Who are ‘We, the People’? A comparative analysis of the right to register in the Sámi electoral roll in Finland, Norway and Sweden

Ulf Mörkenstam, Per Selle, Sanna Valkonen

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

Abstract

The right to self-constitute and to demarcate the demos, i.e. the right to regulate membership, is an important part of Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination. The right to self-constitute may create different kinds of conflicts with the states in which Indigenous Peoples live but may also affect the balance of power within Indigenous communities. The transnational Indigenous Sámi people have no common constitution defining who belong to the people. In Finland, Norway and Sweden, Sámi membership has been handled in relation to specific legislation on Sámi issues. In this chapter, the authors’ aim is twofold: First, to describe the criteria for registering in the Sámi electoral roll in the Nordic states and second, to analyze why these criteria have been perceived in such a different fashion within the Sámi communities in their respective countries and why they have been implemented differently by the three Sámediggis. Since Indigenous self-determination within the borders of already-existing nation-states always means some external control and not total autonomy, it is important to compare how the question of membership is playing itself out among the same Indigenous People but in different national contexts that otherwise have so much in common.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Sámi World
EditorsSanna Valkonen, Áile Aikio, Saara Alakorva, Sigga-Marja Magga
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter18
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781003025511
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
MoEC publication typeA3 Part of a book or another research book

Keywords

  • Sámi research
  • Indigenous research
  • Arctic Indigenous peoples
  • Political science
  • decolonisation

Field of science

  • Sociology
  • Social policy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Who are ‘We, the People’? A comparative analysis of the right to register in the Sámi electoral roll in Finland, Norway and Sweden'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Citation for this output