Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

In Norway, the freedom to roam has a strong position. The freedom has both a legal platform as well as a strong normative anchoring. The legislation, The Outdoor act (Friluftsloven) was passed in 1957. Its main purpose is to secure peoples access to nature. The three main pillars are the right to; access and roam, camp, and harvest. These are all rights regardless of who owns the land. When the law was passed it had a strong public and political support as it aimed at securing the common goods for the commons. However, with rapid changes in tourism and outdoor recreation the freedom to roam is under pressure. Various stakeholders emphasize that there are emerging scenarios that resemble tragedy of the commons. When tourism use the freedom without any concern for the responsibility that comes follows, it does echo Hardins famous paper. In addition, the industry underline that the freedom to roam today reflects a vulnerability facing commercialization. At the same time, there are outdoor organizations that strongly oppose the idea of a statue law revision as this might affect the individual rights. However, the same organizations call out for the need of measurements taken when the unwanted consequences of tourism are debated. This is the ambivalence inherent in the freedom to roam. This paper is based on a research proposal that aims at pursuing the emerging paradoxes that exist within this cornerstone of nature-based tourism in Norway today. It rests on social anthropological research method.