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Investigating FPIC: Can Peace-Culture Complement the Absence of Meaningful Consent? : An analysis of Indigenous Rights and Resource Extraction in Canada and Sweden

Despite the increase of policies, guidelines, and developments in international law, the actual recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights remains at odds in the collaborative management of Indigenous territories. Numerous studies demonstrate that mining companies have been slow to adopt international legal developments, particularly regarding Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). States and natural resource companies often fail to adequately consult with affected Indigenous communities and rarely seek their consent before exploiting natural resources. Sweden and Canada have, despite making generalized claims about ethical behavior, respect for human rights and recognition of historical injustices, legislations that promote resource companies’ to extractivism. The purpose of this study is to examine the interpretation and implementation of FPIC in a Swedish and Canadian context, using a comparative qualitative content analysis, based on purposive sampling.  In order to investigate conflicts between the Indigenous communities, local non-communities, the state itself, and commercial mining interests in Nunavut (Canada) and Laponia (Sweden), we aim to explore what interpretations and implementations of FPIC that exist between stakeholders and what mechanisms that are used for advocating interests. By doing this, we compare the contexts with focus on how corporate policies, practices and state narratives frequently diverge from FPIC principles. The study explores the possibility of integrating the concept of ‘the culture of Peace’ or ‘Peace-Culture’ with FPIC, which emphasizes peaceful approaches to conflict resolution. The themes are presented as ‘Indigenous knowledge’, ‘Asymmetric Power relations and Triangular conflict’, as well as ‘Persisting Post-Colonial Structures’. The study indicates that both Canada and Sweden lack effective mechanisms for obtaining consent from Indigenous communities and that the conflicts emerge from a combination of structural, cultural, and extractive violence. We further propose that fostering a Peace-Culture approach could enhance the implementation of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-65056
Date January 2024
CreatorsAlmström, Jasmine, Murare, Wendela
PublisherJönköping University, HLK, Globala studier
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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