Reconciliation as a Threat or Structural Change? The Truth and Reconciliation Process and Settler Colonial Policy Making in Finland

• Published in: Human Rights Review
• Main Author: Kuokkanen, Rauna
• Other Authors: University of Lapland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
• Subjects: Law; Sociology and Political Science; Sámi
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12142-020-00594-x; https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12142-020-00594-x.pdf; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12142-020-00594-x/fulltext.html

Abstract The Sámi have long desired a public process to examine and expose the Nordic states’ colonial, assimilationist practices and policies, past and present, toward the Sámi people. This article considers the truth and reconciliation process in Finland, assessing it in light of recent legislative and other measures. Employing settler colonial theory, it argues that reconciliation, although seemingly progressive, signifies a continuation of colonialism unless the state terminates its current approach of overlooking Sámi rights. The article concludes with a discussion of structural reconciliation and justice and considers some concrete measures for structural change in order for the reconciliation process to be valid and successful in Finland.