Toward a green transition : a post- and decolonial analysis of the green state of Sweden

Abstract

This chapter is a post/decolonial analysis of the racial underpinnings of the Swedish state’s relationship to nature seen through the lens of its ongoing attempts at bringing about a green transition. The chapter builds on work that brings to light how notions of the “other” play a central role in the relationships that govern policymaking and everyday environmental governance today. Belief in being at the forefront of environmental efforts has been central to Sweden’s self-image as a nation, an image that is emphasized and mobilized in the political discourse that frames the green transition. In practice on the ground, the green transition has been reduced to the development of infrastructure and technologies that will ensure a zero-carbon emission future. The chapter shows how colonial thinking continues to shape domestic environmental politics and democracy in Sweden and is used to territorialize indigenous lands in northern Sweden.

Published in

Routledge Studies on African and Black Diaspora
2025, number: 14, pages: 269-286
Title: Decolonial Sweden
Publisher: Routledge

SLU Authors

• Arora Jonsson, Seema

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Stiernström, Arvid

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

International Migration and Ethnic Relations
Human Geography

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003396611-17
• ISBN: 978-1-032-50035-5
• eISBN: 978-1-003-39661-1

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139612