Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden
During the summer of 2013, fierce protests broke out against a test-mining operation in Gállok (Kallak) outside Jokkmokk, Sweden. Environmental activists joined with local indigenous Sámi in the protest. The incident made national and international headlines, resonating with other instances of confl...
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Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia
2015
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-272351 2023-05-15T16:57:06+02:00 Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden Nyström, Markus 2015 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-272351 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-272351 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess mining Kallak Gállok Sámi Sápmi Sweden colonialism masterplot narrative theory discourse analysis capitalist realism capitalism metanarrative temporal ontology historical narratives Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2015 ftuppsalauniv 2023-02-23T21:39:31Z During the summer of 2013, fierce protests broke out against a test-mining operation in Gállok (Kallak) outside Jokkmokk, Sweden. Environmental activists joined with local indigenous Sámi in the protest. The incident made national and international headlines, resonating with other instances of conflict between mining companies and indigenous peoples around the world. This thesis aims to explore political discourses and historical narratives behind those, and other, protests and tensions in relation to mining between, on the one hand, the Swedish state which express – through various institutions – to be a proud 'mining nation' with a firm environmental legislation, and, on the other, indigenous Sámi in the Swedish north. Using discourse analysis in combination with a novel application of concepts from narrative theory (the concept of masterplots), the narratives and ideologies of the national institutions responsible for decision-making in mining affairs in Sweden – the government, the parliament, and the Mining Inspectorate – are investigated by analyzing various written and verbal sources. The investigation show a coherent trend within the institutions in making the Sámi people, their rights to land and water, and Sweden's colonial history towards them and their land, Sápmi, invisible, misunderstood, and/or belittled. Mining is understood as an evidently vital and typically Swedish industry, fundamental for the rise of Sweden as a modern welfare state, and an industry which 'makes the world better' by providing the necessary raw materials for the (assumed) inevitable progress and benefit of (western) technology and (western) civilization. The exclusion of certain histories allow for a hegemony in which a certain future is naturalized, made out to be unavoidable. Furthermore, the plot structures employed to create and sustain the hegemony draw on several colonial masterplots. The conclusion of this thesis is that the hegemonic discourse sustains a colonial attitude towards Sápmi and the Sámi people, without it ... Bachelor Thesis Jokkmokk Sámi Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Jokkmokk ENVELOPE(20.150,20.150,66.500,66.500) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
mining Kallak Gállok Sámi Sápmi Sweden colonialism masterplot narrative theory discourse analysis capitalist realism capitalism metanarrative temporal ontology historical narratives |
spellingShingle |
mining Kallak Gállok Sámi Sápmi Sweden colonialism masterplot narrative theory discourse analysis capitalist realism capitalism metanarrative temporal ontology historical narratives Nyström, Markus Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
topic_facet |
mining Kallak Gállok Sámi Sápmi Sweden colonialism masterplot narrative theory discourse analysis capitalist realism capitalism metanarrative temporal ontology historical narratives |
description |
During the summer of 2013, fierce protests broke out against a test-mining operation in Gállok (Kallak) outside Jokkmokk, Sweden. Environmental activists joined with local indigenous Sámi in the protest. The incident made national and international headlines, resonating with other instances of conflict between mining companies and indigenous peoples around the world. This thesis aims to explore political discourses and historical narratives behind those, and other, protests and tensions in relation to mining between, on the one hand, the Swedish state which express – through various institutions – to be a proud 'mining nation' with a firm environmental legislation, and, on the other, indigenous Sámi in the Swedish north. Using discourse analysis in combination with a novel application of concepts from narrative theory (the concept of masterplots), the narratives and ideologies of the national institutions responsible for decision-making in mining affairs in Sweden – the government, the parliament, and the Mining Inspectorate – are investigated by analyzing various written and verbal sources. The investigation show a coherent trend within the institutions in making the Sámi people, their rights to land and water, and Sweden's colonial history towards them and their land, Sápmi, invisible, misunderstood, and/or belittled. Mining is understood as an evidently vital and typically Swedish industry, fundamental for the rise of Sweden as a modern welfare state, and an industry which 'makes the world better' by providing the necessary raw materials for the (assumed) inevitable progress and benefit of (western) technology and (western) civilization. The exclusion of certain histories allow for a hegemony in which a certain future is naturalized, made out to be unavoidable. Furthermore, the plot structures employed to create and sustain the hegemony draw on several colonial masterplots. The conclusion of this thesis is that the hegemonic discourse sustains a colonial attitude towards Sápmi and the Sámi people, without it ... |
format |
Bachelor Thesis |
author |
Nyström, Markus |
author_facet |
Nyström, Markus |
author_sort |
Nyström, Markus |
title |
Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
title_short |
Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
title_full |
Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Invisible Histories and Stories of Progress : Discourses and Narratives in Decision-Making Institutions in Mining Affairs in Sweden |
title_sort |
invisible histories and stories of progress : discourses and narratives in decision-making institutions in mining affairs in sweden |
publisher |
Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-272351 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.150,20.150,66.500,66.500) |
geographic |
Jokkmokk |
geographic_facet |
Jokkmokk |
genre |
Jokkmokk Sámi |
genre_facet |
Jokkmokk Sámi |
op_relation |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-272351 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1766048380439494656 |