Report from Kristian Aambø, Master Programme in Indigenous Studies, University of Tromsø, Project 2009/1415-8
Financial support to master thesis
I wish to thank the Sami centre for the financial support I have received in connection to my master thesis. The financial aid has contributed towards travels to the West of Finnmark and South to Oslo, to conduct interviews and data collection.
In a framework where the Sami parliament and the municipalities become local actors the thesis studies how these local actors relate to the development process that takes place between the State and the oil companies. It will focus on the dialogues between the Sami Parliament and the State and oil company Eni Norge around the Goliat oilfield development. This dialogues will be compared with the dialogues some of the municipalities in the West of Finnmark has been involved in.
As a starting point I will use the statement issued by Eni Norge in June 2007 which acknowledges the Sami as an Indigenous Peoples both by Norwegian and International law, and specifically in regard to ILO-169. As such they will take measures to safe-guard the Sami’s right to be consulted and to establish a framework where such consultation may take place. The dialogue between the Sami parliament and the State is regulated by the consultation agreement which also is based on ILO-169. On the other side of the table the different municipalities in the area want long term employment opportunities and local development in return for the level of risk connected to off-shore oil outside their coastline. The municipalities however have not had the same ILO-based framework regulating the dialogues. It is my hypothesis that the communication between the municipalities and the oil company/State have been more strategic than the dialogue between the Sami Parliament and the oil company/State.
The theoretical framework will be based on Habermas’ communicative action and a discursive design.
Two trips were planned in connection to the thesis. In addition to one trip to Oslo and one to the West of Finnmark another trip to Oslo was conducted in order to interview OED. The trip to the interior of Finnmark was not needed. The financial support received from the Centre for Sami Studies has been a great help in conducting these trips and and the data collection.
