- Trial lecture starts at 10.15
- Public defence starts at 12.00
The title of the trial lecture is "How can ambitions for a Just transition supercede polarization of job/environment dilemmas?"
Assessment committee:
- Professor Mikaela Vasstrøm, UiA
- Professor Simone Abram, Durham University
- Professor Annette Kamp, Roskilde Universitet
Supervisors in the doctoral work:
Summary of thesis
This thesis is about the dilemma that distresses a community when concerns for the natural environment and concerns for jobs collide. In the establishment of new industrial projects, local politicians and residents are tempted by promises of more jobs. At the same time, such projects may also have adverse impact on the natural environment in the form of encroachments and pollution. While impact assessments rationalise such projects as trade-offs between the potential positive and negative effects on society and environment, this thesis explores the dilemma faced by the local population, who are mobilised to reflect on what creates a good future and what is important to preserve.
The aim of the thesis is to examine how legitimation and resistance are expressed within the local community. It specifically discusses how different and incompatible understandings of work and nature emerge. Recently, these discussions have become more layered as certain industrial projects are portrayed as necessary for the green transition. Terms like ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ jobs are increasingly used to legitimise the projects, while local resistance is growing.
To explore how jobs-environment discussions unfold, the study focuses on the Nussir mining project in Kvalsund, Finnmark. The copper mine is expected to bring 150 jobs, economic ripple effects, and population growth to Kvalsund. However, the mining company has permission to deposit mine tailings in a sea disposal at the bottom of the fjord Repparfjorden. The mining project will also disturb the areas of Sámi reindeer herding districts 22 Fiettar and 20 Fálá. The project has local support but has also sparked protests and activism.
The study is based on previous studies of environmental conflicts and environmental discourses. The thesis employs concepts and tools from argumentative discourse analysis to highlight and interpret various perspectives in the local debate. The research finds that four themes are central: development and well-being, work and identity, sustainability, and knowledge and trust. These four themes represent significant concerns both for supporters and opponents of the mine. Simultaneously, there is conflict and disagreement about them. These disagreements stem from fundamentally opposing views on what is paramount for ensuring a good life in Kvalsund. The contradictions are traced back to different perceptions of the relationship between humans, work, and nature.
Three concepts are introduced in the interpretation of the mining debate. While ecomodernist approaches to the Nussir case dominate the public discussion, research conversations with residents show that emotional attachment to nature is central. Opponents, sceptics, and Sámi reindeer herders express ecological grief. The planned degradation of the fjord and other natural areas leads to fear of losing important values and to disappointment and frustration with the authorities, the mining company, and fellow residents. As an objection to the increasing positioning of the mining project as a green initiative, Sámi actors mobilise by promoting traditional Sámi practices and views of nature as sustainable. Birgejupmi, a Sámi concept which can be translated ‘get by’ or ‘sustain’ and which refers to moderation and respect for nature’s ability to regenerate, is highlighted as an academic concept that can describe such a discourse.
To better understand why dominant ecomodernist approaches are resisted by parts of the local community and to explore from where different understandings of the relationship between work and nature may originate, the thesis introduces a theoretical discussion of constructivism. Here, the thesis advances a proposition that that the natural environment contributes to the formation of meaning and that this is a fundamental aspect in environmental struggles but somewhat overlooked in environmental discourse studies. Instead, a relational perspective on meaning is proposed, where both linguistic and non-linguistic encounters contribute to how individuals relate to, are influenced by, and participate in discussions about the natural environment.
The study finds that deep disagreements have created rifts in the local community that neither the larger society nor the residents themselves have acknowledged. It also shows that the way the discussion proceeds fails to resolve the variation in underlying understandings that exist within the community. Thus, the thesis provides a foundation for asking further questions about assessments of societal benefits and consequences in the planning of industrial projects with adverse impacts on nature. It can also be seen as a contribution to discussions on sustainability and sustainable work.
What to do as an online audience member
The disputation is open to the public. To follow the trial lecture and the public defence online, register on Zoom.
We ask online audience members to join no earlier than 10 minutes in advance. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time.
Opponent ex auditorio:
Deadline for the public to pose questions is during the break between the two opponents. Questions ex auditorio can be submitted to disputation chair.
Questions?
- gunvor.guttormsen@uia.no
- Phone
- +47 38 14 16 48