A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway
Reindeer herding in Finnmark has been widely perceived during the last few decades as a perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. The present article claims that this discourse relies on flawed assumption regarding land tenure. Our historical analysis of the term ‘common’ in relation to resourc...
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/7977 2023-05-15T16:13:35+02:00 A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway Marin, Andrei Florin Bjørklund, Ivar 2015-03 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7977 eng eng Igitur - Utrecht Publishing & Archiving Services International Journal of the Commons 9(2015) nr. 1 s. 19-40 FRIDAID 1229007 1875-0281 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7977 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7561 openAccess institutional bargaining institutional layering institutional bricolage reindeer commons ILO land tenure VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2015 ftunivtroemsoe 2021-06-25T17:54:22Z Reindeer herding in Finnmark has been widely perceived during the last few decades as a perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. The present article claims that this discourse relies on flawed assumption regarding land tenure. Our historical analysis of the term ‘common’ in relation to resources in Finnmark shows the term to reflect a misunderstanding of local categories, practices, and concerns related to pastures, territories, and natural resources more generally. In this sense, it exposes a case of ‘mistaken identity’ between the formal legal conception of ‘commons’ and the customary rules and thinking of reindeer herders. We turn to different strands of critical institutionalism to analyse the processes of institutional change that have allowed these errors and misunderstandings to be formalised and naturalised in the current governance system. We show that a process of institutional bargaining between the Norwegian Parliament, the Sámi Parliament, and the International Labour Organisation has recently re-enforced an alien conception of a ‘commons’ to which ambiguous groups of people have equivocal rights. In parallel, a process of institutional layering of new regulatory actors and rules on top of existing ones has taken place. This regulatory ratcheting has resulted in the blurring of the authorities and jurisdictions intrinsic in the customary tenure system. Moreover, the new layers of regulations have actively overemphasized the Sámi customary obligation of sharing resources to legitimize the new, ambiguous, conception of commons. This process is explained as one of institutional bricolage based on naturalisation by analogy and authority processes that allow certain powerful actors to influence the production of institutional arrangements favourable to them. All three processes underline the negotiated, dynamic nature of institutional change. We propose this integrative analysis of institutional and general social dynamics is beneficial in studying commons as everyday practices affecting natural resource governance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Finnmark Sámi Finnmark University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Norway |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
institutional bargaining institutional layering institutional bricolage reindeer commons ILO land tenure VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 |
spellingShingle |
institutional bargaining institutional layering institutional bricolage reindeer commons ILO land tenure VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 Marin, Andrei Florin Bjørklund, Ivar A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
topic_facet |
institutional bargaining institutional layering institutional bricolage reindeer commons ILO land tenure VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 |
description |
Reindeer herding in Finnmark has been widely perceived during the last few decades as a perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. The present article claims that this discourse relies on flawed assumption regarding land tenure. Our historical analysis of the term ‘common’ in relation to resources in Finnmark shows the term to reflect a misunderstanding of local categories, practices, and concerns related to pastures, territories, and natural resources more generally. In this sense, it exposes a case of ‘mistaken identity’ between the formal legal conception of ‘commons’ and the customary rules and thinking of reindeer herders. We turn to different strands of critical institutionalism to analyse the processes of institutional change that have allowed these errors and misunderstandings to be formalised and naturalised in the current governance system. We show that a process of institutional bargaining between the Norwegian Parliament, the Sámi Parliament, and the International Labour Organisation has recently re-enforced an alien conception of a ‘commons’ to which ambiguous groups of people have equivocal rights. In parallel, a process of institutional layering of new regulatory actors and rules on top of existing ones has taken place. This regulatory ratcheting has resulted in the blurring of the authorities and jurisdictions intrinsic in the customary tenure system. Moreover, the new layers of regulations have actively overemphasized the Sámi customary obligation of sharing resources to legitimize the new, ambiguous, conception of commons. This process is explained as one of institutional bricolage based on naturalisation by analogy and authority processes that allow certain powerful actors to influence the production of institutional arrangements favourable to them. All three processes underline the negotiated, dynamic nature of institutional change. We propose this integrative analysis of institutional and general social dynamics is beneficial in studying commons as everyday practices affecting natural resource governance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marin, Andrei Florin Bjørklund, Ivar |
author_facet |
Marin, Andrei Florin Bjørklund, Ivar |
author_sort |
Marin, Andrei Florin |
title |
A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
title_short |
A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
title_full |
A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
title_fullStr |
A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway |
title_sort |
tragedy of errors? institutional dynamics and land tenure in finnmark, norway |
publisher |
Igitur - Utrecht Publishing & Archiving Services |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7977 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Finnmark Sámi Finnmark |
genre_facet |
Finnmark Sámi Finnmark |
op_relation |
International Journal of the Commons 9(2015) nr. 1 s. 19-40 FRIDAID 1229007 1875-0281 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7977 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7561 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
_version_ |
1765999375951069184 |