Forgotten responsibilities? : Nordic truth commissions, Sámi history, and the difficulty of transnational perspectives on historical responsibility

• Main Authors: Kortekangas, O, Elgabsi, N, Arvidsson, M
• Other Authors: Department of Cultures
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sage 2024
• Subjects: S & aacute;mi history; Historical justice; Historical responsibility; Intergenerational responsibility; Transitional justice; Transnational historical justice; Transnational history; Truth and reconciliation; 5200 Other social sciences; North-Western Russia
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/584352

The article studies the Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish truth commissions dealing with state-S & aacute;mi (an indigenous population living in northern Scandinavia, Finland and north-western Russia) relations through the concept of transnational historical justice. The fact that three separate commissions are studying the history of the S & aacute;mi has been criticized by earlier researchers, but never from the perspective of intergenerational, and more specifically historical justice. Our study of the mandate documents and the report of the Norwegian commission (the only one published in the time of writing of this article) points to constructive ways forward that could acknowledge and better embrace the transnational character of S & aacute;mi history, especially in terms of historical justice. We also study in what way the Norwegian commission worked within and stretched the framework set by the mandate document. Our conclusion is that the lack of transnationalism in the mandate and work of the commissions leads to historical S & aacute;mi individuals and groups being forgotten. These are historical groups and individuals whose existence does not fit in neatly in the presentist perspective of the commissions, projecting the current nation state borders back in time. For this reason, historical justice toward these groups is also a forgotten issue in the mandate and work of the commissions. Peer reviewed