Resource Extraction and Arctic Communities: The New Extractivist Paradigm

308 Pages·2022·13.808 MB·English

by  Sverker Sörlin

RESOURCE EXTRACTION AND ARCTIC COMMUNITIES
For decades, a post–Cold War narrative heralded a “new Arctic,” with melting ice and
snow and accessible resources that would build sustainable communities. Today, large
partsoftheArcticarestilltrappedinthepathdependenciesofpastresourceextraction.At
thesametime,theimpetusforgreentransitionsanda“newindustrialism”spellsopportun-
ities to shift the development model and build new futures for Arctic residents and
Indigenous peoples.
This book examines the growing Arctic resource dilemma. It explores the “new extra-
ctivist paradigm” that posits transitioning the region’s longstanding role of delivering
minerals,fossilenergy,andmarineresourcestooneprovidingrareearthelements,renew-
able power, wilderness tourism, and scientific knowledge about climate change. With
chapters from a global, interdisciplinary team of researchers, new opportunities and their
implicationsforArcticcommunitiesandlandscapesarediscussed,alongsidethepressures
anduncertaintiesinaregionunder geopoliticalandenvironmentalstress.Thistitleisalso
availableas Open Accesson CambridgeCore.
sverkerso¨rlinisadefiningvoiceinenvironmentalhistoryandaprize-winningauthorof
scholarly and nonfiction books on intellectual history and on the history and politics of
climate change. He has a career-long interest in natural resource extraction politics and
history, and has chaired Sweden’s national committee for the International Polar Year
2007–2009.

RESOURCE EXTRACTION AND ARCTIC
COMMUNITIES
The New Extractivist Paradigm
Edited by
SVERKER SÖRLIN
KTHRoyalInstituteofTechnology
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DOI:10.1017/9781009110044
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Sörlin,Sverker,editor.
Title:Resourceextractionandarcticcommunities:thenewextractivistparadigm/editedbySverkerSörlin,KTH
RoyalInstituteofTechnology,Stockholm.
Description:Firstedition.|Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY,USA:CambridgeUniversityPress,
2023.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2022036257(print)|LCCN2022036258(ebook)|ISBN9781009100236(Hardback)|ISBN
9781009110044(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:Arcticregions–Economicconditions.|Naturalresources–Arcticregions.|BISAC:POLITICAL
SCIENCE/PublicPolicy/EnvironmentalPolicy
Classification:LCCHC735.R472023(print)|LCCHC735(ebook)|DDC330.911/3–dc23/eng/20220907
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Contents
List of Figures page vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xx
Introduction 1
1 The Extractivist Paradigm: Arctic Resources and the Planetary Mine 3
sverker so¨rlin
Part I Extractivism 33
2 Patterns of Arctic Extractivism: Past and Present 35
sverker so¨rlin, brigt dale, arn keeling, joan nymand larsen
3 Extraction Cultures in Svalbard: From Mining Coal to Mining
Knowledge and Memories 66
zdenka sokol´ıcˇkova´, thomas hylland eriksen
Part II Impact 87
4 Scenarios and Surprises: When Change Is the Only Given 89
annika e. nilsson, simo sarkki
5 Cumulative Effects on Environment and People 109
carl o¨sterlin, hannu i. heikkinen, christian fohringer,
e´lise le´py, gunhild rosqvist
v
vi Contents
6 How Should Impacts Be Assessed? 125
gunhild rosqvist, hannu i. heikkinen, leena suopaja¨rvi,
carl o¨sterlin
Part III Affect 143
7 Affective Approaches: Rethinking Emotions in Resource Extraction 145
lill rastad bjørst, frank sejersen, kirsten thisted
8 Extraordinary Underground: Fear, Fantasy, and Future Extraction 166
vesa-pekka herva, teresa komu, tina paphitis
Part IV Community 183
9 Remediating Mining Landscapes 185
anne-cathrine flyen, dag avango, sandra fischer,
camilla winqvist
10 Heritage for the Future: Narrating Abandoned Mining Sites 206
dag avango, e´lise le´py, malin bra¨nnstro¨m, hannu i. heikkinen,
teresa komu, albina pashkevich, carl o¨sterlin
11 Mining Towns in Transition: Arctic Legacies 229
judit malmgren, dag avango, curt persson, annika e. nilsson,
thierry rodon
Part V Coda 249
12 Beyond Mining: Repair and Reconciliation 251
marianne elisabeth lien
13 Postscript: Extractivism after the “New Arctic” 265
sverker so¨rlin
Index 274
Figures
1.1 Map produced bythe Northern Exploration Company duringthe First
World War, indicating thefirm’s ambition to integrate Spitsbergen into
the British Empire page 13
1.2 Mining in theHigh Arctic:The Diavik diamond mine inCanada’s
Northwest Territories, approximately 300kilometers northeast of
Yellowknife and 220 kilometers south of theArctic Circle 15
2.1 Location map of Greenland 42
2.2 Location map of Fennoscandia 45
2.3 Detail ofa map from 1646of theNasafjäll silver mine inSwedishLapland
by mining officer Hans Fredrik Lybecker the elder 46
2.4 Location map of North America 51
2.5 Was theAtomic Bomb Arctic? 56
3.1 Location map of Svalbard 72
3.2 Roadahead?The last Norwegian coal mine (Gruve 7)in Adventdalen, closing
in 2023 75
3.3 Geopolitics: Science brings an international vibe to Svalbard,butit also marks
Norwegian presence 77
3.4 Tourism: Last chance tosee a retreating glacier? 78
3.5 Ny-Ålesund: Aformer company town reinvented as a research hub 80
5.1 Overview ofArctic Fennoscandia, Laevas Sámi Reindeer Community,
and theKemiRiver catchment area 110
5.2 Timelineillustrating theestablishmentof industrial developmentssince
theironset onLaevasSámi Reindeer Community’sgrazing grounds from
1900 topresent 113
5.3 LaevasSámi Reindeer Community in theSwedishportion ofSápmi, the
homelandofthe Sámi people,overlapping disturbance zones, basedon
500-meter buffersand totalarea offactorsencroaching Laevas SRC’s
grazing grounds 114
5.4 Fishingweirin Kemijoki Tervola, 1922 117
6.1 Overview ofArctic Fennoscandia andthe location ofsitesmentioned in
the text 128
vii
viii List ofFigures
7.1 Areplicaof a slide from Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited’spresentation
atthe PDAC Convention 2016 organizedby the Prospectors &Developers
Association of Canada 157
7.2 Areplicaof a slide from Greenland Minerals and Energy Limited’s
presentation atthe PDAC Convention 2018 organized by theProspectors &
Developers Association of Canada 158
8.1 Facing thesubterranean worldin thelimestone mine of Hangelby,
Sipoo, 1956 168
8.2 Aloading machine ina mine 173
8.3 Amonumental “sacrificial” mining landscapein Kiruna 173
9.1 Map overthe Lunckefjell-Sveagruvaminingarea inSvalbard 188
9.2 The Lunckefjell mine with its access roadin August 2016 189
9.3 Svea duringsummertime 2019 192
9.4 The deep water quay and theloadingcrane atKapp Amsterdam 194
9.5 Nautanen miningarea 197
9.6 The contaminated remains ofthe Nautanen concentration plant and
copper smelter 198
10.1 Location map of Northern Fennoscandia 208
10.2 The mine andthe mining settlement Laver 210
10.3 The spatialextent of theold Laver mining site, theappliedmining
concession Laver Knr1, andthe proposedminingarea realized to its
full extent 213
10.4 Numberof workers inRautuvaara (from 1961) and Hannukainen
(from 1978) mining sites and number of nights spent inaccommodation
facilities in theprovinceofLapland and themunicipality of Kolari 217
11.1 Kiruna town with its miscellaneousbuildings 236
11.2 Kirunavaara – themountainwherethe LKAB company has been mining
for over120 years, designated asa national interest for cultural heritage
preservation by theSwedishNational Heritage Board, andan exampleof
the heritage values that the mining operations have generated 237
11.3 Schefferville and Matimekush,Québec: theemptylots to theright are
wherethe houses were destroyed 239
11.4 Tata mine and Iron Ore Company pit left from earlier exploitation 240
12.1 Varanger peninsula: Meahcci orripe for quartzite extraction? 252
12.2 Location map of Northern Norway 255