Written by Erlend Eggen, Klimakultur. The article is part of the HELP-report by Klimakultur, published in November 2025.
Who refuses a free community event or criticizes a gift given to the whole community?
In Norway it is common for fossil fuel companies to take on the role of gift-giver in cities and communities around the coast.
In some cases, they give a free community event as a gift when a new milestone has been reached – for example, when a new oil field is about to open, or by being a sponsor and partner for a local cultural or sporting event that has a lot of goodwill and legitimacy among the local population. This is a really smart way to buy their way into both the hearts and minds of the people.
Welcome to a Norwegian folkefest!
As a Norwegian, I have been to a few community events (folkefest in Norwegian) in my life; it typically involves music with performances by both local talents and nationally known artists.
Food and drinks are often served, focusing on local specialties. Local groups and associations are engaged to help out with practical tasks. The largest and best folkefests also include official speeches from government officials or company representatives.
The goal is to include the entire local community, from children to adults, in a magnificent celebration that marks something the organizer believes is significant for the place or region.
What is a Gift?
In his essay "The Gift" (Essai sur le don) from 1925, the French sociologist Marcel Mauss defines the gift as a "total phenomenon" or an "obligatory exchange." By this, he meant that the gift is not a voluntary and selfless act but is bound by obligations.
Mauss has been formative for all later gift theory and introduced the concept of reciprocity as the central driving force in all gift exchanges. Simply explained, reciprocity means that we stand in a mutual relationship with one another. In a gift exchange, there is someone who gives, someone who receives, and an expectation of return.
Mauss uses the Maori term hau (the soul/spirit of the gift) to explain why the gift must be reciprocated. The gift is not just a material thing but carries with it some of the spirit and power of the giver and will "return" to its original owner if it is not reciprocated.
The goal of the gift exchange is not primarily economic profit but to create, confirm, and cement social relations and hierarchies between individuals, groups, and clans.
Everyone who receives the gift helps maintain the idea of who is included and who must be kept outside.
Community events in the Norwegian oil town, Harstad
What is it actually like to be a climate-engaged young person in Harstad when the town receives a major community event (public celebration/festival) as a gift from the Norwegian oil company Equinor?
This summer, Harstad was the starting point and host for the cycling race Arctic Race of Norway (ARN). The cycle race is one of Norway's largest sporting events, with the oil company Equinor as its main sponsor.
Kimi Nie Nilssen is an 18-year old living in Harstad and one of the few local voices who spoke out critically about the event.
Klimakultur contacted Kimi to gain a better understanding of what it is like to be a young critical voice in a small local community where Equinor is an important employer and gift giver to the community.
Kimi Nie Nilssen grew up in Harstad, a small Norwegian town where the oil company Equinor has established itself with 300 employees. His own mother works for the company.
Kimi Nie-Nilssen
Kimi has been involved in the climate crisis since he was 11 years old. Today, he is 18, a youth politician for the Green Party (Miljøpartiet de Grønne).
Kimi explains in this interview that criticism of Equinor as a sponsor is quickly met with characterizations of sulking and ingratitude:
"Equinor is trying to create, as you say, a folkefest. Just throwing a lot of money in so people see Equinor as a great company. The consequence of that is that when you try to shed light on the negative aspects of Equinor's operations, it comes across as whining."
In comment sections and debate pages to the local newspaper iHarstad, we can read harsh criticism of those who raised critical questions about ARN. In a small town where many people know each other, it quickly becomes personal when someone chooses to criticize what others perceive as a gift to everyone in the local community. It is perceived as disloyal and ungrateful by friends and acquaintances alike.
Kimi explains that in small places, the feeling of ingratitude is amplified because not much else happens:
"Many people feel there is a shortage of family events and things that can create a good atmosphere downtown. So, many people feel that when something finally happens in Harstad, they don't want to think about either genocide or rising sea levels."
This is not the first time Equinor has helped invite the public to a community fair in Harstad.
Kimi recounts a celebration that Equinor itself organized earlier this year to mark the opening of the new Johan Castberg oil field:
"so that was purely a celebration of pumping up more oil and causing more climate change, but it still gathered a lot of people downtown and people had a good time, so it was quite literally an oil party that they organized with very few critical objections."
Kimi's stories from the Arctic Race of Norway and the Johan Castberg field in Harstad demonstrate that Equinor both participates in and organizes the community fairs in the town.
As a main sponsor, they borrow the "legitimacy" of a popular sporting event and "take up space" in the relationship the organizer establishes with the public through family activities, concerts and sports. Equinor also borrows legitimacy from everyone who contributes their time as volunteers and partners in the execution of the event.
It becomes very clear how Equinor succeeds in gaining local acceptance as a sponsor when Kimi raises critical questions about the event on social media or in the local newspaper. Those who ask critical questions are immediately perceived and shut down as ungrateful by the majority, who have accepted the community fair as a gift.
Logo branding on cars, stages, squares, and along the road ensures that there is no doubt that the fossil fuel companies are the sender of the gift.
An expectation of loyalty and gratefulness has been created for everyone who receives the gift, and most people join in shutting down critical voices that are perceived as "disloyal" in the local community. Almost as a gift back to Equinor as the gift giver.
Why does it feel wrong to express criticism about a gift?
Is it the fear of the oil company or is it the social sanctions from friends and acquaintances within one’s own local community that prevent people from daring to speak out?
To dig a bit deeper into the topic I reached out to Tom Bratrud, an Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen.
Tom Bratrud
In an interview with Klimakultur, Tom discusses how community events function as a gift and are received by the local population with an expectation of gratitude as reciprocation:
"What characterizes the gift is that there are three principles:
First, you have a duty to give. If you want to have a social relationship with someone, you should give something at some point.
Second, as a recipient, you have a duty to receive. It’s difficult to be offered something and say, 'No, thank you, I don't want it, take it back.' That is socially inappropriate. Because that rejects the hand that the giver is reaching out, quite simply.
And then the third point is the duty to reciprocate, if you have received something, you should give something back at some point. If not, you signal that you don’t accept the relationship the giver is trying to initiate with you. That feels awkward for both parties.
So, there are some basic social psychological principles involved in gift giving that allow us to create relationships and community with one another, but which can also be exploited in a less noble way, one might say."
Tom continues by explaining that it is effective to organize community events in smaller places where not much else happens, as they engage the whole family and provide a break from everyday life:
"An actor who provides this experience may expect the recipient to be happy to accept it, because the recipient is receiving something they otherwise would not have had access to. They might therefore be expected to show gratitude in return."
As Bratrud points out, social acceptance is not created just by giving a gift; it also depends on people showing gratitude and reciprocating the gift.
In the examples from Harstad, the gift is returned by participating and showing gratitude. But perhaps the very best way to give back for the gift is the popular defense of both the organizer and the oil sponsorship? The community defends the organizer if someone locally goes public to say something critical, creating a rupture with what is expected when a gift is given and received.
Kimi Nie-Nilssen's stories show that the majority of the local community are ready to defend their loyalty in a gift relationship. Being one of few critical voices feels like a lonely position to take on. Kimi concludes by saying:
"Ultimately, I believe it's difficult to be on my side because you experience so much harassment and so many negative comments. And it's also difficult in a town where several hundred people work in oil and gas to actually say that this is something you are critical of."
Equinorwegian Conditions (Equinorske Tilstander)
All the gifts from the oil industry contribute to maintaining what we in Klimakultur have called Equinorwegian conditions (Equinorske Tilstander). A national state where the oil industry has a disproportionately large influence on public debate and political decisions at all levels, which we have written about in the report "What is Norwegian Energy Culture".
Specifically, the Equinorwegian conditions are characterized by three concrete points:
- A culture of self-censorship has been created. People who criticize the oil industry are characterized as ungrateful and irresponsible, to the detriment of themselves and the rest of the local community.
- The narrative of "the good Norway" is retold by politicians, media, and public commentators, contributing to maintaining the idea that Norway produces green and democratic oil that contributes to European energy security.
- As Norwegians are bound up by a feeling of showing gratitude toward the oil companies, a false image has been created that the majority of people want continued oil and gas activities.
This narrative is fundamental for continued oil exploration.
Sponsoring culture, sports, community events, and activities for the entire family is an effective means of demonstrating generosity and creating an expectation of gratitude in return.
The local generosity of the oil companies may be one of the reasons why many Norwegians, and politicians in particular, do not dare to speak openly and freely about oil as a harmful product that we must stop producing.
