Luontopolitiikan paikallisuus

Abstract

This article examines the politics of nature in the
local context. The empirical case is the forest conflict
in Inari, Finnish Lapland, which has lasted already for
years. Theoretically, the article is based on both the
theories of cultural geography concerning place and
on the theories of environmental sociology concerning
politics of nature. The article argues that if
the object of the nature use is considered merely
as location, it is not seen why the phenomenon is
problematized and where the different and even
contested opinions of stakeholders come from. By
analysing various practices of placing it is possible
to get at problematizations and to make their societal
contents significant in understanding nature
use conflicts. Different practices of placing influence
crucially on understanding, explaining and estimating
the phenomenon in question. This again influences
on the politics of nature use.