INREPOSA · Indigenous Research, Institutionalisation and Neo-Politicisation: A Conjunctural Analysis of Sami Research in Finland

Indigenous Research, Institutionalisation and Neo-Politicisation: A Conjunctural Analysis of Sami Research in Finland

INREPOSA is an interdisciplinary research project which draws on Indigenous and Cultural Studies and settler colonial theory to examine the new ways in which research, politics and public debate entwine in the context of research relating to the Indigenous Sámi. Its founding hypothesis is that over the past decades, academic knowledge production on the Sámi has been affected by two parallel, yet different, processes: institutionalisation and neopoliticisation. Institutionalisation refers to ongoing efforts - both state-led, and local - to strengthen knowledge on Sámi culture and society, for instance through the establishment of study and funding programs linked to Arctic and Indigenous Sámi research, and through the promotion of “Indigenous perspectives” within the academia more broadly. Although such efforts reflect the success of Indigenous and Sámi revitalization, they are also connected to the states’ growing need for research-based knowledge that could be used as a basis for sustainable decision making, in the context of the increasingly explosive Arctic region, climate change, and the rise of Indigenous rights. Thus, neo-politicisation acknowledges that along with the institutionalization of Sámi research, also the range of hopes, desires and economic, political and cultural interests that are projected on such knowledge and on the Sámi have radically multiplied. This is the case especially in Finland, where new political struggles over Sámi identity have turned Sámi research into a key site where matters relating to Sámi rights and self-determination are fought over. INREPOSA’s main research objectives are to build a better understanding of (a) how this conjuncture of institutionalization and neo-politicisation has affected the production of knowledge on the Sámi; (b) what are its implications for research-based policy, political decision-making and public debate relating to the Sámi; and (c) what are the new challenges that Sámi research as a discipline committed to Indigenous decolonization and self-determination is facing in the present conjuncture. The project is grounded in conjunctural approach developed by Stuart Hall, who examined how complex social forces and trajectories come together in particular moments, transfiguring the political terrain, and used such analysis for the purposes of political struggle. The project employs this approach in an Indigenous context, to study the political terrain of Indigenous Sámi research and the impact of research on public debate and state policies in the context of Sámi rights in Finland. In addition, the project’s aim is to test the relevance of Settler Colonial Theory for understanding the Finnish state’s policies in the Sámi region.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз