Research
Boundaries of National Belonging in Ingrian Finnish Return Migration: A Multi-level Perspective
Authors:
Tuuli Anna Mähönen ,
Open University, University of Helsinki, FI
Sirkku Varjonen,
Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, FI
Nicholas Prindiville,
School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, GB
Linda Arnold,
Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, FI
Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti
Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, FI
Abstract
This study examines the discursive construction of Finnishness within the context of Ingrian Finns’ return migration from Russia to Finland. The focus is on how characteristics of Finnishness, especially ancestry and language, are employed at institutional, community and interpersonal levels of text and talk. The results show how the same characteristics can be used to both in- and exclude Ingrian Finns from the national ingroup, and how essentialist notions of ethnonational belonging can be used strategically by both state authorities and Ingrian Finns themselves to make claims about their Finnishness and right to remigrate.
How to Cite:
Mähönen, T.A., Varjonen, S., Prindiville, N., Arnold, L. and Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., 2015. Boundaries of National Belonging in Ingrian Finnish Return Migration: A Multi-level Perspective. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 5(3), pp.126–134. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1515/njmr-2015-0018
Published on
01 Sep 2015.
Peer Reviewed
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