Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields
Extractive resources industries are irreversibly transforming land, air, water, life and society around the world at an unprecedented rate, and Sweden is no exception. This anthropological study analyzes acute issues related to this transformation: the resettlement of six thousand residents of the c...
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Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi
2021
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-457024 2023-05-15T17:04:05+02:00 Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields López, Elisa Maria 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-457024 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi Uppsala Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology, 0348-5099 62 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-457024 urn:isbn:978-91-513-1335-1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Space nature inequality Sweden Kiruna mining Sámi reindeer herding urban planning displacement Social Anthropology Socialantropologi Doctoral thesis, monograph info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis text 2021 ftuppsalauniv 2023-03-15T23:29:43Z Extractive resources industries are irreversibly transforming land, air, water, life and society around the world at an unprecedented rate, and Sweden is no exception. This anthropological study analyzes acute issues related to this transformation: the resettlement of six thousand residents of the city of Kiruna due to ground deformations caused by large-scale iron mining by the Swedish state-owned company LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB). The thesis explains how mining, the dominant mode of production in the Ore Fields (Malmfälten) region, establishes particular social relations, structures of power, and conceptual models of space, nature, and society. I approach these relations and ideas through the perspective of space, and show how space in Kiruna is produced through social processes, material infrastructures, symbols and meaning-making in support of extractivism, the political and economic prioritization of resource extraction. The empirical basis of the work is fifteen months of ethnographic field research in Kiruna between 2012 and 2015. The analysis relies on theories of space in Anthropology and Geography, as well as ideas from settler colonial studies. A central argument in the study is that despite official representations of the city move as a “social transformation”, the physical, conceptual, and social production of space extends material and social inequalities integral to extractivism. While all city residents are affected by the insecurity and risks of extractivism, which the city move revealed, the Indigenous Sámi community is uniquely affected. Sámi from the Kiruna area have historically been subjected to colonial policy, limits on their subsistence economy, displacement from land, and harmful stereotypes. However, Sámi have also continually resisted such limitations and stereotypes, adopting diverse forms of work to support reindeer herding (including mine work), establishing urban community spaces, and documenting and preserving local cultural landscapes. The move of the city reveals that ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Kiruna Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Kiruna Luossavaara ENVELOPE(20.233,20.233,67.867,67.867) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Space nature inequality Sweden Kiruna mining Sámi reindeer herding urban planning displacement Social Anthropology Socialantropologi |
spellingShingle |
Space nature inequality Sweden Kiruna mining Sámi reindeer herding urban planning displacement Social Anthropology Socialantropologi López, Elisa Maria Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
topic_facet |
Space nature inequality Sweden Kiruna mining Sámi reindeer herding urban planning displacement Social Anthropology Socialantropologi |
description |
Extractive resources industries are irreversibly transforming land, air, water, life and society around the world at an unprecedented rate, and Sweden is no exception. This anthropological study analyzes acute issues related to this transformation: the resettlement of six thousand residents of the city of Kiruna due to ground deformations caused by large-scale iron mining by the Swedish state-owned company LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB). The thesis explains how mining, the dominant mode of production in the Ore Fields (Malmfälten) region, establishes particular social relations, structures of power, and conceptual models of space, nature, and society. I approach these relations and ideas through the perspective of space, and show how space in Kiruna is produced through social processes, material infrastructures, symbols and meaning-making in support of extractivism, the political and economic prioritization of resource extraction. The empirical basis of the work is fifteen months of ethnographic field research in Kiruna between 2012 and 2015. The analysis relies on theories of space in Anthropology and Geography, as well as ideas from settler colonial studies. A central argument in the study is that despite official representations of the city move as a “social transformation”, the physical, conceptual, and social production of space extends material and social inequalities integral to extractivism. While all city residents are affected by the insecurity and risks of extractivism, which the city move revealed, the Indigenous Sámi community is uniquely affected. Sámi from the Kiruna area have historically been subjected to colonial policy, limits on their subsistence economy, displacement from land, and harmful stereotypes. However, Sámi have also continually resisted such limitations and stereotypes, adopting diverse forms of work to support reindeer herding (including mine work), establishing urban community spaces, and documenting and preserving local cultural landscapes. The move of the city reveals that ... |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
López, Elisa Maria |
author_facet |
López, Elisa Maria |
author_sort |
López, Elisa Maria |
title |
Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
title_short |
Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
title_full |
Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
title_fullStr |
Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
title_full_unstemmed |
Transforming Kiruna : Producing Space, Society, and Legacies of Inequality in the Swedish Ore Fields |
title_sort |
transforming kiruna : producing space, society, and legacies of inequality in the swedish ore fields |
publisher |
Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för kulturantropologi och etnologi |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-457024 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.233,20.233,67.867,67.867) |
geographic |
Kiruna Luossavaara |
geographic_facet |
Kiruna Luossavaara |
genre |
Kiruna |
genre_facet |
Kiruna |
op_relation |
Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology, 0348-5099 62 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-457024 urn:isbn:978-91-513-1335-1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1766058116582998016 |