Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

In Sweden, forest owners and reindeer herding communities have parallel rights to the same land.
However, due to structural injustices embedded in the legal system that regulates these two landusers, the reindeer herding right is not fully realised. Consequently, reindeer herding communities
struggle to have their rights fulfilled in the conflict situation between them and forest companies. In
this thesis, I combine environmental justice theory with aspects from indigenous rights literature to
provide a decolonial approach to the understanding of the factors that constitute the conflict. The
aim of this thesis is to examine perceptions of justice and just processes held by actors within the
forestry- reindeer herding conflict in Sweden, focusing in particular on forest companies. By
analysing, through a content analysis, the qualitative data from 11 semi-structured interviews
conducted in February 2021 with forest company representatives, state representatives and Sámi
representatives, the findings show that injustice is maintained between the actors in several ways:
by not recognising the status and legitimacy of reindeer herding communities as rights holders; by
prioritising company profit from timber production over herding needs for functional pasture; and
by keeping herding community influence at a minimum level during corporate consultations, thus
violating the reindeer herding communities’ right to influence outcomes in matters that affect their
land use. These findings correspond to what other studies on natural resource use and Sámi rights
show, and adds an understanding of the underlying structural cause to the persistent conflicts
between reindeer herding and forestry. My results highlight that the conflict is made unjust through
social, cultural, political, economic, and legal structures, and, if not changed, reindeer herding
communities will continue to suffer disproportionality from this injustice.