Stories of Change and Sustainability in the Arctic Regions: The Interdependence of Local and Global

257 Pages·2021·26.402 MB·English

by  Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye, Bård Kårtveit

Stories of Change and Sustainability
in the Arctic Regions
This book presents stories of sustainability from communities in circumpolar
regions as they grapple with environmental, economic and societal changes and
challenges.
Polar regions are changing rapidly. These changes will dramatically effect eco-
systems, economy, people, communities and their interdependencies. Given this,
the stories being told about lives and livelihood development are changing also.
This book is the first of its kind to curate stories about opportunity and responsi-
bility, tensions and contradictions, un/ethical action, resilience, adaptability and
sustainability, all within the shifting geopolitics of the north. The book looks at
change and sustainability through multidisciplinary and empirically based work,
drawing on case studies from Norway, Sweden, Alaska, Canada, Finland and
Northwest Russia, with a notable focus on indigenous peoples. Chapters touch
on topics as wide ranging as reindeer herding, mental health, climate change,
land-use conflicts and sustainable business. The volume asks whose voices are
being heard, who benefits, how particular changes affect people’s sense of com-
munity and longstanding and cherished values plus livelihood practices and what
are the environmental, economic and social impacts of contemporary and future
oriented changes with regard to issues of sustainability?
This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainability
studies, sustainable development, environmental sociology, indigenous studies
and environmental anthropology.
Rita Sørly is an Associate Professor in Social Work at UiT The Arctic Uni-
versity of Norway and a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Research Centre
(NORCE), Norway.
Tony Ghaye is a Professor at Loughborough University in London, UK.
Bård Kårtveit is a Senior Researcher in the Department for Regional Develop-
ment at the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), Norway.
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Stories of Change and Sustainability in the Arctic Regions
The Interdependence of Local and Global
Edited by Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye and Bård Kårtveit
For more information on this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Studies-in-Sustainability/book-series/RSSTY
Stories of Change and
Sustainability in the Arctic
Regions
The Interdependence of Local and Global
Edited by Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye and
Bård Kårtveit
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye and Bård
Kårtveit; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye and Bård Kårtveit to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sørly, Rita, editor. | Ghaye, Tony, editor. | Kårtveit, Bård Helge,
editor.
Title: Stories of change and sustainability in the Arctic regions : the
interdependence of local and global / edited by Rita Sørly, Tony Ghaye
and Bård Kårtveit.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. |
Series: Routledge studies in sustainability | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021024298 (print) | LCCN 2021024299 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367632847 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367632854 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003118633 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development–Arctic regions. | Economic
development–Arctic regions. | Arctic regions–Economic conditions.
Classification: LCC HC740.E5 S76 2022 (print) | LCC HC740.E5
(ebook) | DDC 338.9/2709113–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024298
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024299
ISBN: 978-0-367-63284-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-63285-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-11863-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003118633
Typeset in Goudy
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables ix
List of contributors x
Introduction: Being in-between stories 1
TONY GHAYE, RITA SØRLY, AND BÅRD KÅRTVEIT
1 Concerned Arctic peoples: Characteristics of conversations-
that-matter 16
TONY GHAYE
2 Disappearing flexibility: The story of Gielas reindeer
herding district 41
JAN ÅGE RISETH
3 Stories transmitted through art for the revitalization
and decolonization of the Arctic 57
TIMO JOKELA AND MARIA HUHMARNIEMI
4 Mental health research in an Arctic Indigenous context:
The presence of silent dominant narratives 72
RITA SØRLY, VÅR MATHISEN, AND VIGDIS NYGAARD
5 Stories of empowerment, resilience and healing:
A participatory research project with two Indigenous
communities in Québec 88
LILIANA GOMEZ CARDONA, KRISTYN BROWN, MARY MCCOMBER,
ECHO PARENT-RACINE, OUTI LINNARANTA
vi Contents
6 Learning through lived experiences: A structural narrative
analysis of one person’s journey of recovery and implications
for peer support services 111
RITA SØRLY, TONY GHAYE, AND WIBECKE ÅRST
7 The decline and changes in the tundra today: The nature of
state systems and services as a critical factor in the condition
of minority indigenous peoples in Russia 126
ZOIA VYLKA RAVNA
8 Overcoming isolation in the Arctic during COVID-19 times
through new ways of co-writing research 143
RITA SØRLY, BÅRD KÅRTVEIT, VIGDIS NYGAARD, ANNE KATRINE NORMANN,
LUDMILA IVANOVA, SVETLANA BRITVINA & LARISSA RIABOVA
9 Green colonialism: The story of wind power in Sápmi 157
BÅRD KÅRTVEIT
10 Transforming Arctic municipalities: The winding road
to low-emission communities 178
NILS AARSÆTHER AND HEGE WESTSKOG
11 The quest for fresh vegetables: Stories about the future
of Arctic farming 193
DORIS FRIEDRICH
12 Greening discourses of the Nordic Arctic region: The region
as vulnerable, late bloomer or the arena of possibilities? 218
TROND NILSEN AND JUKKA TERÄS
Reflections: What can we create together? 232
TONY GHAYE, RITA SØRLY, BÅRD KÅRTVEIT
Index 235
Figures
0.1 Three generic lenses (frames) through which change
and sustainability in the Arctic may be viewed. 2
0.2 The book’s generative questions. 4
0.3 Longyear river, Svalbard – a ‘braided’ Arctic river. 6
0.4 The ‘braided’ metaphor of change and sustainability in the Arctic. 7
1.1 The relationships between “mattering”’ and four conceptions of
sustainability. 24
1.2 Situating doubt alongside the characteristics of sustainability
conversations-that-matter. 28
1.3 Wibecke a story-teller. Photo: Marie Louise Somby 35
2.1 Gielas. Spring pastures, collecting and migration zones (adapted
from Riseth et al., 2021). 48
2.2 Gielas. Season pastures. Summer to winter (adapted from
Riseth et al., 2021). 49
2.3 Screenshot of MySheep GPS plot of the movements of a
female reindeer 11–19.01.2020. By permission of Gielas
reindeer pasture district. 50
3.1 Mapping the visual references for community-based art using
museums archives, place-specific investigations, narratives
and sketching. Collage and photos: Timo Jokela. 61
3.2 a and b. Working with community to build up a memorial
The Story of Kirkkokuusikko. Photos: Timo Jokela. 63
3.3 Celebration of the monument was designed as a performative
and communal event. Photo: Timo Jokela. 64
4.1 The herd. Photo: Rita Sørly. 73
4.2 The girl by the reindeer fences. Photo: Rita Sørly. 77
4.3 Food supply for the coming year. Photo: Rita Sørly. 79
6.1 Wibecke having a coffee. Photo: Marie Louise Somby. 113
6.2 Wibecke at work. Photo: Marie Louise Somby. 119
7.1 Pedavane and her friend. Photo: Zoia Ravna. 129
7.2 Map of the Nenets territories. 130
viii Figures
7.3 The caravan of reindeer http://lelang.ru/english/films/forrest-
gamp-na-anglijskom-yazyke-s-subtitrami/appears in the
following order: Nerdena (in front), Muzandana (leading),
Pudana (the last). (Interview 17). Photo: Zoia Ravna. 135
7.4 Women are walking back to the camp with firewood they
have gathered. Photo: Zoia Vylka Ravna. 137
8.1 The Arctic. Source: Arctic centre, University of Lapland. 145
8.2 Meeting on Zoom. Photo: Vigdis Nygaard. 147
9.1 Imagined view of Davvi Wind Farm as seen from Rásttigáisá. 162
9.2 View to Rásttigáisá (1066 m above sea level), regarded by
many Sámi as a sacred mountain . 169
10.1 Parking in front of the main grocery store in Lyngen. 188
10.2 Skjervøy. 189
11.1 View of one of Calypso Farm’s fields, 2020.
Photo: Calypso Farm. 198
11.2 Addie Willsrud harvesting beets during the 2020 season.
Photo: Calypso Farm. 201
11.3 Research in the greenhouse centred on what fertilizer could
best enhance locally inert soil and which plants were most
productive. Each bed contained a different soil mixture,
but the same type of plants. Photo: Aqqiumavvik society. 207
11.4 Plants were tended daily by a team of youth researchers. They
also monitored aspects of heat, humidity and soil moisture.
Photo: Aqqiumavvik society. 208
11.5 Growth in each bed was monitored, measured and logged to
help determine the most effective soil combinations and
the types of seeds that resulted in the biggest yield. Photo:
Aqqiumavvik society. 209
Tables
1.1 Different kinds of space for sustainability conversations. 31
2.1 Summary of cause–impact–effect chains in Gielas RPD 49
5.1 Phases of the thematic analysis 95
5.2 Stories of healing, resilience and empowerment among
Kanien’kehá:ka and Inuit 99