Arctic expertise and its social dimensions in Lapland

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Finland scores highly on environmental sustainability, social development and economic performance in many international comparisons. These assessments that position Finland among the greenest, happiest and the most innovative countries in the world are a source of national pride. Securing the well-being of Northern populations and the availability of a competent, healthy and mobile labor force are core elements in the national and regional discourses of Arctic expertise and smart specialization. The question in this chapter is how Finnish Lapland performs on social sustainability in national, Nordic, European and Arctic comparisons. Popular discourses on Arctic expertise and smartness construct a social imaginary for Lapland in which the well-being, creativity and innovation of Northern peoples are mostly wishful claims. In terms of indicators of human development, creativity and smartness, the results for Lapland are rather modest and in some cases also contradictory.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationResources, Social and Cultural Sustainabilities in the Arctic
EditorsMonica Tennberg, Hanna Lempinen, Susanna Pirnes
Place of PublicationAbingdon
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter9
Pages117-130
Edition1.
ISBN (Electronic)978-0-429-05736-6
ISBN (Print)978-0-367-17544-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
MoEC publication typeA3 Part of a book or another research book

Publication series

Series Routledge Research in Polar Regions

Field of science

  • Political science

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