Abstract
The Northern Review 45 (2017): 113–139 https://doi.org/10.22584/nr45.2017.007 Depopulation is a growing concern in core Sami areas in Norway, and the loss of productive young people is a particular concern for rural regions. Yet new industrial developments are debated due to the impact on traditional identity-developing practices such as reindeer herding. The objective of this article is to gain knowledge about how Sami youth identity shape their decisions to stay or return to their home place and how they envision their opportunities for employment. This qualitative study investigated how Sami youth experience Sami identity as a determinant of educational, occupational, and housing preferences. Data was collected through interviews with fourteen Sami youth from three different types of Sami communities in Norway—Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), located in the core Sami area in Inner Finnmark, with a strong reindeer based economy and Sami as the first language; Matta-Varjjat (Sor-Varanger) and Porsaŋgu (Porsanger) in coastal Finnmark; and the southern Sami areas based around Snaase (Snasa) in North Trondelag. The informants from the three communities were university and college students, high school pupils, and apprentices. The study’s theoretical framework and analysis is inspired by the theories and applications of the life mode perspective, combined with perspectives of cultural identity, locale, landscape, and global “sense of place.” The findings suggests that life modes that signify or enable salient Sami values influence how Sami youth reflect on their Sami identity and envision opportunities. Furthermore, the findings show that different life modes influence Sami youth identity development through providing opportunities for new expressions of a Sami identity.
Highlights
Introduction and BackgroundResearch shows that Sami youth have a desire to contribute towards future development of Sami culture (Pedersen & Viken, 2009)
When we state identity as performance, it is rooted in dramaturgical theory, as part of the paradigm of symbolic interactionism (Goffman, 1978). In line with such a perspective, social interaction is a theatrical performance, metaphorically speaking, and all performances are addressed to an audience, designed to confirm particular images embedded in an overall cultural practice, at the same time strengthening the identity practice itself or acknowledging a community of a certain identity practice
Different life modes influence Sami youth reflections on their identity and future preferences
Summary
Introduction and BackgroundResearch shows that Sami youth have a desire to contribute towards future development of Sami culture (Pedersen & Viken, 2009). The development of an ethnic identity is most properly described as a process of construction over time (Phinney, 1990; Phinney & Ong, 2007) due to the combination of experiences and actions of the individual. This includes gaining knowledge and understanding of the specific characteristics defining in-groups as well as a sense of belonging to, and socio-cultural affiliation with, the ethnic group in focus. In-group is a concept defining the socio-cultural qualities and traits to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. Our point is that an ethnic identity will have a very long-term horizon of change, but the life-mode identity could change in the short term and may be viewed as a sudden event
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