Ulf MörkenstamProfessor

Current research project

The territory of democracy: how extra-territorial migration control and the territorial claims of indigenous people challenge and re-shape the democratic people (principal investigator Ludvig Beckman, funded by the Swedish Research Council 2022-2024). In brief: The international borders of the democratic state and its control over territory is currently transformed by the extension of border controls and jurisdiction beyond territory, and by the claims of indigenous peoples to control their own territories. The presumption that the jurisdiction of the state extends to the territory in its entirety and that it is limited by territorial borders is increasingly challenged. This provokes questions about the increasing asymmetries between the people subject to public decisions and the powers of the people in controlling public decisions.

The AIM of this project is to examine how the boundaries of the democratic people – the demos – is affected by challenges to the territorial rights of the state and the simultaneous extension of the jurisdiction of the state beyond its territory. The relation between territory, jurisdiction and the democratic people is examined in two type-cases: extraterritorial border control (with analytic focus on carrier sanctions, interception of migrants in international waters and excised territory) and indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination (with analytic focus on the right to self-constitute, property rights to land and the rights of indigenous non-citizens). This project is an international collaboration between scholars in political science and law, with expertise in democratic theory, indigenous rights and law.

Sámi norm systems and law: a challenge to existing national governance systems and laws (principal investigator, funded by Formas 2022-2024). In brief: The project is based on the recognition of Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination in international law and the opportunity for Indigenous peoples to develop their own norms and legal systems. The Swedish Supreme Court's judgment in the Girjas case in 2020 highlights, for instance, the importance of Sámi norm systems for an understanding of Sámi rights to land and natural resources based on their own traditional ways of using land, something that could be summarized as a Sámi legal system alongside the Swedish. What such a Sami legal system could mean, and which legal sources that should be invoked or analyzed, is still unclear.

The AIM of this project is twofold: first, to reconstruct and revitalize Sámi norm systems and to analyze the meaning of Sámi law, with a specific focus on (i) distribution and use of natural resources and territories, and (ii) conflict management. Norm systems can be seen as perceptions that structures the society. The definition of norms within the Sámi society needs, however, to be further addressed which calls for the development of a theoretical and methodological research framework. Second, the aim is to analyze how Sámi norm systems and law might challenge existing Swedish and Norwegian laws and governance systems, as well as to present recommendations on how they can be implemented in a reciprocal and respectful manner to promote sustainable governing models on natural resources.

Previous projects (title)

The Sámi audiovisual collection – films and TV programs in archives and on line (principal investigator, funded by the Swedish Research Council 2019-2022). The project was a collaboration between three research environments (at Stockholm University, Mid Sweden University and Umeå University) and four cultural institutions: two with responsibility for Sámi culture (the Sámi Parliament, and Ájtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum) and two with responsibility for the Swedish audio-visual cultural heritage (the Royal Library and the Swedish Film Institute).

Who are “We, the People”? Popular sovereignty in national constitutions and the challenge of indigenous peoples (principal investigator, with Ludvig Beckman, Kirsty Gover and Sofia Näsström, funded by the Swedish Research Council 2016-2019)

The Limits of Sámi Politics: Inside and Outside of the Sámi Polity (with colleagues from Norway and Sweden, principal investigator Jo Saglie, funded by the Norwegian Research Council 2017-2019)

The Sámi Parliaments as Representative Bodies: A Comparative Study of the Elections in Sweden and Norway 2013 (principal investigator, with colleagues from Norway and Sweden, funded by Formas 2013-2019)

Globalisation and New Political Rights. The Challenges of the Rights to Inclusion, Self-Determination and Secession (with Ludvig Beckman and Jouni Reinikainen, funded by The Swedish Research Council 2009-2016).

Indigenous rights to self-determination: The Institutional Design and Policy Process of the Swedish Sami Parliament (principal investigator, funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond 2009-2014)

Presumptions for Equality (with professor Kristina Boréus, funded by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions 2004-2006).

The Inner Boundary of Democracy – the Construction of Immigrants in Swedish Politics (principal investigator, funded by The Swedish Research Council 2001-2003).

Conceptions of Samihood in Swedish Sami Policy 1883-1997 (doctoral project, funded by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Stockholm University 1995-1999).

Publications (since 2019)

Articles and book chapters (peer review)

Dahlberg, S. & U. Mörkenstam (2024). “Exploring popular conceptions of democracy through media discourse: analysing dimensions of democracy from online media data in 93 countries using a distributional semantic model”, Democratization, DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2024.2342485

Nilsson, R., S. Dahlberg & U. Mörkenstam (2022). “Den samiska väljarkåren i val till Riksdagen. Deltagande och partival”, Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift 124(3), 592-621.

Beckman, L. K. Gover & U. Mörkenstam (2022). “The popular sovereignty of indigenous peoples: a challenge to democratic legitimacy in multi-people states”, Citizenship Studies 26(1), 1-20.

Mörkenstam, U., P. Selle & S. Valkonen (2022). "Who are 'We the People'? A comparativer analysis of the right to register in the Sámi electoral roll in Finland, Norway and Sweden", in S. Valkonen, Á.Aikio, S. Alakorva & S-M. Magga (eds.), The Sámi World. London: Routledge.

Mörkenstam, U., R. Nilsson & S. Dahlberg (2021). “Indigenous peoples right to self-determination: perceptions of self-determination among the Sámi electorate in Sweden”, in Timo Koivurova et al (eds.), Handbook of Arctic Indigenous Peoples. London: Routledge.

Mörkenstam, U. (2021). ”Politiska lösningar eller juridiska processer? Reflektioner över Finnmarksloven ur ett svenskt perspektiv”, in H-K. Hernes & P. Selle (eds.), Finnmarksloven – en milepæl?  Samerett i møte med norsk politikk. Oslo: Gyldendal, 120-145.

Behtoui, A., K. Boréus, U. Mörkenstam, A. Neergaard & S. Yazdanpanah (2021). “Skilda ojämlikhetsregimer? En jämförelse av praktikerna på kvinno- och mansdominerade arbetsplatser” in K. Boréus, A. Neergaard & L. Sohl (eds.), Ojämlika arbetsplatser. Hierarkier, diskriminering och strategier för jämlikhet. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 211-238.

Saglie, J., U. Mörkenstam & J. Bergh (2020). “Political Cleavages in Indigenous Representation: The Case of the Norwegian and Swedish Sámediggis”, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 26.

Mörkenstam, U.  (2019). “Organised hypocrisy? The Influence of International Norms on the Indigenous Rights Regime in Sweden”, The International Journal of Human Rights. DOI 10.1080/13642987.2019.1629907.

Dahlberg, S. & U. Mörkenstam (2019). “Social Identification, In-group Integration and Voter Turnout in Three Parliamentary Elections: An Analysis of the Swedish Sámi Electorate”, Electoral Studies 59, 99-108.

Books (co-edited)

Nilsson, R., M. Rohdin & U. Mörkenstam (2024). Sápmi på film och TV. Umeå: Umeå universitet

Mörkenstam, U., S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.) (2021). Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Book chapters

Mörkenstam, U. R. Nilsson & M. Rohdin (2024). "Kollektionen Sápmi på film och TV", in R. Nilsson & M. Rohdin & U. Mörkenstam (eds.), Sápmi på film och TV. Umeå: Umeå universitet.

Mörkenstam, U. & S. Dahlberg (2021). ”Valdeltagande på individnivå i sametingsvalet 2017 (och i två andra nationella val)”, in U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.), Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Mörkenstam, U. & S. Dahlberg (2021). ”Partival och partibyte: partiernas väljare och väljarnas val av parti 2017”, in U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.), Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Mörkenstam, U., R. Nilsson & S. Dahlberg (2021). ”Den samiska väljarkåren och rätten till självbestämmande”, in U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.), Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Mörkenstam, U., R. Nilsson & J. Bergh (2021). ”Politiska skiljelinjer i den samiska väljarkåren i Sverige”, in U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.), Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Nilsson, R. U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg & C. Sandström (2021). ”Sametingsvalet 2017: kontinuitet och förändring”, in U. Mörkenstam, S. Dahlberg, R. Nilsson & C. Sandström (eds.), Sametingsval 2017. Stockholm: Santérus förlag.

Mörkenstam U. & P. Lantto (2021). ”De svenska samerna och kampen för erkännande och rättigheter som urfolk”, in M. Darvishpour & C. Westin (eds.), Migration och etnicitet: perspektiv på ett mångkulturellt Sverige, 3d rev. ed. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Work in progress (conference papers)

Wangmar, C. & U. Mörkenstam. “A ‘best of both worlds’? Characterisations of metropolitan relationships by non-self-governing territory (NSGT)representatives”

Mörkenstam, U. & S. Dahlberg. ”Constituent and constituted power? A comparative analysis of recognition of indigenous peoples in national constitutions”.

Mörkenstam, U., R. Nilsson & K. Vernby. "Upplevd diskriminering och politiskt deltagande bland den samiska väljarkåren i Sverige".