Stiernström: Sustainable Development and Sacrifice
In Sustainable Development and Sacrifice in the Rural North, author Arvid Stiernström (Urban and Rural Development, Institutionen för stad och land, Uppsala, Sweden) examines narratives surrounding mining in rural communities.
In particular, Stiernström examines how mining is talked about and politicized at the municipal government level. Focusing on a series of interviews from a specific geographic location in northern Sweden, the author reveals a variety of opinions regarding new mining operations within the municipal government. Some local officials called mining an example of “neo-colonialism,” while others believed anyone owning smartphones and tablets—technology reliant on mined resources—must be a mining supporter. However, the author also found commonality in opinions across the spectrum in some areas. For example, politicians generally shared a sense that their rural communities were at risk of being left behind. Thus, for those who supported mining, this extractive operation was a necessary sacrifice for the betterment of the community.
Although the research is limited due to both the sample population and the qualitative nature of the study, the author provides a unique insight into the mind and operation of municipal governmental officials and into the political rhetoric regarding mining operations at the municipal level not previously captured by research.
This research is also carefully situated in the context of two contested terms: sustainable development and sacrifice zones. For example, the author discusses how the very definition of sustainable development can vary among communities and populations. Sustainable development for urban areas may relate to “green” practices, such as owning an electric car, whereas sustainable development for rural areas may focus on long-lasting economic and population growth.
Stiernström also situates these mining conflicts within larger work on rural sacrifice zones—zones that are “left behind” by politicians and the wider community. In this line of analysis, destructive practices such as mining may be conducted in rural places that are sacrificed to provide for the greater good of the larger community.
Mining has become an increasingly political issue in the larger context of sustainable development, and municipal governments are often involved in permitting and regulating mining operations. This study, the author argues, helps explain why some local politicians attempt to frame mining as the best solution for communities who feel they have been “left behind” economically.
