Paper short abstract:

How does societal transformation into a green economy effect individuals in their everyday lives? This paper applies an ethnological view on local resistance to mining for REEs used in green technology in Sweden, revealing how local activism becomes a struggle over what kind of nature that matters

Paper long abstract:

How does societal transformation into a green economy effect individuals in their everyday lives? In a search for a solution to human impact on global warming and the climate crisis, the interest in rare-earth elements (REEs) and other metals used in green technology has resulted in granting mining companies processing concessions in Sweden. At the same time, industrial scale metal extraction imposes great risks to the local environment. This paper applies an ethnological view on local resistance to mining in two areas in Sweden where mining companies has been granted processing concessions for exploratory drilling.

Through the use of a phenomenological framework this paper analyzes how the diversified concepts of nature and sustainability is constructed through the cultural practices of local inhabitants in their everyday life. Exploring their being-in-the world, it uncovers how the immediate and physical relationship with the soil, lakes and endangered species in the areas influence how mining for REEs is perceived. This paper seeks to contribute to a theoretical discussion regarding the dialectical relationship between the material and the spatial and its effects on proposed solutions to the climate crisis. Through a material consisting of 11 in depth interviews, participant observation and website publications, this paper reveals how local activism in the shadow of societal transformation into a green economy ultimately becomes a struggle over what kind of nature that matters, and how we measure its value.