Coexistence or (green) colonialism? A narrative analysis of the disputed mining project in Rönnbäcken
(2024) STVM25 20241Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- Increasing demands for the green transition have created an ethical dilemma: How can the extraction of critical minerals be combined with protection of Indigenous rights and local ecosystems? Is it even possible to find solutions to the conflicts that emerge in “green” energy projects? Contributing to these debates, this thesis set out to answer the following question: How can we understand pro- and anti-mining narratives adopted in the mining project in Rönnbäcken (2013-2024) from a postcolonial-ecocritical perspective? By conducting a narrative analysis of newspaper articles and other text sources, this thesis found that pro-mining narratives in Rönnbäcken were largely centered around ideas of extractive exceptionalism, green growth and,... (More)
- Increasing demands for the green transition have created an ethical dilemma: How can the extraction of critical minerals be combined with protection of Indigenous rights and local ecosystems? Is it even possible to find solutions to the conflicts that emerge in “green” energy projects? Contributing to these debates, this thesis set out to answer the following question: How can we understand pro- and anti-mining narratives adopted in the mining project in Rönnbäcken (2013-2024) from a postcolonial-ecocritical perspective? By conducting a narrative analysis of newspaper articles and other text sources, this thesis found that pro-mining narratives in Rönnbäcken were largely centered around ideas of extractive exceptionalism, green growth and, to a lesser extent, environmental justice. Anti-mining narratives, on the other hand, were mainly rooted in ideas of environmental justice, and to some extent also human-nonhuman interdependency. These narratives were further understood as sites of colonial and anthropocentric power and resistance. The findings indicate that the conflict in Rönnbäcken concerns fundamental differences in how Rönnbäcken, both the area and the project, is ought to be interpreted. Any attempt to find solutions to the conflicts must thus first address these differences, as well as the power relations embedded in the conflict. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9153063
- author
- Andersson, Tilda LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVM25 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- postcolonial ecocriticism, narrative analysis, power, green transition, Sámi rights
- language
- English
- id
- 9153063
- date added to LUP
- 2024-07-18 14:01:44
- date last changed
- 2024-07-18 14:01:44
@misc{9153063, abstract = {{Increasing demands for the green transition have created an ethical dilemma: How can the extraction of critical minerals be combined with protection of Indigenous rights and local ecosystems? Is it even possible to find solutions to the conflicts that emerge in “green” energy projects? Contributing to these debates, this thesis set out to answer the following question: How can we understand pro- and anti-mining narratives adopted in the mining project in Rönnbäcken (2013-2024) from a postcolonial-ecocritical perspective? By conducting a narrative analysis of newspaper articles and other text sources, this thesis found that pro-mining narratives in Rönnbäcken were largely centered around ideas of extractive exceptionalism, green growth and, to a lesser extent, environmental justice. Anti-mining narratives, on the other hand, were mainly rooted in ideas of environmental justice, and to some extent also human-nonhuman interdependency. These narratives were further understood as sites of colonial and anthropocentric power and resistance. The findings indicate that the conflict in Rönnbäcken concerns fundamental differences in how Rönnbäcken, both the area and the project, is ought to be interpreted. Any attempt to find solutions to the conflicts must thus first address these differences, as well as the power relations embedded in the conflict.}}, author = {{Andersson, Tilda}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Coexistence or (green) colonialism? A narrative analysis of the disputed mining project in Rönnbäcken}}, year = {{2024}}, }