The Function of Ethnic and National Identities in Cultural Minority Rights Argumentation : A grass-root discourse study from Northern Norway

• Main Author: Fabritius, Nora
• Other Authors: Helsingin yliopisto, Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta, Sosiaalitieteiden laitos, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Research, Helsingfors universitet, Statsvetenskapliga fakulteten, Institutionen för socialvetenskaper
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Helsingin yliopisto 2018
• Subjects: ethnic identity; national identity; cultural rights; minority rights; rights talk; rights argumentation; grass-root; identity construction; discourse analysis; Sámi; Kven; immigrant minorities; Norway; Sosiologia; Sociology; Sociologi; identiteetti; etninen identiteetti; diskurssianalyysi; etniset vähemmistöt; kansalliset vähemmistöt; alkuperäiskansat; argumentaatioteoria; sosiaalinen konstruktivismi; saamelaiset; kveenit; maahanmuutto; arktiset kulttuurit; kulttuuriset oikeudet; ihmisoikeudet; Porsanger; Arktis*; Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/277777

The ethnic diversity in Europe is increasing and targeted cultural rights for old and new minorities are today a hot topic of debate. Most studies of these debates have so far focused on public discourses. This thesis asks how ethnic and national identities gain function as arguments in these debates and takes the study of them to the grass-root level of a specific locality: Porsanger. Porsanger is a municipality in Northern Norway with three official cultures; Sámi, Kven and Norwegian. Lately, also new immigration has increased the local diversity. The specific objective of this thesis is to analyse 1) in what kind of discourses ethnic and national identities gain function as arguments, 2) what kind of versions of these identities they facilitate, and 3) what kind of norms and ideologies these arguments build on. The primary material of the study consists of thematic, qualitative interviews with 19 inhabitants from Porsanger, all with diverging backgrounds and ethnic affiliations. The analysis was done with Discourse Analysis and borrowed concepts from Argumentation Theory. The discursive contextualization was done with ethnographic material and 36 thematic interviews from Porsanger (from year 2015 and 2017), previous research, media material and governmental documents. The results show, that the utterances in which diverging constructs of ethnic and national identities gain argumentative function reflect two central ideologies. First off, the function of ethnic identities is especially prominent in utterances which build on the idea that cultural rights are a question of minority categorization and of being an “authentic” minority. Three legal categories with different ethnic criteria, which entitle to different levels of protection, form the basis for targeted minority rights today: indigenous peoples, national minorities and immigrant groups. Sámi are today recognized as indigenous peoples and Kven as a national minority. Three discourses are identified in the material. In discourses in which the status or ...