“Anthropological and legal aspects of industrial development impact assessment”
- Organisers: Arktis graduate scho
"We don't care about your sanctions, Mr Reagan: gas and politics, pipeline in Yamal, Russua, 1980s. Photo credit: the Gazprom Museum, Novyi Urengoi ol, Arctic Centre NIEM and Anthropology Research Team
- Time: 19 December 2011
- Place: Arctic Centre, Rovaniemi, Finland
- Registration abstract submission, travel, logistsics and practical organisation: tahnee.prior[at]gmail.com
- Deadline for abstracts: 7.12
The anthropology research team in Rovaniemi together with the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law gratefully acknowledges support by the Arktis graduate school in organizing a one-day seminar just before Christmas, 19.12. We will have two Russian experts on this topic from Salekhard and Yakutsk, respectively, and our expert on South America, professor Rene Kuppe from Vienna joining us.
All are most welcome to the seminar. If you want to present a paper, please send an abstract as early as possible, but not later than 7.12.2011 to fstammle(at)ulapland.fi, anbd to tahnee.prior(at)gmail.com). Tahnee Prior is in charge of travel arrangements and overall logistics for the seminar so please contact her if you need more info on these.
Abstract:
From the Arctic to the tropics – industry advances to ever remoter areas in the search to satisfy the thirst for resources in the global economy. However strong the talks about climate change and alternative energies may be, in the closer future still fossile resources will remain the mainstay of economic development. This focused one day seminar will bring experts from social sciences (mainly anthropology) and legal scholarship together to comparatively analyse the principles in which impacts of industrial development can be studied and regulated. The remoter the locations for possible resource extraction, the more frequently is a marginalised population in the periphery and a vulnerable natural environment affected. As a result, the benefits often go to the centres, while the costs remain in the periphery. Specialists in the field of impact analysis and legislation will introduce lessons learned from their respective cases in the Arctic and South America. Discussion is encouraged to focus on ways, instruments and tools to ensure that extractive industrial activity in remote areas brings benefits for the people living there and is less costly for the environment.
Arctic Anthropology 
Hello,
I wish I could visit the seminar and listen to the experts, and it’s a shame I’m late with my abstract. I think it might be interesting for you. I’ll follow your blog with a great interest.
Regards!
Report from the seminar
Dear Daria,
sorry to reply to this so late. Thank you for your interest and I would still like to encourage you to write something about your work on Industrial development impact assessment. You can do this here on this blog, or if you prefer, per email to me. We also have an extractive industries working group, with scholars from around the Arctic studying such developments. Have a look at http://www.arcticcentre.org/eiwg and become a member if you want.
Our December seminar was really successful because it was a small circle with intensive and concise discussion.
Aitalina Ivanova’s talk on the new impact assessment law of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) generated lively interest. We were impressed how far the regional government went in advocating thorough ethnological social anthropological research before any industrial development on the territory of the Republic would be allowed. However, doubts were expressed as to how successful the implementation of such a law would be. We would be happy to hear some evidence from the ground on this.
Mikko Jokinen from Metla Kolari and his colleague Elina Hakala introduced their research in a project called Dilacomi (http://www.metla.fi/hanke/7451/index-en.htm). Their topic of coexistence of mining, tourism and reindeer herding is very timely for all of Scandinavia, as these are the three dominant ways of using the land in large parts of the western European Arctic.
James Macadam talked about company policies mainly, drawing from his experience working in a consultancy with projects in Africa. The discussion of his talk showed how controversial industry-activity is. It is easy to blackmouth industry as the ‘bad guys’ who mess things up (see e.g. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Officials+admit+failures+in+oversight+of+Talvivaara+mine/1135269904698), which is true. But James emphasized that there is a lot of good will and also very elaborate best practices rules that are also implemented by industry. From an experience in Africa, James also highlighted how peaceful the industrial development process actually is in the Arctic. I have written something about this in this book (http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=BehrendsCrude).
Rene Kuppe highlighted on examples from South America how international human rights legal documents can be used in the context of industrial development for implementing best practices.
I think this kind of comparative research outlook is quite useful for us working in the Arctic to see how similar developments affect people in remote places all over the planet.