TY - JOUR
T1 - Radically Ordinary Lives
T2 - Young Rural Stayers and the Ingredients of the Good Life in Finnish Lapland
AU - Adams, Ria-Maria
AU - Komu, Teresa
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This article focuses on young people who, despite the general tendency towards youth outmigration in rural areas, have decided to stay in their home town. We explore the agency of young, conscious stayers, as well as the process of staying in the northern Finnish town of Kemijärvi. The stayers’ values and perceptions of the constituents of a good life could be taken as an alternative to the prevailing Western ideal that emphasizes mobility and ambitious educational and career plans, and is, in part, driving young people to leave their rural hometowns. The stayers in this study are active participants in their own fate and are content with their choice of staying. Applying ethnographic methods, we undertake to learn what rural stayers consider the building blocks of a good life in a small-town setting, one offering comparatively limited options in terms of jobs, education and leisure activities.
AB - This article focuses on young people who, despite the general tendency towards youth outmigration in rural areas, have decided to stay in their home town. We explore the agency of young, conscious stayers, as well as the process of staying in the northern Finnish town of Kemijärvi. The stayers’ values and perceptions of the constituents of a good life could be taken as an alternative to the prevailing Western ideal that emphasizes mobility and ambitious educational and career plans, and is, in part, driving young people to leave their rural hometowns. The stayers in this study are active participants in their own fate and are content with their choice of staying. Applying ethnographic methods, we undertake to learn what rural stayers consider the building blocks of a good life in a small-town setting, one offering comparatively limited options in terms of jobs, education and leisure activities.
KW - Well-being
KW - Arctic
KW - rural youth
KW - rural stayers
KW - youth agency
UR - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357174720_Radically_Ordinary_Lives_Young_Rural_Stayers_and_the_Ingredients_of_the_Good_Life_in_Finnish_Lapland
U2 - 10.1177/11033088211064685
DO - 10.1177/11033088211064685
M3 - Article
JO - Young : Nordic journal of youth research
JF - Young : Nordic journal of youth research
SN - 1103-3088
ER -