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Green colonialism in the Nordic context: Exploring Southern Saami representations of wind energy development
Author(s) -
Normann Susanne
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22422
Subject(s) - norwegian , herding , indigenous , context (archaeology) , privilege (computing) , colonialism , sociology , traditional knowledge , power (physics) , political science , gender studies , geography , ecology , law , philosophy , linguistics , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , forestry , biology
This paper explores social representations of wind energy development within reindeer herding lands among the Indigenous Southern Saami living within Norwegian borders. For this matter, the paper combines Social Representations Theory (SRT) with the analytical framework of “circuits of dispossession and privilege” and decolonial approaches within community psychology. Data consisted of seven individual semi‐structured open‐ended interviews, three collective interviews, and observation in three lawsuits, public meetings, protest actions, and reindeer herding activities. The findings suggest that for the subjects in this study, the onset of wind power represents the renewal of historical processes of dispossession through accumulation and colonialism, enabled by harmful knowledge gaps in Norwegian society and institutions, contrasting Southern Saami's values of responsibility and ecological practices. The implication of these findings suggests an urgent need of rethinking renewable energy and including indigenous knowledge in climate change agendas.