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A global mining boom has recently occurred and conflicts due to mineral extraction in the context of environmental justice is visible all over the world. A recent conflict in Sweden, is in Gállok where mining exploration has been conducted on the traditional lands of the indigenous Sámi. Activists protested the exploration by occupying the site during three months in 2013. The conflict has received media attention and since media have influence on the public discourse and while Sami rights have received little official recognition in Sweden, this thesis aims at analysing the mining exploitation discourse by scrutinising the media coverage of the activism and conflict in Gállok. Mining advocates emphasise social effects like economic gain, jobs and future prospect and the importance of working co-existence between different stakeholder, while the mining critics stresses the importance of respecting and recognising Sami rights, long-term sustainability and negative social and environmental impacts from mining. The Government and the mining industry are dominant actors within the mining exploration discourse and truth claims of sustainable mining and the green economy, working co-existence and minerals as essential for and a prerequisite for sustainable development supports their interest. The activism and the Sami’s struggles for justice and recognition in Gállok can be regarded as part of the global environmental justice movement. Finally, the Swedish mining policies can be argued to be based on previous colonial politics, contributing to a continued marginalisation and oppression of the Sami people.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur mediebevakningen av Kallak-konflikten sett ut och hur samiska intressen och värden gjorts förståeliga i och genom bevakningen av konflikten. Metoden som har använts är det diskursanalytiska logikperspektivet, vilket strukturerar materialet genom att identifiera och beskriva de logiker som används för att förstå situationen. Teorin är baserad på internationell forskning kring ursprungsfolk som behandlar hur marken förstås och värderas, och även behandlar vilka större komplexa implikationer en markkonflikt kan ha för ursprungsfolk. Analysen består av citat eller utdrag ur tidningsartiklar, och i slutsatsen diskuterar jag de tre större logikerna som har identifierats i materialet: Ekonomilogiken, Miljölogiken och Rättighetslogiken. / The aim of this thesis it to examine how the 'Kallak-conflict had been portrayed in the news coverage and how Sami interests and values has been made comprehensible through and by the news coverage. The method that has been used is the discourse analytic logic perspective, which, by structuring the material can identify and describe the logic’s that are used to understand the situation. The theory is based on international research on indigenous people that handle how the land can be perceived and valued, and handle the bigger more complex implications a land conflict can have for indigenous people. The analysis is based on quotes, or sections from newspaper articles, and in my conclusion I discuss the three major logic’s I found in the material: The economic logic, the environmental logic and the logic of rights.

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.