The Importance of Resistance - A Study of the Saami Resistance Movement Against the Swedish Mining Industry

• Main Author: Hagbom, Hanna
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Lunds universitet/Miljövetenskaplig utbildning 2015
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; saami
• Online Access: http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5471717

This study examines the importance of resistance in the context of political change through a presentation and discussion of the Saami resistance movement. The study was conducted by using methods such as literature review, semi-structural interviews and qualitative data analysis. In order to stress the relevance for environmental science the study is based on the aim to present how the movement is acknowledging environmental issues and consequences connected to mining. Further, the study provides an insight in the legal framework regulating the mining industry and how, by various form of resistance, the movement is criticising these regulations and advocates for changes in the environmental law, as well as the mineral law. In this era of time, where the political agenda concerning how to limit climate change is of great relevance, this study shows an alternative perspective in how to perceive Sweden’s extraction of finite natural resources and the state’s exploitation of valuable nature. Thus, the Saami’s resistance against an increasing mining industry is significant as it identifies the conflicts and shortcomings within the legal framework and, therefore provides an insight of the importance of resistance in order to reach political change. Finally, this paper provides a cross-disciplinary perspective to these issues as it shows how the Swedish state’s ignorance of human- and indigenous rights stands in direct relation to the political failure to reach the country’s environmental imperative and a sustainable development. Enligt Sveriges rådande Mineral Strategi ska antalet produktiva gruvor i Sverige öka trefaldigt till 2050. Gruvindustrin är en av de industrier som har störst negativ inverkan på miljön och bidrar därför till oåterkalleliga konsekvenser och konflikter utifrån ett ekologiskt, ekonomiskt och socialt perspektiv. För att synliggöra dessa konflikter har en motståndsrörelse växt sig stark. Trots Sveriges mål om en hållbar utveckling, där hållbara näringar ska prioriteras framför kortsiktiga, har ...