Green colonialism
Bård Kårtveit
Abstract
In recent years, several wind power plants have been built in Sápmi – the ancestral lands of the indigenous Sámi people, depriving reindeer herders of vital pastures and migration routes. A number of large-scale projects have pitted cultural and environmental preservation against a stated imperative for green development and climate mitigation. Focusing on plans to build Europe's largest wind farm – Davvi – in the interior of Finnmark, this chapter will explore how the concept of Green Colonialism serves as a political narrative that informs Sámi opposition to Davvi, structures people's understanding of the project and places it within a long line of territorial encroachments on Sámi land. Separate sections will be devoted to themes, such as environmental justice, indigenous ways of life, territorial encroachments, the trappings of dialogue between industrial actors and local stakeholders and the concept of sacred land in Sámi tradition. Finally, this chapter will explore how a narrative of green colonialism offer firm responses to climate-based appeals, promises of local jobs and economic opportunities and other elements that make up part of the case for wind power plants in Sápmi.