ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out to analyze the ongoing sociopolitical process and environmental controversy attached to the possibility of opening up the Lofoten area to oil drilling and, thereby, expanding the oil frontier to territories that are classified as valuable and vulnerable in several research documents and the integrated management plan. The analysis suggests that these categories have become an important means of negotiation and resistance among different stakeholders. Overall, people do not question the authority of the existing knowledge base. As such, scientific knowledge becomes an important ally in the petroleum debate. What is negotiated, however, are the political implications and practical meanings of these categories. The chapter also discusses mapping as a performative practice and the way spatiotemporal zoning is employed to integrate and coordinate both the marine environment and different conflicting sectorial interests such as the oil industry, the fisheries, and environmental conservation.
