Work Packages

WP 1: Programme Coordination

WP1 comprises project management and coordination and runs throughout all six years of the programme. The programme is led by Dag Avango and Christina Allard (programme leadership), with a focus on programme coordination, strategic issues, planning of programme meetings, and external contacts. The programme leadership ensures that the work progresses as planned, including issues related to research data management, ethics, and internal and external communication. A steering group includes the programme leadership, the leaders of the work packages, the programme secretary, and the communications officer. The group meets as needed to discuss coordination of the different components of the programme and strategic issues. KOSA’s reference group contributes perspectives and expertise.

WP 2: Between Local Economies and Global Demands (1600–1770)

WP2 focuses on the expansion of the mining industry in the early modern period. A starting point for the research is the long tradition of metal production based on local knowledge that has existed since prehistoric times and constituted an important part of the region’s economy. During the 1630s, discoveries of copper, silver and iron were reported to representatives of the Crown, attracting prospectors from southern Sweden. From the 1640s onwards, an extractive industry developed, comprising mines, smelters, transportation systems and settlements. In Norrbotten, WP2 examines such industries in the Torne Valley, from Sjangeli to Kengis Bruk; in the Råne River Valley, from Gällivare to Melderstein; and in the Lule River Valley, from Alkavare and Kedkavare to Kvikkjokk, Storbacken and Storsand. Data collection includes archaeological fieldwork in the form of surveys and investigations/excavations, as well as extensive archival studies of both legal records and archival material produced by the actors engaged in mining and mineral processing in northern Sweden during the period.

The following research questions guide WP2:

• What did the emergence of new, globally driven mining activities mean for the region’s established land use in terms of conflict or cooperation relating to land and natural resources?
• What consequences did the new metal extraction during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have for the landscape, bedrock, rivers and forests, and ultimately for local populations and their use of land and natural resources?
• To what extent did the notion of royal prerogatives (regal rights) over certain resources, such as the Crown’s mining prerogative, constitute a prerequisite for the continued presence and interest of the King/Crown? What effects did these underlying rights held by the Crown have on local communities?
• What institutional factors were in place, and why?

WP 3: State Interventions, Local Land-Use Conflicts and Rights (1750–1930)

WP3 addresses land rights, claims to such rights, and institutional changes during the period 1750–1930. The focus is on how land rights and access to land and natural resources changed in areas with different forms of landscape use, and in the context of decisions made by the Crown and the state, such as the Lappmark border, the Cultivation border, and land partition processes. Overall, the work package focuses on land use, land rights and changes in property law, and analyses how decisions by the Crown and, later, the state affected conflicts and cooperation in local Sámi and Tornedalian communities. Data collection includes, among other things, archival studies of cadastral records, maps, tax registers, court records and other legal materials.

The following research questions guide WP3:

• To what extent have the Lappmark border, the Cultivation border and the land partition process contributed to resolving or creating conflicts between local groups and communities in Norrbotten County? To what extent have they facilitated processes of colonisation?
• Which legal sources helped resolve disputes in district courts, and what did customary law entail? What historical land and resource use by Sámi and/or Tornedalians, if any, may have established rights based on immemorial prescription and/or customary law?
• Is there reason to believe that local communities east of the Torne River Valley (present-day Finland) were treated differently, and if so, why?
• What institutional factors were in place, and why?

WP 4: Colonisation Policy, Assimilation and Distribution of Resources (1850–1950)

WP4 addresses colonisation policy, assimilation and the distribution of natural resources, focusing on how the Swedish state defined, categorised and intervened in Sámi and Tornedalian ways of life and their use of land and natural resources, particularly during the expansion of the welfare state. Although colonisation policies had existed since the seventeenth century, it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century and onwards that migration to Lapland increased. Sweden’s population had grown following centuries of wars and crop failures. Many of the settlers who migrated north belonged to the Swedish majority population, which had consequences, not least for Sámi community life. Nevertheless, relations between individuals and groups were not based solely on competition; cooperation was often a successful strategy for resolving or reducing conflicts. One of the most important examples is the so-called verdde system, involving reciprocal exchange of goods and services between settled farmers and nomadic reindeer herders. This work package therefore examines the broader effects of state colonisation and assimilation policies on Sámi and Tornedalian local communities, primarily in relation to the distribution of resources and traditional land use. Data collection comprises archival studies in municipal, church and state archives; document analysis of inquiries, legislation and other legal sources, as well as administrative practices; ethnographic fieldwork in selected local communities; and oral history and interviews with individuals and families affected by welfare-state reforms.

The following research questions guide WP4:

• How did the process of Swedification affect Sámi and Tornedalians in relation to their use of the landscape, and did Swedification in any way affect levels of conflict or cooperation with Swedish settlers in local communities?
• Which institutional factors drove conflicts over natural meadows and hay between farmers, or between farmers and reindeer herders? What effects did the land redistribution process have on ownership of meadows, and what role does this play in conflicts between Tornedalians and the Swedish state today?
• Did the particular form of reindeer husbandry practised in the Torne Valley (concession reindeer husbandry) affect relations between local landowners and reindeer herders, and if so, how and why?

WP 5: Industrialisation and Large-Scale Resource Extraction (1870–Present)

WP5 addresses industrialisation and large-scale resource extraction in northern Sweden, focusing on how mining, forestry and energy production, as well as the major sociotechnical systems associated with them, have transformed landscapes and the conditions of life for Sámi, Tornedalians and other local communities. The focus is on exploring how industrialisation and the practices and institutions associated with it (e.g. legislation, newly established state agencies and authorities) have affected land-use-related conflicts, tensions and cooperation in the landscapes concerned.

Parallel to Sweden’s rapid industrialisation from the 1850s onwards, with its demand for timber, minerals and energy, there was a perception of the Arctic part of Sweden as a land of opportunity—a region rich in resources that should be exploited to build a welfare society. Companies, supported by the Swedish state, therefore showed increasing interest in the resource-rich north. Since the beginning of the 2000s, a new wave of industrialisation has gained momentum in response to demand for so-called green technologies, green products and green energy driven by climate change. Overall, this work package focuses on how land-use conflicts and cooperation between Sámi and Tornedalians have changed in relation to increasing industrialisation processes and broader institutional changes. Data collection includes archival studies in corporate and state archives; legal analyses of Sweden’s international legal obligations concerning Sámi and Tornedalian rights (human rights); interviews with local residents, including reindeer herders; and field documentation of material traces (e.g. power plants, mines and railways) in areas where industrialisation has taken place and is ongoing.

The following research questions guide WP5:

• How have the large-scale systems of forestry, mining and energy production affected local land users in Norrbotten—Sámi, Tornedalians and others—and why? Under what circumstances have conflicts or cooperation developed?
• What impact have state priorities and decisions concerning industry and land use had on different groups in Norrbotten, including plans for hydropower expansion during the 1950s and 1960s? How were these developments received from a local perspective, and how did they affect relations between groups or communities in terms of conflict and cooperation?
• How do large-scale industrialisation and institutions associated with natural resource extraction affect Sámi, Tornedalian and other local actors’ perceptions and use of landscapes and their resources? What have been the outcomes in terms of cooperation, tensions and land-use conflicts?
• To what extent does the increased attention to human rights in society also entail greater influence and participation by Sámi and Tornedalians in decision-making processes concerning the ongoing new wave of industrialisation?

WP 6: Synthesis and Dissemination of Results (1600–2040)

WP6 is devoted to the synthesis and dissemination of research results and runs throughout the entire programme. Knowledge generated in WP2–WP5 will be synthesised and analysed in relation to KOSA’s overarching aim: to understand how and why conflicts, tensions and cooperation concerning land use, including claims to rights over land and water, have emerged and changed in northern Sweden from the seventeenth century to the present day. The period also extends somewhat into the future, in light of the investments already planned in Norrbotten to transition industry towards fossil-free production.

Our aim is to use new and in-depth knowledge to guide Swedish policymakers and legislators regarding the factors that generate conflict and those that promote cooperation in the landscape. We hope that new tools can help support cooperation and manage conflicts and trade-offs in ways that are perceived as more just and legitimate by the actors involved.