A tragedy of errors? Institutional dynamics and land tenure in Finnmark, Norway

Abstract

Abstract:Reindeer herding in Finnmark has been widely perceived during the last few decades as a perfect example of the tragedy of the commons. The present article claims that this discourse relies on flawed assumption regarding land tenure. Our historical analysis of the term 'common' in relation to resources in Finnmark shows the term to reflect a misunderstanding of local categories, practices, and concerns related to pastures, territories, and natural resources more generally. In this sense, it exposes a case of 'mistaken identity' between the formal legal conception of 'commons' and the customary rules and thinking of reindeer herders. We turn to different strands of critical institutionalism to analyse the processes of institutional change that have allowed these errors and misunderstandings to be formalised and naturalised in the current governance system. We show that a process of institutional bargaining between the Norwegian Parliament, the Sámi Parliament, and the International Labour Organisation has recently re-enforced an alien conception of a 'commons' to which ambiguous groups of people have equivocal rights. In parallel, a process of institutional layering of new regulatory actors and rules on top of existing ones has taken place. This regulatory ratcheting has resulted in the blurring of the authorities and jurisdictions intrinsic in the customary tenure system. Moreover, the new layers of regulations have actively overemphasized the Sámi customary obligation of sharing resources to legitimize 1 The "Results" section of the present article is developed from our book chapter "Er Finnmarksvidda en allmenning?" forthcoming in Norwegian in Benjaminsen et al. (2015). 20Andrei Marin and Ivar Bjørklund the new, ambiguous, conception of commons. This process is explained as one of institutional bricolage based on naturalisation by analogy and authority processes that allow certain powerful actors to influence the production of institutional arrangements favourable to them. All three processes underline the negotiated, dynamic nature of institutional change. We propose this integrative analysis of institutional and general social dynamics is beneficial in studying commons as everyday practices affecting natural resource governance.

Understanding process, power, and meaning in adaptive governance: a critical institutional reading

“…From a critical institutional perspective, these systems can only be understood through an examination of the meanings and values that are attributed to them and the societal/power relations in which they are embedded. This is well illustrated by Marin and Bjorkland's (2015) study of reindeer herders in Finnmark, Norway. Here the authors explore how the idea of the commons and the "tragedy of the commons" has been created over time by the Norwegian state, along with a related formal system of management.…”

Furthering critical institutionalism

“…As De Koning (2011), adapting Levi-Strauss, suggests; the bricoleur might make a lampshade out of an umbrella stand but the same umbrella stand cannot be made into a space shuttle. The layering of these arrangements over time, changes in policy environments and in political and social discourses also ensure that the mechanisms that form institutions can be pieced together from a variety of sources (Sehring 2009;Marin and Bjorkland 2015). Institutions so formed are therefore a patchwork of the new and second hand and they include: habitual ways of doing things; well-worn practices adapted to new conditions; organisational arrangements invented or borrowed from elsewhere.…”

“…It is at these interfaces that much bricolage work is done to navigate between different interests, to blend and smooth out some of the discrepancies between regulation and practice. Here we can see the blending of logics, the leakage of meaning, the exercise of authoritative power, as well as the creative exercise of agency, the generation of practical governance and the stubborn persistence of inequities (Funder and Marani 2015;Jones 2015;Marin and Bjorkland 2015).…”

“…It can be difficult to capture the dynamic nature of institutional evolution and functioning without in-depth longitudinal studies. Papers in this volume show the need for understanding the varying logics and intensity of different strands of governance arrangements operating concurrently (Ingram et al 2015;Marin and Bjorkland 2015) and the need to study different modes of governance using one framework (Jones 2015).…”

Smaller Saami Herding Groups Cooperate More in a Public Goods Experiment

“…Borders to winter pastures can overlap and are permeable to a certain extent, depending on the needs of the reindeer – grazing rights in these patchy areas can shift to match herd size, for example, so siidas might tolerate a modicum of encroachment, especially in ‘emergency’ situations such as during bad winters (Marin and Bjørklund 2015). Herders are also sensitive to situations in which encroachment becomes a ‘shameful’ (Saami: hæppat ) act of trespassing (Paine 1994).…”