The future of the Sámi people in a developing modern world : A qualitative comparison of Sweden and Norway´s handling of Sámi land use and self-determination

Sammanfattning: Indigenous peoples are living all over the world. In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, live the last indigenous peoples of Europe, the Sámi people. Just like many other indigenous peoples in the world they need to find a way to coexist with the majority population in their home state. The coexistence creates many conflicts of interests between the state and the Sámi people. One of the biggest issues that the Sámi people face is regarding land use and self-determination. Norway and Sweden have been selected as the analysis units and this study deals with how the Sámi parliaments and the county administrations view and work with these matters. This study is based on a qualitative method, using semi-structured interviews with representatives from two different county administrations in Sweden, and one in Norway, as well as one from each Sámi parliament. The result will be analyzed by using the theories of Will Kymlika: “Multicultural citizenship: a liberal theory of minority rights” and Amartya Sen: “Development of freedom”. We have reached the conclusion that the county administrations are advocating for the rights of the Sámi people and they receive assignments from the state to handle it. Although it is not done with enough resources and tools to ensure a sustainable future for them. This issue is related to the historical and judicial factors coupled with the green transition industry.