterized by closing-down, the then right-wing and mining-positive government (Zachrisson & Lindahl, 2019) and the SAC also confirmed the dominance of the mining-positive group 4 and 5 pathways when finally rejecting the SRHC's appeals. The SAC actually does not have a mandate to overrule the government in matters of substantial merit (Raitio et al., 2020). So, regardless of the degree of opening-up and/or closing-down at the local and regional scales, the national scale in Sweden tends to close down and then prioritise group 4 and 5 pathways. ...
The development of new mines forefronts the contested nature of sustainable development. Various competing pathways of sustainability underlie mining-related conflicts, often reaching beyond the local scale of contested locations. While powerful actors tend to 'close down' around particular pathways, 'opening-up' through the consideration of multiple pathways might be necessary for addressing complex situations and conflicts. Whether closing-down or opening-up occurs depends on governance structures and actors' interventions, but little is known of the dynamics involved. This paper develops understudied spatial dimensions of protest by clarifying how political opportunity structures may play out differently at different scales and in consequence impact scalar strategies of both social movements and state actors. The study comparatively analyses three mine development processes in Arctic, peripheral Sweden facing socioeconomic challenges and where mining threatens indigenous reindeer husbandry. Formal interactions are mapped by data from administrative records, while informal strategies and underlying frames are assessed through interviews and focus groups. The study shows that when there is a multiplicity of government authorities and influential mining-sceptical allies at different scales, some subnational units 'open-up' in response to mining-sceptical actions. Such 'opening-up' may influence policy decisions at higher scales, even the international. Local participation therefore constitutes a way to challenge the scalar hierarchy of the state and promote a broader and more nuanced range of pathways to sustainability. As 'opening-up' is not legally required, the results between the different cases differed, and where the opportunity structures were 'closed' mining-sceptics turned to confrontation and litigation.
... This is particularly relevant in relation to exploration and mining in Sápmi where issues related to legislation -Indigenous rights in particularare of critical importance (e.g. Raitio et al., 2020;Pölönen et al., 2020). Lesser et al. (2021) and Dumbrell et al. (2021) address the relational aspect of company performance and government regulation by highlighting the importance of company engagement along with the legal and procedural conditions that regulate company conduct. ...
... Trust in company and confidence in the formal permit process are often interlinked as people expect governments to regulate companies in ways that protect them from harm (Lyra et al., 2014;Lesser et al., 2021). Lack of proper consultation and participation in permit processes and policy formulation, as well as failure to properly address Indigenous rights, are found to be important reasons for opposition and conflict in the literature (Dumbrell et al., 2021;Kivinen et al., 2020;Zachrisson and Beland Lindahl, 2019;Raitio et al., 2020) and in our cases. Much SLO-and SLE-related literature has focused on company performance and best practices (e.g. ...
This study explores factors affecting local actors' and citizens' attitudes to mineral exploration, and how attitudes to exploration relates to those of mining. The concept Social License to Explore (SLE), originating from Social License to Operate (SLO), is used to address the relationship between exploration companies and affected local communities. The study focuses on attitudes in three municipalities in northern Sweden and Finland and combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that local attitudes to mineral exploration and mining correlate strongly and are intimately linked. Perceptions of impacts, the permit process, and trust in government and company affect local attitudes, but company performance seems to be most important where trust was not established. We argue that values about nature, economy, and value-based development preferences , are central as they shape local attitudes and perceptions of impacts and process. While company conduct and community engagement are within the control of companies, local values and development preferences are largely outside of their control. However, insights about contextual conditions shaping attitudes and values can be generalized and help companies make more informed decisions. Responsible target selection is a strategy within the control of the company which can help avoid intractable and costly conflicts.
... Collaborative instruments, including dialogues and corporate consultations, typically lack specific or adequate regulations as to appropriate procedures or satisfactory outcomes, leaving them susceptible to being dominated by parties with better resources (Widmark & Sandström 2012). This is particularly the case when the state "delegates" its duties towards reindeer herding to corporate consultants, as is common in Swedish land use regulations (Allard 2008;Brännström 2017;Raitio et al. 2020). In Finland, both the Reindeer Husbandry Act (53 §) and the Act covering Metsähallitus -the state enterprise managing public lands -require that state authorities must consult with reindeer herding cooperatives about activities with potentially significant impacts. ...
... Ideas of parallel land use and co-existence have guided land use governance ever since (SOU 2001:101). Thus, dialogues and consultations come with the a priori assumption that reindeer herding and competing land use will be able to co-exist -instead of assessing whether this is the case in each situation through appropriate impact assessment mechanisms (Brännström 2017;Raitio et al. 2020;Arctic Strategy 2020). Rejecting projects that may undermine the conditions for reindeer herding thereby becomes practically impossible. ...
In Sápmi and beyond, the practice of reindeer herding is under increasing pressure from competing for land use, large carnivores and climate change. The governing systems are, however, ill-equipped and unable to address resulting cumulative and interacting impacts. This has led to a difficult situation for reindeer herding due to the loss of land, functionality and flexibility, and proves a challenge for the Nordic states as the legitimacy of reindeer husbandry governance is increasingly contested. Addressing this challenge, this chapter unpacks the discursive and political dimensions of reindeer husbandry governance in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Guided by three broad questions: i) governing what, ii) governing how and iii) governing for and by whom, it explores how problem representations are constructed, handled and contested. The analysis shows that state-led governance was never in fact constructed to address herders’ concerns, but was, and remains, based on the states’ and competing land uses’ problem representations. The chapter, therefore, concludes by identifying the need to revisit the present understanding of “problems”, “solutions” and “visions” in reindeer husbandry governance. A key task will be to re-image, or actively seek to change the discursive construction of, reindeer herding as a system-to-be-governed and attune it to the perspectives of the herders.
... This is the larger context, which we can see reflected in the focus of the research on mining operations in Sweden. I see three closely interrelated foci for this research: (1) Mining operations and the possibilities for economically, socially and ecologically sustainable regional development (Ejdemo 2013;Ejdemo and Söderholm 2011;López 2021;Moritz et al. 2017;Tennberg et al. 2014;Nilsson 2009;Tepecik Diş and Karimnia 2021;Beland Lindahl et al. 2018), (2) mining and Sámi indigenous rights (Allard 2018;Haddway et el 2019;Kløcker Larsen et al. 2022;Lawrence and Kløcker Larsen 2017;Lopez 2021;Österlin and Raitio 2020;Raitio et al. 2020;Pölönen, Allard and Raitio 2020) and (3) the theme around which this dissertation revolves: mining operations as objects of conflict. Although the other two themes deserve mentioning as separate themes, conflict is often present as a topic in both. ...
This dissertation explores the reasons behind local support for the opening of an iron ore mine in the village Kaunisvaara, Pajala municipality, Sweden. The thesis makes a contribution to knowledge by deepening our understanding of mining conflicts in Sweden’s rural north in the twenty-first century. It seeks to answer the following question: What hopes, dreams and expectations do Pajala’s mining proponents wish that the opening of the Kaunisvaara mine will realize? In contemporary research, mining conflicts are grasped as the result of conflicting values between mining proponents and mining opponents. Previous research links opposition to mining with valuation of a clean environment, local culture and livelihoods. Meanwhile, local support for mining is linked to a valuation of local economic and demographic growth. However, the notion of value employed in much research is insensitive to the distinction between intrinsic and instrumental values. This has left the values or ends of mining proponents, who see money and development as means to something else, unexplored. Although value is acknowledged as being central to mining conflicts, previous research on mining conflicts rarely unpacks the notion of value in detail. By taking a more precisely defined notion of value as its starting point, this thesis offers a deeper understanding of the hopes, dreams and expectations underlying the explicitly stated economic rationales advanced in support for a mine. Empirically, the dissertation adds to the literature on mining conflicts through an ethnographic account of support, rather than resistance, to local mining operations. Theoretically, it offers a starting point for rethinking mining conflicts, and other natural resource conflicts, not primarily as the product of actual, clashing values between different local groups, but as struggles over the very definition of value. In that struggle, the main line of conflict runs not between members of the local community, but between local communities and actors driven by profit maximization.
... Mining resistance underscores inextricable links between identity politics, minority rights, and mining expansion in increasingly contested socio-legal spaces (Raitio et al., 2020) sometimes referred to as "green extractive sacrifice zones" (Zografos & Robbins, 2020;Össbo, 2023). Moreover, there is concern that market pressures override concerns about environmental degradation and a sentiment that governments are complicit in corporate takeovers in breaking new mines (Everljung, 2021a(Everljung, , 2021b. ...
This article contributes to the growing field of critical studies about the visual politics of the green transition by highlighting the role of communication and the creative industries in promoting “green” ideologies. “The Swedish Mine” advocacy advertising campaign, launched in 2021, is presented as a case study to illustrate how lifestyle advertising genres are used to leverage the emotional engagement of progressive, mining-sceptical urban audiences to increase the social acceptance of intensified mining despite increasing climate awareness. Using visual culture studies, feminist, and critical race theory approaches to analyse the campaign materials, I explore how the campaign aestheticises “green” industrial progress by tokenising multiculturalism, fetishising consumption, and romancing national identity. As a counterpoint, I examine how social media reactions and activist responses illustrate tensions between mining acceptance and mining resistance in Swedish society. I conclude by positioning the campaign rhetoric in various forms of climate propaganda and highlighting the limits of the engineering of public consent for a “green” transition when such attempts use emotions as sites of “cognitive extraction” to cover technological and capitalist imperatives that ultimately promote Sweden as a leading mining nation.
... In a third system with land ownership system, the right to use land and exploit minerals runs with the ownership of land (Liedholm Johnson, 2010). A range of specific aspects of the legislation governing the exploration and mining industries and the permitting process has been dealt with in recent research: environmental degradation, effects on indigenous peoples, corporate social responsibility, conflict minerals, sustainable and responsible mining, security of supply (See for example: Raitio et al., 2020;Jartti et al., 2020;Söderholm et al., 2015;Tarras-Wahlberg and Southalan, 2021;Wertichová et al., 2019;Yildiz, 2021;Jarvie-Eggart, 2015, Allard et al., 2021Romsaas, 2000;Lesser et al., 2017;Janikowska and Kulczycka, 2021). ...
This article surveys the mining permitting process and discusses the process to obtain permits for the exploration and mining of metals in five industrialised countries: Sweden, Finland, Poland, Western Australia (Australia) and Ontario (Canada). The purpose is to provide an overview of the permitting process when the demand for metals may grow at a faster pace than ever before. The countries have been chosen for their well-developed mining industries while still representing different historical and legal backgrounds and traditions. Focus lies on three aspects of the permitting process: Mining policy, legislation and permits; Environmental legislation and permits and; Stakeholder influence/participation including appeals. We describe the present situation in all countries in detail. The mining policy and legislation in the countries studied are converging and the mining laws are becoming increasingly similar. Legislation is being revised at shorter intervals, and minor additions and amendments can be made in between completely new legislation. In all the five countries emphasis is placed on ensuring that the permitting process is transparent and open from the first exploration steps to the closure of a depleted mine. Governments are developing new policies, legislation, regulations and permitting processes to ensure that the growing demand can be met while at the same time the increasing demands by various stakeholders on land use, environmental and social developments can increasingly be included in the permitting process.
... Massa 1994;Hernes et al. 2022;Knobblock 2022;Larsen et al. 2022;Ranta & Kanninen 2019). Today, Sápmi, as with many other areas in the High North, is increasingly becoming a battleground for different competing economic and extractive claims, strategies and interests (see, e.g.; Kuokkanen 2019; Junka-Aikio 2022; Raitio et al. 2020). Together with climate change and its consequences, which are large-scale and far-reaching, the pressures faced by the Sámi people and on their way of life are considerably challenging (see IPCC 2022; Valkonen, Alakorva et al. 2022). ...
In this text I discuss how Sámi ways of knowing could be woven into the practices of Sámi research. I introduce three stories of three research projects as examples of attempts to overcome the complex and multifaceted challenges that Sámi society is currently facing. These examples place the Sámi perception of the world and its ontological and epistemological premises and practices at the core of knowledge practices. Sámi knowledge and ways of knowing the world are jointly created and shared in the every-day activities of communicating and acting, being in dialogue with the environment, caring for it, and engaging with the principle that a human being is not the master of nature.
... 20 Today, coexistence is one of the most frequently used words when it comes to legitimising energy or mining projects despite the impacts these have on rights holders. 21 The rationalisation of reindeer herding is another aspect of industrial colonialism. In the early twentieth century, the authorities treated reindeer herding as a culture on the verge of extinction. ...
In the wake of the enthusiasm for green energy, previously contested energy and mining projects can be framed as part of a green transition. When state authorities decide to forego the standard procedural protections and the processes and forums for deliberation and local influence, it contributes to constructing green sacrifice zones. This paper compares two Swedish energy policy processes. The first is occurred during World War II and the hydropower expansion of the 1940s and 1950s. The second takes place today when wind power is expanding to increase renewable energy production. In Sweden, policymaking seems to be back to square one in the green transition, leaving out both important knowledge of the past and contemporary voices of the ongoing and probable consequences. In certain issues, such as how the recognition of the Indigenous status of the Sámi actually affects the legislative process and how to address the Indigenous rights of the Sámi, policymaking is particularly slow to adapt. The green transition industry is already affecting the Sámi, as the construction of the Nordic welfare society has done during the last century, and still does. It deepens an ongoing colonial wave that started in the 1300s. By showing how the Swedish legislative process, historically as well as currently, has neglected to involve Sámi representatives, this study points to the importance and obligation of Swedish policymaking to engage Sámi representatives in an early phase to avoid further sacrifice zones in Sápmi.
Responsible Editor: Ekaterina Zmyvalova, Umeå University, Sweden
... Knowledge controversies in impact assessments are common, as Indigenous peoples contest the epistemic foundations of these decision-making processes (Aguilar-Støen & Hirsch, 2017;E Leifsen, Sánchez-Vázquez, & Reyes, 2017b;Schilling-Vacaflor, 2019). In Saepmie, epistemic injustice has been explored in natural resource management (Johnsen, Mathiesen, & Eira, 2017;S Joks & Law, 2017;Law & Joks, 2019), license permitting (Lawrence & Larsen, 2017;Raitio, 2020), and litigation processes (E. M. Fjellheim, forthcoming), but in this article it is analyzed in relation to a broader set of dynamics found in consultation and corporate dialogue processes. ...
This article explores Southern Saami reindeer herders’ experiences and contestations over state consultation and corporate dialogue during a conflict over the Øyfjellet wind energy project in Norway. Informed by a committed research approach and juxtaposition with findings from Indigenous peoples' territorial struggles in Latin-America, the article provides critical perspectives on governance practices in a Nordic-Saami green colonial context. The research draws on ethnography from a consultation meeting between Jillen Njaarke, the impacted reindeer herding community, and state authorities, as well as diverse written material. The study suggests that the state- and corporate-led “dialogues” displaced the root cause of the conflict, revealed epistemic miscommunication, and perpetuated relations of domination which limited emancipatory effects for Jillen Njaarke. The premises and discourses underpinning the “dialogues” further reproduced racist notions which devalue ancestral Saami reindeer herding knowledges, practices, and landscape relations. These findings challenge dialogue as prescription of good governance and conflict resolution in a context where democracy and compliance with Indigenous peoples’ rights are perceived as high.
... Sandström, 2020). Such resistance strategies are acute given the persistence of colonial resource regulations (Raitio, Allard, & Lawrence, 2020;Brännström, 2017). This includes an 'organized hypocrisy' of government institutions that decouple progressive discourses on Indigenous rights from everyday decision making (Mörkenstam, 2019). ...
The recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights has sailed up as one of the most critical issues in land use planning, globally. In this paper, we use a recent planning process for a national park on traditional Sámi territory in northern Sweden to demonstrate how state officials engaged in everyday conservation planning are pivotal in navigating colonial legislation and promoting policy change on Indigenous rights. The analysis contributes, among other, to scholarly debates about the role of conflict in land use planning and the practices of frontline bureaucrats in natural resource governance. Our contribution demonstrates the value of an agonistic lens that attends to the constructive role of conflict in democratic change in pluralistic societies. This concerns both how state officials approach disagreement as well as the way contestation can create novel spaces to promote structural changes towards sustainability and justice. By not assuming collaboration but respectfully seeking it, the state officials succeeded in re-designing a collapsed process to help actors explore larger structural issues around Indigenous rights and government policy. In our agnostic reading, then, contestation should be perceived not as oppositional to the establishment of collaboration but as a necessary, and productive, part of inclusive land use planning.
... Silence can be a feature of resistance rather than evidence of its absence (Komu, 2019;Raitio et al., 2020). In this case, it is the outcome of certain locals' sense of powerlessness and inability to influence the unwanted situation (Clarke & Newman, 2007). ...
This article examines how place and place-basedness are essential to understanding the conflict dynamics of natural resource use. Based on a single case study and using an ethnographic approach to examine a place, the paper unearths how place is mobilised in corporate–community relations. This study defines place-basedness as having two relational elements: ecological and social embeddedness. It finds four positions with differing place identifications, meanings, and relationships with the ecological and social place. This article concludes that while ecological embeddedness enhances the ability to resist natural resource use through knowledge attribution and actively mobilising a place, the social embeddedness of some positions constrains local people’s ability to resist. It also identifies attachment to and detachment from place as two aspects of a central mechanism whereby countering positions are mobilised in the hegemonic struggle. The findings contribute to our understanding of place as a constituting part of corporate–community relations and place-basedness both as a resource for and hindrance to resistance.
... The dialogue processes also have features that silence resistance. Previous research has implied that silence is a feature of resistance, not a symptom of lack thereof (Komu, 2019;Raitio, Allard, & Lawrence, 2020). In Sodankylä, there is much silent resistance in the form of non-participation or non-voiced opposition. ...
This PhD thesis examines the boundaries of deliberation and how rights and responsibilities are divided between corporations, nation states, and civil society. As globalisation has integrated economies, and accelerated information exchange, it has also arguably restructured the division of responsibilities between state, market and society. In this world of continuously negotiated public and private interests, and multi-layered governance, how are hegemonies built, maintained or contested? Natural resource governance in general and mining conflicts in particular offer a fruitful context in which to explore governance and conflict dynamics in management research as they link the often overlooked role of the state within the discussion on corporate–civil society relations.
Drawing from political theory and political ecology literatures this research contributes to our
understanding of governance gaps and the political role of corporations. It describes the political complexities that underlie state – corporate interactions, and the possibilities and shortcomings of private governance in replacing public forms of governance. The research unearths how different historico-political trajectories influence governance regimes, and how governance mechanisms emerge in different spheres of statehood – namely political, administrative and judicial.
The research contributes to deliberative management literature by discussing the challenges in securing the basic tenets of participation and equality, and allowing for contestation, dissensus and conflict as part of the process.
The three articles of the PhD thesis examine different aspects of the governance interactions between public and private actors. The first paper investigates the differences of civil society actors as rightsholders and stakeholders in public and private governance, and how those roles, in turn, influence governance outcomes.
The second paper discusses the various roles of statehood in multi-stakeholder governance, and how governments deploy these new governance regimes for their political purposes. Advancing prior research on layered governance and public–private interactions, this paper demonstrates how the expectations and roles of the state transfer into multi-stakeholder initiatives. Thus, it is not only the government that steer the initiatives directly or indirectly, but the embeddedness of administrative and judicial spheres in MSIs that impact these governance constellations.
The third paper examines the case of a mining project called Sakatti in northern Finland through an ethnographic approach. It takes a micro-level perspective and examines the power of place and place-based identities in corporate–community dialogue. Local values, meanings and knowledge are connected to persuasion and control through dialogue, and place is actively mobilised as a resource by both the company, and those who are opposed to the mining project. Place-basedness becomes an important frame for managing dissensus, contesting hegemony and silencing resistance.
Together all these articles contribute to the theorisation of the business–society interface and the broader discussion on the role of the state in assigning and sharing corporate responsibilities.
Availabe at https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/28955/
... Not acknowledging and respecting indigenous rights or traditional livelihoods is becoming increasingly risky for the mining industry in northern Europe. The intersection of indigenous rights and mining-related developments in Scandinavia has become an increasingly contested socio-legal arena (Larsen et al. 2018;Raitio et al. 2020) . ...
Mineral exploration is an industry of uncertainties. Only 0,1% of exploration projects become mines, as the volume, content, and quality of a deposit all must be economically justifiable to find funding in the global financial market. However, the business risk of mineral exploration is not limited to geotechnical and financial risks, as social aspects are now considered the biggest risk facing the industry. Here, we identify three social aspects of business risk that may challenge the industry: political, reputational, and local acceptability. Political risk arises when sectoral authorities and the related legislation come into conflict, such as mineral versus environmental legislation. Reputational risk lies in the relationship between a company’s past and current operations in combination with the legitimacy of the entire industry. Local acceptability risk parallels the social license to operate, with poor corporate conduct, competition with other livelihoods, intrusion into culturally sensitive areas, and local values critical of mining all potentially evoking resistance. Companies must be aware not only of the nuances of each social aspect but also of the interplay between them to understand the full scale and scope of the business risks associated with exploration.
... In some cases, these agreements have provided Sámi communities with unprecedented economic opportunities and allowed them to invest, among other things, in collective infrastructure for their reindeer herding activities. However, given the fact that these negotiations take place in a legal and political context in which Sámi rights are systematically ignored and sidelined in land use planning processes (Raitio, Allard and Lawrence, 2020), many of these same communities also concede that this places them in a catch-22 of two kinds. First, they are forced to negotiate agreements to projects they essentially opposed, because if they do not, they risk the project going ahead anyway, but without any decent compensation. ...
... Donor countries are also criticised for double standards and for demanding more egalitarian, democratic, and participatory processes in the countries where they operate compared to their domestic policies and practices (Arora-Jonsson, 2017). Finland and Sweden, for instance, as long-term development partners promoting participatory forest management and tenure security in Laos (Mustalahti & Lund, 2009;Noren, 2015), face challenges domestically in failing to respect the rights of the Indigenous Sàpmi people (Lassila, 2020;Raitio et al., 2020). Germany, the donor of the REDD+ intervention investigated here, similarly faces a lack of genuine participation in national forest programmes (Winkel & Sotirov, 2011). ...
We analyse how the concept and practices of village forestry evolved in Laos through various donor driven forestry interventions since the early 1990s. We start our analyses with the Forest Management and Conservation Programme (FOMACOP) and conclude with village forestry interventions undertaken in the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) programme. We find that over time, using participation as a central donor requirement, villagers’ role has shifted from being village forest managers to being village forest participants and labour, fulfilling externally defined forest management tasks. In the frame of the REDD+ process, village forestry is used as a platform for piloting REDD+ activities in the villages, accompanied by a set of existing and additional tools and strategies. Such tools include village forest management plans, land-use planning and allocation, and alternative livelihoods, as well as environmental discursive practices, where local forest-based livelihood activities, especially shifting cultivation, are framed as a source of CO2 emissions. We conclude that the underlying reason for various bottlenecks in village forestry relates to a power imbalance, lack of trust, and lack of political will to establish a deliberative decision-making process and to devolve decision-making power, forest management, and tenure rights to villagers.
... The potential strength as active protection, however, remains untested. The argument has never been used effectively to stop extensive forest felling (SOU 2001, p. 101;Brännström 2017) and other actors, such as mining companies, seem completely unaware of this logic and have openly suggested reducing reindeer numbers as an "adaptation" to proposed mining interventions (Raitio et al. 2020). ...
This chapter examines the complexities and challenges in state governance of the maximum permitted number of reindeer in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The common findings regarding the three countries are that (1) maximum permitted numbers of reindeer set by the nation states primarily seem to promote objectives other than those of herders; (2) various contextual aspects (e.g., laws, other land users, trends in science, herding practices and historical developments) partly explain the sustainable maximum permitted numbers; (3) reductionist assessments of pasture – reindeer relations easily neglect the impacts of other land users on condition and availability of pastures, thereby making the assessments biased and stigmatizing herders for alleged overgrazing. The chapter also explores issues related to reindeer numbers that vary across the three countries including (4) herders’ opportunities to participate in knowledge production and resulting decisions over maximum reindeer numbers, (5) clashes between herders’ experience and practice-based knowledge and scientific knowledge on which the definitions of maximum numbers are often based and (6) the ways in which the borders between reindeer herding districts and nation states have implications for the governance of reindeer numbers.
... Is the population of the affected municipality decreasing, stable, or increasing? 2. What is the nationality of the project owner permits are typically made on the national level by either the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden or the Land and Environment Courts after consultation with County Administrative Boards (CABs) and municipalities. Permits may be appealed by rights holders to the administrative courts, Land and Environment Courts, or the government, depending on the stage of the process (for a detailed description of the processes, see Raitio et al., 2020;Zachrisson and Beland Lindahl, 2019). ...
Research on the actions of anti-extraction movements has primarily comprised single-case studies in developing countries. Despite increasing mobilization and policy objectives to increase mineral extraction in the EU, we have little systematic knowledge of forms of resistance in a European setting. This paper exhaustively and comparatively maps anti-extraction movements in Sweden and investigates how movements' actions relate to their socio-political contexts. Sixteen place-specific movements are identified and studied using frame analysis and political process theory. The results suggest that anti-extraction movements occur across Sweden and that their socio-political contexts differ in access to indigenous rights institutions, project owner engagement, and support/opposition from host municipalities and national interest groups. The frame analysis indicates that movements share several goals, sometimes interpret similar contexts differently, and that differences in actions reflect differences in interpretations of contextual opportunities. Our results show that anti-extraction movements in Sweden involve diverse actors, including environmental interest groups, new networks mobilizing against extraction projects, indigenous Sami organizations, farmers' organizations, and landowners. Broad repertoires of actions, including civil disobedience, are used to influence the public, permitting processes, political actors at various scales, and project owners. Differences in socio-political contexts often align with movements’ interpretations of opportunities and relate with differences in action choices.
... The EIAs are generally produced by consultancies that work for the mining companies. Sweden's decision process for mining permits has been extensively criticized, for example for its lack of attention to indigenous rights (Larsen and Raitio, 2019;Raitio et al., 2020) and for being slow and unpredictable (Myndigheten för tillväxtanalys, 2016; SveMin, 2021). In March 2021, the government announced a review of the current legal context to ensure supply of critical metals and minerals, due in October 2022 (Swedish government, 2021). ...
Understanding the impacts of extractive industries on sustainable development requires analyzing them as part of dynamic social-ecological-technological systems. Building on insights from studies of social-ecological systems and socio-technical systems, as well as fieldwork on the impacts of mining in the Nordic Arctic, this article presents an analytical framework for co-production of knowledge about the role of industrial or infrastructure projects for regional development. We use this framework to analyze Swedish mining policy, assessment guidelines, and environmental impact assessments for three mining projects in Arctic Sweden. We conclude that Swedish mining policy and guidelines for impact assessments neglect key aspects of social-ecological-technological systems, including the impacts of climate change, and treat many social aspects of sustainable development in a cursory manner. We suggest that more systematic analysis of the dynamics of social-ecological-technological systems would facilitate more transparent decision making and help identify the potential role of proposed mining projects in pathways towards sustainable development in northern regions.
... Extractive violence interplays with cultural and structural violence. Experiences shared by many Indigenous peoples in numerous studiesas well as the community leaders interviewed in this paper -reinforce the urgency of addressing extractive violence in Indigenous contexts (Konsmo and Pacheco, 2016;Wiebe, 2016;Hoover, 2017;Whyte, 2018;Lawrence and Larsen, 2019;Raitio, Allard, and Lawrence, 2020). One such way is to explore the concept further with the help of a related concept Environmental Justicewhich has been used to explore strategies to counter extractive violence. ...
This paper aims to explore Environmental Justice in two Indigenous contexts, Canada and Sweden, and uses the concept of Extractive Violence to discuss colonial articulations of extractivism and community strategies for dealing with it. Through analysis of existing research, as well as the experiences shared by the two Indigenous leaders, the paper investigates the different strategies and narratives of environmental justice enacted, and how is justice framed and discussed in response to extractive violence.
... However, others also criticize the permitting process, but for opposing reasons, complaining that the permitting process has failed to take all relevant interests into account and that there is a regulatory gap between Sami rights and the permitting process, e.g., [34,35]. This highlights the inherent difficulty regarding the issue of balancing the needs of conflicting land use interests related to mineral deposit safeguarding. ...
During the last few decades many European countries have developed policies directed towards mineral deposit safeguarding. However, as other land uses often are in conflict with mineral deposit safeguarding, the implementation of these policies is many times more difficult in practice. The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between land use planning and mineral resources, when using a shared value perspective. The analysis is focused on the mineral-rich Nordic countries—Sweden, Norway and Finland—and a number of mining projects are analyzed. The analysis rests in Porter and Kramer’s arguments for the importance of creating shared values. The results indicate that a shared value perspective has been present in the analyzed case studies, as many of the key ways for creating shared value are identified in the projects. This illustrates the importance of linking social value to economic value in mining projects, even if this is not clearly stated in the relevant legislation. As it is often the unpredictability of the regulatory framework that hinders mineral extraction, it is suggested that Social Impact Assessments (or similar) are formalized in the regulatory framework to ensure that social value is linked more clearly to the land use process related to access to minerals.
... 16 Reindeer herding is a vital part of Sami culture and way of living; it is a carrier of traditional knowledge and language. 17 Reindeer are semi-domesticated animals and the Sami reindeer herders follow the herd between different seasonal pastures. Therefore, Sami hunting and fishing, for subsistence and for sale, is an integral part of reindeer herding. ...
For the first time in the Swedish Supreme Court, a small Sami reindeer herding community has won an important victory affirming the community's small game hunting and fishing rights. Because of protracted use and the concept of immemorial prescription, the Court recognised the community's exclusive hunting and fishing rights, including the right to lease these rights to others. Such leases have long been prohibited by legislation and the State has retained its powers to administer such leases. This case signifies a considerable development in the area of Sami law. In its decision, the Supreme Court made some adjustments to the age-old doctrine of immemorial prescription, and provided insights into how historic evidence should be evaluated when the claimant is an Indigenous people. A common motivator for these adjustments is an enhanced awareness of international standards protecting Indigenous peoples and minorities. Even ILO Convention No. 169-the only legally binding convention concerning Indigenous rights, but which Sweden has not yet ratified-is relevant when it comes to evaluating Sami customary uses. The Court addressed the problem of gaps in the historical material and used evidence from other parts of Swedish Lapland and adjacent time-periods, making reasonable assumptions to fill in these gaps. The Court imposes on the State the burden of proof regarding the extinguishment of already established Sami rights, as well as proof that extinguishment by legislation or expropriation, is "clear and definitive". These conditions were not met in this case.
... There is a common interest in not having CWD for both groups. This dimension is quite rare in the Sami-state relationship because of multiple tense situations in Sápmi [69,81,82]. The SSR representative explained they have a good relationship with the state regarding CWD. ...
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the most transmissible of the prion diseases. In 2016, an unexpected case was found in Norway, the first in Europe. Since then, there have been 32 confirmed cases in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This paper aims to examine the situation from a social and political perspective: considering the management of CWD in the Swedish part of Sápmi—the Sami ancestral land; identifying the place of the Sami people in the risk management–because of the threats to Sami reindeer herding that CWD presents; and understanding how the disease can modify the modalities of Indigenous reindeer husbandry, whether or not CWD is epizootic. Based on interviews with various stakeholders and by examining the social sciences literature, this paper shows that the health risk management is structured by a politico-scientific controversy about the recognition, or not, of atypical and classical CWD. The Sami herders are currently cooperating with the state authorities in the surveillance program to sample their herds. This involvement takes place in a situation where the balance of power between the Sami people and the state, or the European Union, is framed by its colonial context. This has consequences with respect to the definition of a common interest and to implementing sanitary measures. The particular features of reindeer herding are seen as a challenge to managing CWD risk, compared with European health standards. We argue that CWD will greatly modify the modalities of Indigenous reindeer herding, whether there are positive cases or not in the Sami reindeer. By implementing new health guidelines, the authorities will create a cascading effect in Sami land and its use. The CWD situation in Fennoscandia is full of uncertainty but may cause a major shift in the organization and the governance of Sápmi. In September 2020, the identification of a new CWD case in a wild reindeer in Norway started a new episode in the disease management in Fennoscandia. Our paper raises various questions linked to understanding this new step in this crisis which is not only epidemiological, but also socio-cultural and political.
... Reindeer herding is one of the main traditional activities of the indigenous ethnic groups, seen in different directions. For example, Raitio K., Allard C., Lawrence R. [2] investigates the impact of the extractive industry on reindeer husbandry in terms of current Swedish legislation. They analyze the possibility of the influence of the Sami reindeer herders on the issuance of permits for the mines, the authors highlight the existing legal imperfections in this area. ...
The article deals with the problems of assessing the contribution of the agro-industrial complex to the economy of the Arctic territories. An approach to the definition of the notion “agro-industrial complex” from the point of view of the System of National Accounts is highlighted. The author proposes a method of calculating the value added of economic activities at the municipal level. On this basis, formed a database of wages of all municipalities of the Arctic region of Russia. The author calculated the contribution of agro-industrial complex in gross value added Arctic municipalities in the context of the Russian Federation. The results obtained allow us to highlight the importance of the agro-industrial complex in the economy of municipalities in the Arctic zone of Russia. The agro-industrial complex is of the greatest importance in the economy of the Anabar national region of the Republic of Yakutia and the city of Murmansk. The calculations showed that the added value of the agro-industrial complex for the whole Arctic territories of Russia is 55,821.78 million rubles, and its contribution to the total value added is 1.56%.
This chapter explores how the Swedish state justifies its extractive bargains with Indigenous Sámi reindeer herding communities (RHCs). The conflict over the Kallak/Gállok mine project in northern Sweden serves as an example. The chapter explores the logic underlying the Swedish state’s contemporary extractive bargaining strategies in light of a policy style moulded by historical social democratic politics. A corporatist and consensus-oriented policy style and a productivist approach assuming win-wins between social rights, equality and economic growth permeated historical Swedish bargains. Currently, Sweden justifies its bargains with climate benefits, but the former social democratic legacy created path dependencies which continue to shape extractive bargains today. While this approach has served the needs of the industry, the state and the working class, it severely compromises the needs of Indigenous Sámi RHCs. Applied in a pro-extractivist political economy with little concern for Indigenous rights, it maintains and reinforces social injustices.
Climate change policies and the green energy transition have renewed colonial structures and injustices for Indigenous peoples in land-use conflicts, but not without resistance. This article explores epistemic controversies in a legal struggle concerning impacts from wind energy infrastructure on Southern Saami reindeer herding and culture in Norway. The article draws on courtroom ethnography and diverse written material concerning a court case between the wind energy company Fosen Vind DA and the Southern Saami reindeer herders in Fovsen Njaarke Sïjte. The findings show that the parties’ competing claims to truth rely on different knowledge systems and worldviews concerning what Southern Saami reindeer herding is an ought to be. However, beyond onto-epistemological struggles between the “Indigenous” and the “Western”, Fosen Vind DA and the Norwegian state strategically ignored all knowledges that threatened capitalist and green colonial interests. The Fosen case illustrates how Indigenous peoples can contest dominant knowledge regimes and colonial presumptions about their livelihoods, culture, and rights through the legal system. However, the Norwegian state’s reluctancy to respect the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict reveals that asymmetric power relations continue to pave the way for colonial dispossession of Saami landscapes, epistemes, and human rights in the green energy transition.
[ENG]
The Duved Project for Local Communities 2. 0 aims to investigate models for how rural areas can be developed, and to some extent to stand as a model for future societies in broader perspectives. An ambitious, broad, and complex goal, to say the least. In this work, the project's work track digitalization has been confronted with and processed a wide range of issues, from a number of different perspectives. Central important lessons that have emerged in the work have repeatedly been about the importance of combining the specifics of the local situation with the larger, broader issues and processes that both contribute to, are involved in, and get their unique and specific form in the material reality that constitutes “the local”. But also in that such specificity has consequences: “resource systems” no longer become abstract concepts, or general replicable solutions, but questions about actual materials, people, works, processes, and so on.
When these become concrete, the “local” also turns out to be of varying size both as a result of prevailing structures and processes, and as a result of which scales are relevant to which issues. This report provides a series of deep-diving arguments for developing the challenges and opportunities of digitalization in a rural context, which consistently puts digitalization in a broader context in order to also have a deeper discussion about how a digitalization process can contribute to increased sustainability.
The report is in Swedish with an English summary
[SWE]
Duvedprojektet för lokalsamhällen 2.0 syftar till att undersöka modeller för hur landsbygden kan utvecklas, och i viss utsträckning stå som modell för framtida samhällen i bredare perspektiv. Ett minst sagt ambitiöst, brett,och komplext mål. I det arbetet har projektets arbetsspår digitalisering konfronterats med och bearbetat en stor spännvidd av frågor, utifrån ett antal olika perspektiv. Centrala viktiga lärdomar som vuxit fram i arbetet har återkommande handlat om vikten av att kombinera det specifika i den lokala situationen med de större, bredare frågorna och processerna som såväl bidrar till, involveras i, och får sin unika och specifika form i den materiella verklighet som utgör ”det lokala”. Men också i att sådan specificitet får följdverkningar: ”resurssystem” blir inte längre abstrakta begrepp, eller generella replikerbara lösningar, utan frågor om faktiska material, människor, arbeten, processer, och så vidare.
När dessa blir konkreta, visar sig också ”det lokala” vara av varierande storlek både som resultat av rådande strukturer och processer, och som resultat av vilka skalor som är relevanta för vilka frågor. Den här rapporten för en serie djupdykande resonemang för att utveckla utmaningar och möjligheter med digitalisering i en landsbygdskontext, som konsekvent sätter digitalisering i en bredare kontext för att på så sätt också föra en djupare diskussion om hur en digitaliseringsprocess kan bidra till ökad hållbarhet.
Arktinen neuvosto hyväksyi ministerikokouksessaan vuonna 2019 ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnin toteuttamista arktisella alueella koskevat hyvän käytännön suositukset (Arktinen YVA-suositukset), joissa korostetaan merkityksellistä osallistumista, alkuperäiskansojen perinteisen tiedon roolia ja merkitystä sekä valtioiden rajat ylittäviä vaikutuksia. Tämän selvityksen tavoitteena on arvioida Arktinen YVA-suositusten toimeenpanon edellytyksiä Suomessa YVA-menettelyä koskevan olemassa olevan sääntelyn lähtökohdista. Keskiössä on saamelaisten alkuperäiskansaoikeuksien toteutuminen YVA-lain mukaisessa menettelyssä. Selvityksessä tarkastellaan myös saamelaisten perinteisen tiedon huomioon ottamista ja saamelaisten osallistumista YVA-menettelyssä, sekä kuvaillaan erilaisia malleja saamelaiskulttuuriin kohdistuvien vaikutusten arvioimiseksi. Selvityksen tavoitteena on pyrkiä parantamaan saamelaiskulttuuriin kohdistuvien vaikutusten ja niiden merkittävyyden tunnistamista ja jäsentämistä viranomaisissa sekä hankkeita suunnittelevissa tahoissa (hankkeesta vastaavat ja konsultit) ja siten tukemaan saamelaisten alkuperäiskansaoikeuksia toimeenpanevan YVA-menettelyn kehittymistä. Selvityksessä kuvaillaan nykykäytännön haasteita, viranomaisten tietotarpeita sekä esitetään suosituksia ja toimenpide-ehdotuksia.
For decades, a post-Cold War narrative heralded a 'new Arctic', with melting ice and snow and accessible resources that would build sustainable communities. Today, large parts of the Arctic are still trapped in the path dependencies of past resource extraction. At the same time, the impetus for green transitions and a 'new industrialism' spell opportunities to shift the development model and build new futures for Arctic residents and Indigenous peoples. This book examines the growing Arctic resource dilemma. It explores the 'new extractivist paradigm' that posits transitioning the region's long-standing role of delivering minerals, fossil energy, and marine resources to one providing rare earth elements, renewable power, wilderness tourism, and scientific knowledge about climate change. With chapters from a global, interdisciplinary team of researchers, new opportunities and their implications for Arctic communities and landscapes are discussed, alongside the pressures and uncertainties in a region under geopolitical and environmental stress.
For decades, a post-Cold War narrative heralded a 'new Arctic', with melting ice and snow and accessible resources that would build sustainable communities. Today, large parts of the Arctic are still trapped in the path dependencies of past resource extraction. At the same time, the impetus for green transitions and a 'new industrialism' spell opportunities to shift the development model and build new futures for Arctic residents and Indigenous peoples. This book examines the growing Arctic resource dilemma. It explores the 'new extractivist paradigm' that posits transitioning the region's long-standing role of delivering minerals, fossil energy, and marine resources to one providing rare earth elements, renewable power, wilderness tourism, and scientific knowledge about climate change. With chapters from a global, interdisciplinary team of researchers, new opportunities and their implications for Arctic communities and landscapes are discussed, alongside the pressures and uncertainties in a region under geopolitical and environmental stress.
For decades, a post-Cold War narrative heralded a 'new Arctic', with melting ice and snow and accessible resources that would build sustainable communities. Today, large parts of the Arctic are still trapped in the path dependencies of past resource extraction. At the same time, the impetus for green transitions and a 'new industrialism' spell opportunities to shift the development model and build new futures for Arctic residents and Indigenous peoples. This book examines the growing Arctic resource dilemma. It explores the 'new extractivist paradigm' that posits transitioning the region's long-standing role of delivering minerals, fossil energy, and marine resources to one providing rare earth elements, renewable power, wilderness tourism, and scientific knowledge about climate change. With chapters from a global, interdisciplinary team of researchers, new opportunities and their implications for Arctic communities and landscapes are discussed, alongside the pressures and uncertainties in a region under geopolitical and environmental stress.
This volume offers a holistic understanding of the environmental and societal challenges that affect reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia today.
Reindeer husbandry is a livelihood with a long traditional heritage and cultural importance. Like many other pastoral societies, reindeer herders are confronted with significant challenges. Covering Norway, Sweden and Finland – three countries with many differences and similarities – this volume examines how reindeer husbandry is affected by and responds to global environmental change and resource extraction in boreal and arctic social-ecological systems. Beginning with an historical overview of reindeer husbandry, the volume analyses the realities of the present from different perspectives and disciplines. Genetics, behavioural ecology of reindeer, other forms of land use, pastoralists’ norms and knowledge, bio-economy and governance structures all set the stage for the complex internal and externally imposed dynamics within reindeer husbandry. In-depth analyses are devoted to particularly urgent challenges, such as land-use conflicts, climate change and predation, identified as having a high potential to shape the future pathways of the pastoral identity and productivity. These futures, with their risks and opportunities, are explored in the final section, offering a synthesis of the comparative approach between the three countries that runs as a recurring theme through the book. With its richness and depth, this volume contributes significantly to the understanding of the substantial impacts on pastoralist communities in northernmost Europe today, while highlighting viable pathways to maintaining reindeer husbandry for the future.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of both the natural and social sciences who work on natural resource management, global environmental change, pastoralism, ecology, social-ecological systems, rangeland management and Indigenous studies.
When Indigenous rights and demands for mineral wealth collide, knowledge of mining impacts is a highly contested area. Yet the scholarly literature contains few studies of the impacts borne by Indigenous groups. In this paper, we offer an empirical analysis of mining impacts on Sámi reindeer herding in two cases from Sweden. The mine in Kaunisvaara is an active, open-pit iron mine operated by Kaunis Iron. The mine in Stihke was an underground copper/zinc mine operated from 1976 to 1988 by Boliden. Data generation comprised of interviews, workshops, field visits, participatory GIS, and literature review. The findings show how the two mines have caused similar impacts, including on the land and the reindeer, the economy, and Sámi culture, health, and well-being. In a comparative analysis we discuss five themes: i) discrepancies between anticipated and actual impacts, ii) mismatches between impacts and compensation, iii) flaws in Swedish mining regulations – specifically for impact assessment, iv) who holds relevant knowledge to predict impacts, and v) patterns of dispossession rather than co-existence. We argue that if governments and mining companies were to genuinely consider the full scale of impacts, then it would entail a fundamental paradigm shift in mining governance in Sweden.
In Sweden, there is a growing trend for Sámi reindeer herding districts and developers to enter into negotiated agreements on projects that aim to exploit land and natural resources. These agreements can be viewed as a way for the involved parties to fill a gap in state regulation of environmental licensing and land use planning; specifically the inability of regulation to address the property rights of reindeer herding districts (known as reindeer herding rights). Research conducted in other countries has demonstrated that such private agreements can potentially play a role in integrating Indigenous rights and perspectives into resource governance. The research also demonstrates that they carry considerable risks. Little is known, however, about the consequences of negotiated agreements in the Sámi homeland. This report offers, for the first time, an evaluation of the content of a selection of agreements between Sámi reindeer herding districts and developers in Sweden. The evaluation was conducted from a Sámi perspective, applying a scale and a set of criteria focused on how the agreements affect the ability of herding districts to safeguard reindeer wellbeing. The scale consisted of five levels (+1 to -4) and the criteria were ranked according to views gathered from 12 people, who were either experts on negotiations or holders of traditional knowledge. The study collected 15 agreements from five reindeer herding districts. These agreements concern the following activities: wind power, tourism, car testing, hydropower, quarry mining, and outdoor sporting. To protect the integrity of the reindeer herding districts and respect the confidentiality of the agreements all results are anonymised, which means none of the information disclosed in this report can be traced to specific herding districts, companies, or projects. The results demonstrate that few of the agreements contain clauses that, from the perspective of herding districts, are preferrable for the wellbeing of the reindeer (levels +1, 0 or -1). Instead, agreements are dominated by clauses that are the worst for reindeer wellbeing (levels -3 and -4). The overall conclusion is that the agreements provide limited benefits to reindeer herding, and instead contribute considerable risks. This was especially clear in the agreements on wind power, which contained a high-risk combination of clauses on open consent (allowing undefined projects), gag clauses (wherein the herding districts give up their right to appeal to government or courts), and confidentiality clauses (preventing herding districts from publicly communicating about their experiences). These results support a view that the agreements cement unequal power relations, largely to the benefit of companies. They also indicate that agreements most often, if not always, reflect a “manufactured consent” – that is, herding districts enter agreements because they do not see other alternatives. A challenge that commonly confronts Indigenous groups, globally, is that they do not know what they can legitimately claim in negotiations of agreements. It is therefore critical to highlight positive examples, even if these so far are few. In this study, there are examples where herding districts negotiated the right to potentially pause activities if there is a need to protect reindeer wellbeing, as well as a simple type of revenue sharing. About half of the agreements also contained clauses that required the developers to implement significant measures to minimize harm to reindeer herding, and all five herding districts avoided harmful formulations in the agreements that give the pretence of relinquishing reindeer herding rights. Yet none of the agreements contained clauses meaningfully compensated for the loss of pastures. Clauses about cooperation between the parties focused on information sharing, without requirements placed on the companies to consider the views of the reindeer herders. Moreover, clauses exist that give the companies a unilateral right to renegotiate or terminate the agreement. Clauses also commonly place demands on the herding districts to contribute their time and knowledge without financial compensation. This means, in effect, that reindeer herders are expected to help promote the economic interest of the companies for free. A central conclusion of this report is that reindeer herding districts must widen their perspective on what can be included in agreements. There is no reason why agreements must be limited to issues of economic compensation, as is the case today. There are cases around the world, for instance in Australia and Canada, where agreements include extensive forms of revenue sharing, rights for Indigenous groups to veto potential changes in a project, and rights for communities to bring about the closure of a project if conditions in the agreement are not fulfilled. It is typically in the interests of companies to delimit the ambition of agreements, with arguments such as, “this cannot be included in an agreement”. However, Sámi reindeer herding districts that opt to enter negotiations on private agreements ought to challenge such claims, based on their rights to self-determination, and broaden the scope of what should legitimately be included in agreements.
Mine developments in Indigenous territories risk disrupting Indigenous cultures and their economies, including spiraling already high levels of conflict. This is the situation in Canada, Sweden, and Norway, as elsewhere, and is fostered by current state legal framework that reflect historical trajectories, although circumstances are gradually changing. Promising institutional changes have taken place in British Columbia (BC), Canada, with respect to new legislative reforms. Notably, new legislation from 2019 intends to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in the province, by promoting consent-based and collaborative decision-making mechanisms. New environmental assessment legislation is another example; this legislation includes early engagement, collaborative decision-making, and Indigenous-led assessments. The article’s aim is, first, to analyze how Indigenous communities can influence and engage in the mining permitting system of BC, and, secondly, to highlight the positive features of the BC system using a comparative lens to identify opportunities for Sweden and Norway regarding mining permitting and Indigenous rights. Applying a legal-scientific and comparative analysis, the article analyzes traditional legal sources. The article concludes that the strong points that the BC regime could offer the two Nordic countries are: the concept of reconciliation, incorporation of UNDRIP, the spectrum of consultation and engagement approaches, and the structure of environmental assessments. All three jurisdictions, however, struggle with balancing mine developments and securing Indigenous authority and influence over land uses in their traditional territories.
This OECD working paper summarises leading practices for benefit sharing, workforce development, and business and governance development for and with Indigenous peoples. This work has been informed by the OECD’s programme of work on Linking Indigenous Communities with Regional Development, on Mining Regions and Cities and on Indigenous Employment and Skills Strategies. This working paper specifically aims to inform the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development of Australia. The paper covers six key policy areas: i) Indigenous benefits funds and benefit sharing agreements, ii) Indigenous governance, iii) Indigenous entrepreneurship, iv) Indigenous education and training, v) Indigenous employment, and vi) Indigenous community programmes.
Anthropogenic activities affect habitat use by Rangifer tarandus, a particularly vulnerable species due to grouping behavior, extensive movements, and grazing ecology. We studied habitat use of GPS-collared reindeer in relation to surface mining activities during the snow-free season in Finnmark, Norway over a period of 7 years. Based on information about the mine’s level of operation (amount of people, vehicles, and equipment in operation) and rock blasting schedule, we divided data into high-activity periods (workdays) and low-activity periods (mine closed for ca 2.5 days on weekends and a yearly 3-week holiday period). We further divided workdays into periods with and without rock blasting and associated high-noise days. We found that reindeer significantly reduced habitat use at closer distances to the mine, indicating an influence zone up to 1.5 km. Reductions in use were strongest closest to the mine in high-activity periods. No avoidance effect of the mine was found beyond approximately 0.9 km for the 3-week holidays, 1.0 km for weekends, and 1.5 km for workdays with or without rock blasting. Compared to holidays and weekends, probability of use was reduced by 30–34% within 1.3 km from the mine for workday blasting periods, and up to 35% within 1.4 km for other workdays. Since averted areas can be partly utilized again within days or weeks following intensive mining activity periods, reduced mining activity in crucial periods for reindeer, such as during calving and migration, can be an effective mitigation measure.
Supplementary winter feeding of semi-domesticated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) has become more common in Sweden and Norway due to reindeer pasture fragmentation and climatic conditions. With increased corralling and feeding, often associated with animal stress, increased animal-to-animal contact, and poor hygienic conditions, an altered range of health challenges and diseases may emerge. An outbreak of three different infectious diseases appeared simultaneously in a reindeer herd in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The animals were corralled and fed silage. Several animals in poor body condition stopped eating, with drool and discoloration of the hair coat around the mouth. There were large, black, necrotic lesions on the tongue and gingiva, with holes perforating the chin, indicative of oral necrobacillosis and Fusobacterium spp. infection. Simultaneously, animals were seen with proliferative lesions in the oral mucosa and on the lips, characteristic of contagious ecthyma and Orf virus infection. Furthermore, three animals had keratoconjunctivitis suggesting exposure to cervid herpesvirus 2 (CvHV2) and possibly secondary bacterial infections. DNA specific for Fusobacterium necrophorum and ORFV was detected in relevant tissue samples. Antibodies against CvHV2 were detected in 10 of 13 diseased and in four of 11 apparently healthy reindeer. Nine animals were found dead or were euthanized during the outbreak. Health risk factors associated with feeding and corralling may severely impact animal welfare and the herder's economy, and may represent an underestimated cost when replacing natural grazing with feeding.
The changes in regulation of mineral development on Indigenous people's lands, wrought by the advent of native title in Australia, created an impression that the political economy of mining on Indigenous people's lands would be fundamentally transformed. In this paper we argue, in reality, a deeply seated settler‐colonial mentality endures in Australia within the institutions presiding over mineral governance, particularly in those States that are heavily dependent upon resource extraction. Focusing on the governance of mineral development in Queensland, Australia, we offer an analysis of the rationalities that inform the endurance of an inequitable architecture of extractive governance in that State. Our conceptual framework draws on a synthesis of the concepts of “accumulation by dispossession”, “settler colonialism”, and Indigenous critiques of the politics of recognition, to argue that liberal states remain deeply committed to the facilitation of mineral development on Indigenous people's lands in direct contravention to international norms.
The duty of states to consult indigenous communities is a well-established legal principle, but its implications for practice remain uncertain. Sweden is finding itself at a particularly critical juncture as it prepares to legislate a duty to consult the Sami people in line with its international obligations. This paper explores the ability of Swedish state actors to implement the duty to consult, based on lessons from an already existing duty set out in Swedish minority law, namely to ensure the effective participation of minorities in land and resource decisions. Presenting novel empirical material on the views of Sami communities and state officials in ministries and agencies, we demonstrate the existence of considerable implementation gaps linked to practice, sectoral legislation, and political discourse. We argue that if state duties are to promote the intended intercultural reconciliation, then new measures are needed to ensure enforcement, e.g. via mechanisms of appeal and rules of nullification. In addition, sectoral resource regulations should be amended to refer to the duties set out in minority law and/or a potential new bill on consultation duty in a consistent manner. In the near-term, the state should ensure that Sami communities are adequately resourced to engage in consultation and should invest in state authorities’ own ability to implement, i.e. through competence development, staffing, intersectoral coordination, and independent evaluation. Much could also be gained if state agencies and Sami communities worked together to develop detailed consultation routines for relevant resource sectors.
Responsible Editor: Øyvind Ravna, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Due to its oftentimes complex, contested, and multi-scale character, natural resource management (NRM) tends to be a challenging task that has been met with various political approaches in order to meet demands for legitimacy. One approach to enhancing the legitimacy of NRM that has gained increased attention within the academic literature is the adoption of local participatory democracy in decision-making processes. Advocates of participatory democracy in NRM propose that local participation achieves the following outcomes: increased legitimacy because it ensures that local needs and priorities are successfully met; decision-making based on more complete information, which helps avoid unexpected negative outcomes; and a sense of belonging and influence among the public, leading to increased perceptions of support and partnership, as opposed to NRM which is imposed on the community. Nevertheless, comprehensive empirical studies that document how public participation affects legitimacy remain rare. Using 2015 data collected on people’s attitudes towards mining in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, and Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, Sweden, this paper empirically assesses whether and how perceptions of local participation affect the legitimacy of mining development. In turn, this paper finds that perceived public participation does affect the public’s propensity to support mining development and this propensity is mediated by people’s perceptions of the interests present in the decision-making process, their normative beliefs concerning which actors should be allowed to participate in the decision-making process, and certain individual-level and contextual-level factors.
Although the standard of consulting Indigenous peoples in decisions affecting them is well rooted internationally as well as in national legal systems, different views and patterns of problems are associated with the concept and its practice. This paper briefly analyses and contrasts the duty to consult Indigenous peoples through a comparison of the three Nordic countries Norway, Finland and Sweden, and Canada. Based on domestic legal sources, the focus of the paper is to explore the legal foundation that has given rise to the specific set of rules for the duty to consult, that is, the rationale behind the evolving of the rules. The first finding is that the rules differ among the three Nordic countries, with Sweden being the only country that lacks specific rules. Secondly, whereas Canada has developed its own duty to consult primarily through domestic case law, in the Nordic countries, duty to consult is related to international law obligations. Consultation duties that have evolved from domestic law may be easier to accept than “foreign” regulations imposed on national legal systems. This could explain the reluctance among the Nordic States to accept specific consultations with the Sami Parliament and other Sami groups, particularly in Sweden.
The global extraction of minerals is commonly located in areas populated by indigenous people; and while conflicts between multinational corporations and local activists and indigenous people are widespread today, the understanding of their dynamics are lacking. The Swedish government's encouragement to an expanding mining industry has caused resistance due to environmental and social implications, particularly its effect on Sámi reindeer husbandry. The resistance to a mine in Gállok is based on the belief that the right to decide about land use historically falls on the Sámi people, and the right to affect land use is detrimental for the survival of Sámi culture and reindeer husbandry. Although the conflict may be perceived as concerning access to natural resources , we argue that the perceived environmental conflict can be viewed as part of a larger struggle over social status and recognition. Data have been collected using qualitative methods such as observations, interviews and documents. The subsequent analysis relies on a meta-theoretical framework of justice as recognition using a typology of relations of power. Our findings suggest that relations of power constitute different categories of social actors. Stakeholders like the Sámi population are subordinated to more dominant stakeholders such as the government, the company and media, who have 'more' power or 'different' kinds of power 'over' others. Through these asymmetric power relations, historical state-Sámi relations are continuously reproduced within prevailing institutions, and also in this mining conflict. Interviewees from business and the municipality testified to the discourses driven by a neoliberal and profit-focused worldview. Challenging the neoliberal discourse, other stakeholders, namely civil society and Sámi, expressed an alternative discourse based on a local, traditional, cultural, environmental and anti-neoliberal worldview.
Sustainable mining is an objective as well as a tool for balancing economic, social, and environmental considerations. Each of these three dimensions of mining – and sustainable development – has many components, some of which were chosen for closer study in the SUMILCERE project. While there is no single component that in itself provides a definitive argument for or against sustainable mining, the research reveals some that have proven valuable in the process of balancing the different dimensions of sustainability. In the SUMILCERE project, comparative studies enabled us to identify factors such as the following, which are essential when discussing the balancing in practice of the three dimensions of sustainable mining cited above: the framework and functionality of environmental regulation to protect the environment (environmental sustainability); the competitiveness of the mining industry in light of environmental regulation and its enforcement (economic sustainability); public participation and the opportunities local communities have to influence their surroundings, as well as communities’ acceptance of projects (social sustainability) before and during operations; and the protection of Sámi cultural rights in mining projects (social and cultural sustainability). Although each of the three dimensions of sustainability leaves room for discretion in the weight assigned to it, ecological sustainability, protected by smart environmental regulation and minimum standards, sets essential boundaries that leave no room for compromises. Economic and social sustainability are possible only within these limits. Details of the analyses in the Kolarctic area and accounts of the methods used can be found in the cited SUMILCERE articles.
A clear understanding of processes at multiple scales and levels is of special significance when conceiving strategies for human–environment interactions. However, understanding and application of the scale concept often differ between administrative-political and ecological disciplines. These mirror major differences in potential solutions whether and how scales can, at all, be made congruent. As a result, opportunities of seeking “goodness-of-fit” between different concepts of governance should perhaps be reconsidered in the light of a potential “generality of mis-fit.” This article reviews the interdisciplinary considerations inherent in the concept of scale in its ecological, as well as administrative-political, significance and argues that issues of how to manage “mis-fit” should be awarded more emphasis in social-ecological research and management practices. These considerations are exemplified by the case of reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia. Whilst an indigenous small-scale practice, reindeer husbandry involves multi-level ecological and administrative-political complexities—complexities that we argue may arise in any multi-level system.
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The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0757-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
In this paper, we analyse the critique that has accompanied sustained efforts made in recent years by the Government of Sweden to facilitate global investment in the country's mining sector. The minerals market in the 21st century has been characterized by increasing global prices. In Sweden, the largest mining nation within the EU, this has led to what has been identified as a mining boom. The governmental mining policy, aimed at attracting an increasing part of the global venture capital seeking to profit from the volatile but lucrative minerals market, has been met with growing domestic resistance, fuelled by what has been perceived as dangers and side effects of a rapidly expanding Swedish mining industry. This resistance has largely focused on the mineral strategy launched by the government in 2013, as it crystallized the neoliberal ideas judged by critics to severely jeopardize social, cultural, economic and environmental values. After a critical analysis of the mineral strategy, we go on to analyse the mining-critical discourse, concluding with a discussion where we highlight the main implications of the analysis and identify a possible path for compromise between proponents and opponents of the mineral strategy.
The system for classifying vegetation types currently used in Swedish forestry has two major deficiencies when identifying reindeer winter pastures: it uses lichen cover as the sole criterion for defining them, and it ignores the possible adverse effects of snow cover. Based on ethnological field studies, this paper examines Sami reindeer herders' classification of reindeer winter pastures, and compares it to the system used by foresters at different levels of classification. At the lower level, which deals with identifying discrete entities, it is possible to find some correspondence between the representations of forest characteristics used by the Sami herders and the foresters. Reindeer herders discriminate the same factors – tree height, canopy enclosure, stem density, field-layer, bottom-layer – as forest manager, but the former use this knowledge to evaluate the effects on snow cover and ice, and thus on the accessibility of the lichen beneath. Inconsistencies appear at the second level of classification, which consists in ordering this variety of forest characteristics into a classificatory system. There is a mismatch between Sami herders and forester’s representations and classifications of pastures because Sami categories are ‘complex’, i.e. categories including many criteria that have to be combined and balanced before defining the pasture. Herders’ representation of pasture is thus holistic, rather than purely botanical. The comparison of the two classification systems demonstrates that it is impossible to define grazing quality solely in terms of lichen abundance, because of the multidimensional nature of reindeer winter pastures and consequent shifts (spatial and temporal) in its quality.
Climate-driven variability of habitat selection of large herbivores has not yet been explicitly analyzed. To this end, we aimed to better understand the climate-ecological mechanisms behind geographic patterns of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) habitat utilization. Our study area comprised of the ranges of Filefjell Reinlag, southern Norway (60°20′-61°20′ N; 8°20′-9°50′ E). We analyzed habitat selection of 20 (±2) GPS-collared female reindeer over a period of five years. We examined the mechanistic forces of habitat selection variability by applying a novel stepwise factor analysis approach based on the niche concept. We characterized the governing conditions for inductively delineated seasons and extracted in a first step for each year the seasonal scores of the individual animals on the environmental variables to explain their habitat use. For each season, we then conducted principal component analyses (PCA) to analyze the inter-annual variability in habitat preferences using the individual scores for the environmental variables per year. In a third step, we fit our potential drivers as vectors onto each seasonal PCA and retained solely significant drivers. Our results reveal complex spatiotemporal patterns of habitat selection that are driven by seasonality, year-to-year climate variability, and the choice of individual animals. In contrast to expected similarities between conspecifics, our analyses revealed varying degrees of intraspecies variability and therefore suggest that responses of individual reindeer to climate variability are inconsistent. Moreover, we found annually reoccurring patterns of habitat selection strength during different seasons that help explain coping capacities of reindeer against climate variability. In contrast with our expectations, we detected a very high inter-annual variability in habitat preferences to be related to governing climatic conditions. Here, we present new evidence for the variability of response mechanisms of reindeer's habitat selection shown throughout different seasons and years that buffer alpine pastoralism against climate variability. Our work contributes to a better understanding of alpine ecological response mechanisms as a key for projections of future responses to climate change.
As a consequence of the growing global need for minerals, extractive industries are continuously expanding. In the North, together with several environmental problems such as climate change, this poses a real threat to the traditional livelihoods of Sami people. The article examines how the rights of Sami indigenous people are protected against adverse impacts of mining activities. The relevant national legislation is analyzed in all the four countries where Sami are present. It is specifically examined how the main mining act in each country protects the right of Sami people to their traditional livelihoods. Finally, the article sheds light on the actual effectiveness of the legal regulation. This is done by analyzing the results of interviews conducted with relevant actors and stakeholders in the mining industry.
The regulatory framework for mining operations is complex; the licensing process in particular typically involves several laws and a number of permits. This paper assumes that the regulatory framework is strongly influenced by the institutional framework of which it is part, and that it suffers from an institutional path dependence that may decrease the efficiency of the system as well as act barrier to the implementation of necessary environmental requirements. The paper provides: 1) a legal analysis of the regulatory framework governing mining operations in Sweden, Finland and Russia; and 2) a comparative analysis of the scope of the environmental assessment within the licensing process in the examined countries. The result of the analysis of the regulatory frameworks shows great similarity between the Swedish and the Finnish systems, both in terms of the overall structure and the implementation of substantive environmental rules. The Russian system differs in this respect, with more declarative rules and seemingly less substantive assessments. The results also indicate that the regulatory frameworks in all three countries show signs of institutional path dependence, but in very different degrees. Though Russia has indeed implemented major changes in the formal structure, very little has changed in practice. The Swedish regulatory framework for mining shows a deficient systematics and conflicting objectives, despite the implementation of a comprehensive environmental legislation. The recently reformed Finnish system seems to have a more holistic approach.
In northern Sweden, forestry, wind and hydropower, mining, infrastructure development and associated influence zones together constitute a complicated, land use situation that strongly impacts reindeer husbandry, a unique and extensive land use system. This situation has led to challenges for land managers and decision makers. Because of limited use of existing knowledge and lack of specific data on key resources, the land use dialogue among the reindeer herding communities, other land users and agencies has been inadequate. To overcome this problem, reindeer herding communities initiated a process to improve this situation together with researchers and with state and regional agencies.
Key findings from the collaborative, process-focused papers in this thesis showed that the diverse groups that worked together could co-produce methods and tools that increased the engagement and the ability to negotiate and find solutions. Furthermore, the co-production of knowledge served as a heuristic, increasing the use and understanding of compiled information. The co-production further created an exigency for conventional research that then informed the tools, thereby increasing the potential contribution towards improved dialogue.
Findings also indicated that significant declines have occurred in the amount and distribution of forest floor lichen, – a key reindeer winter grazing resource – since the introduction of modern forestry practices in the mid-20th century. Furthermore, forecasting alternative forest practices indicated that current forest practices would further diminish the forest floor lichen resource. Promising results demonstrated that satellite-based mapping of forest floor lichen can be carried out successfully and can identify crucial areas for directed forest management, which can improve conditions for forest floor lichen. In combination, the co-produced toolbox and the findings about the status, trend and distribution of the lichen resource can potentially improve future dialogue.
The work represented in this thesis can potentially serve as a stronger foundation to safeguard the continuation of the complex land use system of reindeer husbandry, which constitutes both a fundamental component in the indigenous Sami culture, as well as a key to successful sustainable landscape management.
Landscapes undergo changes in structure and function at multiple temporal and spatial levels. As a consequence of natural and anthropogenic drivers, these changes affect options for land use. We describe winter land use by reindeer husbandry in the boreal forest in Northern Sweden. The landscape changes in its suitability for husbandry practices due to environmental stochasticity and transformations due to other forms of land use. This creates structures that can either (i) promote flexibility in the form of mobility or (ii) create fragmentation that restricts adaptation to changes. As these drivers are interdependent in their influence on land use practices by reindeer herders, different choices regarding husbandry strategies have to be made within a season and between years. To allow such choices and ensure pastoral resilience to change, boreal forests should be regulated to provide continuity of grazing resources at multiple temporal and spatial levels.
Wildlife species may respond to industrial development with changes in distribution. However, discerning a response to development from differences in habitat selection is challenging. Since the early 1990s, migratory tundra Bathurst caribou Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus in the Canadian Arctic have been exposed to the construction and operation of two adjacent open-pit mines within the herd's summer range. We developed a statistical approach to directly estimate the zone of influence (area of reduced caribou occupancy) of the mines during mid-July-mid-October. We used caribou presence recorded during aerial surveys and locations of satellite-collared cow caribou as inputs to a model to account for patterns in habitat selection as well as mine activities. We then constrained the zone of influence curve to asymptote, such that the average distance from the mine complex where caribou habitat selection was not affected by the mine could be estimated. During the operation period for the two open-pit mines, we detected a 14-km zone of influence from the aerial survey data, and a weaker 11-km zone from the satellite-collar locations. Caribou were about four times more likely to select habitat at distances greater than the zone of influence compared to the two-mine complex, with a gradation of increasing selection up to the estimated zone of influence. Caribou are responding to industrial developments at greater distances than shown in other areas, possibly related to fine dust deposition from mine activities in open, tundra habitats. The methodology we developed provides a standardized approach to estimate the spatial impact of stressors on caribou or other wildlife species.
The development of mining and other resource-based industries are among key drivers of economic development in the Arctic. The fragile environment and the presence of nature-based livelihoods and indigenous communities pose challenges for mining development. Mining operations should be optimized so that the profitability is maintained in changing market conditions and to meet increasing societal and environmental demands. In this study we present the current understanding on the interplay between mining and the surrounding socio-ecological systems in the Arctic region. The existing academic literature on the Arctic region was reviewed, covering 127 peer-reviewed publications since 2000. We investigated the mining activities from four perspectives examining: 1) environmental, 2) economic, 3) social and 4) legal dimensions, covering three life-cycle stages: 1) pre-mining, 2) mining, and 3) post-mining. The publications on the environmental and economic aspects focused principally on the impacts of mining, whereas social and legal publications discussed the interaction between people and their rights and ways of controlling their environment. Besides the need for more balanced research between different life-cycle stages we uncovered five research gaps concerning the knowledge base needed to increase the sustainability of Arctic mining: 1) impacts and adaptation to climate change, 2) monitoring the sustainability of mining using standardized indicators, 3) holistic economic assessment of mining, 4) social sustainability and conflict management, and 5) mechanisms that mitigate or compensate for the adverse effects of mining on biodiversity.
Over the last decade or so, there has been a global shift towards attempts to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly in regards to extractive activities on their traditional territories. At the same time, however, the extraction of natural resources in breach of indigenous rights, continues to take place at ever increasing rates. Using a case study of Swedish mining industry attitudes to indigenous rights, and specifically that of the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), the article explores this paradox. Mining companies operating in Sweden do not currently respect or implement the principle of FPIC, and the article illustrates how mining representatives justify and reconcile this. It elucidates how the Swedish mining industry mobilises various, and at times contradictory, discourses, including on the one hand, the complacent rationale that human rights protections are superfluous in Sweden, and on the other hand, the idea that a respect for FPIC would create uncertainty and thereby threaten the existence of the mining industry.
Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) remains an Achilles heel in the licensing of mining projects on indigenous lands globally, but especially in the European North. Yet, rather than legislating on indigenous rights and CEA failures, governments tend to rely on companies to mitigate cumulative impacts through new corporate social responsibility actions. This paper considers if these voluntary actions improve companies’ CEA performance and so provide grounds for indigenous communities and decision makers to trust the industry more. Findings are presented from a systematic review of corporate impact assessments for 56 mining concession permit applications on Sami lands in Sweden. We show how companies that adopt additional voluntary measures provide somewhat richer assessments. Overall, however, the performance remains poor also for ‘frontrunners’ with persistent lack of clarity on methods and limited analysis of consequences, social and cultural impacts and interactions with other (past, present or future) projects. We conclude that progress in voluntary actions in regard to assessing cumulative impacts has only led to cosmetic improvements in CEA performance. We therefore argue for stronger regulatory role of government and recognition of the right of indigenous communities to lead or co-manage impact assessments on their own lands.
Natural resource (NR) exploitation often gives rise to conflict. While most actors intend to manage collectively used places and their NRs sustainably, they may disagree about what this entails. This article accordingly explores the origin of NR conflicts by analysing them in terms of competing pathways to sustainability. By comparing conflicts over mine establishments in three places in northern Sweden, we specifically explore the role of place-based perceptions and experiences.
The results indicate that the investigated conflicts go far beyond the question of metals and mines. The differences between pathways supporting mine establishment and those opposing it refer to fundamental ideas about human-nature relationships and sustainable development (SD). The study suggests that place-related parameters affect local interpretations of SD and mobilisation in ways that explain why resistance and conflict exist in some places but not others. A broader understanding of a particular conflict and its specific place-based trajectory may help uncover complex underlying reasons. However, our comparative analysis also demonstrates that mining conflicts in different places share certain characteristics. Consequently, a site-specific focus ought to be combined with attempts to compare, or map, conflicts at a larger scale to improve our understanding of when and how conflicts evolve. By addressing the underlying causes and origins of contestation, this study generates knowledge needed to address NR management conflicts effectively and legitimately.
Free, prior, informed consent (or ‘FPIC’ as it is known) has emerged in recent years in international policy and civil society circles as the focal rights-based approach to safeguard indigenous rights in the context of industrial projects in indigenous territories. FPIC refers to a process whereby indigenous peoples affected by a project have the free choice, based on sufficient and timely information, of whether and how a project occurs, according to their systems of customary decision-making. However, despite this increasing and widespread endorsement in international policy and law, FPIC remains contentious, with governments voicing reluctance to confer ‘veto’ rights to indigenous peoples, and companies unsure on how to implement FPIC in practice. This article critically examines how FPIC emerged as the focal rights-based approach to ensuring indigenous peoples are not negatively impacted, and benefit from extractive projects such as oil and gas, and mining, while discussing some of the various challenges from industry perspectives in trying to implement FPIC in practice.
Large-scale mineral extraction is often accompanied by local conflicts, reflecting the fact that affected communities feel the costs of development but enjoy few of its benefits. Much of this conflict could be mitigated if communities could influence the design of projects and of management systems intended to minimise their impacts. This paper examines the potential role of community-controlled impact assessment, combined with negotiation of binding agreements between communities and developers, to allow affected communities to shape the impacts of extractive projects. It considers the wider political factors that must be addressed if these mechanisms are to be effective.
This article examines the implications of undertaking community-based impact assessment (CBIA) in the Swedish context where Indigenous rights receive little recognition and the institutional planning environment is disenabling. It explores how normative biases built into the permitting process for mines ontologically privilege non-Indigenous ways of defining what constitutes relevant impacts. We show how the CBIA, undertaken by an impacted Sami community together with the authors, attempted to challenge these biases by constructing narratives about future impacts from the perspective of the Indigenous community. We also discuss how the research itself became embroiled in contestations over what constituted legitimate knowledge.
Ab einem mittleren Thromboserisiko muss medikamentös vorgebeugt werden. Physikalische Maßnahmen sind optional.
In international law, a fundamental shift is currently occurring in State-Indigenous relations, which can be seen as culminating in the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and at its endorsement of the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination and a free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the decisions that concern them.
This chapter aims to study and analyze FPIC in the light of multiple important developments that have prepared and pushed states to slowly accept that indigenous peoples cannot be seen merely as objects of protection but must be recognized as serious actors and as “partners” with and within the nation states. When implemented, the right to FPIC has positive effects on the important issues such as indigenous peoples’ land use and governance. This is of a particular importance in the Arctic that is the homeland for a great number of indigenous peoples.
The article starts with a general overview over the past decades, to show how a paradigm shift has emerged and is currently evolving in international law concerning the rights and the status of indigenous peoples, in order to understand and give weight to the concept and the right of FPIC. After this overview, setting a necessary context to FPIC, this chapter moves on to take a closer look at the right of FPIC itself, and how it is articulated in indigenous rights instruments as well as in the case law and observations of human rights monitoring bodies. Examples are given from Arctic areas when merited. Examples from other areas, however, are not less valid should the same circumstance prevail in one of the Arctic countries, since international law naturally binds all the states.
The last two decades have witnessed a growing global acknowledgement of indigenous rights, for instance manifested in the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Nordic countries have all responded to the rights claims of the indigenous Sámi people by establishing popularly elected Sámediggis (Sámi Parliaments) to serve as their representative bodies. Internationally, the Sámediggis are often referred to as ‘models’ for indigenous self-governance and participation. Using in-depth interviews with politicians and civil servants, this article provides the first empirical study of the daily work of the Swedish Sámediggi, with a specific focus on its institutional design as a government agency with dual roles: as an administrative authority under the Swedish government and as a popularly elected representative body of the Sámi people. We examine how these dual roles affect the work of the Sámediggi and if the Swedish Sámediggi safeguards the Sámi right to self-determination.
In 2007 the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was in the making for over twenty years. This chapter appears in a book co-edited by the author, in which the story is told about this accomplishment by many of the original participants. The chapter deals with the challenge of how to make the Declaration work in the future (This text was first published as: “Making the Declaration Work!”, in: Charters, Claire; Stavenhagen, Rodolfo (Eds.): Making the Declaration Work, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Copenhagen, IWGIA [International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs]): 352–371. Permission to republish this text was granted on 18 July 2012 by Ms. Lola García-Alix, Executive Director, IWGIA, Copenhagen, Denmark).
Traditional land use systems are threatened by land use intensification and resulting land cover transitions in northern areas. This article examines cumulative land cover changes and their impacts on reindeer grazing grounds in the Kyrö reindeer herding district in northern Finland. Land cover transitions were studied using Landsat TM and OLI images and topographic maps. The results showed that the herding district has experienced notable land cover changes during the past decades, and most of these changes were directly related to forestry. The proportion of continuous coniferous forests of the total forest cover declined from 92% to 78% between 1987 and 2013. Approximately one third of the forests outside current conservation areas were disturbed by forest management by 2013, and remaining forests were notably more fragmented than forests within conservation areas. The extent of the road and path networks expanded considerably between 1960s and 2010 as a result of increasing logging and tourism. Accumulation of disturbances gradually results in loss of key resources and declined quality of the landscape mosaic from the reindeer herding perspective, which can pose a serious threat to long-term sustainability of the livelihood. Rapid land cover changes in non-protected areas highlight an increasingly important role of conservation areas in maintaining resources for reindeer husbandry in the face of intensifying land use. Sustainable management of resources outside conservation areas requires careful participatory planning and efficient cumulative impact assessment of different land use activities.
Using the concept of internal colonisation, this paper aims to demonstrate how current disputes over wind power developments in traditional Saami mountain areas have reignited contestations between Saami people and the Swedish state. It traces the historical continuities in these contestations. It also analyses shifts in the discourses legitimising the state's nonrecognition of Saami rights to land. The paper explores three discursive frameworks that reflect these continuities and shifts. First, it traces contestations over the ownership of 'Crown' (ie, state) land and the paternalistic practices of the state. Second, it explores how a discourse of renewable energy is currently being mobilised to argue that Saami interests must necessarily give way to broader environmental concerns. Third, it analyses how long-standing colonial rationalities are rearticulated through market relations, as the state seeks to construct a pseudo planning market for wind power developments, which necessarily excludes Saami interests. These debates, and the ongoing resistances by Saami people to industrial encroachments on their traditional territories, highlight the fundamentally unresolved relations between the Saami and the non-Indigenous majority society in Sweden.
This paper investigates certain aspects of what mining and exploration companies do to obtain a social license to operate (SLO) by studying choices made by companies when applying for a mining concession in Sweden. Evidence is provided of well-established mining companies having done no more than is strictly necessary to obtain their concessions. Examples of the opposite are also provided, where relatively newly established mining and exploration companies have done more than is legally required, in apparent attempts to obtain stakeholder support. The apparent disinterest by established mining companies to “do more” is considered, as is the effectiveness of the more newly established mining and exploration companies’ approaches. It is shown that the established mining firms, after a long history of mining, appear to have gained social and community acceptance. Conversely, in spite of the attempts made by the newly established firms to “do more”, their project are much more often being met with resistance and distrust by stakeholders. In spite of the apparent success of the approach taken by the established mining firms, there are indications that they are now being influenced by international developments in the mining sector, which calls on companies to work harder on issues related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and in ensuring their SLO. It is argued that such developments may become problematic, as these concepts have largely been developed within an Anglo-American, neoliberal model of development and may therefore need to be modified to fit in a Nordic, welfare state based context.
This paper explores the effects of human disturbances associated with mine development in the Arctic on habitat and populations of reindeer/caribou (both Rangifer tarandus), and implications for reindeer husbandry and caribou hunting of indigenous Sami people in Sweden and First Nations in Canada. Through three case studies, we illustrate how Cree and Naskapi communities develop community-
based geospatial information tools to collect field data on caribou migration and habitat changes, and how Sami reindeer herders use GIS to gather information about reindeer husbandry to better communicate impacts of mining on reindeer grazing areas. Findings indicate impacts on the use of disturbed habitat by
reindeer/caribou, on migration routes, and northern livelihoods. The three cases present novel methods for community-based environmental monitoring, with applications in hazards mapping and denote the active engagement of indigenous communities in polar environmental assessments, generating community-oriented data for land use management decisions. They also illustrate how technology can lead to better communication and its role for empowerment.