The dominant discourse often presents green growth as a solution to the ongoing environmental and climate crisis. However, it exists an unclear understanding of what green growth means in various contexts. This thesis aims to explore re-industrialization in Northern Sweden as an example of green growth, focusing on understanding the meaning and spatial implications of green growth within the context of Norrland. Tworesearch questions are put forward to study the framing of the re-industrialization and how it reproduces Norrland as space and place. 68 Swedish media articles from 2010 to 2023 covering different geographical scales were selected and processed with a qualitative content analysis method, using framing theory. The results show that reindustrialization in Norrland is framed in plural ways, emphasizing growth and development opportunities as well as concerns for Indigenous rights, human well-being, and justice. The dominant framing reinforces Norrland´s subordination to growth centers, while alternative framings highlight a broader understanding of the region’s multifaceted dimensions, raising questions about equitable distribution and the spatial power dynamics of green growth, moving the discussion away from urban-rural dichotomies. The study contributes to an understanding of the spatial implications of green growth in Norrland, challenging rural-urban dichotomies and highlighting contested values.

Dans un cadre géographique limité, celui de la vallée du Rimbach, cette thèse étudie de façon exhaustive tous les aspects d’une évolution économique et sociale marquée par le phénomène de l’industrialisation du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours. Cette thèse a donc permis de connaître un espace régional d’industrialisation qui renforce la diversité du développement économique de la France. Cette recherche se limite au vallon du Rimbach mais, en nous préoccupant de replacer le territoire dans l’ensemble alsacien, nous apportons des informations nouvelles concernant la pré-industrialisation, le processus d’industrialisation et sa spécificité par rapport à la grande industrie haut-rhinoise, l’évolution économique face aux problèmes de frontière de par leurs déplacements en 1870, 1919, 1939 et 1945, la grande mutation industrielle depuis 1945 mais aussi les bouleversements sociaux, les conséquences politiques et l’impact environnemental. La vallée du Rimbach, à une échelle réduite, a été le théâtre de toutes ces évolutions. Cette thèse apporte l’implacable démonstration qu’un microcosme à tel point miniaturisé se montre le reflet des tribulations de l’industrialisation. Les apports de cette thèse sont donc indéniables dans la connaissance plus fine de l’économie d’une vallée sous-vosgienne aux spécificités bien réelles. Du point de vue de l’histoire économique elle met en lumière des modalités de pérennité productives à une échelle micro locale, qui prouvent des capacités de territorialité d’action souvent masquées par des tendances globalisantes. Enfin, elle casse cette vision monolithique et linéaire d’une Europe qui s’industrialise, se désindustrialise et se réindustrialise sur de nouvelles formes en montrant l’importance des transitions.La vallée de Rimbach a donc sa place dans cette grande histoire industrielle européenne, une place particulière à certains égards. / Within a restricted geographical setting, the Rimbach valley, this doctoral thesis studies in an exhaustive way all the aspects of an economic and social evolution, marked by the phenomenon of industrialization, from the 18th century to our days.This thesis has thus permitted to discover a local area of industrialization which reinforces the diversity of the French economic development. This research is restricted to the Rimbach valley, but by replacing this area within the whole Alsatian area, we can bring new information about pre-industrialization, the process of industrialization and its specificity in relation to the great industry in Haut-Rhin, the economic evolution confronted to the problem of borders (because of their changes in 1870, 1919, 1939 and 1945), the great industrial transformation since 1945, but also confronted to the social disruptions, the political consequences and the environmental impact. The Rimbach valley, to a small scale, has been the scene of all these evolutions. This thesis brings the irrefutable evidence that such a tiny microcosm is the perfect reflection of the varying fortunes of industrialization. The contribution brought in this thesis is therefore indisputable in a more accurate knowledge of a Vosges valley with its true specificities. From the economic history point of view, it highlights methods of productive continuity to a local scale, which show with evidence that there are capacities of local action often hidden by more all-embracing tendencies. Finally, it destroys the monolithic and linear vision of an industrializing, de-industrializing and re-industrializing Europe, on new grounds, showing the significance of transitions. Therefore, the Rimbach valley deserves its true place in the great European industrial story, and a really particular place in certain respects.