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Transition from Transport Reindeer Herding to Reindeer Pastoralism: A study of Indigenous Governance during Change

Project description

A closer look at reindeer pastoralism shifts

In the 16th to 19th centuries, Aboriginal societies transitioned from transport reindeer herding to reindeer pastoralism in northern Eurasia. This had an impact on indigenous governance and social relations. With this in mind, the ERC-funded TransRein project aims to unravel this shift. Focusing on the Sami people of northern Sweden, it examines how market opportunities drove this transition and its effects on governance and social dynamics. By comparing with Eurasian societies and broader historical contexts, TransRein seeks to deepen our understanding of indigenous reindeer-herding societies. Objectives include detailing the transition’s governance and social impacts, identifying common driving forces and contextualising within broader economic shifts. TransRein’s findings will offer fresh insights into indigenous resilience and adaptation.

Objective

Aboriginal societies around the world have independently transitioned their production mode. In northern Eurasia, the transition manifested itself in a movement away from transport reindeer herding towards reindeer pastoralism from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. Although this was one of the most significant changes affecting circumpolar people across the region, much remains unknown about the drivers of this transition, and even less about its consequences for indigenous governance and social relations. Northern Fennoscandia was one of the first regions to witness the transition, and the indigenous Sami of northern Sweden are an especially suitable case for addressing these gaps.

The historical sources are exceptionally rich and Sami are a very interesting case because reindeer pastoralism developed in a foraging culture, with many households continuing as hunters and fishers even after the transition dominated society. A central assumption is that the transition to reindeer pastoralism was induced by market opportunities. TransRein builds on the hypothesis that the transition of these societies was driven by concomitant, self-governed responses as the transition progressed and will advance research about indigenous reindeer-herding societies beyond the state of the art by pursuing the following three objectives.

1. Create a detailed depiction of the transition from transport reindeer herding to reindeer pastoralism among indigenous Sami, focusing on governance of natural resources and—for the first time—its effect on social relations, and significantly deepen our understanding of indigenous governance, 1550–1800.
2. Identify common forces behind the transition through comparisons with other reindeer-herding societies in Eurasia that underwent the same transition.
3. Place the transition in two wider contexts; the transitions from foraging economies to pastoralism in other societies, and the transition in a European context of early modern agrarian change.

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG

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Host institution

SVERIGES LANTBRUKSUNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 989 816,00
Address
ALMAS ALLE 8
750 07 Uppsala
Sweden

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Region
Östra Sverige Östra Mellansverige Uppsala län
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 989 816,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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