This conflict study in Theology investigates reconciliation possibilities in indigenous lands in northern Sweden to be discussed through the Sámi Trail of Tears Walking Trail – a real-life innovation project. The historical material is based on the depiction of forcefully dislocated Sámis and the now polarized situation where local indigenous groups risk new conflicts partly with each other, partly with extractive industries, motorized tourism, and the majority’s society. Six public media sources were used for a brief thematization to detect discourse ethics used in communicative action. Further, two conferences were visited through participatory observation, revealing the importance of inclusion and visualized sovereignty. Five relevant sites were observed by asking how a walking trail could add value to reconciliation processes, and twenty interviews, or reasonings, were done mainly in Sápmi and Torne River valley, with one additional in Northern Finland to compare the situation of Forest Sámis in both countries. While site observations revealed ongoing slow violence in environments, they also showed how individuals become activated by their existing or absent relationships to a place. The interviews depicted cultural and existential views on place-bodies, reindeer keeping, natural elements, and material and immaterial values connected to them. The research also focused on the indigenous value-based Verdi system, recognized, and remembered by interviewees belonging indigenous communities. Further, the investigation asked about the role of leadership in truth- and reconciliation processes. The material was collected through qualitative indigenous research methods, and completed with perspectives of inclusion, wilderness spirituality, slow violence, and slow tourism. The material was analytically discussed through Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action. The findings points toward importance of continuing truth commissioning, a potential role of the Church in future negotiations, and also criticism against the failings of national leadership participation in truth-telling and reconciliation processes. Lastly, a briefly discussed model of Habitus-Based Reconciliation suggests focusing on long-term existential aspects of shared places and negating natural resources needed for communities and local cultures.

This study concerns the dynamics of Chinese strategic minerals policy and its effects on Zambian copper mining between 2016-2020. The essay employs a complementary—theories congruence analysis using Resource Security Theory, Debt Trap Diplomacy, and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis in order to analyse China’s actions and ascertain their effects on Zambia. The study found that China has a large presence within Zambian copper mining through the use of state-owned enterprises, aiding China in its goal of supplying domestic copper demand, and thus addressing resource security. These state-owned enterprises act within the Belt and Road Initiative framework. China is not using Debt Trap Diplomacy in Zambia, but may be able to in the future. China’s presence is negative for the Zambian environment. The moving of mining from China to Zambia has a positive impact on the Chinese environment.Chinese state-owned enterprises are far less stringent in abiding by environmental laws in Zambia than in China. The study shows that Resource Security Theory and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis hold strong explanatory value for the case of China in Zambian copper mining. Debt Trap Diplomacy proved a weaker theory, as natural resources have not been exchanged for debt write-off.

As the green transition gains importance, the demand for green technologies and rare earth elements (REE)has surged. The Nordic countries are overall well-supplied with minerals and metals, however, they have a ratherunique dilemma. Knowing that the majority of Swedish mines are situated on Sápmi, a relevant question is raised:How do we extract mineral resources to benefit the green transition, whilst respecting the land of Europe's onlyIndigenous group, the Sami people? Moreover, as the CSDDD framework emerges, yet another question is raised:How might CSDDD promote Sami influence in future mining-related decision-making? To explore this matter, I haveconstructed a most likely scenario and used the recent REE findings in Kiruna as a case study. The framework seemsto promote Sami influence in numerous ways as it creates a new legal ground to demand participation and seek justice,expands the definition of Sami interests, allows for consultations with nearby Sami villages, includes the Samiperspective on negative impacts, and could result in Sami people being consulted in terms of Indigenous rights-holders.However, if the framework and the Swedish mining permitting system are not synchronized properly, it might resultin cases where mining companies receive permits that conflict the will of the Sami people. Furthermore, theframework’s mentions of stakeholder engagement and Indigenous participation leave room for interpretation. At worst,the level of Sami influence in future mining-related decision-making could lie in the hands of the member states, andhence, the mining companies.

This thesis examines the intersection between lithium extraction and contemporary art through a visual semiotic analysis of three contemporary artworks: Unknown Fields’ We Power Our Future With the Breast Milk of Volcanoes, Marcela Magno’s Land [2] Litio, and Julian Charrière’s Future Fossil Spaces. It explores how lithium extraction is visualised in the selected artworks, what connotations can be extracted from them, the geopolitical dimension expressed in them, and how they relate to the myth of ‘green’ transition. This text takes a starting point in the notion of critical visualisations of extractivism in contemporary art as an urgent political, artistic, and ecological issue. Extractivism is a crucial concept in this thesis, and it is further explored through the intersection of art and extractivism in dialogue with previous research by, for example, Eray Çaylı, Macarena Gómez-Barris, and T.J. Demos. The artworld’s interest in lithium has grown in the last years, with cultural projects and exhibitions on lithium taking place in Sweden and the Netherlands, yet there are no academic texts that explore the intersection of lithium extraction and contemporary art. The aim of this thesis is to thoroughly examine this intersection through three contemporary artworks, to expand academic literature regarding this topic, but also to make the results available to curators, cultural workers, and artists who are currently developing cultural projects around lithium and its extraction. The results of the visual semiotic analysis demonstrated that all three of the artworks critically engaged with lithium extraction by visibilising either present or future green sacrifice zones. They all countered the myth of ‘green’ transition with different strategies: by showing the two-furthermost-apart links in the lithium supply chain, by recuperating Indigenous creation myths of the extracted landscapes, and by exploring the supposed intangibility of our ever-expanding digital world.

The Sami in Sweden have lived on and managed their lands since time immemorial. The strong connection to the environment and nature has given them centuries of knowledge that is still applicable to this day. With the help of their ancestral knowledge the Sami have preserved their Indigenous land. With constant work towards sustainability and extractive projects of natural resources for renewable energy that takes place in Sápmi, the question is raised of who is included in the transition towards sustainable development and who the transition is for. The purpose of this study is to investigate and get a deeper understanding of Sami perspectives on sustainability and the connection to their rights. Applied methodology for this qualitative study is semi-structured interviews with nine Sami, followed by a thematic analysis of the collected empirical data. This was done to understand and analyse perceptions of sustainable development and how it relates to Sami inclusion and Sami rights, using frameworks of colonial governmentality and green colonialism. The findings suggest that a differentiation can be made concerning how the Sami perceive actions for sustainable development and the concept of sustainable development. Further, the Sami view their inclusion in policy-making and implementation in regards to questions of sustainable development in Sweden as being somewhat low or not applied at all. In relation to environmental sustainability this study shows that the implementation of Sami rights varies depending on the context, but that it is generally experienced as insufficient, and that rights are often applied to the economic units of the samebys, and not all Sami, creating a division within the Sami community. The results also show a perception of lack of political will and a neglectance to include and implement Sami rights, as state interests are prioritised. The societal and institutional conditions for the Sami to claim their rights and require inclusion within sustainable development prove that the theories of colonial governmentality and green colonialism are applicable to the current situation in Sápmi.