Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway
In coastal north Norway the Saami people have lived in a close relationship with Norwegians or Norse people for a thousand years or more. This relationship has been articulated in various ways over the centuries, and this article argues that in parts of the region it took a rather intimate form base...
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Cambridge University Press
2012
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/5363 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/5363 2023-05-15T17:39:20+02:00 Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway Thuen, Trond 2012 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/5363 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 eng eng Cambridge University Press Polar Record 48(2012) nr. 246 s. 239-249 FRIDAID 915123 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 0032-2474 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/5363 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_5063 openAccess VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2012 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 2021-06-25T17:53:30Z In coastal north Norway the Saami people have lived in a close relationship with Norwegians or Norse people for a thousand years or more. This relationship has been articulated in various ways over the centuries, and this article argues that in parts of the region it took a rather intimate form based on the shared exploitation of the dominant marine and terrestrial niches, a common class position as tenant farmers, a varying practice of inter-ethnic marital relations and the effects of a bilateral kinship system. Various forms of inter-ethnic contact and exchange may thus have served to reduce the relevance of ethnic difference in daily life, as suggested by Barth's argument about the integrative effect of transactions, but contrary to his argument about the transactional reinforcement of ethnic boundaries. Contrary to the intention, governmental assimilatory efforts served to reproduce the boundary as the basis for a ranked society and left coastal Saami individuals in some confusion as to how to define themselves, often opting for a mixed category of Norwegian and Saami, labelled ‘Northerner’. Ethno-political emancipation in recent years has tended to put pressure on this identity construction and promoted a dichotomised identity as either Saami or Norwegian. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Norway Polar Record saami University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Norway Polar Record 48 3 239 249 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 |
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VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 Thuen, Trond Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
topic_facet |
VDP::Social science: 200::Social anthropology: 250 VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Sosialantropologi: 250 |
description |
In coastal north Norway the Saami people have lived in a close relationship with Norwegians or Norse people for a thousand years or more. This relationship has been articulated in various ways over the centuries, and this article argues that in parts of the region it took a rather intimate form based on the shared exploitation of the dominant marine and terrestrial niches, a common class position as tenant farmers, a varying practice of inter-ethnic marital relations and the effects of a bilateral kinship system. Various forms of inter-ethnic contact and exchange may thus have served to reduce the relevance of ethnic difference in daily life, as suggested by Barth's argument about the integrative effect of transactions, but contrary to his argument about the transactional reinforcement of ethnic boundaries. Contrary to the intention, governmental assimilatory efforts served to reproduce the boundary as the basis for a ranked society and left coastal Saami individuals in some confusion as to how to define themselves, often opting for a mixed category of Norwegian and Saami, labelled ‘Northerner’. Ethno-political emancipation in recent years has tended to put pressure on this identity construction and promoted a dichotomised identity as either Saami or Norwegian. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thuen, Trond |
author_facet |
Thuen, Trond |
author_sort |
Thuen, Trond |
title |
Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
title_short |
Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
title_full |
Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
title_fullStr |
Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variations of ethnic boundary significance in north Norway |
title_sort |
variations of ethnic boundary significance in north norway |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/5363 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
North Norway Polar Record saami |
genre_facet |
North Norway Polar Record saami |
op_relation |
Polar Record 48(2012) nr. 246 s. 239-249 FRIDAID 915123 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 0032-2474 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/5363 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_5063 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247411000623 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
48 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
239 |
op_container_end_page |
249 |
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1766140102035111936 |