The Battlefield of The Mountain: Exploring the Conflict of Tourism Development on the Three Peaks in Idre, Sweden

Abstract

This paper explores the conflict between a Swedish Sami community and a local tourism company eager to exploit traditional Sami land. The aim of the paper is to illustrate the Sami approach and how they negotiated during a conflict concerning the planning process of a large scale tourism development. Three research questions frame the study. How did the stakeholders involved in the conflict communicate and mediate? How were the various objectives prioritized? What is the major contribution this conflict can offer future conflicts? Published text was analysed as a way to map out the conflict and demonstrate how such conflicts are currently managed. Specifically, newspaper articles, letters to editors and authoritative documents were reviewed. A text analysis was employed to scrutinize the published text. Furthermore, the researchers carried out a critical discourse analysis for the purpose of analysing the published and empirical data. Key findings of this study indicate that there is a strong hierarchal order among the different interests of land use. Furthermore, traditional claims to the land are not always considered as superior to economically driven plans. Instead, objectives consolidated by the state government are an important factor in such types of conflicts.