{"id":19211,"date":"2023-02-19T12:18:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T12:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/?p=19211"},"modified":"2023-02-28T18:24:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T18:24:15","slug":"monica-tennberg-else-grete-broderstad-hans-kristian-hernes-eds-indigenous-peoples-natural-resources-and-governance-agencies-and-interactions-london-routledge-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/volume-18-no-1-2023\/monica-tennberg-else-grete-broderstad-hans-kristian-hernes-eds-indigenous-peoples-natural-resources-and-governance-agencies-and-interactions-london-routledge-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Monica Tennberg, Else Grete Broderstad, Hans-Kristian Hernes (eds.), Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance: Agencies and Interactions (London: Routledge, 2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\t
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As Indigenous Peoples around the world face new and increasing forms of extractive pressure in their traditional territories, what opportunities do they have to exercise agency and protect their interests in local resource governance processes? In Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance: Agencies and Interactions<\/em>, editors Tennberg, Broderstad and Hernes seek to broaden their readers\u2019 understanding of Indigenous resource governance dynamics by showcasing a wide range of case studies from settler States in the circumpolar Arctic (Norway, Sweden, Russia, Canada) and Oceania (New Zealand, Australia). Throughout this interdisciplinary collection, the editors\u2019 and contributors\u2019 focus is on the diverse and evolving interactions between Indigenous Peoples, State actors, and extractive industry players, which are shown to vary significantly across geopolitical and socioeconomic contexts.<\/p>\n

Political scientists Hernes, Broderstad and Tennberg open the collection by summarizing core Indigenous rights and governance concepts and introducing their chosen theoretical framework: a \u2018governance triangle\u2019 highlighting the respective roles of State, industry, and Indigenous actors, as well as the governance mechanisms that mediate their interactions. In Chapter 2, Broderstad examines a rare S\u00e1mi victory against a proposed wind development in Kalvvatnan, wherein the Norwegian government took a precautionary approach and withdrew a permit that would have violated reindeer herders\u2019 right to cultural protection by exacerbating pre-existing development impacts. This victory stands in sharp contrast to Chapter 3\u2019s discussion of unsuccessful S\u00e1mi court challenges to the Norrb\u00e4ck and Pautr\u00e4sk wind projects. Through their joint analysis, legal scholars Cambou and Borg and expert witnesses Sandstr\u00f6m and Skarin reveal how the proponents\u2019 minimal efforts to mitigate anticipated project impacts facilitated the Swedish appeal court\u2019s willingness to prioritize national green energy goals over Indigenous rights. In Chapter 4, Broderstad, S\u00e1mi scholar Brattland, and political economy scholar Howlett highlight how Norway\u2019s and New Zealand\u2019s differing \u201cdiscursive, legal and institutional realities\u201d (59) both enable and constrain S\u00e1mi and M\u0101ori efforts to influence or benefit from aquaculture licensing processes in their respective marine territories. The fact that State-mediated processes constitute Indigenous Peoples\u2019 main point of engagement with resource governance in all of these case studies lends support to the editors\u2019 contention that the State remains the \u201cmost prominent actor\u201d (14) in the governance triangle. However, the balance of the collection deals with mining, an area in which direct Indigenous-industry engagement and deal-making is becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n

In Chapter 5, sociologist Goloviznina explores how Russia\u2019s apparent disinterest in protecting Indigenous rights or mediating Indigenous-industry interactions has left the Evens of Yakutia little choice but to engage directly with mining corporations and try to use moral and reputational arguments to safeguard their interests. Sociologist Sam-Aggrey\u2019s examination of Tlicho resource governance in Chapter 6 suggests that while First Nations that have entered into modern treaties with the Canadian State exert far more regulatory influence than their Russian counterparts, the Indigenous-industry agreements that have simultaneously become a central feature of mining governance in northern Canada have proved to be a mixed blessing for Indigenous signatories. In Chapter 7, political scientist Slowey argues that First Nations whose relations with the Canadian State are not mediated by modern treaties have far less leverage in resource governance and remain vulnerable to the whims of State actors, as illustrated by the Ontario government\u2019s willingness to use the COVID-19 emergency to dismantle procedural safeguards and expedite mining approvals in northern Ontario.<\/p>\n

In Chapter 8, Howlett and political scientist Lawrence offer a trenchant critique of the neoliberal logics underlying Indigenous-industry agreements in Australia and beyond. They conclude that \u201cin the absence of an Indigenous veto over resource developments, there is no such thing as a fair and just negotiated agreement\u201d (154). Indigenous Studies scholar Gjelde-Bennett offers a complementary critique of S\u00e1mi-State relations in Chapter 9, which examines the long-standing Kallak mine dispute in northern Sweden through the lens of competing neoliberal and Indigenous paradigms. While working \u201cwithin the neoliberal political system in order to gain legitimacy\u201d (167) may be the most effective way for S\u00e1mi to resist such projects, Gjelde-Bennett cautions that \u201cappealing to liberal and neoliberal values of universal human rights and international rule of law\u201d (167) may also undermine S\u00e1mi interests by helping to \u201cuphold the ultimate authority of the state\u201d (174).<\/p>\n

In their concluding chapter, Tennberg, Broderstad and Hernes return to the governance triangle and associated theoretical frameworks in order to draw conclusions from a synthesized view of the case studies. As a result of the contributors\u2019 limited and often confusing attempts to engage with those theoretical frameworks in their respective chapters, the editors\u2019 heavy reliance on those frameworks makes the concluding chapter feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the collection, even as the editors reach insightful conclusions about the evolving state of resource governance. Certain elements of the editors\u2019 findings could also benefit from more nuance, such as their suggestion that \u201cstates will still have a central role in leveling the playing field for Indigenous peoples\u201d (187), which implies that the playing field can in fact be leveled and that States can be expected to facilitate this leveling. This aspiration seems unlikely to be fulfilled while Indigenous Peoples\u2019 scope for self-determination remains constrained by States\u2019 privileged legal positions at international law coupled with their self-interest in retaining the final say in resource governance decisions \u2013 a reality recognized more clearly by Howlett and Lawrence.<\/p>\n

While the collection purports to foreground Indigenous Peoples\u2019 interests and perspectives, the contributor biographies fail to address the authors\u2019 positionality, making it difficult to determine whether any of them are writing from a position of lived Indigenous experience. Explicitly addressing questions of voice and ensuring that editors and contributors situate themselves in relation to the material under discussion would strengthen a collection of this kind and make it easier for readers to assess the text\u2019s decolonial bona fides<\/em>. If future work in this vein is to be published with limited Indigenous involvement, Gregory Younging\u2019s Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous<\/em> Peoples <\/em>(Brush Education 2018) may offer a useful starting point for editorial decision-making on certain issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Indigenous Peoples around the world face new and increasing forms of extractive pressure in their traditional territories, what opportunities do they have to exercise agency and protect their interests in local resource governance processes? In Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance: Agencies and Interactions, editors Tennberg, Broderstad and Hernes seek to broaden their readers\u2019 … Continue reading Monica Tennberg, Else Grete Broderstad, Hans-Kristian Hernes (eds.), Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance: Agencies and Interactions (London: Routledge, 2021)<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2131,2300],"tags":[239,281,1226,105,2380],"coauthors":[2379],"class_list":["post-19211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-18-no-1-2023","category-book-review-editorial-review","tag-arctic","tag-governance","tag-indigenous-rights","tag-law","tag-oceania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/672"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19211"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19784,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19211\/revisions\/19784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19211"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nome.unak.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=19211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}