27 research outputs found
The Experience of Displacement and Social Engineering in Kola Saami Oral Histories
The thesis examines peopleâs experiences of Soviet-time, state-initiated displacement and (re)emplacement on the Kola Peninsula as well as the consequences of these developments. Sources show that Saami communities bore the brunt of these processes. The work seeks to draw for the first time a holistic picture of the social transformation among the Kola Saami, while nevertheless respecting the reality of mixed and multiple ethnic belongings as well as other categories of identity in the region. Tapping extensive fieldwork by the author, the research systematically identifies, analyses and contextualises the processes and consequences of displacement as one of the most profound social transformations of the twentieth century in the Arctic. The consequences discussed include a chronic housing shortage, changed gender relations, skewed dynamics in boarding schools, self-harming behaviour, and social rifts that persist to this day. Perspectives characteristic of the state are juxtaposed with grassroots experiences.
This work is in many ways a historical anthropology of suffering, one laying bare mechanisms of scapegoating and social exclusion. Yet traumatic events are dealt with in ways acknowledging that victims can be simultaneously agents who accommodate, subvert and resist. The stages and consequences of displacement are contextualised within the larger frame of social engineering undertaken by modern nation-states across the circumpolar world, thus relativising SovietâWestern dichotomies.
Conceived as a historical-anthropological inquiry, the study draws on empirical materials produced and gathered using a combined approach of open-ended biographical interviewing, participant observation and archival research. Ethical questions prompted by this co-productive approach with a long-term commitment to field partners are taken up as an additional strand of the research.
The main methodological principle of this thesis is that the production and the analysis of materials should be phenomenologically driven and rooted in a radically interpretive, non-positivist approach. Embracing this commitment, the work tries to show that the common â but mostly unspoken â link between oral history and anthropology lies in phenomenological philosophy as the study of experience. Making this link more explicit is an important and long overdue task, because xperience is the pivot between the universal and the singular.VĂ€itöskirja keskittyy ihmisten kokemuksiin neuvostoajasta ja valtion toimeenpanemasta vĂ€estön siirrosta ja takaisin asuttamisesta Kuolan niemimaalla sekĂ€ siihen, mitĂ€ tĂ€stĂ€ kaikesta on seurannut. LĂ€hteiden perusteella saamelaiset ovat kĂ€rsineet prosessista eniten. VĂ€itöskirjassa pyritÀÀn ensimmĂ€istĂ€ kertaa luomaan holistinen kuva Kuolan saamelaisten kokemasta sosiaalisesta muutoksesta unohtamatta alueen etnisen diversiteetin ja muiden identiteettikategorioiden realiteetteja. Laajan kenttĂ€työn pohjalta tutkija identifioi, analysoi ja kontekstualisoi siirtoprosesseja ja niiden seurauksia yhtenĂ€ arktisen alueen vaikuttavimmista sosiaalisista transformaatioista 1900-luvulla. TekijĂ€n pohtimia seurauksia ovat muun muassa jatkuva asuntopula, sukupuolten vĂ€listen suhteiden muutos, sisĂ€oppilaitosten vÀÀristyneet kĂ€ytĂ€nnöt, itsetuhoinen kĂ€ytös ja vielĂ€ tĂ€nĂ€ pĂ€ivĂ€nĂ€ vallitseva sosiaalinen epĂ€tasa-arvo. Tutkimuksessa vertaillaan valtiollisia lĂ€htökohtia ja ruohonjuuritason kokemuksia.
Se on erÀÀnlainen kÀrsimyksen antropologinen kuvaus, jossa syitÀ vieritetÀÀn muiden niskaan ja ihmiset pÀÀtyvÀt yhteiskunnan ulkopuolelle. Traumaattisia tapahtumia silti kÀsitellÀÀn pitÀen mielessÀ, ettÀ uhrit voivat samalla olla mukautuvia, mitÀtöiviÀ ja vastustavia toimijoita. Siirtojen vaiheita ja seurauksia verrataan nykyajan kansallisvaltioiden sosiaaliseen suunnitteluun kaikkialla sirkumpolaarisessa maailmassa, mikÀ antaa mittasuhteet neuvostojÀrjestelmÀn ja lÀnsimaisen jÀrjestelmÀn vÀliselle dikotomialle.
Tutkimuksen lÀhestymistapa pohjautuu historialliseen antropologiaan ja sen empiirinen materiaali on tuotettu ja kerÀtty avointen biografisten haastattelujen, osallistujahavaintojen ja arkistotutkimuksen keinoin. TÀmÀn pitkÀÀn sitoutumiseen perustuvan, yhteistuotannollisen metodin esiin nostamat eettiset kysymykset poikivat ylimÀÀrÀisen tutkimushaaran.
VĂ€itöskirjan metodologinen pÀÀperiaate on, ettĂ€ materiaalia tulee tuottaa ja analysoida fenomenologisista lĂ€htökohdista ja lĂ€hestymistavan tulee olla vahvasti tulkinnallinen ja ei-positivistinen. TĂ€tĂ€ silmĂ€llĂ€ pitĂ€en tutkimus pyrkii osoittamaan, ettĂ€ suullisen historian ja antropologian yhdistĂ€vĂ€ â joskin vaiettu â yhteys juontuu kokemuksen tutkimukseen osana fenomenologista filosofiaa. TĂ€mĂ€ yhteys tulee viimeinkin saada selkeĂ€mmin esille, koska juuri kokemus on universaalin ja erityisyyden keskipisteessĂ€
The Perspective of Former Pupils:Indigenous Children and Boarding Schools on the Kola Peninsula, 1960s to 1980s
âI should never tell anybody that my mother was shotâ:understanding personal testimony and family memories within Soviet Lapland
Youth wellbeing in âAtomic Townsâ : The cases of Polyarnye Zori and PyhĂ€joki
This chapter compares how young people relate to the presence of a nuclear power company as a dominant presence and significant social actor in two northern industrial towns, one in Finland, the other in Russia. In both, Rosatom is building/maintaining the power plant. The entire town of Polyarnye Zori (northwest Russia) was planned and built at the same time as its nuclear power plant, whereas PyhĂ€joki (northern Finland) is currently entering a new stage of development with Rosatom building a plant in an existing community. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among teenagers, young adults and professionals dealing with youth issues, it became apparent that in single-industry towns the strong presence of corporate actors and municipal institutions has an influence on youth wellbeing. However, as the policy analysis demonstrates, while in Russia Rosatom significantly shapes social life in the community, the role of the company in Finland is notâand is unlikely to becomeâas prominent. In both towns, the young generationâs aspirations and expectations revealed dissonances with what municipal policymakers and the corporations offered to them. In a comparative approach, and using the theoretical concepts of hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing, this research contributes to identifying the wishes and needs of local youth in northern single-industry towns.Peer reviewe
âI do not know if Mum knew what was going on:Social reproduction in boarding schools in Soviet Lapland
The Sami of the Kola Peninsula:About the life of an ethnic minority in the Soviet Union
With this study of the Sami population in the Russian part of Lapland, Lukas Allemann closes a research gap. The author focuses on the little explored period between the end of the war in 1945 and beginning of perestroika. Applying an oral history approach with biographical interviews the author opens up the inner world and structural relationships of this minority ethnic group. For all the differences, contradictions and diverging assessments of the Soviet era, what emerges from this study is that - contrary to the widespread view expressed in the secondary literature - it was not collectivization and terror, but the forced relocations between the 1930s and 70s that represented the deepest rupture in the life of the Sami. The opinion that it was Soviet rule that initiated the destruction of Sami culture is also relativized. Russification and changes in reindeer herding patterns had set in already before the October Revolution.Translated from German language by Michael Lomax.Originally published (in German) by:Verlag Peter Lang, 'Menschen und Strukturen' series. Historisch-sozialwissenschaftliche Studien, Ed. Heiko Haumann, Vol. 18, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, New York, Oxford, Vienna, 2010