| Summary: | Exploitation of indigenous lands due to the extraction of natural resources is a global problem, historically and today. This paper will focus on a Swedish context, specifically the mining industry in Kiruna and how the state-owned mining company LKAB with a new discovery of rare earth elements (REE) threatens to exploit the lands of the Sami village of Gabna. Through a critical discourse analysis, the aim is to study to what extent and how Sami rights and interest are presented in the national media, how language in the national discourses can legitimize certain types of actions, and how this in turn can reproduce or challenge unequal power relations between the Sami and the Swedish state. In 13 investigated articles from Aftonbladet, the most dominant discourse is the presentation of the planned extraction as a contribution to the green transition and a solution to the climate crisis, which serves as legitimization of LKAB's actions. This, in combination with the peripheral position of the Sami, reproduce unequal power relations and shows practices of green colonialism as exploitation is legitimized through arguments about a green transition. In conclusion, this is a conflict of interest between the Swedish state and the Sami people, and whether it will follow the course of other colonial patterns remains to be seen.
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