Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

As conflicts between reindeer herding communities and exploitative industries such as forestry continue in Sweden, new collaborations between these reindeer herding communities and the environmental movement arise. Such collaborations have the aim to provide their members with an advantage; a synergy that is achieved by working together. However, studies of such collaborations also show that they often are sources of frustrations instead, due to differences in e.g., purposes and resources.

Previous research on collaborations between Indigenous communities and environmental organisations in other parts of the world have shown that these collaborations often bridge the aim to achieve self-determination with the aim of nature protection. While these collaborations can be a source of strength, they also struggle with addressing e.g., power imbalances. Yet, research on these kind of collaborations in a Swedish context is limited.

This thesis addresses that knowledge gap by providing insight into the dynamics of such collaborations, using the example of the collaboration between Muonio reindeer herding community in northern Sweden and Greenpeace Sweden.

The analysis revealed three main themes how the collaboration is perceived: The collaboration as a stepping stone, the collaboration as a place of empowerment and the collaboration as a place of asymmetry. It is shown that agreed common aims on both the outcome and the process of the collaboration are essential to building trust and guiding the collaboration forward. Being two organisations with different purposes and fields of expertise makes collaborative advantage possible in the first place, as the partners complement each other. Paradoxically, these very differences also cause challenges that need to be overcome through continuous commitment and willingness to adapt.

This study then not only adds to understanding the dynamics of the collaboration at hand, but furthermore offers insights into how members can actively create conditions to make collaborations between Sámi actors and the environmental movement in Sweden successful.