In the Nordic countries, discrimination of the
Sámi and violation of their Indigenous rights often takes place through
seemingly non-violent and neutral laws, policies and regulations which fail to
take into consideration, or address the historical, structural and material
conditions of settler colonialism and their impact on the Sámi people. For the
same reason, Sámi insistence on their rights as an Indigenous people gets
easily dismissed as irrelevant, misplaced or even as greed for “special rights”
that others are not entitled to. Examples of such attitudes and interpretations
are common on different levels of governance as well as in public sphere,
including social media platforms, where discussion on Sámi and Indigenous
rights, and especially land rights, often provokes outright racism and hate
speech, leading to further exclusion of the Sámi from the public sphere, and
damage to their freedom of speech.
Recognizing the centrality of land – the ace for
land, need for land, rights to land and protection of land - this roundtable
seeks to discuss the interplay of Nordic governance, discrimination and Sámi
rights in the context of rapidly increasing land pressure and conflict. Ongoing
geopolitical change (including militarization) and the so-called green
transition/green colonialism are exacerbating colonial pressure on Sámi lands
and livelihoods. Bringing together foremost scholars in these topics from Norway,
Sweden and Finland, the aim of the roundtable is first, to build a better
understanding of how and through what kind of legal and regulatory frameworks
the growing corporate, state and military interest in the lands, territories
and natural resources in Sápmi is advanced and legitimated in each of these
countries. Second, we discuss their impact on the Sámi, i.e. what kind of
discriminatory outcomes they produce; and finally, how the Sámi have resisted
and what kind of challenges the resistance has to face, given
the Nordic societies’ general lack of acknowledgement of the
underlying colonial history and persistent structures of discrimination and
disadvantage.
Roundtable chair: Laura
Junka-Aikio, University of Lapland
Participants: Åsa Larson-Bild, (Saami Council, TBC) Mikkel Berg-Nordlie (Oslo Metropolitan University), Kukka Ranta
(University of Lapland) and Annette Löf (Stockholm Environment Insititute)
When: 15.4.2025 at 15:00-16:30
Where: Esko & Asko -hall with possibility for online participation.
Event link: Roundtable: Land, Discrimination and Sámi Rights in the context of geopolitical change and green colonialism
