Techno fantasies of a Sámi cyborg : re-claiming Sámi body-, land- and waterscapes after a century of colonial exploitations in Sápmi

• Techno fantasies of a Sámi cyborg: re-claiming Sámi body-, land- and waterscapes after a century of colonial exploitations in SápmiThe state-led hydropower constructions, along with other natural resource exploitations, conducted during the last century within the Sámi traditional territory – Sápmi – in Sweden have seriously disrupted culture, economy and internal relations between inhabitants.  Departing from ongoing research and earlier literature, this paper presents a critical analysis of the designs of modern large scale technical systems leading to the displacement of indigenous traditional practices, knowledges and cultures. It draws particularly on feminist technoscience approaches, including Donna Haraway and Sandra Harding’s notions of feminist objectivity that seek to make objectivity non-synonymous with neutrality and distance. Rather both scholars and their followers suggest clear analyses of how knowledge production is situated within particular histories and in closer relation to the needs and desires of some in our societies, often western men. In addition, methods of feminist objectivity would suggest increasing the array of standpoints from which knowledge is produced in order to maximize or produce “strong objectivity.” In this paper the author, herself being Sámi, discusses how her own heritage – in terms of situated knowledges and understandings -  form part of her academic research in regard to these designs and their impacts on Sámi culture and contexts. The paper is based on research within the project “Situated perspectives on the hydropower exploitation in Sápmi: Swedish technological expansion in the 20th century and its impact on the indigenous population” (Swedish Research Council, 2009-2010) and is to be published within the forthcoming anthology “Ill-disciplined Gender: Nature/Culture Transgressive encounters”, the Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Teknikhistoria (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History of Technology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora -- Övrig annan humaniora (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities -- Other Humanities not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

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