Abstract
The paper examines interactions of oil companies and reindeer herders in the tundra of the Russian Arctic. We focus on governance arrangements that have an impact on the sustainability of oil production and reindeer herding. We analyze a shift in benefit-sharing arrangements between oil companies and Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders in Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), Russia, as an evolution of the herders’ rights, defined as the intertwined co-production of legal processes, ideologies, and power relations. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis demonstrate that in NAO, benefit-sharing shifted from paternalism (dependent on herders’ negotiation skills) to company-centered social responsibility (formalized compensation rules). This shift was enabled by the adoption of a formal methodology for calculating income lost due to extractive projects and facilitated by the regional government’s efforts to develop reindeer-herding. While laws per se did not change, herders’ ability to access compensation and markets increased. This paper shows that even when ideologies of indigeneity are not influential, the use of existing laws and convergence of the government’s and Indigenous groups’ economic interests may shift legal processes and power relations toward greater rights for Indigenous groups.
Highlights
Under what conditions, can formal legal systems, ideologies, and power relations support Indigenous peoples’ (IPs’) ability to gain some benefit from extractive industry and lead to more sustainable governance of Arctic territories? Focusing on the experiences of the Nenets IPs in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), this paper examines how changing dynamics among reindeer herders, oil companies, and state agencies influence financial transfers from oil extraction
In the Russian region of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, benefit-sharing between Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders and oil companies results from the interaction of formal rules enshrined in Russian law and informal negotiations between companies and the state and between companies and IPs, with the balance of informality and formality changing over time
After introducing the NAO and describing our research methodology, we present the theoretical framework on benefit-sharing regimes and their modes, principles, and mechanisms, and outline the role of law, ideology, and power in the transition from paternalism to CCSR
Summary
Focusing on the experiences of the Nenets IPs in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), this paper examines how changing dynamics among reindeer herders, oil companies, and state agencies influence financial transfers from oil extraction. In the Russian region of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, benefit-sharing between Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders and oil companies results from the interaction of formal rules enshrined in Russian law and informal negotiations between companies and the state and between companies and IPs, with the balance of informality and formality changing over time. Before 2010–2011, during the early post-Soviet period, Soviet legacies and weak formal institutions influenced benefit-sharing arrangements between oil companies and IPs; these arrangements were paternalistic, as companies and the state determined the needs of the local populations. Iennrtermporitseeasraenasd, ceonltleercptirviseefsaprmrosvfidoredsoeclieacltrsiecrivtyic,ewsaatnedr, caonmdmseuwniatgyeinsferravstircuesc,tuarse.wInelrleamsoeteduarceaatsio, nenatlearpnrdismesepdriocvaildfeadcielilteicetsr,icaitnyd, wcautletur,raanldpsreowgraagme s.erTvhiceesse, aSsowvieltl-earsaepdruaccatticioensaclreaantdedmpeedrisciasltefanctileixtipees,ctaantdiocnuslatubroaul tptrhoegroamles.oTf hcoesmepSaonviieest-ienraprporvaicdtiicnegs wcrelaftaerde pinetrositshteenpt oesxtp-Secotvaiteiot npseariboodu[t1t]h.e roles of companies in providing welfare into the post-Soviet period [1]
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