Arctic Review on Law and Politics
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The Násávárre Indigenous–Industry Dialogue: Knowledges and Agency in the Permit Process
Get PDFThis paper offers an insight into a single case study, the permit process of the Nasa mountain – Násávárre mining case in Nordland County, Norway. At Násávárre, the Chinese-owned mining company Elkem plans to open a pit mine to extract quartz. The area in question has the highest reindeer density in Nordland County, and the proposed mining operation would affect five Indigenous Sámi reindeer herding districts on both the Norwegian and the Swedish side of Sápmi. Despite incentives aimed at improving corporate respect for Indigenous rights such as the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, Indigenous peoples often face asymmetric power relations and uneven playing fields, particularly in terms of costs and capacity to respond to corporate positions on and understandings of Indigenous knowledges and rights. The knowledge base of this encounter, as it is experienced by the reindeer herders, can be discussed in terms of structural and agential factors. Our analysis focuses on the extent to which the reindeer herders have been enabled to engage with Elkem, with a particular emphasis on the reindeer herders’ experience of how their knowledges have been assessed by the company. The work is based on a review of case documents
Can Conflict Be Planned Away? A Critical Assessment of Participatory Land Use Planning in Swedish Forest Governance
Get PDFA widespread governance response to land use conflict is to seek improved communication through the employment of dialogue-based instruments. In this paper, we interrogate the guiding presupposition that conflict can be planned away through a case study on the Reindeer Husbandry Plan (Renbruksplan), a tool used to address land use conflicts between industrial forestry and Indigenous Sámi reindeer herding. Drawing on critical policy analysis and environmental justice frameworks, we analyze the problematizations, silences, and effects emerging from the tool’s use in forestry planning and land use decisions. Our findings reveal that, operating in its current institutional and legal context, the tool offers limited improvements in procedural justice, exacerbates unequal distribution of burdens and benefits in terms of who gets to use forest resources, privileging a forestry-centered representation of the land use conflict. We therefore conclude that, in absence of institutional reform, the tool is likely to perpetuate conflicts and continue to reproduce the injustices embedded in Swedish forest and land use governance
How the Ukraine War Stopped Arctic Brinkmanship
Get PDFBased on available data in an open-source environment, there was no military antagonism nor any provocative exercises between U.S. and Russian forces in the Arctic between 2022 and 2024. This contrasts the 2015–2021 period where the two rivals provoked each other outside the coast of Norway. Why have U.S. and Russian forces stopped antagonizing each other? Using brinkmanship as a theoretical model of explanation, this study finds the Ukraine War to be an Arctic tranquilizer. This is partly due to fear of nuclear escalation but also due to strategic necessity: neither U.S. nor Russian forces can afford an overstretch problématique in the contemporary international environment. As both protagonists forge self-imposed restraints, Russia’s 2022 invasion has inadvertently led to more Arctic stability
Moolawang Ngayagang Yanba: Developing Relationships with Lake Illawarra
Get PDFThis paper offers an example of how Indigenous knowledges can be integrated into governance within an Australian context. The research is part of an international collaborative project seeking demonstrable examples of the potential for effective integration of Indigenous knowledge into land and marine based planning processes, and environmental decision-making. In the main, the integration of Indigenous knowledge has been tokenistic, or for the purposes of appropriation, making Indigenous peoples reluctant to share their knowledge. Aware of the risks, the authors introduce an Australian based case study of a program with prodigious potential. Moolawang Ngayagang Yanba is a knowledge informed program delivered in place, on the shores of Lake Illawarra, New South Wales. Government employees, planners, scientists, environmentalists, and community members already involved with the Lake engaged in this Aboriginal based knowledge program. The aim was to introduce to participants a relational and generative way of knowing; an ethos that has the potential to inform future decision-making in relation to the Lake. Participants were encouraged to develop a relationship with, and recognise their personal and professional responsibilities to the Lake. This paper explains the Moolawang program and the Aboriginal knowledge that underpins it; Maramal, a place-based philosophy, articulating an interconnected set of frameworks for identifying with an Aboriginal worldview. We acknowledge this generously shared knowledge system is specific to Place, yet we conclude it provides principles, protocols and customs that have transferable potential to decision-making processes outside of the Illawarra, to other parts of Australia, and perhaps internationally
War in Europe, but Still Low Tension in the High North? An Analysis of Norwegian Mitigation Strategies
Get PDFRussia’s invasion of Ukraine has created the most precarious security situation in Europe, including the High North, since the Second World War. This article studies how Norway manages High North security dilemmas in the context of this ongoing war. Based on security dilemma theory, we direct our attention to a set of mitigation strategies and discuss the effectiveness of these. We build our arguments on Robert Jervis’ article “Cooperation under the Security Dilemma” in World Politics (1978), and his understanding that a security dilemma occurs when an increase in one state’s security leads to other states fearing for their own security, thus creating tension or conflict escalation. To limit such dilemmas, Norway has pursued a policy mix of both deterrence and reassurance measures. Our contribution to the research debate is the term mitigation-strategies, derived from security dilemma theory. First, we discuss people-to-people cooperation and analyse how this is a trust-building measure. Secondly, we explore how Norway approaches confidence and security building measures in the High North. Finally, we discuss the implications of letting the Arctic Council become an arena for security- and defence political coordination. Building upon insights from security dilemma theory, we demonstrate how Norway contributes to maintaining lower levels of tension in the High North
Small States in World Politics: Norwegian Interests and Foreign Policy Challenges in the Arctic
Get PDFSmall states are perceived to be subject to the will of great powers in the international system. Yet, small states – such as Norway – also have interests they pursue through various means. This article features an inventory of the Norwegian government’s main foreign policy and Arctic policy interests, and examines the rationale behind these interests from a domestic and an international perspective. The article highlights Norway’s challenges in the Arctic, including balancing between Russia and NATO, Norway’s bilateral relationship with the United States, dealing with China as an emerging Arctic stakeholder, and Norway’s ambivalent relationship with the European Union concerning the Arctic. The analysis draws on theorizing about small states in world politics and Putnam’s two-level game. The latter facilitates the examination of how the Norwegian government must reconcile domestic and international priorities simultaneously, and how the negotiation of foreign policy is conducted as a balancing act in national and international arenas
How to Understand Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier in the Arctic
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to analyse climate change as a threat multiplier to security dilemmas in the Arctic. Security dilemmas occur when one state’s efforts to enhance its security provokes reactions from other states, potentially leading to less security for all states involved. In an era of growing great power competition and confrontation, climate change might be a threat multiplier. This article contributes to our understanding of Arctic security dynamics by conducting a set of semi-structured interviews with mainly Norwegian civilian and military personnel on possible security dilemmas because of climate change. By applying Robert Jervis’ approach to security dilemmas, we ask how climate change affects how NATO and Russia interact in this area and how climate change might cause actors to pursue more offensive strategies in the north at the expense of defensive ones. By analysing state actors, day-to-day operations, and exercises, we conclude that climate change is poised to tilt the offence-defence balance not in favour of offensive strategies, but rather towards an offence-defence balance. We therefore conclude that there is no traditional security dilemma that may be exacerbated by climate change. Instead of exacerbating a security dilemma, climate change may precipitate one
The 17th Polar Law Symposium and the Opening Speech of Rector Anders Fällström
Get PDFFrom September 23 to 26, 2024, Gaskeuniversiteete (Mid Sweden University) hosted the 17th Polar Law Symposium. The event was officially opened by the university’s rector, Anders Fällström, who, in his speech, underscored the significance of the symposium for both the university and its role as a global institution with a strong commitment to regional engagement. Fällström highlighted that Gaskeuniversiteete is the only university in Sweden located within the South Sámi region, with Sámi issues forming a central part of its academic mission.
The editors of Arctic Review on Law and Politics attended the symposium and are pleased to have received permission to publish Rector Fällström’s speech. One of the key reasons for publishing the speech is that it exemplifies the commitment academic institutions have toward the surrounding Indigenous communities. For the Indigenous Sámi people, such commitments include research, education, and collaboration aimed at promoting the use of traditional knowledge and developing expertise in Sámi culture, language, and law. It is hoped that Gaskeuniversiteete will continue to foster this Indigenous-academia partnership, ensuring its success in practice as well as in principle
An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Residence Permit Appeals at the Administrative Courts of Finland: Acquiescence Bias by Legalised Judicial Injustices in Finland
Get PDFArctic law and politics are heavily focused on citizens and their welfare. In recent times, migration has led to an increase in immigrants to the Arctic region, expanding discussions on diversity, equality, and inclusion. This article analyses immigrant experiences of the wheels of justice when appealing extended-residence decisions in Finland. There has been research on residence applications but there is no previous research on appealing residence decisions in Finland. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the article analyses four Africans’ experiences of (in)justice during residence permit decision appeals lodged through the administrative courts in Finland 2011–2020. The article uses the Renault concept to argue and underscore the experiences of injustice and to underscore the gathered, analysed emerging themes and the patterns observed in the handling of the residence permit appeal cases from a legal and political perspective. The information was gathered through in-depth interviews using open-ended, structured questions, and the analysis of personal text and information was collated using MAXQDA software. The article highlights the incidences of human rights violations, injustice, mental health and well-being issues, inadequate information and distrust of the administrative justice system, and the risk that this poses to Arctic law and politics as right-wing politics are on the rise