Sammanfattning

'Nature-Based Integration' (NBI) has been proposed as a solution to two prominent issues in contemporary Nordic societies: increasing separation from nature among 'modern' societies; and the need to 'integrate' groups of diverse newcomers. This article examines NBI activities in orebro County, central Sweden, exploring how these practices seek to bring immigrants into a shared Swedish experiential landscape that forms part of the work of ordering Sweden as a community. These activities form part of an ordering project, within which 'Swedes' and 'newcomers' are situated, drawing on extant nationalist orderings. Likewise, it represents part of an effort to enact a sustainable Sweden in an international world. Drawing on research on environmental racism and (in)justice, this article homes in on the norms implicit and explicit to this ordering. It then discusses the implications of this, highlighting (arguably unavoidable) coercive elements. Furthermore, the long history of outdoor lifestyle as a pillar of Swedish nationalism and the embracing of such activities by the Swedish far right highlight that nature may also become a site of conflict as much as conciliation. Finally, the article considers the types of environmental action arising from the NBI orderings and the likelihood of meaningful environmental change.

Nyckelord

Nature; integration; nature orderings; environmental justice and racism; nature-based solutions

Publicerad i

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space
2021, Volym: 4, nummer: 4, sidor: 1560-1582

SLU författare

• Singleton, Benedict

  • Institutionen för stad och land, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Associerade SLU-program

SLU Centrum för biologisk mångfald, CBM


UKÄ forskningsämne

Socialantropologi
Tvärvetenskapliga studier
Internationell Migration och Etniska Relationer (IMER)


Publikationens identifierare

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848620962420

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/110475