Wildcard Religion
Nature-Based Conflicts and Activism in Sápmi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.156800Keywords:
wildcard religion, Sámi, indigenous religion(s), conflicts, activismAbstract
While suffering the consequences of climate change, traditional lifeways in Sápmi are also under pressure from state-based plans for an energy transition, including large wind turbine parks in reindeer-herding districts. Critics speak of green colonialism and climate injustice, structurally connected with former modes of colonial intervention. Conflicts have played out in the courts, politics, and news media, mostly in secular terms, but increasingly in religious registers. I cover some of these grounds through a two-part agenda. The first exemplifies the presence of religion in nature-related conflicts in Sápmi. The second explores the wildcard dimension of such a presence. As a recent player, what can religion enable, facilitate, and contribute? What does indigeneity add? More broadly, what are the spaces of opportunity and limitation for indigenous religion(s) on nature-based conflict grounds?
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