Finnmarksloven: the new form of co-governance in Finnmark, Norway

• Main Author: Jacobsen, Petter
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Western CEDAR 2008
• Subjects: co-governance; Finnmark; territoriality; Sami; law; Geography; First Nations; sami
• Online Access: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wdcag/2008wdcag/2008/48

Proposal presented by on, "Finnmarksloven": The New Form of Co-governance in Finnmark, Norway. I am a Norwegian citizen, but I have worked with and studied Anthropology and First Nations Studies for the last three years, at undergraduate level, at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). I here present my perspective as a Canadian student on a Norwegian topic. This oral presentation examines the evolution of land ownership and governance in Finnmark, Norway and the parallel policies and events which lead to the implementation of the new Finnmark Act. This act, implemented on 1st of June 2006, transfers 100% of the ownership of Finnmark County over to the people of Finnmark from the State, and gives the Sami Parliament 50% of the decision making power over Finnmark County, the northernmost county in Norway. I present the colonial patterns of deterritorialization of the Sami people from their homeland and culture, the struggle over land and resources, and therefore the conflicting cultural spaces striving to maintain and gain power. Furthermore, how changing power structures have implemented the new law of governance, which creates a hybrid form of territoriality, a new perception of space and consequently, a new form of co-governance.