Modernization and pasture degradation

The book aims to explain why reindeer pastures in the 1980s became overgrazed in parts of North Norway (North) and not in Mid Norway (South). The compared regions were exposed to the same external changes i.e., new technologies, increased market access and new state policies. Common property regimes may be vulnerable to all these kinds of changes. Given the different outcomes experienced, the study focus on the interaction between such external factors and internal characteristics like the natural resource base and the Sámi institutions. The analysis show that both regions had institutions vulnerable to external changes, but that North characteristics implied the largest institutional challenges. South had both a physical geography and a history that made the changes easier to handle. State policies clearly influenced North development in a negative direction promoting actions not considered legitimate while South herders advanced institutional changes. The study underlines the need of focusing self- governance and cultural dynamics and examining a wide number of relevant factors before imposing changes in governance structures.