Facing the limit of resilience: perceptions of climate change among reindeer herding Sami in Sweden

This study explores how reindeer-herding Sami communities in Sweden perceive and experience the limits of resilience in the face of climate change. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the authors examine how shifting weather patterns, unpredictable snow and ice conditions, and changing vegetation are affecting traditional reindeer husbandry practices that are central to Sami livelihood, culture and identity. Participants describe a sense of encroaching limits to their capacity to adapt, as traditional ecological knowledge built up over generations becomes less reliable in the face of rapidly shifting conditions. The study situates these experiences within a broader discussion of resilience as a concept, questioning whether it can be usefully applied to communities facing climate impacts that may exceed adaptive capacity altogether, and calls for greater attention to Indigenous perspectives on climate resilience and its limits within climate policy and research.