article on Sami power5 Jun 2019 18:35
This would be hilarious if only it were true;
By studying the conflict from a combined power and justice perspective, we see that Sami's political scope for action becomes very small, says David Harnesk, researcher at Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies.
He and his colleague Mine Islar studied with the student Sofia Stafström the mining conflict during the period 2013-2014. They identified power relations between different actors such as authorities, civil society, journalists, companies and Sami. They are based on three power relations: power over, more power and another power.
They found that authorities and companies have power over the Sami because investments and the need for economic growth dominate the political conversation. Mining investments are perceived as the solution to problems such as job losses and depopulation. Reindeer herding, which is crucial for Sami culture and livelihood, is not recognized as being of sufficient importance in these political balances.
More power is about stronger actors such as authorities and companies having greater room for maneuver than Sami people. By law, it is the company that wants to extract minerals that will produce an impact assessment of how the mine can affect the area, and in these processes, the Sami have had very limited influence. This means that the company gets more power in making its opinion heard than the Sami, who also do not receive financial compensation for participating in the processes, which in addition can often be very lengthy.
Very little opportunity to influence
Another power is that a party can exercise resistance to another's power or limit it. For example, environmental activists and some Sami exercised a different power over the company that wants to establish the mine by blocking test explosions in the area, an effort that was, however, stopped by police intervention. The media, in turn, exercised a different power over the Sami by limiting their ability to increase their resistance by creating a public debate. Throughout 2013, the conflict was mentioned only a dozen times. But through the resistance, the conflict eventually became a rich news.
- Our research shows that Sami, in any case, had very little opportunity to influence. The prevailing power relations are difficult to reverse and require institutional changes, says David Harnesk.
Fight for stronger rights
He and Mine Islar believe that the resistance in the mining conflict played an important role in creating another power for the Sami within the political landscape. Sami have long struggled for the state to recognize them as an indigenous people with special land and land rights, in accordance with ILO Convention 169 adopted in 1989. The Convention stipulates that indigenous land rights should be recognized and respected. Sweden has not ratified the convention, despite criticism of the UN because the state does not fulfill international obligations towards the Sami. Histo
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