You Can Kill Us with Dialogue

” Critical Perspectives on Wind Energy Development in a Nordic-Saami Green Colonial Context

Bibliographic Data

ID12957232
AuthorsEva Maria Fjellheim (UiT The Arctic University of Norway, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume24
Issue1
Pages25-51
Publication date2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Rights Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1874-6306 • E-ISSN: 1524-8879
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s12142-023-00678-4
OpenAlexW4323925192
LanguageEN
Citations received35
References cited50

This article explores Southern Saami reindeer herders’ experiences and contestations over state consultation and corporate dialogue during a conflict over the Øyfjellet wind energy project in Norway. Informed by a committed research approach and juxtaposition with findings from Indigenous peoples' territorial struggles in Latin-America, the article provides critical perspectives on governance practices in a Nordic-Saami green colonial context. The research draws on ethnography from a consultation meeting between Jillen Njaarke, the impacted reindeer herding community, and state authorities, as well as diverse written material. The study suggests that the state- and corporate-led “dialogues” displaced the root cause of the conflict, revealed epistemic miscommunication , and perpetuated relations of domination which limited emancipatory effects for Jillen Njaarke . The premises and discourses underpinning the “dialogues” further reproduced racist notions which devalue ancestral Saami reindeer herding knowledges, practices, and landscape relations. These findings challenge dialogue as prescription of good governance and conflict resolution in a context where democracy and compliance with Indigenous peoples’ rights are perceived as high

Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Corporate governance · Environmental ethics · Geography · Herding · Indigenous · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science · Gender Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Law · Mining and Resource Management

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Open DOIOpen Access