This study compares USA and Swedish laws on Native Americans and Sami. Indigenous peoples are known to have inadequate rights because they are discriminated against. This is why the study has focused on examining what their rights look like and whether it is the implementation of the laws that has caused the high risk of discrimination. The study has focused on three areas: discrimination, self-determination and assimilation. the study has been based on these three areas when we look at the laws to see how it is in these areas among indigenous peoples. The approach will be to review the laws and compare them with similar laws in both countries, to see what similarities and differences there are around the laws of indigenous peoples. The different laws that the study will be going through in Sweden are Nationella minoriteter and minoritetspråk, Rennäringslagen and Sametingslagen and the US laws are the General allotment act, the Indian civil rights act, the Indian reorganization act and Native American language act. The results showed that the laws have some similarities but also large differences, because of the different forms of governments the countries have. One example of this is in the USA they have allot of power far down among the levels such as the states themselves and Native Americans own governments and courts, where they have the power to judge people and enforce laws. In Sweden the largest power exists in the parliament and the Sami there for do not have their own courts or governments where they have the power that Native Americans have. It also showed that many of the laws have changed some over the years, some more than others, but it turns out that it does not matter so much when they still have not made enough significant changes that help the indigenous peoples.

Forestry stands for 12% of the global greenhouse emissions which makes forestry an important policy area for sustainable development. On the 16th of July 2021, the EU’s new forest strategy was released. Since 2018 Sweden has its own forest program. Due to the new EU forest strategy receiving a lot of criticism, it is clear that the forest policy in EU and Sweden have different understandings on the forests' role for sustainable development. This thesis aims to explore how different understandings of a policy problem are expressed in a case of multi-level governance, which in this case is forest policy. To investigate this, we use the method of discourse analysis where the analytical tool applied is Carol Bacchi's “What’s the problem represented to be?”- framework. Our approach consists of four interrelated questions that are asked to the policy documents, which lead to an understanding of how problems are represented as well as which discursive effects these problematizations create. The study shows that the EU and Sweden's forest policies have different understandings on how the forest best should contribute to climate change. These differences create certain discursive effects where the Swedish forest policies to a larger extent benefit the forest industry and the EU forest policy to a larger extent sees the intrinsic value of nature as well as incorporates the indigenous perspective.

For a long time, the indigenous Sami of northern Sweden have had little influence within planning processes. This problem have in recent years been highlighted both in legal terms and through practices for developing Impact Assessments (IA), and has led to increasing conflict between reindeer herders and mining corporations. This thesis uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the IA documents for three mining concessions within Sami Reindeer Herding Communities (samebyar). The discourse analysis found that there were some differences in methodology and language between the documents, especially relating to if the assessments evaluated impacts to reindeer husbandry using a quantitative or a qualitative approach. The documents would also tend to downplay the impacts of the mines on reindeer husbandry, while highlighting the benefits of the mines for the local economy, and dispute the concerns of the affected reindeer herders. The thesis concludes by stating that an increased awareness of positionality among IA authors would be beneficial to promote transparency when indigenous or other vulnerable stakeholders are likely to be negatively affected. / Den samiska ursprungsbefolkningen i norra Sverige har under lång tid haft enbart lite inflytande inom planprocessen. Detta problem har under senare år belysts både i lagliga kretsar och genom metoder för att framställa miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar (MKB), och har lett till en ökad mängd konflikter mellan renskötare och gruvbolag. Denna uppsats använder kritisk diskursanalys för att undersöka MKB:na för tre gruvkoncessioner i samebyars renskötselområden. Resultaten pekade på att det fanns vissa skillnader i metodik och språk mellan dokumenten, särskilt när det gällde om bedömningarna utvärderade konsekvenserna på rennäringen genom en kvantitativ eller ett kvalitativ vetenskaplig metod. MKB:na tenderade även att tona ned gruvornas inverkan på renskötseln, samtidigt som de lyfte fram gruvornas fördelar för den lokala ekonomin, och ifrågasatte de berörda renskötarnas bekymran. Avslutningsvis konstateras att en ökad medvetenhet bland MKB-författare om hur deras subjektiva tillhörighet kan påverka deras bedömningar skulle vara fördelaktigt för att öka transparensen när ursprungsinvånare eller andra berörda sannolikt kommer att påverkas negativt.

The student thesis Nationalism and Norrientalism: A Discourse Analysis of the Norrlandic Independence Debate of Late Summer 2016 and Beyond aims to examine the style and content of the recent secession debate in the Swedish and Norrlandic printed press. From the late summer of 2016 to the beginning of 2017 the question of Norrlandic sovereignty was a prioritized topic in the legacy media debate, as well as in social media. It commenced after the Swedish government enterprise Vattenfall planned to relocate forty employment opportunities from Jokkmokk, raising the question of Norrlandic independence based on a post-colonialist view of the region. This thesis examines how the framing of Northern Sweden as a colony has been established, re-established or refuted in the different discourses of the printed debate, through a faceted lens composed of various theories of Orientalism and nationalism. Rooted in the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, merged with the critical discourse analysis of Norman Fairclough, and leaning against media theories of inoculation and framing, the study takes aim at the myths, metaphors, articulations and antagonisms which constituted the polemics in the printed press of the period. The results conclude that the debate revolved around independence, resources, and the myth regarding Norrland—often described as a barren landscape, marked by vast distances and a lack of social services. The term colony was used to describe Norrland as marginalised and robbed of its natural resources, whereas the term was met by opposition from the objecting side, who emphasised the historic and present representation of Norrlanders in high politics. The colonial identity was constituted in the press through internal Orientalism by Stockholm writers and self-Orientalisation by Norrlandic ones. The most distinct patterns of difference between the objecting side and the advocating side of independence was the determination of the real economic loser of a Norrlandic secession from Sweden.

Detta examensarbete är en läromedelsanalys av läroböcker i ämnet samhällskunskap för årskurs 7-9. Syftet är att undersöka vilken diskurs som framträder vid framställningen av samer i dessa läroböcker samt att undersöka hur det kommer sig att denna diskurs framträder. De frågeställningar som besvarats är Vilken diskurs framträder i beskrivandet av samer i samhällskunskapens lärobokför årskurs 7–9? samt Hur framträder denna diskurs i läroböcker i samhällskunskap för årskurs 7–9? Den teori som utfåtts ifrån i undersökningen är det socialkonstruktivistiska och den metod som använts för att besvara forskningsfrågorna är kritisk diskursanalys med en komplimenterande bildanalys. Resultatet visar att det i framställningen av samer i läromedlen framträder en diskurs där samer andrafieras och skildras som ”dem”, vilka står i kontrast till ”vi”, majoritetssamhället. Detta bottnar i att det är mycket svårt att ställa sig utanför den rådande diskursen. / This bachelor thesis is a teaching aid analysis in the school subject civics in junior high school. The purpose is to examine which discourse emerges when Samis being presented in these textbooks and also to examine why this discourse emerges. The questions that have been answered is Which discourse emerge in the description of the Sami in civics textbooks for Junior high school? and How does this discourse appear in civics textbooks for Junior high school?  The theory that has been used in the emerge is the social constructivistic and the methods being used to answer the questions is critical discourse analysis with a complementary picture analysis. The result shows that in the description of the Sami in textbooks a discourse where the Samis othering and being named as them in contrast to us, the majority society, appears. This depends on that it is very difficult to act outside of the prevailing discourse.

The aim of this thesis is to describe surname patterns and changes of surname among the Sami of Sweden. It presents the results of three studies. The first is a survey of the present-day stock of surnames (family names) among the Sami community, based on the 2005 electoral register for the Swedish Sami Parliament. It investigates the proportions of names deriving from different languages, and the commonest names in each group. The same study was carried out for different areas, showing that the northernmost parts of Sweden have a Sami name stock significantly different from that of the majority population. Further south, the stock of names is less marked, but no area is without Sami elements. The second study, based on archival material, concerns changes of name by Swedish Sami to newly formed surnames, over the period 1920–2004. It examines not only the names adopted, but also the ones replaced; how the name stock has been affected by different patterns of name change; and, as far as possible, who the name changers were. The study shows that, for a long time, names derived from Sami and Finnish were replaced with names formed from Swedish. This may be largely because of the stigma once attached to Sami ethnicity. More recently, Sami-language names seem to have been retained to a greater extent, possibly owing to the improved status of the culture. The third study looks at name changes in favour of names marked as Sami in character. The data consist in part of archive materials, but above all of interviews with three Sami informants who have themselves adopted Sami-language surnames. This study presents the informants’ thoughts on ethnicity and changes of name. In addition to the author’s own studies, the thesis includes a review of earlier research on Sami surnames, hereditary and non-hereditary, and a list of individual surnames with literature references regarding their origins and meanings. In the thesis, name changes are studied as a single, overall process, with an emphasis on the role of names in society, in particular as ethnic markers.

Syftet med detta arbete är att, dels ur ett fastighetsrättsligt perspektiv, dels ett folkrättsligt perspektiv, utreda om Sveriges urbefolkning samerna kan sägas ha förvärvat en äganderätt till marken i Lappland enligt svensk rätt, eller om detta enbart handlar om en bruksrätt inkluderande renskötsel, jakt och fiske. Vad gäller det fastighetsrättsliga perspektivet har samerna haft en mycket stark fastighetsrättslig ställning på 1600- och 1700-talet. Då behandlades samernas lappskatteland som sådan skattejord, som skattebönderna sedermera genom lagstiftning automatiskt förvärvade full äganderätt till. Så skedde dock inte för samernas del. I stället trängdes de undan från stora delar av sina ursprungliga marker på grund av bl.a. kolonisation, exploateringsintressen, samt nedvärdering av nomadkulturen. Från att ha varit i stor majoritet blev de en minoritet på sina gamla marker. Dessa marker har sedermera kommit att betraktas som kronojord i statens ägo, vilket innebär en stor förskjutning av samernas fastighetsrättliga ställning inom loppet av fyra sekler. Gällande rätt garanterar inte samer som är medlemmar av en sameby någon starkare rätt än en bruksrätt, som till vissa delar är svagare än vad som gäller för andra bruksrättsinnehavare i Sverige. Praxis utesluter emellertid inte att renskötselrätten kan ha gett upphov till äganderätt, särskilt i nordligaste Sverige. Att samerna haft svårt att hävda sin äganderätt kan bero på att rättssystemet inte har haft en egentlig förståelse för rennäringens speciella förutsättningar, vilket gör att exempelvis beviskraven blir höga att nå upp till. Min slutsats är dock att övertygande bevis finns för att samerna har förvärvat en äganderätt, åtminstone till statlig kronomark i Lappland, oavsett om lagstiftningen för närvarande tillerkänner dem detta eller ej. Vad gäller vinterbetesmarker i Lappland föreligger inte lika starka bevis för att en äganderätt skulle ha uppstått, men däremot en bruksrätt som är starkare än dagens lagstiftning tillerkänner samerna. Vad gäller det folkrättsliga perspektivet ger de konventioner Sverige ingått inte uttryckligen stöd för att samernas markrättigheter skall erkännas, och svensk lagstiftning får sägas uppfylla de minimikrav de ställer. Sverige har dock fått internationell kritik för att inte ha funnit en lösning på och förbättrat rättssäkerheten angående samiska markrättigheter. Inte heller har Sverige ratificerat ILO-konvention nr. 169 om ursprungsfolk och stamfolk i självstyrande länder. Anledningen är just att bestämmelser som reglerar markrättigheter inte har ansetts förenliga med svenska rättsförhållanden. Man kan dock hoppas på att Sverige framöver kommer att ta intryck av den internationella utvecklingen vad gäller erkännande av urbefolkningars markanspråk. / The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the Sami people, who is an indigenous people living in the north of Sweden, could have acquired ownership of land areas in Lapland according to Swedish law, or whether they only have a right to use the land that they traditionally occupy for reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing. The question is dealt with from a land law as well as an international law approach. Concerning the land law approach, the Sami people has had a very strong position close to ownership during the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, the Samis paid tax for their lands, which meant that they were not considered to belong to the Crown, but were treated in the same way as the independent farmers’ lands. However, while the farmers through a declaration from the King in 1789 automatically achieved full ownership of their lands, the Sami people did not. Instead, the Samis were pressed back from large parts of their original territory because of colonisation, exploitation and depreciation of their nomadic way of living. Once a majority, they found themselves a minority in their own land and their territory had become the Crown’s property. Undoubtedly, there has been an extraordinary shifting of the Sami people’s land rights within four centuries. Current law does only guarantee the members of the Sami villages the right to use land for reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing, and this right is in some aspects even weaker than that of other Swedish citizens with similar rights. Still, case law does not exclude the possibility that reindeer breeding could have originated right of ownership, especially in Lapland. My findings on this area are that there is convincing evidence that the Sami people has acquired right of ownership on the lands which they traditionally occupy all year around. On the lands that they share with others, they have a strong right to use the land during the winter, probably stronger than the legislation provides for. What concerns the international law approach, Swedish legislation does fulfil the minimum demands according to the conventions the country has ratified. Still, Sweden has been criticized of not finding a balanced solution to and improving legal certainty on Sami land rights. Sweden has not ratified the ILO Convention no. 169 con-cerning indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries. The reason for this is mainly the article which aims at strengthening the indigenous peoples’ land rights, which Sweden does not find compatible with national law. Still, one can hope that the ongoing international development on the area will show the way, and that Sweden will pay attention to it in future legislation.

<p>Syftet med detta arbete är att, dels ur ett fastighetsrättsligt perspektiv, dels ett folkrättsligt perspektiv, utreda om Sveriges urbefolkning samerna kan sägas ha förvärvat en äganderätt till marken i Lappland enligt svensk rätt, eller om detta enbart handlar om en bruksrätt inkluderande renskötsel, jakt och fiske.</p><p>Vad gäller det fastighetsrättsliga perspektivet har samerna haft en mycket stark fastighetsrättslig ställning på 1600- och 1700-talet. Då behandlades samernas lappskatteland som sådan skattejord, som skattebönderna sedermera genom lagstiftning automatiskt förvärvade full äganderätt till. Så skedde dock inte för samernas del. I stället trängdes de undan från stora delar av sina ursprungliga marker på grund av bl.a. kolonisation, exploateringsintressen, samt nedvärdering av nomadkulturen. Från att ha varit i stor majoritet blev de en minoritet på sina gamla marker. Dessa marker har sedermera kommit att betraktas som kronojord i statens ägo, vilket innebär en stor förskjutning av samernas fastighetsrättliga ställning inom loppet av fyra sekler.</p><p>Gällande rätt garanterar inte samer som är medlemmar av en sameby någon starkare rätt än en bruksrätt, som till vissa delar är svagare än vad som gäller för andra bruksrättsinnehavare i Sverige. Praxis utesluter emellertid inte att renskötselrätten kan ha gett upphov till äganderätt, särskilt i nordligaste Sverige. Att samerna haft svårt att hävda sin äganderätt kan bero på att rättssystemet inte har haft en egentlig förståelse för rennäringens speciella förutsättningar, vilket gör att exempelvis beviskraven blir höga att nå upp till. Min slutsats är dock att övertygande bevis finns för att samerna har förvärvat en äganderätt, åtminstone till statlig kronomark i Lappland, oavsett om lagstiftningen för närvarande tillerkänner dem detta eller ej. Vad gäller vinterbetesmarker i Lappland föreligger inte lika starka bevis för att en äganderätt skulle ha uppstått, men däremot en bruksrätt som är starkare än dagens lagstiftning tillerkänner samerna.</p><p>Vad gäller det folkrättsliga perspektivet ger de konventioner Sverige ingått inte uttryckligen stöd för att samernas markrättigheter skall erkännas, och svensk lagstiftning får sägas uppfylla de minimikrav de ställer. Sverige har dock fått internationell kritik för att inte ha funnit en lösning på och förbättrat rättssäkerheten angående samiska markrättigheter. Inte heller har Sverige ratificerat ILO-konvention nr. 169 om ursprungsfolk och stamfolk i självstyrande länder. Anledningen är just att bestämmelser som reglerar markrättigheter inte har ansetts förenliga med svenska rättsförhållanden. Man kan dock hoppas på att Sverige framöver kommer att ta intryck av den internationella utvecklingen vad gäller erkännande av urbefolkningars markanspråk.</p> / <p>The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the Sami people, who is an indigenous people living in the north of Sweden, could have acquired ownership of land areas in Lapland according to Swedish law, or whether they only have a right to use the land that they traditionally occupy for reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing. The question is dealt with from a land law as well as an international law approach.</p><p>Concerning the land law approach, the Sami people has had a very strong position close to ownership during the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, the Samis paid tax for their lands, which meant that they were not considered to belong to the Crown, but were treated in the same way as the independent farmers’ lands. However, while the farmers through a declaration from the King in 1789 automatically achieved full ownership of their lands, the Sami people did not. Instead, the Samis were pressed back from large parts of their original territory because of colonisation, exploitation and depreciation of their nomadic way of living. Once a majority, they found themselves a minority in their own land and their territory had become the Crown’s property. Undoubtedly, there has been an extraordinary shifting of the Sami people’s land rights within four centuries.</p><p>Current law does only guarantee the members of the Sami villages the right to use land for reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing, and this right is in some aspects even weaker than that of other Swedish citizens with similar rights. Still, case law does not exclude the possibility that reindeer breeding could have originated right of ownership, especially in Lapland. My findings on this area are that there is convincing evidence that the Sami people has acquired right of ownership on the lands which they traditionally occupy all year around. On the lands that they share with others, they have a strong right to use the land during the winter, probably stronger than the legislation provides for.</p><p>What concerns the international law approach, Swedish legislation does fulfil the minimum demands according to the conventions the country has ratified. Still, Sweden has been criticized of not finding a balanced solution to and improving legal certainty on Sami land rights. Sweden has not ratified the ILO Convention no. 169 con-cerning indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries. The reason for this is mainly the article which aims at strengthening the indigenous peoples’ land rights, which Sweden does not find compatible with national law. Still, one can hope that the ongoing international development on the area will show the way, and that Sweden will pay attention to it in future legislation.</p>

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.

<p>This essay is about the origin, planning and establishment of the European Space Research Organisation's (ESRO) sounding rocket base Esrange outside Kiruna in Northern Sweden. Three main questions are examined. First I show there were not just scientific and technical but also political, economical as well as military reasons to build a European rocket base. Second, I scrutinize the reasons to choose Northern Sweden as the location for the rocket base. As it turns out, the main reasons were the favourable location of Northern Sweden within the aurora oval zone, the proximity of the Kiruna Geophysical Observatory, and the possibility to use a large, although not quite uninhabited, area where the launched rockets could crash. Finally, I examine the difficulty of talking about boundaries of various kinds, such as temporal, spatial and functional. The essay also provides a discussion on possible ways to continue research on this topic.</p>