Daniel Fjellborg

Postdoctor

School of Global Studies

Mail

daniel.fjellborg@gu.se

Visiting address

Konstepidemins väg 2

41314 Göteborg

Postal address

Box 700

40530 Göteborg

About Daniel Fjellborg

Research Interests

Social movement studies
Political participation
Strategic choices in activism
Indigenous and national minority politics
Ethnopolitical mobilisation
Natural resource governance and conflicts

Current Research

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg and a visiting researcher in Political Science at Luleå University of Technology.

My current research examines the potential for democratic processes in the context of the expanding extraction of critical minerals in Sweden.

My work is primarily situated within social movement scholarship, and I have published in academic journals such as Social Movement Studies, Theory and Society, Journal of Law and Society, Resources Policy, and Policy Studies Journal.

Teaching

Education for Sustainable Development – An Introduction (ESD101)
Supervision and examination of Bachelor's and Master's theses

Background

I live and work primarily in Kaalasjärvi, in Kiruna Municipality, in Arctic Sweden.

I hold a PhD in Political Science from Luleå University of Technology (2024) and a Master of Political Science degree from Uppsala University (2015).

My doctoral research focused on protests against mineral extraction in Sweden and around the world. The thesis explored how the surrounding societal context—including laws, politics, and legislation—influences protest movements’ strategic choices.

In 2026–2027, I am working to establish a national educational centre for the national minority Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset at Tornedalens folkhögskola (www.tornedalen.se). I previously worked at the Swedish Government Offices as an inquiry secretary for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset. I also teach about Sweden’s Meänkieli-speaking minority in teacher education programmes and at Tornedalens folkhögskola, and I have produced a podcast about the assimilation of Meänkieli speakers in Sweden (www.ummikko.se).

In 2025, I was appointed a Junior Research Fellow in the Nordic university alliance The Arctic Six.

In 2022, I was a visiting researcher at the Centre on Social Movement Studies (COSMOS) at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence.

In 2021-2022, I served as a member of the University Board at Luleå University of Technology.

In 2021, I received the Swedish Political Science Association’s (SWEPSA) award for Best Paper by an Early-Career Researcher.

From 2019 to 2022 I served as a member of the National Doctoral Students’ Committee (SFS-DK)

From 2019 to 2023, I was an independent columnist for the Swedish higher-education magazine Universitetsläraren.

Want to Know More?

I am happy to present my research, participate in panel discussions, provide expert advise, and moderate public conversations.

Please contact me for further information.