The Sami people of Northern Europe live in a cultural region (Sápmi), which stretches across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. An authorized heritage discourse in these countries interpret Sami cultural heritage from a Westernized point-of-view. Higher cultural institutions use today definitions which are based on a prevailing authorized heritage discourse, while others avoid or feel no need to use the term “cultural heritage”. Some Sami institutions have recently begun to use definitions of cultural heritage that agree with a Westernized point-of-view. However, there are a few published definitions by the Sami-people of their own culture in official homepages and regional organizations that present a different discourse. With this study I hope to be able to shed some light upon at least two discourses: 1. that of the ruling-state and 2. the Sami people’s own.

This thesis is a qualitative case study of Vapsten sameby’s participation in the process of establishing a mine in the Rönnbäcken area in Storuman municiplity in Sweden. The mine in Rönnbäcken is a case that has been discussed extensively in the region during the last couple of years. The project is, on one hand, expected to engender job opportunities and economic growth, but on the other hand expected to have a large influence on the local environment and threaten the sami people’s traditional lifestyle. With background in environmental justice theory and theories of citizen participation this thesis emphasizes the meaningful involvement of minorities in decisionmaking. Due to this, Vapsten’s participation in the process has been studied. Further, Vapsten’s experience of their opportunities to participate has been outlined.Drawing upon Sherry Arnsteins model of citizen participation and Hans Wiklunds criterions of deliberation, Vapsten sameby’s participation is not ideal. This conclusion is confirmed by the experiences of representatives from Vapsten.

This thesis examines how the Sami people, as an indigenous people in Sweden, relate to the dichotomous concept of the global North and the global South. The study builds on the framework of postcolonial theory, its connection to development studies, and its critique of the concept of the global North and the global South. Another central part of the study is the concept of identity within postcolonial theory. By exploring material from the Swedish Sami parliament and the Sami info center, the research and analysis concluded that the Sami people relate to a dual identity of being both Sami and Swedish, meaning that they identify both to the global North as well as being an indigenous people. The Sami people do also associate themselves with other indigenous groups in the South, mostly in relation to colonialism and its consequences. Thereby the North-South divide is challenged.

This thesis illustrates the Swedish interpretation of the national policy framework on minority and indigenous rights, by including an analysis of the Gállok mining case. The study consists of an ideology analysis of the said framework and three liberal positions on multiculturalism. The scholars Will Kymlicka, Charles Taylor, and Brian Barry each convey three approaches to the implementation of group rights. Their positions provide insights into how Sweden acts as a multicultural state. The findings are that the intentions behind Sweden’s policy framework on minority rights are to preserve and protect cultural diversity, which correlates to the core elements of liberalism according to the three liberal theories. Sweden’s implementation of the policy framework conflicts with Taylor’s argument for equal recognition, and with Kymlicka’s position on expecting minorities to adapt to majority interests. The Swedish approach follows the reasoning of Barry, where minority interests can be compromised to benefit the majority population.

Sweden has received critique from international organizations for its discrimination of indigenous rights. Even though there are conflicts taking place on the Swedish side of Sápmi, where the Sami people are fighting for their human rights as an indigenous people, there is at same time little or no research done on conflicts involving the Sami population, especially in the north of Sweden. Located on the Swedish side of Sápmi the Sami village Girjas has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish government for the hunting and fishing rights on the reindeer husbandry area of the Sami village territory. This lawsuit has led to a conflict that has been frequently discussed by the media. By applying Gray’s frame theory; “framebased resistance to collaboration”, this study aims to analyse the different stakeholders’ preferences and to focus on media´s framing of the conflict in order to deconstruct the issue and lay forward the affected stakeholders’ preferences, identity, characterisation and willingness to collaboration. The results of this study show that even though the conflict is being framed as polarized, attempts to reframing in order to aim for successful collaborations are starting to take place in the media. Moreover, the media perspective on the conflict has shifted from fuelling arguments from both sides of the conflict into embracing the Sami perspective by highlighting issues for the Sami population and criticizing discriminating and colonial norms held by the Swedish government and authorities. This result could mean that a postcolonial perspective has stated to dominate the media due to the fact that higher awareness and interest in the  Sami population’s fight for self-determination is developing in the public arena.

I denna uppsats ville vi undersöka hur den samiska kulturen representeras inom turism I Sverige. Vi utgick från fyra relevanta teman; dessa var autenticitet, identitet, makt och turism. Frågeställningarna var: Hur framställs den samiska kulturen i turismsammanhang i Sápmi? Hur påverkas den samiska identiteten av hur kulturen framställs inom turismnäringen? Hur mycket får samerna själva vara med och bestämma när det kommer till hur kulturen framställs inom turismnäringen?   Vi började med att se över den samiska befolkningens historia. Det är viktigt att förstå hur de har behandlats förr för att kunna förstå varför saker och ting är som de är idag. Teorierna som användes i denna studie hanterar frågor om kulturell representation inom turism, vad det gör med människors identitet samt vad som verkligen menad med autentisk representation. En del teorier är också knutna till maktrelationer, vilket uttrycks i ämnen som handlar om ”Vi” kontra ”Dem”. Dessa teorier utgör en lins som ger en djupare och bredare förståelse av de problem som lyfts och kontextualiseras i den empiriska delen av uppsatsen.   Vi samlade in vårt empiriska data genom intervjuer med människor involverade i turismindustrin. Vi gjorde även en kompletterande strukturerad observation genom att besöka några samiska utställningar och museum.   En viktig slutsats som vi kom fram till är att den samiska befolkningen vill och måste bli mer involverade i hur de representeras av turismindustrin. Samisk turism kan bli en stor inkomstkälla för samerna men de behöver mer statlig finansiering. Förståelsen för kulturen är idag relativt liten, delvis på grund av att industrier som turism ofta använder en stereotypisk bild när de framhäver samer. Mycket kan därför fortfarande göras när det kommer till kulturell representation.

The intention with this essay is to illustrate the conflicts that might occur when states implement renewable energy strategies on lands that have traditionally belonged to indigenous peoples. To do so I have analysed case studies from Sweden as well as Latin America regarding renewable energy projects in areas that could be claimed to belong to indigenous groups and compared the conclusions from these studies to what the existing legal framework on the topic of the rights of indigenous peoples dictates. The results show that the main international legislation on the topic is very clear in expressing that states should grant indigenous peoples access to lands and territories that have traditionally been occupied by them, as well as granting them participation in the exploitation of natural resources. The analysis of the case studies shows that there exists a tendency among states to bypass what is stipulated in the international regulations when executing renewable energy projects, as well as using the term “sustainable development” as a cover-up when violating the rights of indigenous peoples. Although the international legislation on the topic is very precise, the majority of the world’s countries have not ratified the main legally binding convention. I conclude that one reason for this could be that states would find it hard to reach environmental objectives while at the same time complying with the legislation on the rights of indigenous peoples, i.e. states face difficulties in fulfilling sustainable environmental and economic objectives with sustainable social objectives.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att studera hur urfolket Samernas rättigheter var beskrivna i den offentliga debatten i Sverige genom att analyser svenska artiklar. Under studien, olika konstruktioner av samiska rättigheter hittades, vilka har blivit analyserade genom metoden kritisk diskurs analys, specifikt den tre dimensionella modellen av Norman Fairclough. Det empiriska materialet utgjordes av debatt-artiklar och nyhetsartiklar från olika tidningar och nyhetsbyårer i Sverige. Perspektivet i analysen var klargjord genom teorin om grupprättigheter. Resultatet visade, bland annat, hur diskussioner om ratificering av ILO-169konventionen har pågått under lång tid och att den har aldrig ratificerats. Detta är på grund av tvetydigheten i hur en kan säkra de samiska land rättigheterna samtidigt som att säkra den svenska statens ekonomiska intressen. / The purpose of this thesis was to study how the rights of the Indigenous Sami people were described in the public debate of Sweden through analysing Swedish articles. During the study, different constructions of Sami rights were found which have been analysed through the method of critical discourse analysis, specifically the three dimensional model by Norman Fairclough. The empirical material consisted of debate articles and news articles from different newspapers and news agencies of Sweden. The perspective of the analysis was clarified through the theory of group rights. The result showed, among other things, how discussions of the ratification of ILO 169-convention have been going on for a long time, and that it has never been ratified. This is due to the ambiguity in how to secure the Sami land rights at the same time as securing the Swedish state’s economical interests.

Möjligheterna för skogsbruket och rennäringen att samexistera har sedan den industriella skogsindustrins början varit en infekterad fråga. Under 2000-talet startades projektet att införa renbruksplaner (RBP) i Sveriges samebyar med syfte att förbättra relationen mellan parterna i samråd, vilket upplevs ha uppfyllts. Renbruksplan är rennäringens motsvarighet till skogsbrukets skogsbruksplan och är ett informations- och dataverktyg med en kartläggning över renarnas betesmarker. Den här uppsatsen undersöker varför projektet med renbruksplaner har lyckats genom att använda Elinor Ostroms teori om förvaltning av en gemensam resurspool. Syftet är att illustrera möjliga förklaringsfaktorer till varför samverkan mellan skogsbruket och rennäringen upplevs ha förbättrats i och med införandet av RBP. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys har Ostrom designprinciper för självstyrande och hållbar förvaltning hittats i fem rapporter publicerade av Skogsstyrelsen i projektets slutskede. Totalt fanns det stöd i rapporterna för att sex av åtta designprinciper applicerats i och med införandet av RBP. Två av dessa, Ostrom designprincip om tydligt definierade gränser och konfliktlösningen mekanismer, kan identifieras som möjliga förklaringsfaktorer. Att dessa två principer har införts har underlättat kommunikationen mellan parterna vilket lett till större förståelse för varandras branscher och situation. / Whether forestry industry and reindeer husbandry could harmoniously coexist in northern Sweden has been debated since modern forestry started. A unique context grants indigenous people in Sweden, the Sami people, exclusive right to use land for reindeer husbandry. In the beginning of the 2000s a project was launched to create Land Use Plans for the reindeer husbandry (in Swedish Renbruksplan, RBP), which aimed to improve the relation between reindeer owners and the forestry industry. Hence, the Land Use Plan for reindeer husbandry is primarily a program for mapping reindeer graze lands. The project is considered successful for the reindeer owners as well as for the forestry. This thesis investigates why the land use plans have improved the relations between the two stakeholders by applying Elinor Ostrom´s theory about governing commons. The aim is to illustrate possible explanatory factors to why collaboration between forestry and reindeer husbandry is found to have been improved with the introduction of the land use plans. Using a qualitative content analysis, examples of Ostrom’s design principles of autonomous and sustainable management were identified in five reports published by the National Board of Forestry in the project's final phase. In total, the reports supported that six of eight design principles had been implemented since land use plans were introduced. Two of these, clearly defined boundaries and mechanisms of conflict resolution, can be identified as possible explanatory factors for the success of the project. In conclusion, the introduction of these two principals have facilitated communication between the two stakeholders, which have ensued better understanding for each other’s situations and industries.

I denna studie undersökts hur Eric Forsgren gestaltade den norrbottniska befolkningen i visuell media under 1950 och 1960-talen. I studien genomförs en kvalitativ innehållsanalys, som kopplas till tidigare forskning och teorier om gestaltning och representation. Resultatet av denna undersökning visar på att Eric Forsgren har gestaltat den norrbottniska befolkningen och dess vardagsliv som ett väglöst land, med många naturnära yrken, såsom renskötsel och säljakt. Vidare visar resultatet på att många fördomar om Norrbotten och dess befolkning förstärks via filmatiseringen. Dessa fördomar innefattar problem med en tvåspråkig kultur (Heith, 2017), marginalisering av minoriteter såsom tornedalingar och samer. Vidare får man även en inblick i det exotiska (Eriksson, 2010) inom rennäringen, där nomadliv är en del av vardagen. Det framkommer även viss utflyttningsproblematik (Eriksson, 2010) i länet, då arbetstillfällena inom rennäringen inte är tillfredsställande för många unga samer i norr. / In this study Eric Forsgrens framing of the people living in Norrbotten in visual media during the period of 1950- to 1960 is analyzed. This study is based on a qualitative content analysis. This is connected through theories about framing and representation. The results from this study shows that Forsgren framed the people living in Norrbotten as a community with bad communication, with a lot of nature friendly working habits. Such as the care of reindeers and the hunt for seals. It is also clear that many of the prejudice about the people in Norrbotten is amplified by the adaption. The prejudice of the people are the struggle of a bilingual people in a unilingual society. But also the marginalization of a minority such as the sami people and the people tornedalingar who lives in the north of Norrbotten. The sami people are framed as something exotich in their way of living. And the problem of the exodus of the people in Norrbotten is captured.