Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic

The Arctic and its unique natural resources have become objects of increasing concern. Rapid climate change and ageing of the population are transforming the living conditions in the region. This translates into an urgent need for information that will contribute to a better understanding of these issues. Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic addresses the important intersection of ageing, wellbeing and climate change in the Arctic region, making a key interdisciplinary contribution to an area of research on which little has been written and limited sources of information are currently available. The book explores three key areas of discussion: first, various political issues that are currently affecting the Arctic, such as the social categorisation of elderly people; second, the living conditions of the elderly in relation to Arctic climate change; and third, the wellbeing of elderly people in terms of traditional knowledge and lifestyles. The book also features contributions from a number of key researchers in the field who examine a broad range of case studies, including the impact of climate change on health in Lapland and elderly people and geographical mobility in Norway. This book will be of great interest to scholars of climate change, gerontology and social policy.

Päivi Naskali is a Professor of Women’s Studies in the Department of Gender Studies and serves as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lap- land, Finland.

Marjaana Seppänen is Professor of Social Work at the University of Helsinki,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Finland.

Shahnaj Begum is a PhD candidate and researcher at the Unit for Gender Stud- ies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lapland, Finland. Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research

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Climate Change Adaptation and Community Action and Food Supply Chain Management Climate Change Edited by Ari Paloviita and Marja Jennifer Kent Järvelä Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Community Governance and Change in the Arctic Citizen-Driven Initiatives in Climate An interdisciplinary analysis Change Mitigation Edited by Päivi Naskali, Edited by Jens Hoff and Quentin Marjaana Seppänen Gausset and Shahnaj Begum Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic An interdisciplinary analysis

Edited by Päivi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen and Shahnaj Begum Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 First published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 selection and editorial matter, Päivi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen, Shahnaj Begum; individual chapters, the contributors The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ageing, wellbeing and climate change in the arctic : an interdisciplinary analysis / edited by Päivi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen, Shahnaj Begum. p. ; cm. — (Routledge advances in climate change research) Includes bibliographical references. I. Naskali, Päivi, editor. II. Seppänen, Marjaana, editor. III. Begum, Shahnaj, editor. IV. Series: Routledge advances in climate change research. [DNLM: 1. Aging—Arctic Regions. 2. Aged—Arctic Regions. 3. Climate Change—Arctic Regions. 4. Quality of Life—Arctic Regions. WT 104] RC961.5 362.10911'3—dc23 2015022402 ISBN: 978-1-138-89190-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-70943-7 (ebk) Typeset in Goudy by Apex CoVantage, LLC Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Contents

List of figures and tables ix Acknowledgements xi

Introduction: ageing in the Arctic 1

PART I Position of older people and policies in the Arctic 9

1. How ageism undermines older people’s human rights and social inclusion: revisiting advocacy, agency and need in later life 11 JOAN HARBISON

2. Tracing gender in political ageing strategies and the press in Finnish Lapland 30 SEIJA KESKITALO-FOLEY AND PÄIVI NASKALI

3. Policies of Arctic countries to promote volunteering in old age 49 ANASTASIA EMELYANOVA AND ARJA RAUTIO

4. New moving patterns among middle-aged and elderly people in Norway 69 MARIT AURE AND SINDRE MYHR Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

PART II Elderly people and climate change 91

5. Climate change in Lapland and its role in the health of the elderly and rural populations 93 BARBARA SCHUMANN

6. Gender differences of older people in the changing Arctic 110 SHAHNAJ BEGUM viii Contents PART III Wellbeing of elderly people 131

7. What is wellbeing for the elderly? 133 ELINA VAARA, ILKKA HAAPOLA, MARJAANA SEPPÄNEN, AND ANTTI KARISTO

8. Elderly Sami and quality of life: creative strategies applied by the elderly within a Swedish Sami context 147 MARIANNE LILIEQUIST

9. Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences of homecare: client centered or not? 164 EIJA JUMISKO

PART IV Local traditions of Arctic communities 179

10. “Wanting Greenlandic food”: a story of food, health, and illness in the life of an elderly Greenlandic woman 181 TRINE KVITBERG AND RUNE FLIKKE

11. ‘Our forest’: ageing, agency and ‘connection with nature’ in rural Tornedalen, northern Sweden 196 TARJA TAPIO

12. Towards a broader inclusion of heritage language and traditional knowledge in the Vepsian revival movement: cultural, ideological and economic issues 213 LAURA SIRAGUSA

13. A room with a view: navigating continuity and rupture within the traditional healing repertoire of Northern Troms 231 MONA ANITA KIIL Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Conclusion 248 Contributors 251 Index 255 Figures and tables

Figures 3.1 The bodies responsible for ageing and volunteering affairs, Arctic countries, 2014 52 4.1 Moving motives throughout the life course 75 4.2 Change in yearly mobility rate to another municipality over time by age groups 78 4.3 Yearly mobility rate across municipality borders by gender and age group 79 4.4 Percentage of age group (20 years +) with nearest living parent (65 years +) within a 50 km distance 80 4.5 Family sub-motives related to the place moved from 83 4.6 Family sub-motives related to the place moved to 83 6.1 Number of persons aged 65 and over 111 7.1 Significance of aspects of life for subjective wellbeing 137 7.2 Five domains of wellbeing (standardized coefficients) 139 12.1 Nemzha, a Vepsian village in the Leningrad Oblast’ 214 12.2 Vepsän ma (V. Vepsian land, territory) 216 Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 x Figures and tables Tables 3.1 Nationwide actors who formulate ageing and volunteering policies, 2014 53 4.1 Regression with distance to nearest parents (logarithm) in 2010 as the dependent variable 89 5.1 Population and health indicators in Scandinavia – national level and northern countries 96 6.1 Analytical classification of sources 114 7.1 Correlations of dimensions 140 Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Acknowledgements

This book has been produced as part of bringing together the findings of the ‘The Arctic change and elderly exclusion: a gender-based perspective’, a project implemented under the Arctic Co-operation Programme. We would like to grate- fully acknowledge our project funder, the Nordic Council of Ministers. We are also grateful for the generous co-operation extended by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Helsinki. Thanks are also due to all project participants and authors – the team. Neither the project nor the book would have been possible without their co-operation. We would also like to express our gratitude to all reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscripts. Lastly, thanks go to our academic colleagues who have shared their thoughts when we needed input during the project period. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Introduction Ageing in the Arctic

Päivi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen and Shahnaj Begum

The research in this book seeks to contribute to the discussion on ageing populations in the Arctic in the era of climate change. In keeping with the epistemological premises of the work (Tanesini, 1999; Harding, 1998; Ronkainen and Naskali, 2007), place is seen as an important concept, one affirming the situated- ness of knowledge. All knowledge is produced in a social and historical situation and it is important to focus on social and environmental circumstances if one is to discern valid knowledge. The articles in this volume represent research done in and on the Arctic. The knowledge produced in the work draws on and analyses the experiences of people living in the region. The Arctic and its unique natural resources have become objects of increasing concern. Rapid climate change and ageing of the population are transforming the living conditions in the region, for these developments impact the people there in many ways. This translates into an urgent need for information that will contribute to a better understanding of these issues. Moreover, because of the global nature of climate change and the demographic changes analysed here, the results of the studies in the volume will resonate in other peripheral areas in the world. This book provides an up-to-date introduction to many themes that have been given comparatively little attention in previous research. Its main focus is on the social and political conditions of those living in the Arctic, as well as the wellbeing of the region’s increasing elderly population. First, the book examines various political considerations that currently affect the Arctic, such as the social categorisation of a group of people as “elderly”. The approach taken is intersectional (e.g. McCall, 2005; Christensen and Jensen, 2012), while the focus is on ageing people, we have also taken into account gender and ethnic minorities as social

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 categories (the Sami people in the Nordic countries, the Vepsian people in Russia and the Tornedalen minority in Sweden). Second, the book discusses the living conditions of the elderly as these conditions are affected by climate change in the Arctic. Third, the book studies the wellbeing of elderly people in terms of traditional knowledge and lifestyles. In studying these themes as it does, the volume constitutes an interdisciplinary ensemble spanning the viewpoints of anthropology, gerontology, feminist research and the social, natural and health sciences. We define the Arctic not in terms of geographical, ecological, or climatic criteria but in political terms. The region is seen as both a direction and a 2 Naskali et al. location; the definition varies according to the describer’s position, so an exact geographical definition is difficult to give. Back in 1979, the Canadian geogra- pher Louis-Edmond Hamelin described the Canadian North as a conceptual as well as a geographical area. In his book Canadian Nordicity: It’s Your North, Too he launched the term “nordicity” (nordicité) meaning the North as a sum of how its physical, cultural and social parts are perceived. Even today, an idea of a particular northernness or nordicity can be found in popular and even political discourses. This idea of the North as a heroic land of freedom and adventure, where people fight against the power of nature, has been part of the mental and imaginary picture of the Arctic (see e.g. Rob Shields, 1991). Hamelin (1979, p. 6) describes different visions of the Arctic: “The southern vision (the North is a hinterland to be exploited for the benefit of southern Canada) . . . The romanticized vision (wilderness must never be touched) . . . The pessimistic vision (which sees only the problems) and the developmental vision (with natural gas opportunities)”. This description of Canada can be extended to the rest of the Arctic area. These representations are still alive in discourses on the Arctic, which has been described mainly from the outside, giving a picture not so recognisable or relevant to the people of the area in their everyday lives. In an attempt to counter these perceptions, the book brings the voices of the people living in the Arctic into current discussions of the region. According to the idea of region-building (Neumann, 1999, pp. 113–117), areas do not naturally form a region but are constituted in and through processes of definition. The Arctic has been constituted during recent decades as a political construction that is discussed continuously on the international level in terms of frontiers, belonging and exclusion. The historical development of the region’s political definition led in the 1980s to “The Arctic Eight” – Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Denmark and the USA – being designated official actors in the area (Keskitalo, 2004, pp. 3–7, 45–47). Nevertheless, many descriptions of the Arctic still use environmental, climatic and ecological features. For example, the Arctic Circle (at 66° 33′N) is well known as the limit of the midnight sun and the polar night, and the 10°C July isotherm roughly corresponds to the tree line in most of the Arctic. Environment- or climate-based definitions create a one-dimensional picture of the Arctic. The region in fact encompasses a wide variety of social life, albeit shaped by the climate and environment. In this volume, we are interested in the everyday life of the people living in the Arctic and its multiple social and cultural

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 communities. We stretch the borders of the region: the knowledge put forward in the chapters pertains to an area stretching from the northernmost communities in Greenland to the Karelian settlements in south-west Russia. The social conditions of elderly people in the different peripheral areas vary much from one national state to another. In Russia, social services did not become a central part of policy until the beginning of the 1990s. A 1995 law there provides that welfare services are available to those who have no caring relatives (Isola, 2009, p. 11). The Nordic countries and Canada, on the other hand, being defined as modern welfare states, have been described as socially Introduction 3 progressive, liberal and politically advanced. However, even in the Nordic welfare countries gender and ageing have not been a focus of research, although the amount of research on these topics has increased of late. As a part of the sustainable development discourse, the positions of women and indigenous people have been included in the official politics of the Arctic, especially the work of the Arctic Council, a body representing the countries and organisations acting in the area. The region’s ageing population is an issue that has rarely been seen on the political agenda. In recent years, the understanding of age as a phase of life has changed. Research has questioned ageing as a uniform, chronological process and made it possible to consider the complexity of age, differentiating chronological, personal, social and subjective ages (e.g. Laslett, 1996). Within the research on ageing, this book belongs to the critical paradigm, for it seeks to identify the omissions and silences in earlier work, especially those that reveal ethnic and gendered inequalities (see Nikander, 2009, p. 650). The work also sheds light on the inter-relations between ageing persons and their physical-social environments. This relationship influences the ageing process in many different ways, and the outcomes affect the everyday wellbeing of older adults (Wahl and Oswald, 2010). The Arctic creates a unique context in which to grow old. The ageing process in the Arctic is shaped by the region’s changing climate as well as its nature, local traditions, social relationships and different forms of support for coping in everyday life. The wellbeing of the elderly is constituted through these multifaceted living conditions. It is these conditions, which may either support or threaten that wellbeing, that are analysed in the chapters of this book. Wellbeing is a broad concept which can be understood in many ways, although agreement prevails on its multidimensionality (e.g. Vanhoutte, 2014). In recent years, more emphasis has been placed on people’s own experiences and evaluations of their wellbeing. These have highlighted the importance of physical and environmental considerations in studying wellbeing. This is visible especially in the case of older adults, who often have long-lasting ties to the place where they live (Seppänen et al., 2012) and who also spend more time in their homes and immediate home environment. This in turn is one reason why the discussion of climate change in the present volume focuses on ageing people in the Arc- tic; they are presumably a group who is particularly susceptible to the different impacts of climate change. Climate change is a global issue (Ford and Smit, 2004), and it has significant

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 consequence in the Arctic (Ford et al., 2006, pp. 145–160). The region as a whole experiences numerous pressures resulting from climate change (IPCC, 2012). It is warming at a rate twice as fast as the global average (ACIA, 2005; Young, 2009). Globalisation, the emergence of a market economy and new economic activities – developments sparked by climate change – have caused significant socio-economic, environmental and infrastructural changes in the Arctic. While climate change may benefit the region economically because of easier access to resources, it may also cause devastating environmental consequences. Vulner- ability stemming from climate change is not limited to developing countries; 4 Naskali et al. elderly people in a community can be vulnerable in developed countries as well (O’Brien and Leichenko, 2007, pp. 1–2). The impacts of climate change are likely to vary in both extent and rate of advance even within the Arctic itself (Ford and Smit, 2004). In any case, the changes occurring will affect individuals and groups differently. In this book, we highlight the effects of climate change on individuals and communities, focusing on the elderly in particular. In its Human Development Reports of 2005 and 2007, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) states that climate change exacerbates existing inequalities (O’Brien and Leichenko 2007; Dankel- man, 2010, p. 14). In discussing the effects on the Arctic inhabitants, the very recently published Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR, 2015, p. 491) notes that men and women are not affected equally by climate change; yet it does not mention the ageing population and their different context in this regard. Clearly, there exists a knowledge gap on this issue. We have arranged the book’s chapters in four parts. The first part, Position of older people and policies in the Arctic, paints a general picture of the issues concerning elderly people’s position in neoliberal societies. The research focuses on the inclusive and exclusive processes that construct the possibilities for agency for the elderly in different Arctic countries. In the first chapter, Joan Harbison asks: How does ageism undermine older people’s human rights and social inclusion? She examines the implications of ageism, the nature of advocacy for older people’s human rights, the present constrained manifestations of older people’s agency and the links between all three. She argues that older people have internalised two contradictory and oppressive ageist assumptions. On the one hand, their health and wealth are portrayed as limit- ing their needs for state welfare; on the other, they are cast as being vulnerable and in need of protection, a characterisation that places restrictions on their rights and freedoms. This leads to older people’s dependency on the assistance of others and restricts their agency in working for their human rights. Representations of the elderly in local politics and media are analysed in the chapter by Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali, “Tracing gender in political ageing strategies and the press in Finnish Lapland”. The researchers investigate the elderly strategies of six municipalities in Finnish Lapland as well as articles in three of the region’s leading newspapers in order to determine how elderly people are discussed in the local media. The discourses identified bear out Joan Harbison’s claim that elderly people are constructed as independent citizens on

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 the one hand and as an economic burden on the other. The focus of this chapter is on feminist ageing research and the analysis indicates that gender neutrality in political and media discourses plays down the gendered dimensions of elderly people’s wellbeing. Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr retrace the changed picture of elderly people in their chapter, “New moving patterns among middle-aged and elderly people in Norway”. They ask if elderly people are more mobile than in previous generations and, if so, how increased mobility may affect their lives and the societies in which they live. The analysis is differentiated with regard to gender, educational level Introduction 5 and age, and the findings are compared to those for other age groups. Accord- ing to the analysis, family-related motives for moving play a more central role for elderly people than for others, who stress work, family, housing and place/ environment. In the chapter “Policies of Arctic countries to promote volunteering in old age”, Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio focus on the inclusion of older people through volunteering. It is argued that participation in voluntary work benefits the community and has positive effects on the wellbeing of older adults. The authors analyse governmental and research publications in eight Arctic states in order to identify practices and challenges in facilitating volunteering. They find that better funding of voluntary sector organisations and public recognition and promotion of interests for volunteering are important challenges for national policies in the Arctic. The second part of the volume, titled Elderly people and climate change, focuses on analyses of climate change as a crucial phenomenon in the Arctic and on its specific implications for the living conditions of old people in the region. In her chapter “Climate change in Lapland and its role in the health of the elderly and rural populations”, Barbara Schumann analyses the interaction of environmental changes and human life, especially health. Her emphasis is on the Sami population living in Nordic Lapland and a particularly vulnerable group, the elderly, whose access to health care is limited because of the long distances. She argues that this makes it difficult for these communities to adapt to adverse impacts of climate change amid demographic, economic and social change. In the chapter “Gender differences of older people in the changing Arctic”, Shahnaj Begum reviews scientific articles and other literature from central databases in order to analyse the current knowledge on how climate change might affect the living conditions of elderly people. She studies how the gender dimension manifests itself among elderly men and women (including indigenous elders) as the Arctic comes to grips with climate change. The chapter also shows how the anticipated differences stem from inequality between the genders. She places a particular focus on the gendered differences in vulnerability among indigenous and other elderly persons. The third part of the book is titled Wellbeing of elderly people. The first chapter, by Elina Vaara, Ilkka Haapola, Marjaana Seppänen and Antti Karisto, asks the fundamental question: “What is wellbeing for the elderly?” The research is based on the premise that the perceived content of wellbeing may vary; there may be

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 systematic differences in assessments during the life course between men and women and among citizens living in urban and rural areas. When wellbeing is defined as a subjective experience, the knowledge people have about their own situation needs to be considered. Experience is always contextual and complex and sensitive to cultural and individual interpretations. The chapter addresses these issues by analysing how elderly persons emphasise the significance of various aspects of life. In her chapter “Elderly Sami and quality of life: creative strategies applied by the elderly within a Swedish Sami context”, Marianne Liliequist examines the 6 Naskali et al. position of elderly Swedish Sami who focus their agency on achieving quality of life. She discusses the negotiations between intersectional differences such as ethnicity, gender and social class. Two dominant creative strategies are identified for inclusion of the elderly and helping them feel that they are valued and independent members of the community: encouraging them to participate actively in reindeer herding for as long as possible and highlighting their role as creators of the Sami identity for the younger generation. Health and care are the focus of the next chapter, “Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences of homecare: Client centered or not?”, written by Eija Jumisko. The context of her research is homecare in northern Finland. Ms Jumisko claims that elderly people’s experiences do not bear out the value of a client-centred care approach in social and health policy. The elderly people studied were afraid of expressing their needs because they feared repercussions and wish to be good clients. Ms Jumisko calls for a more clearly articulated elderly-driven approach in homecare and more reflective practices in the communication and interaction of those delivering care and giving support to elderly people. Part four of the volume, Local traditions of Arctic communities, consists of four chapters that illuminate the cultural diversity of the Nordic and Russian Arctic. The studies examine elderly people’s living conditions in different local communities, each of which has its distinctive ethnic and gendered structures. “ ‘Wanting Greenlandic food’: A story of food, health, and illness in the life of an elderly Greenlandic woman”, a chapter by Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke, concerns the right of elderly people to traditional food. As in Eija Jumisko’s chapter, the focus in this text is on researchers having a serious desire to listen to the experiences of older people and not confining themselves to official guidelines and principles. The chapter emphasises the importance of listening sensitively to indigenous women in ethnographic research. In this case, the approach required a capacity to pay attention to body language in order to get knowledge on the meaning of traditional food for indigenous elderly people. In “ ‘Our forest’: Ageing, agency and ‘connection with nature’ in rural Tornedalen, northern Sweden”, Tarja Tapio analyses the life of another Swedish ethnic group, the Meänkieli-speaking national minority. Her specific interest is the possibility of the members of the minority to live lives centred on traditional activities, lives allowing them to retain ownership of their lifestyle and have freedom for agency. Ms Tapio argues that it is crucial to understand the importance of a person’s connection with nature if one is to understand the agency of older

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 people in rural villages. Laura Siragusa’s chapter goes on to examine a population that has not been a focus of research in the North, the Vepsian people. In her chapter “Towards a broader inclusion of heritage language and traditional knowledge in the Vepsian revival movement: Cultural, ideological and economic issues”, Ms Siragusa focuses on the traditional knowledge of Vepsian elderly who still speak their severely endangered language. This spoken heritage language, as Ms Siragusa calls it, constructs a world that is related not only to human but also non-human beings. The chapter challenges the hierarchical idea of the superiority of written language and literacy, a notion seen as marginalising the inhabitants of this territory. Introduction 7 In her chapter “A room with a view: Navigating continuity and rupture within the traditional healing repertoire of northern Troms”, Mona Anita Kiil also highlights the meaning of traditional knowledge, the context in her case being small communities in northern Norway. She examines a challenging theme in the area of alternative, traditional practices for healing mental illness. “Home” and hybridity are used as analytical constructs, as means of encapsulating, linking and transcending traditional boundaries of “home”. Ms Kiil argues that alternative treatments such as reading play a role in healing practices, counterpoising “modern” values and representing the continuity of tradition.

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Joan Harbison

Introduction Within the discourse on those in later life, older people are frequently referred to as if they are members of a homogenous group and one that is innately vulnerable (Hall, 2009). This stereotype retains many of the characteristics included in what Binstock refers to as “compassionate ageism” whereby, historically, older people “tended to be seen as poor, frail, dependent, as objects of discrimination, and above all as ‘deserving’ ” (Hall, 2005, p. 73). What has changed is that older people are no longer considered “deserving”. The public compassion that accompa- nied the ageism of an earlier era has dissipated. Instead there is anger at the social and economic burden that older people are said to represent (Phillipson, 2013). Yet scientific research has demonstrated that people in old age are the most diverse of all age groups along many dimensions – for instance, those of health, wealth, education and political views (Binstock, 2005; Chappell, McDonald and Stones, 2008), and that their social and economic burdensomeness is a myth of apocalyptic demography (Gee and Gutman, 2000; McPherson and Wister, 2008, p. 11). Further, old age is predominantly a cultural construct. Thus chronological age, which has so far dominated categorization, if not definition, within the dominant biomedical model of ageing, has limited value for the conceptualization of old age (Baars and Phillipson, 2013; Tulle, 2004). In part this is due to the considerable differences in life expectancy throughout the globe. This means that while fifty years of age is considered old in one cultural or geographic context, it is, chronologically-speaking, part of middle age in others, where life expectancy

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 may be eighty years and upward (Phillipson, 2013). Notwithstanding these facts, even in those cultural contexts with high life expectancy, a relatively low chronological age may be used as the threshold for old age. For instance, in highly developed countries, people in their fifties and sixties are constructed to serve the interests of commercial markets in the capitalist economy as “senior” consumers for a wide range of goods and services. Bank- ing, insurance and leisure and travel opportunities are marketed to affluent early retirees (Foot and Stoffman, 1996). Bargains in more mundane goods such as basic foods and pharmaceuticals are on offer for those in emerging economies 12 Joan Harbison or whose incomes and pensions have been reduced due to the recent world economic recession. Thus many people designated as older are important contributors to economic life. Yet, “once people have categorized someone as young or old they are then likely to apply [negative] stereotypes about age to that person” (Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012, p. 128). So governments, their institutions and the media continue to cast older people as a burden on health and social services and the overall economy. Such negative stereotypes are prevalent throughout a globalizing world. Further, in some countries, globalization brings with it rejection of the value formerly assigned to old age so that what was once perceived, even revered, as the wisdom of older people is now dismissed. In extreme cases, older people become outcasts in their own societies; named as evil or witches, they become victims of violence or murder (McDonald and Sharma, 2011; see Help Age International website on the situation in Tanzania: www. helpage.org/newsroom). It may be concluded that both chronological age and longevity have only limited relevance in defining “old age”. As the chapters in this book demonstrate – in a globalizing world more important in constructions of “old age” are changing social, economic and environmental conditions, in concert with the economic and political needs of com- merce and the state (Hendricks, 2010). Moreover, the realities of older people’s diversity mean that, except for rare occasions within specific contexts, they themselves do not identify as a homogeneous group in a struggle for their rights (Binstock, 2010; Timonen et al., 2013). In any case, their struggles are less about promoting their own or others rights but in dealing with the societal ageism and [partial] social exclusion that they internalize (Hendricks, 2010; Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012). While these arguments emanate from Western mainstream culture, they also resonate with the emerging experiences of older people in Arctic communities as they are recounted in this book. Societal ageism also leads older people to either seek or maintain the approval of others through the practices of “successful ageing” including through positively framing or adapting to their circumstances or through lending support to the initiatives taken on their behalf by other more powerful groups of actors (Beard and Williamson, 2011; Dillaway and Byrnes, 2009; Katz and Laliberte-Rudman, 2004).

Ageist constructions of older people Older people as work able Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Governments are now routinely engaged in “grooming” older people, through the rhetoric of apocalyptic demography, to spend a longer time in the work force (Mullan, 2002; McDonald, 2010). They cite the unsustainability of the costs of old age pensions and, ironically, given the demand that older people work longer, of care for their deteriorating health. The coercive factor in such policy development is a delay in eligibility for state pensions (Phillipson, 2012). These policies reflect the recent and growing move away from state responsibility for the How ageism undermines older people 13 collective welfare of its citizens and towards individuals’ responsibility for their own social and economic wellbeing (Leonard, 1997; Walker, 2006). Moreover, such policies fuel intergenerational discord – for instance, when older people compete for jobs with younger generations of unemployed youth in the context of the present economic uncertainties. Delaying pension payments will of-course have the most effect on those who are already poor, in ill-health, and unable to continue to do physically demanding work. Older women too are disproportion- ately affected given that their participation in the workforce has been limited by the family caring roles associated with their gender, including the nature of the work available to them and its compensation (Foster and Walker, 2013; McMul- lin, 2010).

Casting older people as a burden on the rest of society The growth of the global capitalist market economy is a major driving force behind ageist policies. One case example, remarkable in its revelation of how ageism can be constructed through the media, is that of two short reports on the same policy being proposed by the government of the United Kingdom. The articles appeared in a single issue of The Economist – a journal with an increasingly powerful economic voice in the media of a globalizing world. The topic is how much of their financial resources older people would have to contribute to their residential care before they become eligible for government assistance. One article provides what appears as a neutral analysis of the contents of the policy. The writer points out that it would impact relatively few older people given that “the average stay [in a care home] is two years, so not many will spend enough to reach the limit at which the state steps in” (The Economist, [February 16,] 2013, [p.58]). Notwithstanding the apparent facts of the matter, the second article, presumably by a different author (The Economist does not provide author attribution for its content), has the title “Grey Squirrels”. This is a reference to a rapidly increasing and pervasive species, generally considered a pest, that has virtually wiped out England’s traditional red squirrel. The term may be seen as a substitute for the overused “grey” or “silver” “tsunami”. A secondary heading is “Another sop for elderly Britons” and a third announces “The government is looking after the old, and younger people are bearing the brunt of cuts. That’s wrong” (p. 16). What is remarkable about these comments is not their ageist stance. State- ments about the burden that older people represent in terms of public spending

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 and the general economy are common. What is remarkable, given that The Econ- omist is generally regarded as a highly credible publication, is their virulence and the fact that the claims made lack empirical support and indeed are countered in a more factual commentary in the same publication. The point of-course about stereotypes such as ageism is that they do not concern themselves with the “facts” but are based on “our impulse to assign objects, events, and people to meaningful classes, about which we have established beliefs and expectations” (Cuddy and Fiske, 2002, p. 3; see also Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012). 14 Joan Harbison Much of the ageism that affects people in later life occurs in the less visible private worlds of decreasing access to state supported goods and services, as well as older people’s treatment in a great many contexts, including those of home and institutional health and social care, in interpersonal relations with carers and family members and with regard to their status in their communities (Neysmith and Macadam, 1999). Moreover, the social workers who used to act as advocates for their service needs are now increasingly subsumed under a mantle of governmental managerialism, whose aim is to reduce costs and services by prioritizing service on the basis of risk over need (Ash, 2014; Dunér & Nordström, 2006; Webb, 2006; see also Jumisko in this volume). The cumulative effects of such ageism present challenges to older people’s rights and undermine their agentic potential (Aronson, 2002). This appears as a major consideration among those who argue in support of the agency as well as the rights of older people (Kohn, 2011).

Using human rights to defeat ageism Human rights may be categorized as including both civil and political rights that protect people’s freedoms and also protect them from discrimination, and social economic and cultural rights that allow people to “realize their full potential as human beings” through the provision of social welfare programs and services (Ife, 2008, p. 31). In the following section, I consider arguments for the links between both categories of rights and ageism, as well as the arguments about how human rights initiatives might address that ageism.

The limitations of using empirical data to support human rights Peter Townsend (b. 1928 – d. 2009) was a pre-eminent, pioneer researcher on being old in the United Kingdom. His focus was on social scientific research into the specific circumstances of older people’s lives (Johnson, Rolph and Smith, 2007; see for instance Townsend’s The Family Life of Old People, 1957, and The Last Refuge, 1962). In those early days, he perceived a need to look beyond the “immediate cause of the problems . . . [in] trying to make sense of the poor conditions being experienced by many older people” (Townsend, 2007, p. 30). Townsend reflected on the dominance of “the ‘liberal-pluralist’ tradition, now referred to as the ‘neo-liberal’ ” (p. 30) – one which gave primacy to capitalist

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 competitive markets in which individuals had the “freedom” to maximize their own wellbeing. He referred to the power of “ ‘acquiescent functionalism’ . . . a body of thought about ageing that attributed the causes of the problems of old age to the natural consequences of physical decrescence and mental inflexibility, or to the failures of individual adjustment” (p. 30). This in his opinion did not take into account “properly independent scientific evidence” (p. 30). Twenty-five years on, in a chapter entitled “Using human rights to defeat ageism”, Townsend argues that, despite the accumulation of a great deal of scientific data that refutes How ageism undermines older people 15 a simplistic “decline and decay” trajectory for ageing, the effects of acquiescent functionalism are still present in “features of [an] institutionalized ageism” (p. 31; see also Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012) so that:

Unintentionally, as well as for deliberate reasons of economy and profit or convenience on the part of the state and other institutions [older people’s] dependency is created in market, residential and hospital care and private and public social care policies. (p. 43)

Townsend argues that this all-encompassing “structured dependency” means that few older people attempt to fight against it (2007). Instead through various psychological mechanisms they become reconciled to their dependency and with it their low valuation in society (Kaufman, 1994 a, b; Grenier and Phillipson, 2013). At the same time, as we have suggested earlier, older people’s dependency is being restructured to incorporate “an artificially structured independence of the welfare state” (Phillipson, 2012). Older people’s internalization of ageism makes it difficult for them to address. One way to overcome this barrier to action is through the promotion of older people’s human rights. For Townsend, human rights instruments transcend ageism by providing a moral authority that is accepted in democratic states, regarding both civil and political rights and social, economic and cultural rights. Hence these instruments can “offer a framework of thought and planning early in the 21st century that enables society to take a fresh, and more hopeful direction” (2007, p. 43). He does not focus on a new international Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. For him what is most needed is a means of overcom- ing discrimination against older people, and this lies in its empirical exposure through the use of existing human rights mechanisms as “a framework [for] rigor- ous analysis and anti-discriminatory work” (p. 43; see also Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012). The question remains, however, of the extent to which anti-discriminatory work in the context of profoundly ageist societies can succeed, especially in the absence of the collective agency of older people (Katz and Laliberte-Rudman, 2004; Kohn, 2011).

Is a new international human rights convention the solution to older people’s inclusion in society? Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Some advocates view a new international Convention on the Rights of Older Persons as the key to restoring and enhancing older people’s human rights. Within this group, some are unequivocal with regard to their expectations of the positive effects of such a convention – for instance, the members of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (see also McDonald, 2010). Others are more cautious in their predictions about the outcomes (see for instance Doron and Apter, 2010). 16 Joan Harbison Arguments in favour of a new convention The Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People was formed in 2011 “in order to strengthen the rights and voice of older people globally” (Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People, www.rightsalliance.org). It consists of a steering group of nine organizations as well as other organizational and individual sup- porters. The organizations include six that use the word “international” in their monikers. These include: the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Global Alliance, the International Federation on Ageing (IFA), the International Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing (AHSA), the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) and HelpAge International. The remaining three organizations represent European interests – Age Platform Europe; the United Kingdom – Age UK; and in the United States – American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Within the group there are those that portray themselves as acting on behalf of older people’s interests, including Age UK, Age Platform Europe, AARP, HelpAge International, IFA, INPEA and ILC, one that represents professional and academic interests – IAGG and one, the AHSA, whose interests are predominantly commercial. So for the most part, they represent rather than are “the voices” of older people. None of the organizations are led and managed by older people themselves, raising questions of interpretation of voice and agency within the Alliance. The Alliance has been a major player in the lobby to introduce a new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older People. It lays out its views on this matter in a publication entitled Strengthening older people’s rights: Towards a UN Convention made available on its website from June 2010 (www.rightsalliance. org). It states that “older men and women have the same rights as everyone else” and argues that “strengthening older people’s human rights is the best single response” to the age discrimination and ageism that accompany global ageing (p. 2). However, the rights that they should be accorded are not fully realized under present social conditions. The Alliance therefore calls for the explicit recognition of older people’s rights in a new and separate convention, claiming that such a mechanism would not only name the rights but improve their visibility, acceptance within diverse jurisdictions, increase accountability and redress for violations and guide policy development (pp. 7–8). Yet the tension between support for older people being accorded the same human rights as those in other age groups and support for human rights that Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 incorporate the construction of older people as vulnerable and in need of protection is evident. The latter is a position that as we shall see is argued more overtly by others in the field (Hall, 2009; Herring, 2012) and one of which even those who support a new convention are wary (Doron and Apter, 2010, p. 592). Hence Israel Doron and his colleague Itai Apter offer arguments on both sides of the debate, for and against an international convention of human rights specifically for older people. They suggest that an overriding argument in its favour is that there is so little in international law that directly addresses older people’s How ageism undermines older people 17 rights. This argument is made in the context of a globalization where “it is almost impossible to understand the social position of any local or national group of older persons disconnected from the socio-cultural-economics of the international community” (Doron and Apter, 2010, p. 587). Citing Rodriguez-Pinzon and Martin (2003), they point out that “it [older people] is the only vulnerable population that does not have a comprehensive and/or binding international instrument addressing their rights specifically” (p. 587). Although it is true that the interests of older people need to be conceptualized as lying within a globalizing world – older people are far from constituting an “it” in the form of a homog- enized vulnerable population in that context. Doron and Apter argue that “international treaties are also powerful advocacy and empowerment tools”. They cite the important role of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in facilitating the work of NGOs acting on behalf of women’s rights (2010, p. 589) despite its limited formal adoption and implementation by governments. Con- ventions can also be used in support of legal proceedings within states as well as internationally, “as tools to educate people” and to promote “anti-ageist global policy” for instance to address the pervasive “labeling older persons as incompe- tent merely for their age” (2010, p. 588).

Arguments against a new convention Notwithstanding the lack of specific reference to older people in existing international human rights conventions there is “a wealth of existing international documents [that can be applied to older people]” (Doron and Apter, 2010, p. 589; see also Townsend, 2007; Stuckelberger, Abrams and Chastonay, 2012). These include, for instance, “the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights or the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)” (pp. 590–591). Whether there is the political will to make such applications is a major issue but one which might equally apply to a new convention. In addition, those who do not support a new Convention on the Rights of Older Persons usually invoke the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging MIPAA (2002) which “represented a move [away] from the general acceptance of decline/dependency models towards a view of ageing as a time of reflection, individual ‘achievement’ . . . and ‘potential’ . . .” (Grenier, 2012, p. 94). It also included older people under the aegis of the United Nations (UN) social develop- Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ment policies thus acknowledging older people’s actual and potential contributions to their societies as opposed to being cast solely as a deficit-ridden burden as is so often the case (Flynn, 2013). Hopes for the efficacy of the MIPAA have been dashed by the realities of its ten-year report, which revealed that few of its goals set in 2002 had been met: “It is evident that, 10 years after its adoption, the Madrid Plan of Action has made only limited headway in national and international development plans” and made specific mention of the need to generate a “bottom up participatory approach” (UN Economic and Social Council, 2013, p. 18). 18 Joan Harbison Based on past experience, Doron and Apter (2010) suggest that it is possible that a human rights convention would provide yet another opportunity for states to sign on and so to claim a rights initiative, while at the same time reneging on further substantive action. Effective monitoring and enforcement are crucial in implementation of such instruments and may well not be forthcoming (p. 589; see also Flynn, 2013 on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Dis- abilities). Conventions are also “sometimes blind to multiculturalism” – in other words, they represent dominant Western industrialized values and perspectives. In any case, issues of culture are more readily addressed within regional contexts.

Will the ‘authentic’ voices of older people be heard? Most important, for the purpose of the present discussion, are two interrelated observations by Doron and Apter (2010). The first is that: “past experience . . . showed that the international and political process of establishing the convention ignores authentic voices of the population it intends to protect” (p. 589). The second – the idea that the “process should allow authentic voices of older persons to be heard . . . [and] a central role for older persons themselves, to define their rights and vision of citizenship” (p. 592) – leads us to the heart of the matter with regard to older people’s agency. Within the mainstream lobby for a human rights convention for older people, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People has gained acceptance as speaking for the interests of older people within the United Nations. Indeed, at its inception in 2011, a number of its affiliates already had long-standing official status within the UN, including that of the IFA as “consultant” and the IAGG’s research and training links with the WHO. However, as we noted earlier, member organizations of the Global Alliance are rarely vehicles for direct access to the individual or combined voices of older people. Instead, they construct their positions based on professional, academic and market interests to speak on behalf of older people (Beard and Williamson, 2011; Binstock, 2010). Further the Alliance is only one of many NGO and governmental interests that would command representation in the development of a convention (Stammers, 2009). If these interests prevail in the process of development of an international convention on the rights of older people, its proponents are unlikely to search for, or give primacy to, the voices of older people in support of their agency. It is more likely that they will lend further support to ageism. Doron and Apter, who

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 in principle support a new convention fear that:

such a convention will fall into an ‘ageist trap’. Or in other words . . . will place much emphasis on issues such as elder abuse and neglect or issues of mental incapacity, legal guardianship, or on institutional long-term care. These issues . . . paint old age in an ageist perspective . . . portray[ing] older persons as weak, incapable, and dependent and incorporates ‘needs-based’ discourse instead of ‘rights-based’ discourse. (2010, p. 592) How ageism undermines older people 19 Despite their acknowledgment of issues of ageism, power and voice, Doron and Apter appear unable or unwilling to use this understanding in specifically differentiating those ‘voices’ whose primary interests lie outside of older people from others that might approach authenticity. Thus on the one hand they call for the inclusion of a “central role for older persons” and for their “authentic voices to be heard” (2010, p. 592). On the other, they suggest that “older rights proponents, gerontologists, and representatives of older persons’ organizations” should together be able to strike a balance between “citizenship, participation, and inclusion . . . [and] rights to safety and care” (Doron and Apter, 2010, pp. 592–593). Yet many of those within the groups that they name are fundamentally paternalistic in their approach. It is noteworthy too that Flynn, a legal scholar whose focus is on issues of human rights, expresses her concern that Conventions on the human rights of older people, currently being drafted by both the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Council of Europe Committee on Human Rights (CECHR), contain language indicative of a paternalistic approach to older people, specifically with regard to their capacities and abilities for independent living and are “much less progressive than the CRPD [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]” (Eilionoir Flynn, Strengthening the Human Rights of Older Persons, September 20, 2013, Human Rights in Ireland www.humanrights.ie/mental-health-law-and-disability-law/). As I discussed earlier, organizations that are said to act on behalf of older people frequently do so on the basis of what they believe are older people’s “best interests” or what ultimately become the “best interests” of the organization itself (Binstock, 2005). Older people’s agency remains a notional concept that in the end gives way to dominant constructions of age and care. Institutionalized human rights are therefore likely to become “a tool of power, not a challenge to it” (Stammers, 2009, p. 3).

Can elder law provide support for older people’s rights? Within the last few years, lawyers have become involved in developing “elder law”. Although many practitioners focus on adapting existing law to the specific needs of their older clients – for instance, with regard to planning for their health and social care and the management and distribution of their resources – scholars in the field also address more complex issues, including those of rights, capacities and discrimination (Doron, 2009; Doron and Soden, 2012; Herring

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 2009; Kohn, 2011). Yet even when these scholars name issues associated with ageist stereotypes, it is notable that, as is the case with the comments of Doron and Apter (2010) presented earlier, some go on to ignore the substance of their effects. This may be a consequence of the nature of elder law itself. Carney suggests that:

the field [of elder law] carries the baggage of possible overtones of dependence, diminished citizenship and degraded democratic rights of participation, and of being an outsider or ‘other’ not within the mainstream community of 20 Joan Harbison standard workers/taxpayers. More universal frames may be preferable, such as . . . the right to ‘equality’ ”. (2012, p. 8)

Carney’s concerns are manifest in the following two examples of the work of legal scholars. Hall (2009) begins a discussion on what she terms “the vulnerable but capable” by acknowledging that “for some, a category of law and aging is inherently paternalistic, internalizing ageist presumptions through the suggestion that older persons per se are, like children, especially in need of the protection of the law” (p. 107). Despite this acknowledgment, she goes on to assert her own position:

I suggest that there are particular characteristics generally associated with the process of ageing in modern Western societies such as Canada (my own society), . . . that may be considered within the general rubric of vulnerability, which require a focused theoretical approach . . . For many older adults, for example, the line between mental capacity and incapacity is not bright but gradual and spotty; this ‘grey zone’ can last for years, a source of insecurity through diminished ability to care for one’s self and exposure to exploitation by others. (p. 108)

Hall acknowledges that there may be “individual differences” however “as we age our peer and family group . . . generally fall away” and “the physical changes associated with aging will be frightening to many people” (p. 108). Her argument builds to the conclusion that “resistance to the idea of vulnerability as key to a conceptually coherent category of ‘law and aging’ is strong, and rooted in the idea that vulnerability = weakness and resistance to the presumption that age = loss of capacity” (p. 108). The term ‘vulnerable’ is also readily used within the broader discourse on ageing, and just as in Hall’s conceptualization, the social and psychological dimensions and, in particular, the implications of power relations are rarely addressed. Kane issued an early warning that referring to older people as a group as vulnerable might be a “self-fulfilling prophecy” (1990, p. 16). More recently, the United Kingdom Law Commission concluded that “the term vulnerable adult is stigmatising, outdated and inappropriate” (Spencer Lane, 2011, p. 276).

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Herring, a legal scholar, turns the rights argument on its head when he argues in favour of older people’s “fundamental right to protection from abuse”. Like Hall, he begins by acknowledging the legal and social complexity of the issues surrounding abuse and that it consists of many diverse phenomena. He also recognizes that: “there are dangers that the protective measures may themselves be abusive and may fail to give due weight to rights of autonomy . . . [further] it must be acknowledged that the problem [of elder abuse] is caused by broader social attitudes toward older people and a range of societal practices” (2012, p. 175). How ageism undermines older people 21 Notwithstanding these observations, Herring implicitly equates older people’s rights with those of children: “it is remarkable in that although local authorities are under an obligation to investigate cases of child abuse and must act to protect children from abuse, there is no equivalent obligation in relation to older people” (2012, p. 186). He insists that such a law is necessary in that “elder abuse is a serious violation of a person’s rights” (2012, p. 178). He supports his argument through reference to a number of Articles in the European Convention on Human Rights. In setting out proposed criteria for the implementation of a protection law, he argues that the centrality of the notion of “significant harm” will provide an adequate “bulwark against an overly paternalistic approach”. In practice, such a criterion is notoriously difficult to define and in the end is more likely to reflect the interpretations of the assessor and the culture in which he or she is embedded than some absolute category (McDonald, 2010; Mackay, 2008). Moreover, Herring recognizes that “rescuing” someone against their will from a bad situation may simply introduce them into another one – that of underfunded care homes where ageism fuels abuse (Ash, 2014; Goergen, 2004, 2006). Yet he views such legislation as part of a “human rights agenda for the future” reinforcing the concerns of Doron and Apter discussed earlier that a new human rights convention for older people might also fall into “an ageist trap”. An alternative view is that a law protecting older adults from abuse is not forward-looking – to a time when older people are confirmed as adults with accompanying rights – but returns us to notions of older people as like children without the abilities of adults or access to adult rights.

How the law can initiate an elder rights movement and support older people’s agency In contrast to Herring’s position, some legal scholars express their concern that protectionist views of older people, such as those in the examples discussed earlier, call for greater attention to be paid to their civil rights. Kohn argues that in the United States “older adults face a myriad of civil rights concerns” (2011, p. 50). Some such as age discrimination in the workforce are likely to be associated with chronological age alone. Others reflect ageist attitudes to disability or to eligibility for health care when assumptions limit perceptions of a person’s needs and potential – for instance, for independent living. Ageist assumptions also pervade the “criminalization of elder abuse” which is present

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 in every state and is under continuing development yet can serve to “threaten those they aim to protect” by “undermine[ing] older adults’ civil rights and civil liberties” and “entrench[ing] existing social attitudes and power structures” (2012, p. 28). While Kohn’s comments originate in the United States experience, they are highly relevant in other contexts. For instance, protectionist policies in general have “collateral consequences”. Older adults can become the victims of protection whereby their choices are restricted or imposed upon them. Further, “such policies may reinforce negative stereotypes about older adults, disempower older adults, create new forms of victim oppression, and 22 Joan Harbison even directly endanger some elder abuse victims” (2012, p. 28). It is in this context that Kohn argues in favour of an “elder rights movement” which she defines as:

a collective effort through which organizations and individuals (including older adults acting on their own behalf) join together around the common goal of transforming social, political, and legal structures to allow adults to fully exercise their civil and human rights and liberties. (2012, pp. 324–325)

Kohn differentiates between formally structured organizations that represent historical group interests (see for instance the Global Alliance) and what she refers to as “a social movement . . . that consists of ‘dense informal networks’ ” (2012, p. 325; see also Binstock, 2005; Stammers, 2009). She perceives the latter as having the independence, flexibility and intensity of commitment that can ultimately support social change. Kohn acknowledges that older people are not homogeneous, that they do not have a “cohesive group identity” and that the oppression associated with ageism leaves them reluctant to act on their own behalf (2012, p. 325; Hall, 2005). To achieve a social movement that returns agency to older people it will therefore be important both to raise the awareness of people in general about older people’s rights and to focus on older people achieving a “rights consciousness” that encourages their agency on their own behalf and that of others (Kohn, 2012, p. 325). Kohn does not anticipate that older people will initially act by themselves. Citing the past involvement of lawyers in civil rights movements – for instance, those of women and people with disabilities – she proposes that lawyers now become engaged with civil rights issues of older people with the purpose of fostering both the legitimacy of their rights and their empowerment. She suggests as key entry points first, the identification of rights violations with regard to legal rights and, second, the creation of “legal precedents” for elder rights by “carefully structuring test cases” (2011, p. 70). Kohn acknowledges that mobilizing such an effort both on the part of lawyers and of older people is a difficult task. She also recognizes that some will say that promoting the civil rights of older people will encourage a backlash against them by those who already [wrongly] perceive them as a privileged group. Yet existing legal manifestations of age discrimination are such that Kohn believes that what is to be gained by Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 reframing elder rights in the language of civil rights has the potential to change how the legal community, policy makers, and even the general public think about older adults . . . [so that] they are presumed to have the same rights and interests as younger adults. (2011, p. 78)

Only when older people internalize this idea of their rights will many be able to move forward with agentic action. How ageism undermines older people 23 Older people’s rights, needs and agency in the changing Arctic context Definitions of agency are fluid and sometimes contentious. The earlier discussion illustrates the need to consider older people’s agency with regard to their rights as being constrained by social conditions and social structures. In other words, agency and structure should be viewed as interacting with one another and neither as separate and dualistic, nor compacted into a single concept (Owen 2006, p. 186). The argument that truly agentic choices cannot be made under conditions of oppression also informs an understanding of older people’s agency: “agency does not mean acting for oneself under conditions of oppression. It means being without oppression” (Neysmith and Macadam 1999, p. 11) – an argument that reinforces Kohn’s emphasis on promoting their civil rights. In the following section I consider the implications of changes in the Arctic context for the agency of those in late life. The acknowledged diversity of Arctic cultures and terrain has been increased by industrial development, the new immigration it brings and attendant political, economic and legal ramifications – all within the context of climate change (Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR), 2004, pp. 229–242; Arctic Social Indicators (ASI) (Larsen, Fondahl and Young, 2010). Older people in Arctic regions are therefore living out their old age in rapidly changing social-political, economic and physical circumstances. These circumstances raise the question of how the social needs of those in late life are being met – specifically with regard to the human dimensions unique to Arctic peoples. That is, to what extent do older people remain in control of their own destinies, are they able to maintain their cultural identities and can they still live close to nature (AHDR, 2004, p. 240; Larsen, Fondahl and Young, 2010, p. 12)? The other chapters in this volume provide insights into these matters. The voices of the women that the authors talk with also illuminate differences in how social “need” is experienced and understood (Bradshaw, 1972). Sara, a Greenlan- dic woman who shares her difficult life experiences with Trine Kvitberg, demonstrates the effects of one consequence of industrial and commercial development in Greenland – the high cost of traditional food from the sea – specifically whale meat. This food is part of her cultural identity, and Sara yearns for it, yet it is no longer financially accessible to her. Bradshaw (1972) identified four categories of social need – “felt need”, “expressed need or demand”, “normative need” and “comparative need”. Despite their origins in southern, individualistic culture, his Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 conceptualization of social need can be usefully applied here. Sara is “expressing” her “felt need” to an interested and sympathetic listener. Within mainstream cultures, it would not be considered a “normative” welfare need – that is “expert defined based on . . . measurability and fit with prevailing social, political and economic values and conditions” – and therefore worthy of being met (Bradshaw, 1972, p. 640). However, arguably in the particular circumstances of this Arctic community it should be addressed as “normative” in that failure to provide traditional food is both a moral matter of “structural violence” concerning cultural identity and one that fosters social and cultural exclusion. 24 Joan Harbison The Tornedalers who told their stories to Tarja Tapio epitomize the understanding of the needs priorities of Arctic peoples identified in the AHDR (2004, p. 240) when they refer to “the most important things” as being “freedom and nature”. Their “felt need” for connection to nature is sustained through memories of traditional activities such as berry picking and their sense of agency through memories of agentic acts – taken when they were younger to protect the natural environment from industrial exploitation. When combined, these constructs contribute to a continuing notional connection to their own positive cultural identity and agency. As an observant “other”, one might ask what is the cost of these constructions to their current sense of social wellbeing and inclusion? The resilience and adaptation that are said to be characteristic of Arctic people are also manifest in the studies by Mona Kiil of mental health care and Eija Jumisko of homecare. Mona Kiil explored how people felt about conventional mental health care in an outpatient clinic as compared with traditional healing. She found that they were considered complementary to one another. Traditional healing is still practiced but is in transition through alternative treatments from unpaid spiritual practice to a commercial paid one, with tensions around the matter of payment. The “therapeutic landscape” is changing, but the long-term effects on older people’s mental health and cultural identity are not yet known. The idea of “person-centred” care for those in late life requiring care and support in their homes presented by Eija Jumisko appears as a good fit with traditional cultural values: “the core of it is a person driven approach where the older person is encountered with respect, is listened to and confirmed as a unique person and not just a diagnosis or case”. However, Jumisko notes that these characteristics are “aspirational”, and the potential for a superficial understanding and applica- tion of the concept of “person-centred” care mean that they are “not always a reality”. The older participants were mostly positive about the care they received. However, their dependence on these specific caregivers within a small and relatively isolated community raises the question of whether they felt constrained to take on public identities as those of “good clients” (Katz and Laliberte-Rudman, 2004; Pritchard-Jones, 2014). The studies by Kvitberg, Kiil and Jumisko all suggest the older people employ psychic and pragmatic resilience and adaptation to changing Arctic circumstances. Sara clearly expresses her “felt” need for traditional food, that others might agree is a “normative” social need, but Sara does not expect it to be met

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 by the state. In the other situations referred to here, it is unclear whether the older people – from a position of agency – are making what they understand as a necessary accommodation to the changing circumstances of their social context and choosing not to assert their rights to more desired responses to their needs (Pritchard-Jones, 2014). Or are they acting from a place of internalized oppression and denial that leaves no room for negativity or protest? If the latter is the case, what might be the consequences not just for this generation of people in later life but for younger generations who, seeing their elders disempowered by the loss of their cultural identity, may question their own ability to retain control over their fate? How ageism undermines older people 25 Loss of cultural identity can lead to social alienation, which in turn can pre- cipitate destructive behaviours toward oneself other persons or things. Cul- tures continually transform; it is when transformations forced from outside at rates challenging endemic adaptations that communities and societies are more likely imperiled. (Larsen, Fondahl and Young, 2010, p. 16)

Conclusion This chapter has explored how ageism has both infiltrated and undermined efforts to ensure and enhance older people’s human rights. Efforts to address issues with regard to their rights have been led by various actors with an interest in ageing but rarely by older people. Moreover, the diversity of those in later life has constituted an additional barrier to their group action. For instance, social class, health and wellness, political affiliations and geographic and cultural location complicate, although they do not eliminate, mutual interests. Further, internalized ageism undermines older people’s agentic potential. And people have differing aspirations for their late life – some seek self-fulfillment, others seek to maintain the status of productivity through being as active as possible. Yet others by virtue of failing health have limited capacities for fulfillment or productivity, although they may retain agency (Grenier and Phillipson, 2013). Some suggest that older people’s agentic potential can be encouraged by others – for instance, as I discussed earlier, through a civil rights movement. Members of the legal profession are said to have the experience and capacities to take the lead on such an initiative while maintaining an egalitarian collaboration with older people (Kohn, 2011). In addition, critical gerontology scholars have begun to explore the broader interests and needs of older people beyond the constructions of the biomedical world (Grenier, 2012; Kelley-Moore, 2010). As researchers, gerontologists can play a part in raising consciousness of the older people whose lives they study. Indeed much of the work of the authors contributing to this text employs a perspective and methods that offer opportunities for older people to give voice to their experiences, struggles and desires. Further the specific intent of some participatory research is to support the growth of older people’s agency (see for instance Ziegler and Scharf, 2013). The challenge will be to confront the structural forces that govern our globalizing world in ways that leave room for older people’s voices to be heard. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

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Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali

Introduction In this article, we examine representations of elderly people in newspapers in Finnish Lapland, and the elderly strategies of municipalities. Ageing is a strongly gendered issue: women live longer than men, on average (Tilastokeskus, 2012), and those taking care of elderly people are mostly women. Rural Lapland is a region where a comparatively high proportion of the population falls into older age groups. In Finland, public discussions on the elderly often emphasize concerns about the crisis of the welfare society. In the era of neoliberal ideology, old people are viewed as an economic burden and a population segment requiring social welfare services (Knif, 2012). Ageing of the population is a term that is connected with economic recession; old people threaten the possibilities to manage the “sustainability gap in public finances”.1 In discussions and even in research, old people are often considered as a homogenous group, and gender, among other elements, has not been taken into account as an important factor. Especially in Lapland, gender has not been a focus of local politics or research, even if the “flight” of young women from the area is a well-known phenomenon. The social sciences today largely recognize that people act as gendered, sexualized and corporeal agents. This will be the case during their whole life course even if old people are often constructed sexually as passive and gender neutral (Ojala and Pietilä, 2010). We emphasize both ageing and gender as social constructions: biology does not determine each of them, but they must be analysed in their social, cultural, local and historical contexts (Irni, 2010). Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Geographical location, as well as age, is rarely taken into account even in feminist research. This is because of the hierarchy and visibility of differences: age can be recognized but it is not high in the hierarchy. Geographical location is not visible or considered as important in spite of the requirement for feminist research to understand all knowledge as located and situated and to realise the meaning of the position of the researcher (Naskali, 2013). Because of the social character of ageing and gender, the cultural discussions, political language, definitions constituted by research and media representations Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 31 are important discursive practices. They have power to construct the understanding and the definitions of the gendered character of ageing and to affect the social reality as well. By repeating culturally shared meanings, texts have power to naturalize and normalize certain stereotypes and to reproduce – or challenge and change – them. Newspapers can be seen as a technology of gender, which has the power to “control” the field of social meaning and thus produce, promote and ‘implant’ representations of gender (de Lauretis, 1987, p. 18). In our discursive analysis, we also interpret political texts as such technology, and we focus on analysing how cultural and gendered meanings of age are represented in newspaper texts and in political strategies. In the first, to some extent independent part of the article, we will shed light on the principles of feminist gerontology.

Invisible gender in ageing studies Discussions of “what is age?” have increased markedly in recent decades. These discussions strengthen the questioning of ageing as a uniform, chronological process and make it possible to account for the complexity of age. They have challenged researchers to explore how social, historical and biological issues interact with age: A woman can belong to both old mothers and young workers. In the literature, a distinction has been proposed between chronological, personal, social and subjective ages. Peter Laslett (1996, p. 35) distinguishes biological age from chronological by suggesting that “individuals of the same chronological age differ, sometimes considerably, in bodily development or decline”. However, it is possible to ask, like Sari Irni (2010, p. 37): “How many aspects of age can be differentiated, which aspects should be counted as relevant in a particular context, and what is the nature of these aspects”? The complexity of studying age originates partly from the different research trends involved: social, cultural and critical gerontology. Feminist research can be done from all of these perspectives but it has most in common with critical gerontology. Pirjo Nikander (2009, p. 650) lists the following as new challenges for critical gerontology:

new regimes of ageism and the analysis of discourses of resistance; identification of omissions and silences in earlier work . . . the increasing impact of globalization on older people; the changing role of the nation-state; the power of transnational organizations and agencies over the social policy agenda; the impact of neo-liberal policies and new forms of ageism. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Critical research also analyses the language and terms used. It has been observed that there are many stereotypes concerning old age that are valued as negative. Accordingly, the terms have been transformed into politically more correct ones: “old” has been substituted by the term “elderly” and “old women” by “middle-aged women” (Freixas, Luque and Reina, 2012, p. 45). The task of research is to investigate whether the new terms help to avoid the stereotypical associations. 32 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali Nikander (2009, p. 650) admits that even the critical viewpoint suffers from Anglo-American and middle-class bias and that ethnic and racial inequalities are not addressed. She assumes that gender, however, has recently become an “aspect to be counted as relevant” in the context of ageing. Yet the statistics on American ageing research suggest that the situation is something quite different. Toni Calasanti (2004) has counted the number of feminist articles or articles dealing with gender issues in the 1990s and 2000s in four issues of the Journal of Gerontology in the USA. Only the occasional article was found. Calasanti argues that the “f–word” in particular has been in a closet and that many feminist authors themselves do not want to be classified as feminists. It is not seen as a merit in mainstream research. As she notes (Calasanti, 2004, p. 2), “feminist research tends to be marginalized, segregated into journals such as the Journal of Women and Aging, rather than appearing either in mainstream publications or in those not devoted explicitly to women or gender.” On the other hand, it is claimed that feminist researchers have not focused on ageing; studies that deal with elderly women, for example, are few. Anna Freixas, Bárbara Luque and Amalia Reina (2012, pp. 45–46) claim that the double standard “women and old age” has prompted the least interest among scholars in the field of women’s studies. However, in Finland, Pirjo Nikander (2002), Sinikka Vakimo (2003) and Raija Julkunen (2003) have studied gender and ageing, mostly concerning working life and “elderly at work”. This research has revealed structures in working life and the social security system that oppress people due to their gender. Analyses have shown that age discrimination against women is more common than against men and that participation in wage work during one’s lifetime is significant for the income one receives when elderly. Moreover, “pension systems have different effects for women’s and men’s retirement income which usually means a dis- advantage for women” (Irni 2010, p. 39). Jeff Hearn (1995, p. 101) states how retirement is not the same thing for men and women, because “women never retire from what is for many their prime work – their unpaid work at home.” Moreover, unemployed women over 50 have difficulties getting work even when they are highly educated and have diverse experiences in working life (Keskitalo-Foley, 2014). Critical feminist gerontology “analyses the extent to which political and socioeconomic factors interact to shape the experience of aging” (Freixas, Luque and Reina, 2012, pp. 44–46). Studying ageing from the feminist perspective

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 stresses power relations and corporeality/embodiment of ageing, which have not been seen as an important aspect in the policies on ageing (Higgs, 2009, pp. 654–655). It has been discovered that ageing bodies mean different things to women and men: the admiration of youth and the marks of age in a woman’s looks do not increase her charisma but rather are interpreted as her losing vitality and control of herself as an active subject (Kangas and Nikander, 1999, p. 12). Ageism has even been interpreted as a “woman’s issue” because of the negative stereotypes connected to elderly women: a woman’s identity is defined through her caring for others and connectedness, and women suffer from Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 33 negative evaluations of the ageing body in a society that appreciates youth as a standard (Hurd, 1999, pp. 419–424). Emma Domínguez-Rué argues that age as a cultural construct has “little or nothing to do with one’s chronological age, but is more related to self-perception and to the degree to which women have internalized or rejected the double standard of aging” (Domínguez-Rué, 2012, p. 429). She claims that the patriarchal society has offered women a position as objects of desire or reproduction. As this position is no longer possible for elder women, they are left in the margin. These discussions show how the term ‘gender’ is easily connected only to women. This congruence between gender and women does not challenge the ancient thinking and generalization whereby men are seen as representing humankind, human beings. Men, and elderly men, should also be studied in terms of gender and being subject to the conventions associated with it in society. According to Jeff Hearn (1995, pp. 100–113), age has been a major source of power for men, but in recent decades, the connection between age and power has become more complex, and the category of older men is a contradictory one; older men do not belong to the ideal of “hegemonic masculinity” and thus are objects of ageism.

Trends in feminist age studies Different emphases can be found in the field of feminist ageing research. First, according to the “strong constructionism” school, gender is not seen as a static, dichotomous attribute of a person but an ongoing process in which gender is produced through repeated performative acts. Norms operate in social practices by regulating the expressions of gender and normalizing gendered identities (Butler, 2003). The term ‘gendering practices’ helps to analyse the processes whereby the definitions are constituted in the normalizing and naturalizing power apparatuses: gender, age or place are not only something people are assumed to have but attributes that are created in society (Irni, 2010). Second, materialist feminism stresses the importance of the material and structural conditions where people live. It emphasizes the meaning of biological bodies, not only the surface of bodies and features such as looks, and it points out that a rethinking of technologies as a part of human agency is needed while considering the complicated embodiment of human beings. Ageing is not seen only as a social process that has “little to do with one’s chronological age” or material

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 changes of the body but as an ongoing cooperation between them. In order to avoid the impression of dealing only with “the social”, some researchers have chosen the term “age studies” instead of the term “social gerontology” (Irni, 2010, pp. 15–16, 66). A third line of inquiry is the intersectional research frame, which examines how people are classified according to the economic, political and social order. The focus is not on individual differences but on structural, political and representational power that classifies people in terms of different positions that are dynamic and contingent on different contexts. These “axes of differences” 34 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali constitute experiences of exclusion but also concentrations of power. (Karkulehto et al., 2012, p. 17). The intersectional viewpoint is, however, not an easy starting point in research. Anna Freixas, Bárbara Luque and Amalia Reina (2012), for instance, emphasize the importance of recognizing the diversity among elderly people; simplified typologies and homogenizing must be avoided. However, in their own work they construct a dichotomous gender by writing about women and men and even describing how “women are regarded as the fundamental carriers of the human species. . . . All women do work of this sort at some point in their lives, and this affects them in ways that are both decisive and permanent” (Freixas, Luque and Reina, 2012, p. 48). Anna Freixas, Bárbara Luque and Amalia Reina (2012, pp. 50–53) also create an image of “heroic elderly women”, who create powerful networks, learn from younger people, discover new perspectives, fearlessly make themselves flexible and tolerant and consume culture by buying books and attending cultural hap- penings. When the authors describe older women as having natural gifts, intuition and a sixth sense, the reader has to ask: “Whom are they talking about?” Is there really this kind of coherent group of strong old women that is suffering only from losing the “traditional source of feminine power: beauty”. This dilemma is also acknowledged by Toni Calasanti (2004, p. 3). She describes her experiences of conferences where “gerontologists confirm the importance of looking at intersections, but then begin to talk about poverty in old age only in terms of women”. Women have often been seen as suffering from double or triple subordination; that is, old women can be considered subordinated both because of their age and their gender, both understood as essential attributes or categories, rather than social constructions that define the conditions under which a person lives (Lykke, 2005). Feminist gerontology should not be seen as a coherent group of studies but as research done from different theoretical backgrounds, although the description feminist means that it fulfils certain requirements set out in the feminist research community (Liljeström, 2004). Toni Calasanti stresses the sensitivity to power relations and inequality but also the focus on those with privilege and states that “scholarship that does not include these emphases on gender as a social organizing principle and identity (and not just a demographic attribute) is not feminist, even if such terms as ‘gender’ appear in the research design or text” (Calasanti, 2004, pp. 1–7). There is an established list of differences that are taken into account in current

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 feminist studies: race, ethnicity, social class and sexuality. Age and geographical location are rarely on anyone’s list. This is because of the hierarchy and visibility of differences: age has perhaps been recognized as one but it is not high in the hierarchy. Finnish feminist researchers do not actively position themselves and pay attention to place, in particular the geographical and cultural location of their data. However, place, gender and age are political categories and are thus not unimportant in the production of meanings and the use of power. Research- ers who hide their position create a privileged position for themselves as universal knowers (Ronkainen and Naskali, 2007). Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 35

Research questions, methodology and data Geographically our study is located in Finnish Lapland, the area which encompasses about one third of Finland, while its population is about three per cent of that of entire Finland. Especially rural areas are sparsely populated (Tilastokeskus, 2014). We have looked through the municipal policies regarding elderly inhabitants in Lapland. This data was collected through searches of municipal Inter- net pages. Six municipalities (Kemi, Tornio, Inari, Rovaniemi, Keminmaa and Sodankylä)2 had drawn up policy strategies regarding elderly people; thirteen municipalities (Kemijärvi, Ranua, Pello, Kittilä, Utsjoki, Posio, Enontekiö, Salla, Savukoski, Simo, Tervola, Kolari, Ylitornio) did not have a strategy proper but all had practical guidelines regarding social services for old people. The remaining two of the total of 21 municipalities in Lapland did not present any specific ageing policy strategies on their webpages. In addition, two newspapers with an extensive combined circulation in Finnish Lapland have been selected for this research: Lapin Kansa (LK) and Uusi Rovaniemi (UR). We have systematically collected articles concerning elderly people and elderly politics from January to April in 2013 (n= 26), as well as some occasional articles outside of this time frame. We examine this material using discourse analysis in terms of three questions: What kinds of discourses do the texts produce? What kinds of positions are offered to elderly people? And how are the discourses and positions gendered? Pirjo Nikander has analysed the discursive perspective in research concerning elderly people. She suggests that the purpose of this perspective is “the wish to break free from the notion of age as a mere unproblematic background variable” (Nikander, 2000, p. 337). This starting point is needed also in gender studies: for a long time, gender was understood as just a variable in a research frame. Only after the criticism put forward from feminist studies has gender been understood as a socially constructed, not natural, phenomenon and language, organized as discourses, as an important sphere of life that constitutes social and cultural phenomena such as age and gender. Where Nikander builds her analysis on a foundation of discursive psychology and ethnomethodology, we lean more towards using critical discourse analysis. This can be defined as a “problem-oriented interdisciplinary research movement” with many different theoretical models and methods. The different strands are connected by an emphasis on the meaning of language in social life on “the semi- otic dimensions of power, injustice, abuse, and political-economic or cultural

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 change in society” (Fairclough, Mulderring and Wodak, 2011, p. 357). The relation between discourses and social life is not one-dimensional but a two-way interrelation between language (a signifying system) and other systems, such as economics, politics, the family and the like. Material feminists have criticized discursive research for its power to detach human life from its material bases. Still, there is a need for research that analyses discursive practices that have ideological effects which reach even corporeality as a biopower. The relation of discursive practices to power is often invisible and that is why they must be established through analysis (Chiapello and Fairclough, 2002). Especially 36 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali media texts (newspapers) and political texts (political strategies) have the semi- otic dimension of power in defining things, constituting norms and creating and maintaining categories. As Alexandra Borgen has observed, “the mass media are one important field where gender norms are constructed and newspaper stories are therefore part of the process of gender regulation” (Borgen, 2012, p. 60). In analysis, we start reading first the main features of rhetorics in the municipal policy strategies. In what follows, we have interpreted discourses and subject positions indicated to the elderly in both data. In the strategies, we have interpreted discourses Individual resources discourse and The normalizing discourse. In newspaper texts we have interpreted discourses The elderly as economic threat and burden, Discourse of concern, and Celebrating the elderly. Subject positions produced to elderly people in these texts suggest a transfer from helpless objects to active, even heroic subjects and consumers.

Reading the ageing strategies of municipalities in Lapland Six municipalities of the 21 have made an ageing strategy, in accordance with the recommendation of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The starting point in the strategies is the Finnish policy on ageing. The working groups have named the values that guide policies in the municipalities in light of the national objectives, changing legislation and guidelines on quality. The most frequently cited values are self-determination, security, individuality, justice, involvement and focus on strengths. Implication is described in Rovaniemi’s strategy using the term partnership. Some municipalities mention other values. Inari mentions the continuity of way of life and culture. This refers to taking into account the local Sami culture, even though Sami culture is not mentioned explicitly in the documents. Inari’s strategy also stresses the dignity of old people, which we interpret in Rovaniemi’s strategy as matching with the value feeling significant. Instead of these values that refer to individual capabilities, Keminmaa mentioned a more common political value, respect for human rights. In its strategy, Sodankylä shows high regard for the popular modern value innovativeness, which is described as “creating new things and seeing new possibilities, using methods that encourage to creativity.” The main responsibility is placed on the leadership of municipal managers by stressing that “The management of the municipality supports by its behaviour and example new ideas that will be given space in everyday work” (Sodankylä, p. 13).

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 The values can be considered primarily rhetorical in the sense that they are taken from the national recommendations and political slogans. Still, in some places, the values seem to be thought over and named following joint discussions.

Individual resources discourse The stress on human resources can be seen in the values that emphasise, self-determination, involvement and focus on strengths. The resource discourse is strong; in three strategies there are no references to social and/or psychological Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 37 problems that could challenge the implementation of the age programmes. In the strategies of Inari, Tornio and Keminmaa, challenges that restrict elderly people’s use of resources are mentioned: cognitive problems, loneliness, depression, common chronic diseases,3 insecurity, alcohol and drugs. In addition, the situation where “aged people live all around the broad municipality” (Inari, pp. 40–42) is mentioned as a challenge for implementing the resource-focused age programme. However, the lists of the challenges or problems do not shake the ideal picture presented in the strong position within the resource discourse. Political correctness (Fairclough, 2003) can be seen in changes of language and terms. In the context of ageing, this has meant that the term ‘old’, interpreted as a negative concept with the connotation of objectifying old people, has been replaced by the concept ‘aged’, which better refers to old people as a resource of the society (Freixas, Luque and Reina, 2012). In the strategies studied here, different concepts are used: old people, work with the aged, pensioner, geriatric welfare, old population, very old people, exceptional longevity, seniors and third and fourth age. The prevailing practice in the strategies is to use the term aged people (ikäihmiset). The term old has been reserved for people who are 80 years or over. It is explained that at that age mental and physical capacity will decrease and people will become increasingly dependent on the help of others (e.g. Keminmaa, p. 12; Inari, p. 4). The term “old person” policy and strategy (vanhuspolitiikka ja-strategia) have become “age policy” (ikäpolitiikka) and “age strategy” (ikästrategia). In the strategies, the change in the definition of ageing is emphasized: the focus in the terms of reference is placed on “individual resources instead of diseases and confinesof agency” (Keminmaa, p. 7). At the same time, the view is expressed that the biological definition of age has become weaker, because “the majority of those in their third age still have good capacity and they are very active citizens” (Keminmaa, p. 12).

The normalizing discourse “Getting old is a natural part of life. The speed of aging is individual” (Kemin- maa, p. 12). The strategies emphasize ageing as a normal individual process: what is natural is normal, and the gaze is directed to individual persons instead of social structures. Because old people are individuals, they differ from each other and, accordingly, “recognizing the differences between old people” (Sodankylä, p. 7) is a

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 focus of the strategy texts. Stressing individual needs presupposes a universal humanity and equity of possibilities without taking into account the different preconditions affecting groups of people. The strategy of Inari is written from the local perspective more than the others. There is consideration of the situation of small villages far from the municipal centre. In addition, the ethnic and language minorities are presented, and there is an entire chapter dedicated to multiculturalism. In Sodankylä, six per cent of whose population are Sami multiculturalism is mentioned as a challenge, and this is also mentioned in Keminmaa’s strategy (pp. 25–26). Yet the concreteness of multiculturalism in work with the aged is 38 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali missing. In the strategies of larger towns with international communities, nothing is said about different cultures. Neither is the situation of aged people in villages considered. For example, in the region of Rovaniemi there are villages as far as 100 kilometres away from the city centre. Social class, gender and sexuality are not mentioned in the municipal strategies. Even the statistics in the reports do not take women and men into account separately. Neither is there said anything about gender equality. In the strategies of Tornio and Keminmaa equality (not concretized) is inscribed as a national objective in aged policy. The biggest towns, Rovaniemi and Kemi, do not mention social or gender equality in their strategies. Only in the strategy of Sodankylä can one find the word “gender equality” (p. 8). It has been extracted from the report of Ministry of Social Affairs and Health called Aging as an object of international and national activities (Ikääntyminen kansainvälisen ja kansallisen, 2003). The report refers to the international plans of action and the objectives of the ILO, WHO, OECD and EU, and it gives seven recommendations and requests to states to take gender into account when formulating age policies. These requests have not passed into the strategies of ageing in Finnish Lapland. There is one explicit reference to gender, found on page two of the strategy of Tornio in the context of considering the change of population structure: “With the life expectancy of the population getting longer, it means to some extent also ‘feminization’ of the population.” This sentence is not explained in any way, but it can be assumed that it refers to the fact that the average age of women is higher than that of men and especially the relative number of “remarkably old” women will increase. In 2013, 67 per cent of people over 80 were women (Tilastokeskus, 2014, pp. 35 & 38). According to the strategies, women and men become gender neutral by getting old – after living in a clearly gendered working and family life. This is a rever- sion of sorts to the situation of children: childhood is largely seen in Finland as a gender-neutral phase of life despite policy recommendations and research concerning gender sensitivity (Tainio, Palmu and Ikävalko, 2010, p. 13). Aged people seem not to be women and men, hetero- or homosexual, with gendered responsibilities and sexual needs. Violence against women, differences in incomes and stereotypical pictures of prowess and corporeality seem to disappear when people get old. When writing about the needs of aged people, sexual needs are not recognized even though the research has established that sexuality and corporeality play an important role in aged people’s life (e.g. Leinonen and Syrjälä,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 2011). The question of heteronormativity and the position of LHBTQ elderly is not taken up in the discussions in Finnish Lapland.4 The difficulties in recognizing gender as a social and political issue are surprising, because the world of social services and care of aged people is a very segregated field of labour: over 90 per cent of caregivers are women (Kröger, Leinonen and Vuorensyrjä, 2009). A similarly high proportion of women can also be seen in the composition of the strategy working groups. In Inari, the strategy has been written by 3 women and 1 man, in Kemi 16 women, in Keminmaa 7 women and in Tornio 26 women and 1 man. In Rovaniemi the steering committee consisted of 15 women and 5 men. Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 39 Aged people seem to form a coherent, “normal” group of people. Differences concern only “aged” and “very old” and diseases, especially dementia. Women and men are assumed to have the same needs and to behave in the same way as the consumers of social services. From the perspective of feminist research, this situation means power that transforms differences into sameness in the process of normalizing capability and sovereignty.

Subject positions: from objects to active consumers? The “strategy language” constructs reality and positions for subjects. Previous studies have stressed the categorization and stereotypes of aged people using different text data. In the present data, the ambition is to break away from these categories and stereotypes. In the present national ageing policy, age categories are viewed as sliding and individually defined. Still the texts construct subject positions by constituting the future life of aged people. According to the strategies, an aged person lives in her/his own home; she/he uses and actively buys the services of the municipality and develops her/himself actively in keeping with the ideology of lifelong learning. Moreover, an aged person utilizes the new technology and takes part in “voluntary work, organizations, caring for close relatives and transferring education and experiences to the next generation” (Sodankylä, p. 7). In addition to being seen as active citizens, aged people are positioned as clients and consumers. For example, in the strategy of the town of Rovaniemi, the forthcoming status of private service producers and the third sector is emphasized. The term ‘service market’ is used (Rovaniemi p. 36). In the strategy of Inari, the future is described as follows:

Private and commercial services providing care for aged people are nowadays seen as causing to use municipal services to be used at full capacity. In the future, aged people will be primarily consumers of services who are offered a variety of service concepts. (Inari, pp. 33–34)

The discourse concerning individuality and consumerism can be interpreted as part of neoliberal governmentality. By stressing the rhetoric of personal resources and self-control, individuals are placed apparently in the same position. However, there is no mention of the economic resources and social conditions which aged

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 people have at their disposal to act like consumers. Individuality is mentioned in the list of leading values of four communities (Kemi, Tornio, Sodankylä, Kemin- maa). “Individuality is freedom and possibility to choose, but it is also responsibility for your own life” (Kemi, p. 21). According to the neoliberal ideology, an individual makes choices, but she/he is also responsible for the – possibly – wrong choices. “Individual freedom and responsibility have become central mantras of neoliberal governmentality” (Fahlgren, Johansson and Mulinari, 2011, p. 2). The responsibility for the wellbeing of the aged people is being shifted more and more to the people themselves, and they are expected to have to act like consumers in 40 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali the jungle of different “service concepts”. What are the choices available to the aged person who does not have the resources to be a customer?

Reading the newspaper articles

The elderly as economic threat and burden The elderly as an economic burden has been a visible issue in societal discussions (Karisto, 2008). This is the case also in our newspaper data. The concept ‘taloud- ellinen huoltosuhde’ is focal in this discourse. The concept refers to ratio of the number of employed persons to the number who are not in the labour market, that is, children (under 15), elderly persons (over 65) and the unemployed.5 In this discourse, the elderly are seen as a financial burden, even a “disease” in society: The population is ageing fast and this disease cannot be cured even by reshaping municipalities (LK 19.3.2013). A high proportion of elderly people in a municipality is seen even to frighten away the younger, “people of working age”, who may vote with their feet. This discourse bypasses differences among elderly persons and instead produces an image of elderly people as a monolithic, passive and dependent group which is a threat to younger people. The growing number of elderly people is seen as a structural demographic problem which should be corrected. The problem is also portrayed as a regional one; municipalities in Northern Fin- land have a larger proportion of elderly people than those in Helsinki or around other large cities. This phenomenon has also been seen as a financial burden that the state is passing on to municipalities: the distribution of tasks between municipalities and the state should be changed. This discourse produces people in the labour market as the active, responsible and first-rate citizens whom municipalities wanted (LK 17.3.2013). Another theme in the economic threat discourse is keeping people at work longer by raising the age of retirement. This issue figures prominently in many texts. This demand (LK 11.4.2013) is justified by financial needs and people’s rising life expectancy. Applying the example from Sweden, where plans call for the retirement age to follow life expectancy, a demand has been presented that careers should be extended as a solution to economic problems and the wellbeing of society in Finland (LK 10.4.2013, LK 3.4.2013). However, in Finland, age has pointed to an obstacle to employment (Savolainen and Murtoniemi, 2013). In this discourse, too, ageing people are addressed as a monolithic group: the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 image created refers to middle-class people with excellent health and permanent jobs. This issue bypasses ageing people with illnesses, unemployed persons or people with short job contracts. For example, during the last economic depression, many employees aged 50–64 saw their careers end when they became unemployed (Tilastokeskus, 2003). The discourse presenting the elderly as an economic threat and burden has also been “talked back” (about the term see hooks, 1989). In a letter to the editor, a retired woman criticizes the public discussions of the economic pension bomb and writes how the concept refers to the elderly in a militaristic style, as a threat. And Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 41 in the present system for a municipality, a retired person is more valuable as a tax payer than as a worker. This is the case because of the taxation systems of the state and the municipalities (LK 25.3.2013). In this text, the elderly are emphasized as taxpayers and their existence is legitimized in financial terms: financially they may now be more valuable to society than when they were working.

Discourse of concern Many texts bring the basic human rights of the elderly to the fore. A large number of these have been written by politicians and the concern expressed is worry about elderly people in general (UR 22.2.2013, LK 26.3.2013a), with the elderly referred to as ‘old people’. This discourse draws attention to a need as basic as time outdoors, because being brought outdoors has been added as a clause in service contracts: It was included there because opportunities to be outdoors for the elderly living in elderly institutions have become a public topic (LK 26.3.2013a). This piece of news refers to the national campaign titled “Take an elderly person out”, which received an innovation prize in 2012. In these texts, old people are referred to as objects that need to be taken care of. The differences among elderly persons, or their agency, are not made visible. The discourse of concern also has an ironic variant, which emerged in two texts. The first is titled Scandal Swedish style: elderly get an ugly Christmas tree (LK 13.1.2013). The text is based on a news item in a Swedish newspaper where the son of an old person accused the municipality of getting a small Christmas tree for the elderly. In the text, this episode is compared with Finnish debates on elderly care and can be read as emphasizing cultural differences between Finland and Sweden. Sweden is portrayed as a wealthy society with trivial problems, as opposed to Finland, which has real ones: The sufferings of the Finnish elderly are small if you compare them to the distress of the Swedish elderly (LK 13.1.2013). The irony seems to be based on reality, as the Global Age Watch Index has recently reported that Sweden is the best place for elderly persons. Finland’s rank is fif- teenth (Global Age Watch Index, 2013). In the second text, the rights of elderly people are contrasted with animal rights: We are fortunate that there still are people who are able to worry about baboons and chickens. But fellow human beings are another matter (LK 8.4.2013). The situation of the elderly is described as marginalized, whereas the public debate has made animal rights visible. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Celebrating the elderly The data include three birthday interviews given by elderly women and one interview of a recently retired man. In the birthday interviews, the special features of each woman are emphasized. In the first one, the woman has just turned one hundred years old: Aino’s childhood was hard and full of work. Hunger years tested the family, filler was added to the bread dough and the Spanish flu came to the country. The text continues, describing Aino’s adult life as a farmer’s wife and as 42 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali a mother, as a virtuoso with a thousand skills and a superwoman, who during the war was not scared even though all kinds of peddlers and partisans descended on her home. They ate, stole and browbeat her, but left her alive even though she was home alone (LK 6.1.2013). This happy housewife does not sit down is the title of the next text, in which an 80-year-old woman in rural Finnish Lapland is presented as an exception- ally energetic person. Since leaving working life, she has found time for dancing (. . .) after a career of singing for decades in choirs she has found a new “career” in stand-up comedy performing in many gatherings (LK 6.4.2013). In this text, the woman interviewed is celebrated as a strong individual, an ideal old person. The text repeats her saying: If one starts to blame age, one soon becomes old and she notes that even now she does not have time to sit down (LK 6.4.2013). This ideal image of an elderly woman represents an individualist neoliberal subject who is active and innovative and bears responsibility individually (Keskitalo-Foley, Komulainen and Naskali, 2010). The discourse celebrating the elderly is constructed by heroic stories that are connected to the idea of a strong Finnish woman. According to Pirjo Markkola (2002), the rhetoric of strength can be used to create women’s identities, but it can also encroach on women’s opportunities. This construction raises strong women above ordinary women as exceptional individuals who have “earned” their better position. Celebrating the idea of the strong woman and reinforcing this kind of hierarchy leaves the majority of women to be blamed for their misery. In constructing a national narrative of the strong Finnish woman, social, cultural, political and economic conditions are ignored, in contrast to the article in the data about the oldest person in the world, a 114-year-old Japanese woman, Okawa. The article seems to have been published to honour International Wom- en’s Day (8.3.2013) and is partly based on news from the international news agency AP (LK 8.3.2013). The story celebrates advanced age that is connected not to personal characteristics, but to economic and social conditions. She got married at 21, which means that she was wealthy. A poor woman might have been made to get married even years before this age (LK 8.3.2013). In celebrating women’s long lives in Japan, a solid financial situation and healthy diet are mentioned instead of struggling to earn a living. While the interviews of women concentrate on celebrating women’s personal lives, the fourth text focuses on retiring from working life. Because of traditional gender roles, retirement is thought be harder for men than for women (Ojala and

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Pietilä, 2010). The text is based on an interview of an elderly man who after retiring three years earlier has extended his working years by starting a new career: An active man knows that no one spends his days during retirement sitting down but by accident there came a possibility to be trained as a mentor (LK 26.3.2013b). Retir- ing is interpreted as insecure and thus continuing to work seems to be a desirable solution. Life after retiring is seen as stereotypically gendered: The husband may be ready to move to the family cottage, where there are a lot of meaningful tasks. The wife will enjoy the cultural services of the city and meet with friends. In any event, working life is seen as the real one, and retiring as something unknown and even Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 43 frightening, comparable even to death: Rantala emphasizes that mentoring is not “terminal care” for workers. Quite the contrary; it may offer the key to extending one’s career. This also reflects the aims of the present labour and economic policy in Finland. Yet employers are not thought to be so interested in having elderly people at work: Now retired people are sent to their own reservation. They should get out of there (LK 26.3.2013b). The advantaged group is seen to have the potential to extend their careers and even begin a new one. Retirement and old age are not celebrated in the case of the advantaged group of the labour market, that is, people who have been working as experts and for whom work is also a way of life, and whose value lies in their merits in working life. In general, when elderly people are presented in positive ways in the media, they are somehow defined as extraordinary and exceptional (Ojala and Pietilä, 2010).

Helpless and heroic subject positions In the newspaper articles, the positions given to the elderly people were quite different from those in the municipalities’ ageing strategies. Instead of active citizens, clients and consumers, they are positioned as an economic burden and threat to the communities, a population segment requiring social welfare services. Instead of being accorded personal sovereignty, they are positioned mostly as passive and dependent objects that need to be taken care of. Old people are also positioned as strong and independent persons, especially in descriptions of the strong Finnish women and elderly people of the future; that is, those who will not retire but continue their valuable, well-paid work or create a new career. Gender in these texts follows traditional assumptions of what is “natural” for women and men. Men in particular are positioned as workers; women’s lives are represented in normative frames: spouse, children, grandchildren and housework.

Conclusions In the theoretical part of the article, we situated the question of ageing in the context of feminist theorization, which challenges one to analyse ageing as part of current social and economic changes and as a question of power. Gender has not been taken into account as an important factor either in ageing studies or in the present geographical context, Finnish Lapland. We argue that gender cannot be analysed only as a background factor; it must be taken into account from the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 power perspective and as a social organizing principle. Research on age and gender is not a central focus of either gerontology or feminist research. The analysis of the empirical data – political strategies and newspaper articles – strengthened the assumption prompted by the theoretical analysis that gender and sexuality are invisible. In both sets of material, there were only occasional references to gender and none to sexuality. Social, ethnic and other differences were not discussed in the texts either. The strategies seem to lean on the national policy, and the local cultural and geographical features are not given strong consideration. In the political strategies, Inari referred to the locality, mentioning 44 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali the small villages and the need for continuity of the local way of life and culture, especially where the Sami people are concerned. The discourses in the two sets of data diverged from each other. In the strategies we identified two discourses: aged people as a resource and normalization of the elderly. In the newspapers the two discourses, the elderly as an economic burden and concern for the elderly, reflect different meanings of “elderly”. The common attribute of both sets of material was the representation of elderly people as a coherent group, albeit in a different way. In the discourses of the political strategies, the emphasis was on the neoliberal ideology of individuality and responsibility: aged people were given subject positions as active citizens, clients and consumers. The resource discourse emphasized the active idea of ageing instead of structural or individual limits of agency. These features were naturalized and generalized and little space was given to the vulnerability of old persons in different social, geographical and ethnic contexts. In our data locality is hardly visible, as municipal strategies draw on national elderly policy strategies and regional newspapers seem to repeat and reproduce common assumptions on the elderly in society and culture. In the newspapers, the discourses constructed a picture of elderly people as an economic threat to the future of Finnish society and as a group of people who are dependent on other people’s care. Unlike the official texts, the newspapers also used an ironic style. The “celebrating elderly” discourse was more gendered than the others and constructed the elderly quite similarly to the “aged people as resource” discourse of the political strategies. Old women were constructed as strong and exceptional individuals, and masculinity was connected to the ideal neoliberal subject, who remains active even after retirement. In light of our analysis, we would submit that there is a gap between the official, ideological discourse produced by the state – and repeated by the municipalities in Lapland – and the discourses that live in the everyday discussions constituted by journalists and the readership of the newspapers. The media construct and repeat the economic discourse that emphasizes the costs of ageing. The strategies, in contrast, lean on the neoliberal ideal of aged people as active citizens who take care of themselves, with those suffering from memory disor- ders being an exception. According to the data, cultural discourses in Finnish Lapland construct twofold subject positions for elderly people: on the one hand, they are independent, wealthy consumers, on the other, a budget expenditure, an economic challenge to the municipalities. However, in terms of gender, the discourses are uniform: they fail to see elderly people as persons who are still

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 constructing their gendered and sexual identities and to recognize a need for gender-sensitive services.

Data Ageing strategies of municipalities in Finnish Lapland:

Sodankylän kunnan ikääntymispoliittinen strategia vuosille 2010–2018. Hyvään vanhuuteen Sodankylässä. [Ageing strategy of the Municipality of Sodankylä for 2010–2018. Towards a good old age in Sodankylä] Tracing gender in political ageing strategies 45 Ikäihmisten hyvinvointisuunnitelma 2011–2020. Kemin kaupunki. [Wellbe- ing plan for the elderly for 2011–2020. City of Kemi] Rovaniemen ikäohjelma vuoteen 2020 – ikäpoliittinen strategia. [Ageing programme of Rovaniemi to 2020 – an ageing strategy] Keminmaan ikääntyvien hyvinvointiohjelma ja ikäihmisten palvelustrategia vuosille 2010–2025. [Wellbeing programme and the service strategy for the elderly in Keminmaa for 2010–2025] Tornio – ikäihmisille hyvä paikka elää, asua ja osallistua. Ikääntymispoliit- tinen strategia. [Tornio – a good place for the elderly to live and participate. Ageing strategy] Ikäihmisten palvelustrategia 2011–2015. Inarin kunta. [Service strategy for the elderly for 2011–2015. Municipality of Inari.]

Newspaper articles UR 22 February 2013. Sairaala ei ole vanhuksen koti. [A hospital is not home for elderly] LK 6 January 2013 Elämä arkista aherrusta [Life – the daily grind] LK 13 January 2013 Skandaali Ruotsin malliin: vanhukset saivat ruman kuusen [A scandal Swedish style: Elderly get an ugly Christmas tree] LK 8 March 2013 Vanhin nainen kiittää terveyttä [Oldest woman thanks her good health] LK 17 March 2013 Maksajia löytyy vähiten Pellosta ja Sallasta [Pello and Salla have the fewest people to foot the bill] LK 19 March 2013 Kunnan piikkiin ei voi sysätä kaikkea [You can’t put everything on the municipality’s tab] LK 25 March 2013 Ken elää, hän ikääntyy ja maksaa veroja. [Everyone who is alive gets old and pays taxes] LKa 26 March 2013 a Hillankukassa mennään ulos lähes joka päivä [At Hillankukka [nursing home] residents go outside almost every day] LKb 26 March 2013 b (Ehkä) ihanat eläkepäivät [(Possibly) wonderful retirement] LK 3 April 2013 Työaika-altistus kuriin: Työuriin lisää pituutta [Reining in long working days: Make careers longer] LK 8 April 2013 Kanan näkökulma. Kolumni Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 [A chicken’s perspective. Column] LK 10 April 2013 Ruotsalaisten eläkeikä lähestyy 70:ä [Retirement age in Sweden nearing 70] LK 11 April 2013 Eläkeikämallia länsinaapurista [The retirement age model in our western neighbour]

Notes 1 The “sustainability gap” in public finances results from the ageing of population, which brings an increase in pension, health and other care expenses and a decrease 46 Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Päivi Naskali in tax revenues for the public sector. Etlan arvio 2013. www.etla.fi/uutiset/etlan- arvio-julkisen-talouden-kestavyysvaje-1–25. 2 Kemi is a town in the western part of Lapland with around 22,000 people; it is near to Keminmaa, which has 8,500 citizens and Tornio, a town of 22,000 people on the border of Sweden. These are independent towns, but they constitute a common financial areawith the Lapland’s biggest population density (12.3 inhabitants/km2). Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland with 61,000 citizens. Sodankylä with 8,800 and Inari with 6,700 inhabitants are situated in the northern part of Lapland. (Lapland in figures 2012–2013.) 32 per cent of Inari’s population belong to the indigenous, Sami people. (www.inari.fi/) 3 In Finland, the group of “common chronic diseases” is composed of the most prevalent public illnesses, such as heart and vascular diseases, pulmonic diseases, cancers, diabetes and diseases in the motor tract. www.thl.fi/fi_FI/web/fi/aiheet/kansantaudit 4 On LHBTQ people and elderly in the Nordic countries, see Bromseth and Siverskog (2013). 5 The concept ‘väestöllinen huoltosuhde’ (demographic dependency ratio) refers to the ratio of the number of people in working age in general to that of children and elderly (Tilastokeskus, 2012).

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Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio

Research framework and definitions

Study background and objectives In the broader study, ‘Circumpolar dimension of population ageing: Cross-regional analysis towards optimal policy adjustments’ (Danilova, Golubeva and Emely- anova, 2011; Emelyanova and Rautio, 2012; Emelyanova and Rautio, 2013), we discussed ageing related demography and policy for eight Arctic countries. Apparently, no singular action plan on ageing has been elaborated for the Arctic. Political priorities and care services largely differ across countries and within – taking the social heterogeneity of older people as one of the main features in all modern societies (Naegele et al., 2010). However, societal ageing is one of the transformation powers leading to similar social, cultural and political challenges, those that do not end at national borders. It asks for collaborative international effort to ensure the wellbeing among the older population of Arctic countries. Global efforts on building the policy models and strategies towards society for all ages (Global ageing, 2000; Marin and Zaidi, 2007; Bloom et al., 2011), as well as the commitments of the 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) (United Nations, 2003), have a high potential use for regional development due to lack of comprehensive policies on ageing in Arctic countries. Particularly the challenges associated with inclusion of the older population in societal life need a stronger address. MIPAA reports testify that no Arctic government identified ‘Inclusion’ as a success in the recent past or a priority for the future (United Nations, 2008). At the same time, there is empirical evidence that volunteering in old age is a key tool to promote social inclusion of the elderly Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 population, social cohesion and higher quality of life (Greenfield and Marks, 2004). All the actors benefit: volunteers themselves, communities and organizations that heavily rely on older volunteers to provide continuity and leadership (Volunteer Canada and Manulife Financial, 2010). Older volunteers diminish a range of personal threats in premature death, low quality of life, depression, poor mental health, inadequate use of services and burden to care-givers (Narush- ima, 2005). Volunteering keeps older adults active and engaged, ageing health- ily (Cook and Speevak Sladowski, 2013). It creates social capital and produces 50 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio economic value, despite exclusion from the conventional gross domestic product. It compensates for role loss, helps in cementing social ties and expanding networks (Rook and Sorkin, 2003), providing a feeling of being needed. Volunteerism should be prioritized in national efforts on ageing, as besides mere paid labor, many seniors benefit younger generations with valuable experience, practices, knowledge-based creativity in decision-making, patronage to local events and unpaid voluntary services. It can relieve part of the ageing associated challenges and extensive welfare obligations. The potential of international volunteering across Arctic countries also remains underexploited and exchange of older volunteers at the transnational level is very limited (United Nations, 2008). The countries that do not have a long tradition in volunteering or have it to a lesser extent can especially gain from such an exchange. More advanced neighbors can provide technical aid, manpower and managerial models to support volunteering. Contributing towards the body of literature, and given the rise in the number of older people in Arctic countries, we ask several questions. How have countries enacted policies to support volunteering by older persons, and, if so, have these countries adopted a specific framework or incorporated the issue into other agendas? How do actions differ or match in the studied countries? What are the best practices of national support to older volunteers? Having this in mind, the aim of this study is to answer the research question: what are the challenges, priorities and practices in facilitating volunteerism in old age in the context of Arctic countries? This supposes many areas of discussion. We thus concentrate on how national policies and actors (macro-level) condition volunteerism in old age, what are the large-scale national volunteering programs and who are older volunteers, what are the spheres where older volunteers are more active, their attitudes and barriers to volunteer? The primary method of data collection is a targeted review of national MIPAA follow-ups as well as nationwide policy and research reports, planning documents and working papers. The study is intended to be broad in scope and prelimi- nary in nature, focusing on English-language publications. It solicits information mostly from the perspectives of policy-makers, to a lesser extent of researchers and voluntary organizations. The limitation is that the data depends on the quality and completeness of the relevant reports. The analysis is not intended to be conclusive. The discussion and recommendations made for the governments are seen as a debative basis for further in-depth studies. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Defining the place of volunteering within ageing policy One of the contexts for population ageing is that people live longer than ever before and increase the potential to make various societal contributions in their old age. Intergovernmental bodies admit this is essential to recognize the ability of older persons to contribute by participating in societal life. However, older persons are often vulnerable to marginalization, discrimination, poverty, illnesses, low education and access to services (UNECE, 2009) that lead to social Policies of Arctic countries 51 exclusion. Determining volunteering within the concepts of contemporary ageing, ‘social inclusion’ is often associated with active engagement of older adults into societal life through this activity. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social inclusion as a multifaceted array of activities by older persons in social, cultural, spiritual and civic affairs, in addition to providing an economic contribution and labor force. The World Bank sees inclusion, access to information, accountability and local organizational capacity as elements for empowerment of older adults (2013). Whereas there is almost never an agreement on a concrete definition, building volunteering capacities is unanimously admitted to be an integral part when developing the inclusive policies (Social inclusion for an ageing population, 2010). Volunteering is considered a useful vehicle to address many issues relevant to older people, e.g. poverty and health. It contributes to the quotient of other frameworks: active and successful ageing (WHO, 2002). As a form of active citizenship, volunteering is conceptualized to promote a positive image of ageing in society and encourage better the self-image of older people towards themselves. Research within Arctic countries defines volunteering in old age similarly to this. It is considered as work that late-age individuals undertake for the benefit of their community, with free choice and not for salaries (however, in some cases, volunteers can be employed by non-profit organizations). One important aspect is that the analyzed governmental reports address volunteering as a work in associations/ organizations, outside private actions with close neighbors and family.

Public bodies responsible for ageing and volunteering agenda Arctic countries administer the issue of attracting older adults to take up volunteering responsibilities through a cross-ministerial/cross-sectional approach. National Ministries of Social Affairs as well as newly organized bodies that address the ageing challenges support volunteering as part of wider responsibilities, mainly by co-funding voluntary organizations (Fig. 3.1). These bodies include national councils, focal points on ageing and consulting research institutes. None of the Arctic countries have a separate national coordinating unit responsible for volunteering by older people, e.g. as in Austria with the Depart- ment for Basic Policy on Senior Citizens and Volunteer Affairs. National focal point on ageing has started to play a key role in mainstreaming ageing into policy fields. They share information in the media, promote ‘success-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ful ageing’ agenda, participate in political processes and advise researchers on ageing data. Norway and Canada are the only countries that did not appoint these duty positions. Additionally, it is important to develop the institutes of ombuds persons, older persons’ advocates or offices on age discrimination, which are not widespread, with exceptions for provincial ombudsmen in the US and Canada. They are rare comparing to the ombudsmen targeted for children, gender equity, ethnic minorities and consumers’ rights. Furthermore, no national council for the aged can be found in Finland, Iceland and Sweden, though similar responsibilities are assigned to different actors, for instance, the Geriatric Council of Iceland. 52 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio

Canada: US: Ministry of Social Development Department of Health and Social Innovation, National and Human Services, Seniors Council, Administration on Aging, Federal/Provincial/Territorial National Council on Aging, Area Forum of Ministers Responsible Agencies on Aging, Senate for Seniors Special Committee on Aging

Russia: Finland: Ministry of Healthcare, Ministry Ministry of Social Affairs and of Labour and Social Health, advisory boards for civil Protection, Coordination Council society, ageing, and pensioners’ for Veterans’ Affairs, Commission affairs under the President

Sweden: Norway: Ministry of Health Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Pensioners and Social Affairs, Centre for Commission, National Board of Senior Policy, National Council Health and Welfare, National for Senior Citizens Volunteering Agency

Denmark: Iceland: Ministry of Children, Gender Ministry of Welfare, Joint Equality, Integration and Social Committee on the Affairs of the Affairs, Elderly Commission, The Elderly Age Forum, National Volunteer Centre

Figure 3.1 The bodies responsible for ageing and volunteering affairs, Arctic countries, 2014.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 More evidence is needed to determine whether these designations are vital, of any help for development of the volunteering agenda. It is crucial to distinguish ageing agenda within general demographic policy actions: only a few countries, including the US, update their own action plans on ageing. However, dialogue between policy and science, supported through establishing additional bodies for volunteering research and facilitation is strong (Table 3.1). Research institutes have been granted a status of focal point, in addition to individuals assigned as focal points, with the main aim to undertake principal population ageing investigations. For instance, in Canada, the federal Table 3.1 Nationwide actors who formulate ageing and volunteering policies, 2014

Canada Canadian Institutes Volunteer Canada Canadian Association of Health on Gerontology Research, Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies, Senate Special Committee on Aging and Employment and Social Development Canada United National Institute on Leadership Council of AARP (formerly the States Aging Aging Organizations, American Association Points of Light, of Retired Persons) United Way Worldwide Russia St. Petersburg Coalition Pravo Pozilih, Dobroe Delo (Good Institute of Moscow National Deed) Bioregulation Volunteer Centre, and Gerontology, Russian Volunteer Gerontological Development Centre Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences Finland Finnish Institute Citizen Forum Central Union for the of Occupational Welfare of the Aged, Health, National Association of Old Institute for Health Age and Neighbour and Welfare Service, Alzheimer Society of Finland, Association of Care Giving Relatives and Friends Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Sweden Swedish National National Forum for Swedish Association for Institute of Public Voluntary Social Senior Citizens Health, National Work, Swedish Board of Health National Pensioners’ and Welfare Organization Norway Centre for Senior Norwegian Pensioners — Policy Association

(Continued) 54 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio Table 3.1 Continued

Country Focal point institution National volunteer Voluntary organization on ageing, funded by centres and largest responsible for MIPAA the government to lead networks of voluntary monitoring principal research on organizations recruiting ageing older people Denmark Danish National National Association DaneAge Association Centre for Social of Senior Citizens Research, Centre Councils (the for Voluntary Senior Citizens Social Work, Committees), National Volunteer Danish Association Centre, Danish of Senior Citizens, Dementia Research Danish Red Cross, Centre, Volunteer Frivilligcentre & Council Selvhjælp Danmark Iceland — Red Cross, SEEDS — Iceland

government, through the Canadian Institute of Health Research, provides funding to undertake the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Government of Canada, 2012). Funding has been given to the Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies to collaborate with the government and provide materials for outreach and policy information. Other larger bodies such as the Senate Special Committee on Ageing and Employment and Social Development Canada lead their research programs and have a mandate to make recommendations to the federal government. The US National Institute on Aging as well as the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in Russia consult their administrations with MIPAA implementation. The Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish institutes carry out pre-legislative research and produce guidelines for municipalities. The Danish centres advise the Parliament on the role that voluntary sector organizations play in addressing social challenges. They conduct wide-scaled studies such as the Danish Study under the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, Study of Volunteering Policies and Collaboration. Iceland did not mention specific research institutes that were assigned with tasks in relation to ageing population. The country also

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 lacks a national coordinating unit on volunteering affairs. It is necessary to analyze to what degree such actors inform policy-makers and what research results are related to policy. The efforts that these bodies and related national ministries have made in regard to volunteering by older adults are discussed later in this chapter.

Volunteering supportive programs in Arctic countries The area of volunteering has dynamically developed in recent years. The countries practice occasions of International Day of Older Persons, International Policies of Arctic countries 55 Family Day, Grandmothers Day, Week for the Care of the Elderly and Inter- national Volunteer Day to promote volunteering opportunities. Cross-national initiatives such as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008, Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010, Volunteering 2011 and Active Ageing 2012 contributed to volunteering focus. However, there is little target at volunteering specifically among older people. To assess the existing practices in the studied countries, we discuss the range of national volunteering programs that attract older individuals to volunteer.

Canada Volunteering is an important aspect of Canadian life and economy, reflected in three-year cycled Canada Surveys of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. Thirty-six per cent of older Canadians volunteered in 2010, devoting 223 hours per year in key areas: religion, health and social services, office work, canvassing and fundraising for charities (Mei, Fast and Eales, 2013). According to the 2010 Report of the National Seniors Council on Volunteering among Seniors, sugges- tions for action have been developed for recruitment and support of older volunteers and non-profit organizations (The National Seniors Council of Canada, 2010). It works on building partnerships with the private sector, research and coordination of the voluntary sector. The report recommended the planning of national social marketing campaigns to promote volunteerism and implementation of a tax credit for volunteers allowing a certain amount of money per year to be claimed for eligible volunteer expenses. Referring to the 2012 Canadian MIPAA report (Government of Canada, 2012), several proposals were indeed activated. The volunteer experience was recognized as an opportunity, one that is community based, efficient in terms of time and organization and connected to individual experiences, skills and hobbies. The annual Prime Minister’s Volunteer Award was created to recognize the contributions of Canada’s senior volunteers, alongside the creation of the National Seniors Day. Also the government has initiated out-of-pocket expenses reimbursement. Federal investments in research on volunteering have been activated. The New Horizons for Seniors Program and Volunteering and Positive Images of Ageing supports seniors-led and community-based projects that encourage social inclusion, mentoring and volunteerism. The strategies promoting individ-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ual development and learning are admittedly successful: skills-based volunteering, citizen science (involves older people as volunteers who help scientists to collect information about the environment), education and research (collecting data, conducting literature reviews, participatory-action research), as well as employer-supported, intergenerational and supportive to food industry volunteering (Cook and Speevak Sladowski, 2013). Retirement planning, moving and housing condo-volunteering, short-term and seasonal assignments (Speevak Sladowski and Hientz, 2011) are the other strategies proven strong to promote wellbeing during a life transition. 56 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio United States of America The Administration on Aging provides funding to the National Council on Aging through the Aging Network, a network of State Units on Aging, Area Agencies on Aging and American Indian and Alaska Native organizations. Funding is given to local programs that aim to engage older people within their communities (Federal government of the United States, 2011). The networks share resources and work together on policies. Countrywide programs such as the Disease Prevention Program and the Care Giver Support Program have been developed in collaboration with local transport and housing organizations. National campaigns (e.g. Get Involved) and self-directed teams (Wisdom Works; Create the Good) foster civic engagement of older people. Independent agencies also address voluntary affairs. Senior Corps is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. It links 360,000 Americans and service opportunities in three volunteering programs. First, the Foster Grand- parents Program connects volunteers aged over 60 with vulnerable youth to mentor and support; second, the Senior Companions Program brings together older volunteers with adults who have difficulty with the simple tasks of day-to-day living; and third, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program connects volunteers with service opportunities in their communities that match their skills and availability. Their scope of work ranges from building houses to environmental protection and immunizing children (Volunteer Development Agency, 2009). Other larger organizations, Civic Ventures, Partners in Care, Experience Corps and OASIS, use skilled late-age volunteers in consulting, fundraising for organizations and solving management issues. The organizations promote staying at home, intergenerational dialogue, religion and culture. The 35 million-member AARP (formerly the Amer- ican Association of Retired Persons) is another powerful lobbying group responsible for MIPAA implementation. Such bigger organizations have faced a conflict of interest when supporting controversial-to-older-people legislative initiatives. The National Resource Center for Engaging Volunteers in the Aging Network and the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations highlighted sustainability of the programs as a main concern. Funding and motivation by older people to take responsibility for their groups are major risks. To tackle the latter, older volunteers are trained to perform different roles in order to do more tasks and replace one another. Proactive roles are emphasized all over the US reports, rather than traditional befriending roles. Finally, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are recruited through the system of stipends and educational credits (Unlocking Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Potential Project, 2010). Incentivizing volunteering is an issue to debate, not to step across the boundaries between paid work and volunteering. From the other side, getting additional income, older people with the highest poverty levels would volunteer and stay active.

Russia In Russia, the share of older volunteers is very small. Presniakova (2005) argues that older persons are active in the political elections, but they are not proactive Policies of Arctic countries 57 in volunteerism. Only 1 per cent of persons aged 55–69 took part in the events of the Union of Pensioners of Russia and Society for People with Disabilities, while 1–4 per cent attended cultural meetings. However, in a recent act of support towards the volunteer sector, the state created tax exemptions and subsidies for recreation tickets offered to older volunteers at a reduced price and coverage of travel, meal and accommodation to localities of charitable activities. Athletic culture is a major priority. Measures are taken to engage sport instruc- tors in work with elderly people and to engage elderly people in volunteerism that involves physical activity. A number of other actions have focused on a big issue – fighting loneliness and isolation of older persons, particularly through support of intergenerational contacts in the programs such as the Grandmothers and Grandchildren, and Mentor. Among the other forms, so-called ‘voluntourism’ has become popular in recent years. Older people have become active in organizing cheap group holidays to the southern resorts, cultural places in the central Russia (e.g. the Golden Ring tour) or to nature reserves in Ural, Baikal Lake. If long-distance travel is not an option due to health conditions, shorter tours in the region of settlement are organized instead. Voluntary initiatives reflected a noticeable change from top-down government-controlled organizations of older persons to bottom-up movements (Sidorenko and Zaidi, 2013). Additional means of support through rewarding people for their achievements in labor, public and cultural life further reflect a shift to individualization of participation in societal life and volunteering efforts (The Russian Government, 2011). At the moment, voluntary organizations of war veterans receive the largest state support.

Finland The national framework for volunteering is strong in Finland, as highlighted in the MIPAA report (The Finnish Government, 2012). The Civil Society Policy Advisory Board brings together actors from the non-profit sector to tackle whatever hinders the work of volunteers. The organizations especially powerful in engaging Finnish seniors in volunteering are the Central Union for the Welfare of the Aged, Union for Senior Services, Association for Old Age and Neighbor Service and the Association of Care Giving Relatives and Friends. Many retirees’ organizations, social and health associations, the Lutheran Church and other Christian organizations also operate nationally and locally. However, one study

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 found that the least of the welfare promotion targets among Finnish municipalities were related to elderly participatory activities (Laurio, 2013). Duties for volunteering affairs are shared between ministries, with no central institution to coordinate the area. The Citizen Forum has established a program of which aim was to formulate a national strategy on volunteering. There is no official data available on the exact number of older volunteers in Finland. The Age Institute releases some analytics, but more evidence is required on the types of organizations engaging older volunteers, activities, the needs and challenges faced by older volunteers. The main motivational factors are, 58 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio however, known. Older volunteers are eager to meet new people, help others, enhance their own wellbeing and take part in an activity that benefits society (Haarni, 2009; Rajaniemi, 2009). Three volunteering directions can be distinguished. First, The Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing offers voluntary coun- selling for older hearing-impaired members. They keep up to date on the latest hearing aid technology to ensure that older volunteers will perform voluntary tasks (Naegele et al., 2010). Second, older people are encouraged for voluntary assistance through the nationwide project Empowering Widowed, Divorced and Lonely Older People through Volunteering and Peer Support. Lastly, the Life Course and Generations project promotes intergenerational dialogue to overcome loneliness/exclusion, e.g. within the project older people volunteer together with youth. Overall, there is a range of problems reported in Finland that challenge the development of this policy area. Most of them relate to taxation and the financial situation of non-profit organizations, as there is no national budget allocation to volunteering as such, but the public sector enables activities of national federa- tions and umbrella volunteering organizations. Government funds the organizations that engage older age groups indirectly through partial material support. Local authorities can additionally provide the volunteers with free admission and reduced prices to fitness and other recreational centres (European commission, 2011b). But many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are more dependent on self-financing than their counterparts in other European countries. Hence the introduction to permanent funding of national and local volunteering centres is an emerging goal to achieve.

Sweden Lundström and Svedberg (2003) argue the size of the non-profit sector is as large as in other Arctic countries, but the composition of the sector differs. Volunteer- ing in Sweden is traditionally featured by a membership that is beginning to decline. Swedish people now prefer to determine their own involvement level and seek a ‘freer’ relationship with volunteering organizations. Local volunteer centres have started offering opportunities not tied to organizational membership. As centres tend to work mainly with elderly people (Government of Swe- den, 2011), the pattern also applies to older volunteers. In 2000, several reports to the central government provided basic data on the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 volunteers (The 2004 Survey by the Swedish National Board for Health and Wel- fare; The 2009 National Study of Volunteering, Informal Help and Care Giving). They stated the number of older volunteers had grown over time, at a bigger share of older women (European Commission, 2011c). One possible explanation of growth is in active ageing strategies in Sweden. The age also impacts the activities practiced: social/housing services prevail among older volunteers, who normally clean, maintain property, bake and carry out direct practical routines. Higher access to digital means provides further facilitation to find volunteering opportunities online due to a national Digital Inclusion Agenda. Policies of Arctic countries 59 A policy on voluntary organizations/movements was established in 2001 as a separate article in the central government budget. It has been updated since that time on and now the governmental portal does not distinguish volunteering as a separate policy area anymore. Instead it has been implemented in the other civil society agendas. Recently, Sweden introduced a new institution, the National Volunteering Agency. It offers individuals the possibility to search for volunteering tasks which match their skills, without the need to become affiliated to an organization (European Commission, 2011c).

Norway Not a big share of seniors lack social contacts in Norway: 9 per cent of persons 67+ years miss close friends and 14 per cent have little contact with friends. Nevertheless, this issue has been intensively addressed. Norway reports to MIPAA that the country protects zonal participation of seniors. A clarifica- tion of what it means is required, particularly if promotion of volunteering is included in this agenda. By far, voluntary centres are used to target marginalized groups in the communities and have been successful in recruiting socially disadvantaged individuals. In general, Norwegian local centres are diverse and have a freedom to shape their organizational structures. This is in contrast to Denmark where national authorities are more actively involved in defining the core functions of voluntary centres (The Norwegian government, 2011). The fields of activity are targeted to deliver in-house and individual care services. However, activity profile made them vulnerable to criticism from other organizations because of competition for scarce resources. Later attempts to bridge different voluntary affairs have not been successful. They are currently left with less clear organizational identity compared with Danish counterparts mostly, because of the ‘centralism versus localism’ approach in national-level policy (Lorentzen and Henriksen, 2014).

Denmark There is no overarching strategy for volunteering in Denmark. Different ministries support their sectors similarly to Finland. In 1996, the Ministry of Social Affairs established an independent council AgeForum, which assessed all initia-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 tives towards older people provided by public authorities, private entities, volunteers and the older people themselves. Later on, political statements were made to indicate this sector as a whole, based on earlier 2001 Charter for Interaction Between Volunteer Denmark and the Public Sector and 2007 Quality Reform (Government of Denmark, 2011). In 2010, Denmark issued the National Civil Society Strategy connecting voluntary organizations with socially vulnerable older people. A number of umbrella organizations for sport, social associations (Volunteer Forum) and local volunteer centres have been supported with this strategy, new social laws and governmental projects. 60 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio National Knowledge and Development Centre of Volunteering, Volunteering Council and the Sports Confederation of Denmark have actioned a large Thank a Volunteer campaign. The DaneAge Association attracted nearly 690,000 members, the Association of Danish Senior Citizens 330,000 members to increase voluntary actions. The National Fund has financially supported volunteering programs for older adults. With many other initiatives, older Danes are still more excluded from volunteering activities than younger people (Naegele et al., 2010). They are more often voluntarily engaged in social/health and housing sectors but less engaged in politics and education (Principi, Jensen and Lamura, 2014). Among nationwide programs is the Elderly Helping Elderly project started in 1996 by the national association Mobilizing Elderly and funded from the Ministry of Social Affairs. It aims to combat loneliness among elderly people through the involvement of more resourceful older people and covers more than 70 per cent of the country. Activities of the project, e.g. shopping service, are aimed to supplement municipal services. As in Finland, intergenerational dialogue is promoted by the Danish Ministry of Social Welfare under the voluntary Reserve Grandparent Scheme, where retired adults step in and care for children when their parents need to get back to work. Also, Volunteer Visitor schemes have been established where a younger volunteer visits an older lonely person. The level of satisfaction with voluntary projects is high among older people. In Elderly Helping Elderly, 76 per cent of participants have experienced an increase in quality of life and 82 per cent felt they gained from being part of the project. The project increased societal participation, as more than 70 per cent of volunteers subsequently became active in other organizations (Ehlers, Naegele and Reichert, 2011; European Commission, 2011a). One of the reasons might be a bulk of consultations, networking and collaborative activities prioritized by volunteering centres.

Iceland Volunteering practices are highly targeted in the programs of Iceland. Elderly unemployment has risen a great deal since the collapse of the banking system in 2008, therefore voluntary organizations reoriented towards supporting older people to find employment, training and volunteering opportunities. The strongest ‘voluntary’ power in the country is attributed to the National Fed-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 eration of Senior Citizens, which embraces more than 52 societies with over 18,000 members. It defends members’ interests in a very broad sense and strives to ensure their full involvement in society. Also, the Red Cross bases much of its activities on volunteer work and has specifically sought to engage elderly people in volunteering work since their general life experience is considered to be of direct value. Many such NGOs receive annual grants from the state in support of their work. Partly, the volunteering initiatives in the country are sponsored through the Senior Citizens’ Construction Fund (Government of Iceland, 2011). Policies of Arctic countries 61 Comparing the national activities

Statistics, information and data An accurate comparison of the extent of volunteering in the studied countries is generally difficult without comprehensive and comparable quantitativeand qualitative data. National volunteering research and governmental reports often produce different/lower figures than showed in cross-national surveys such as the Eurobarometer, European Values Study or Time Use Survey. Some countries provide more targeted focus on volunteering in old age, respectively material for the analysis differ. There are disagreements in the precise definition of voluntary work, aspects of reporting, research questions and sample sizes. National background reports do not focus purely on issues of volunteering in old age. Data regarding older people’s characteristics in volunteering and policy actions is generally scarce, especially in the English-language sources, and irregular, complicat- ing the international comparisons. We distinguish three major groups of limited information:

• Lack of data on volunteering in old age

Periodical governmental surveys provide basic data for the analysis of national volunteering, although a rare case when there is overall, regular and coordinated monitoring of volunteering in old age. The longitudinal/panel studies on ageing (Canada, US, Sweden, Finland) often focus on interactions among changing biological, psychological and social factors to measure changes in the health, functional status, living arrangements and health services utilization, with a little focus to volunteering. There is a lack of complete official statistics on older people involved in volunteering. Some statistical bureaus point out the difficulty of classifying non-profit organizations, challenged definitions of voluntary work, volunteers’ status, legislation and institutional uncertainties. So far, there is no structured data on the number and profile of older volunteers, number and types of organizations involved, kinds of activities, trends, needs and challenges of senior volunteers.

• Lack of information for older people who might be interested in volunteering

The second major challenge is associated with poor spreading of volunteer- Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ing opportunities for older persons. In the twenty-first century, online sources obtain a higher importance. Canada and the US are the examples with widely used search tools, such as www.volunteer.ca, www.serve.gov, www.createthegood. org, that provide online volunteering opportunities. In Europe, useful references include Senior Europeans Volunteer Exchange Network, www.seven-network. eu, national recruitment portals, matching databases for voluntary sector such as in Denmark www.frivilligjob.dk and Sweden www.volontarbyran.org. Despite this, there is a lack of web-engines designed cognitively and theme-specifically 62 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio for senior volunteers, as their interests, capacities and capabilities have a great variability. There should be Internet tools to train senior citizens to volunteer in public life (the example is the European initiative www.sevir.eu), to help them find meaningful activities beyond everyday work and family duties. Lastly, volunteering is not widely recognized in the studied countries in terms of lack of large-scale public advertising campaigns that attract and motivate older persons to participate. Many older people at risk of social exclusion are not part of social networks and countrywide strategies for public relations, and it is therefore more important to reach these marginalized groups.

• Lack of research

Reviewed materials encompass an issue of volunteering in old age within wider volunteering and social inclusion reports or individual project/program working papers that define a national context. Particularly what is lacking is the qualitative information on motivation to become involved in volunteering, personal barriers of those excluded from these activities that is crucial to know for recruitment of volunteers. We suppose that little or no scientific evidence exists in relation to:

• development of quality standards and certification systems for volunteering centres; • involvement of older migrants in volunteer-recruitment schemes that prevent social exclusion and mental stress; • legal, financial, health related barriers that discourage people from volunteering; • history and dynamics of volunteerism by older adults and policies to support it in each country throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; • development of volunteering programs that facilitate the transition from paid work to retirement; • voluntary activities that can be offered by professional pensioners’ associations to their members; • how non-profit organizations can tap the skills of older volunteersin unique and creative ways. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Challenges met across Arctic countries Arctic countries have a long tradition of informal volunteering but not always a strong formal voluntary sector. Throughout the paper we identified national barriers to this sector, broadly the lack of coordination. Nordic countries emphasize that experienced older persons are not effectively recruited. Denmark underlines the fragility of the relationships being created, the little opportunity for volunteers to network. Finland stresses the lack of encouragement: some individuals Policies of Arctic countries 63 need reassurance to take voluntary tasks. Little state funding is mentioned for Russia and Greenland, where low-income conditions impede social inclusion of older persons into volunteering. Low life expectancy and poor health status are also regarded as severe risk factors preventing active volunteering among Russian and aboriginal peoples of Canada and Alaska. The lack/expensiveness of transport is a barrier to volunteering (Finland) and limited access of actors other than membership-based volunteering associations (Denmark, Sweden) (Lorentzen and Henriksen, 2014) are among the other challenges. Policy traditions caused Denmark to reach a higher degree of professionalization than Norway and Sweden. Professionalization means that volunteers are staff members entitled to expense allowances. A legacy of decentralization versus centralism takes its place: national authorities refrain from instructing local centres in Norway or put a stronger governmental standardization on volunteer organizations as in Denmark. There is also the policy focus on the organization (Sweden, Russia) versus the individual volunteer (Norway, Finland). Age and gender peculiarities can be determined. Older adults in Canada are more involved in volunteering than younger adults, while there is an opposite trend in Denmark. The US and Canada place much emphasis on how to encourage baby and shadow boomers to volunteer. They argue that baby boomers exhibit unique characteristics and demand stimulating volunteer experiences that respond to personal needs and interests, seek opportunities to lead and direct projects (Speevak Sladowski, 2011). Generational differences make future volunteering rates and behaviour uncertain. Indeed, age of active volunteers differs with lower representation of the very old and those who suffered from multiple illnesses. However, a few volunteers aged 100 years can be found in Denmark, marking demographic change towards increased life expectancy and healthier population. It requires better strategies for such a diverse age category as older persons. As to gender differences, Sweden reported men of all ages better involved in voluntary activities than women. Russia is on the opposite: more women fulfil voluntary tasks. In Finland there is equity of participation. In Denmark the type of voluntary work differs with more preferences given to board/administrative work by men and to practical help by women. Fields of volunteering activity remarkably range, going far beyond the traditional age-related topics, such as support to sick older people. The areas where older people volunteer the most can be separated out for each country: religious organizations, hospitals and social services in Canada; multi-roled performance

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 of tasks in religious and care institutions in the US; high political and advising engagement and tourism activities in Russia; sport, health, religious and community activities in Finland; pensioners’ societies, humanitarian and cultural areas in Sweden; provision of care to marginalized persons in Norway; cultural and health services in Denmark; and employment and ‘paid’ volunteering in Iceland. A common focus is in the programs’ support to intergenerational dialogue. Nationwide voluntary programs tend to accumulate power and impact to not only local communities but to the whole country and beyond. They should be 64 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio supported particularly. For example, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in the US has become one of the largest volunteering programs for older persons with activities across the globe. From the point of view of civil society, history makes volunteering perceived as a civic duty and nearly an obligation in the US (Unlocking Potential Project, 2010), while the other countries with a strong welfare representation might actually diminish the need in the voluntary sector. Even within the countries with similar welfare models, there are opposite trends: Finland, Denmark and Norway – increase in a number of voluntary organizations, Sweden – decreases. Both present challenges and opportunities, for instance there are more volunteering opportunities when the number of volunteering organizations is growing but an increasing competition to recruit people to deal with voluntary tasks.

Conclusion and policy pointers Comparative discussion illustrates significant beneficial effects of volunteering by older people in their societies. It can have a massive effect on the way population groups behave, that has been increasingly recognized by both American and European policies. It can increase social integration of socially excluded older individuals. The degree of development of the voluntary sector in each country depends on economic, political, cultural and social conditions. Certain successes in volunteering in old age cannot be taken for granted and pointers for governmental actions have to be considered in order to overcome sectorial challenges. Despite various activities, every studied country needs to activate its political commitment to support the development of the sector. Summing up the key messages for policy of the discussed challenges, we list broad in nature recommendations that can succeed in combination with one another. As MIPAA national reports show, programs tailored to the involvement of older people as volunteers are not sustainable and few in numbers.

Funding Despite a mixture of sources used by voluntary organizations (fundraising, dona- tions, public money, tax exemption, small membership fees), governments support the voluntary sector only slightly. The national funding schemes could streamline different allocations and ensure enough program sustainability with long-term

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 funding. It is essential to increase commitment from older people themselves, at least at the level of financial support of arrangements for volunteering. Moreo- ver, funds need to be invested for research on volunteering in old age due to the lack of detailed national information and prior to planning the national-scaled programs. Reforms concerning statistics are also needed to improve data on volunteering in different population groups at a municipal level, as Arctic countries, large in territory, need to consider as many local needs and challenges as possible. These surveys can be either separate or framed within population surveys/census. Follow-up studies are important to access the program progress. Policies of Arctic countries 65 Public recognition of older volunteers Older persons should be more recognized in terms of their value for voluntary and public sectors, health benefits for vulnerableseniors and those at risk of social exclusion and for the wellbeing of society as a whole. Acknowledging the independence and role of the sector is weighty for the recruitment of new volunteers and promotion of intergenerational understanding through means of volunteering. Giving prizes, awards to volunteers and their organizations is an effective way of showing appreciation. Identifying the economic value of volunteering (share in GDP) and elaboration of the national register for volunteer work can be additional support for program enactment.

Recruitment and regulatory framework Interest in volunteering needs to be promoted as early as possible in life. Recruit- ment and retention strategies should prevent, first of all, instant barriers such as transportation to location of service, pocket-out money, language and culture, technology use and access to information on volunteering. Website and information pools to connect the voluntary opportunities and older people should be created and easily accessible, including cognitive friendly materials. Measures should be embedded in the country-dominant traditions and the culture of volunteering directly linked to local traditions. Motivating volunteers requires the involvement of the networks, welfare and religious organizations that operate in the local environment. They have the best access to various stakeholders that already involve not only healthy older people but also vulnerable groups. An important point is that volunteering has to compete against a growing number of alternative leisure activities for older persons. The government needs to further identify the formal status of volunteer programs and volunteers, provide community associations with a basic legal framework, easier taxation, simplified reporting and administrative burden, insurance for older volunteers.

Training for volunteering in old age A variety of international organizations offer preparatory and training programs for volunteers. On the basis of this experience, the studied countries can initiate national training programs leading to formally recognized qualifications. How-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ever, local and easily reachable education has to be developed prior to make the most of senior volunteers’ experiences in the community. Possibilities for enhancing the skills are regarded as crucial when recruiting older persons, especially one at risk of social exclusion, who may think they have nothing to offer in terms of competences. As to volunteering at the ‘transition-to-retirement’ stage, more relevant programs among corporate and private-owned companies are to be facilitated. In the studied countries, only a few organizations assist their older employees through information on retirement, changes in lifestyle, maintaining health and active life and voluntary activities. 66 Anastasia Emelyanova and Arja Rautio Supporting the research Heterogeneity of older population groups and diversity of challenges require understanding of national and local contexts for volunteering, profile of older volunteers and programs that can enable their participation and adapt to specific needs and barriers of each older individual. We defined limitations to tackle, namely, non-comparable national surveys that ask for detailing their characteristics, adjusted methods and possibly similar survey designs. Of particular interest is support to surveys collecting multifaceted data and qualitative feedback of older volunteers. Finally, it is necessary to clarify the concept and to define whether volunteering should be integrated into strategy on social inclusion, to any other strategies with a national significance or separately. In doing so, volunteering in old age needs to be prevented from being over-dependent on sources of income, corpo- rations, insurance companies, the companies who sell the products to the older population and alike. The governments can support but must not cross the line of too many regulations and political instrumentalisation to substitute benefits of the welfare state.

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Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr

Ageing settlement, population and migration Ageing, the growing and changing elderly populations, better health conditions among older people and increased mobility generally have raised the question of whether elderly people are getting more mobile. How will this increased mobility influence their life quality and the society? This chapter improves the knowledge base of elderly people’s inter-municipal mobility. Life quality among elders is strongly related to where they live and the proximity to their family and relatives (Aboderin, 2004). The distance to family and relatives seems to influence the provision of help they may receive from relatives as well as their ability to assist other family members (Fransson, 2004; Malmberg and Pettersson, 2007). The ability and wish to assist elder family members is often posed as a question of intergenerational solidarity, as Daatland, Slagsvold and Lima (2009) do when reporting the results from a Norwegian large-scale study (N = 9,591, aged 18–79) on life course, ageing and generations. Much of this research focuses on the “family-in-crisis” hypothesis addressing the perception that contact and supportive behaviour within the family and between generations are declining. For the most part, research does not support this notion of a “crisis” (Bengtson, 2001; Fransson, 2004; Hank, 2007; Steinbach, 2012). Our study focuses on how changing migration patterns may influence this issue and lays the foundation for further analyses of the aforementioned questions. We ask if elderly people have a different mobility pattern than do other age groups. This requires a description and analysis of the current pattern of inter-municipal mobility among middle-aged and elderly people and a comparison of their motives and the motives of other age groups. Do middle-aged and elderly people Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 state certain moving or settlement motives and is it likely that they are aiming to get closer to their children? Is the current elderly generation more mobile than previous elderly generations were? The chapter draws a picture of elderly people in Norway and their living and moving patterns. A high proportion of the peripheral areas in Norway are located in the Arc- tic, an area mostly remote and sparsely populated. According to Prince (2011), authorities ask for more knowledge of demographic changes in peripheral areas than in other areas. Nordregio sums up the situation in the Arctic by defining two megatrends (Hansen et al. 2012) which deal with the geographical distribution of 70 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr demographic changes: The Arctic faces an increased urbanisation, a global trend resulting in fewer and bigger settlements and, consequently, small communities become even more peripheral as they are declining. The Arctic is also facing an ageing and a growing elderly population resulting from a declining number of births, longer life expectancy (Brunborg, 2012) and out-migration, especially by the youth. Many peripheral Arctic communities thus experience decline and ageing in combination. While the out-migration used to be female dominated (Rasmussen, 2009), current studies from northern Norway indicate that this is changing and that younger women’s return migration is increasing (Pedersen and Moilanen, 2012). Defining middle-aged and elderly people is an increasingly difficult task. More people are getting older and the mean life expectancy is increasing in most countries. The term is thus unclear and the phenomena it denotes are changing. Being elderly is more than a question of age; it is culturally, biologically, socially and economically constructed. It is also a medical term and a question of ability and health. It is an individual experience and related to peer groups, class and the specific combination of situation, place and something we may call personality/ approach to life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most developed countries have accepted the chronological age of 65 years as a definition of elderly or old, while the UN has agreed on a cut off at 60+. This chapter deals with a category of the middle aged and elderly as people past 50 years old, sometimes distinguishing between younger and older people in this group. It may be argued that this includes people too young and in many cases this is true. We include the middle aged because people 50+ are mainly finished with family, housing and labour market establishment, there are similarities between these groups, and the 50+ will constitute part of the elderly population in a few years. Because of the low frequencies of moving, this wide age span also makes the results more solid. Explaining why people move is different from presenting the resulting migration pattern. This study draws on registry data presenting the number and frequency of moving and on a survey on motives explaining moving or staying. The registry data (1964–2010, Statistics Norway) have statistics for every person registered, in all ages, in Norway since 1964. The 2008 Norwegian national survey on living and moving motivation shows the four main moving motives: work, family, housing and place and environmental factors which explain more than 93 per cent of the moving decisions. Education and health are minor motives but important because they vary across age and gender.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Understanding middle-aged and elderly people’s moving patterns is at the core of understanding current changes in the north. This study’s main question is whether the current elderly generations are more mobile than previous elderly generations were and what any changes in mobility may imply. Furthermore, we discuss middle-aged and elderly people’s citing of family-related motives and the centralising or decentralising directions these motives are connected to. Do elderly parents and adult children move in order to live closer to each other? Are elderly people’s motives and moving patterns related to the mobility of other family members, and if so, in what way(s)? New moving patterns 71

Approaching the mobility of the middle aged and elders The ageing population is frequently seen as a burden and therefore the focus is often on the challenges ageing implies (Davies, 2011). The negative impacts of ageing and the growing ageing population are said to be particularly apparent in rural areas (Davies, 2011; Burholt and Dobbs, 2012). Such arguments follow this line: As the elders grow older and form a proportionally larger group and as a group require more care, the public health care systems take on a bigger proportion of the care work (Slagsvold et al., 2012). In rural Norway, this will most likely be followed by an increase in public health care needs or as Frans- son (2004) suggests, increased burdens for families. Apart from posing longer life expectancies as a problem, this fails to see the increased life quality as an individual gain, elderly people’s resources, for instance, in assisting other family members or active roles in civil societies and neighbourhoods. Furthermore, an expanding health care sector creates employment opportunities for younger people in small, peripheral communities. Many theoretical approaches try to explain why people move or settle in specific areas. They involve structures and agency alike, formulations of push and pull factors related to places of departure and arrival and to material as well as social, political and cultural approaches and symbolic issues (Castles, 2000; Massey, Durand and Malone, 2002). Explaining and understanding migration deals with force and contingencies, choices, intentions and achievements, often implying a search for a better life highlighted in life-style migration (Benson and O’Reilly, 2009). Elderly people and their movement to warmer places are often understood within this frame of reference. Migration theory engages with structural explanations describing macro patterns of mobility, highlighting economic differences between regions/countries, settlement and labour force offers and demands, explaining general trends of, for instance centralisation. Pedersen and Moilanen (2012) show, for instance that rural youths in northern Scandinavia moving in a centralising direction achieve higher income than those staying put. Another set of migration theories deals with the decision-making processes and highlight how different migration processes may follow different trajectories and have different or similar causes: there is a turbulence of migration (Papas- tergiadis, 2000). The so-called new mobility approaches include commuting, temporal migration, holidays, traveling to and between second/third homes,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 treatment travels and non-mobility (Sheller and Urry, 2006). Qualitative approaches highlights people’s explanations on why they move or not. The Norwegian national survey asks for motives and sub-motives based on pre-set categories in order to make people explain why they move or not. The registry data, however, draws on public registers and describe the extension and the correlation between moving and other factors. This chapter combines the qualitatively oriented motive survey with the registry data. Life-course approaches have proven useful both in migration studies and in studies of ageing and generations (Steinbach, 2012). They pay attention to three 72 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr temporalities: how specific life events and periods affect one’s life course (establishing a family/career, retirement), the age effects (reproductive issues) and cohort effects (experiences in historical time – experience of WWII) (Frønes and Kjølsrød, 2003). The situation, context and time are thus vital in understanding movements. The life-course approach combines individual and structural conditions, as well as the more individual aims, although socially and culturally formed – throughout the life course. Much demographic research in Norway has been preoccupied with youngsters and young adults’ migration and settlement patterns (for some studies in English, see Villa, 1999; Paulgaard, 2002; Bæck, 2004; Wiborg, 2004; Rye, 2006; Pedersen and Moilanen, 2012). This preoccupation may be explained by planning needs and by the established knowledge of a lower frequency of moving among elders. It may also indicate less political interest in elderly people. While this interest is definitely growing, it is often in negative and in what Davies (2011) calls homog- enic terms. Its negative orientation has also produced substantive and theoretical assumptions that have become manifest in legislation and policies, as Harbison et al. (2012) have shown in regard to elder abuse and neglect in Canada. Studies of the social aspects of ageing in Norway have largely been based on the Life course, Generation and Gender study (LOGG) and increased in scope and quantity with the launch of the Norwegian Life course, Ageing and Genera- tion study (NorLAG) – a multidisciplinary, longitudinal large-scale study of ageing and the life course (Slagsvold et al., 2012). This study deals with four major life domains: work and retirement; family and intergenerational relationships; mental health, quality of life and sense of control; and health, health behaviour and care. Moving is not a main issue of interest in this study. Our study thus adds to this work. In conclusion, longer life expectancies and better health among elders make elderly people a growing and increasingly important group in terms of numbers. The recent decades’ focus on differentiations and varieties in the social sciences also applies to studies of elderly people. Growing and varied mobility and commuting, high frequencies of moving among young people also make it necessary to get more knowledge on the continuity and changes in the moving motives and patterns of elderly people. Pressure and changes in the welfare state services and organisation and the continuation of urbanisation and its outcomes in rural Arctic areas also make the moving and settlement patterns of elders politically important in these regions. These trends ask for discussions on whether elderly people’s movement and settlement motives are different from those of other age

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 groups and if there are specific patterns to be explained. Research on elderly people’s migration patterns is thus rather timely (Hansen et al., 2012).

Methods

Registry data The registry data have yearly statistics for every person registered, in all ages, for people living in Norway since 1964. When drawing on these data, we include New moving patterns 73 people older than the oldest group in the survey data. We will explicitly state the age groups used in all figures.The data include a multitude of variables regarding residency, work, wage, education and family from 1990–2010. The registry data does not have information about secondary homes. We thus use a rather simple understanding of moving and mobility. There are also problems with moving not being recorded. While second homes are mainly a source of methodological error concerning the middle-aged and elderly population, lack of notification to the registry is mainly a problem caused by students. This comes into play when analysing the relationship between adult children and their elderly parents. We have accounted for error caused by the merging of municipalities taking place in Norway in the period. Yearly mobility rates are calculated using the number of domestic relocations and the populations in the relevant years. In figures with age groups, averages of mobility rates for each cohort are used to give each cohort the same weight. This approach does not seem to affect the results compared to summing up the relocations and populations for all cohorts in the group. Distances are calculated using official map data from the Norwegian Map Authority. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates of the geographical centre of municipalities (for time series) or basic units (for the 2010 data) were extracted and merged with the settlement data. Geodesic distances (“as the crow flies”) are used; for people living on opposite sides of a fjord, travel distance may be longer than the geodesic distance suggests.

Survey data The national survey in 2008 asked for people’s motives for moving and staying. About 10,000 people were invited to participate in a phone interview and a postal follow-up survey. About 65 per cent responded. The survey includes data from a seven-year period (1999–2006) and people from cohorts born every seven years (22–64 years old at the beginning of the seven-year period). Those who had moved in the period were asked about their motives for moving the last time they moved across a municipality border, while those staying were asked what motives they had for remaining in the municipality for the last seven years. The study thus focused on the life phases of seven-year lengths in the age range 22–71. The oldest group in the survey is young in some respects. In this study, the term “middle-aged and elderly people” is used loosely to refer to anyone 50 or

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 over, acknowledging that this dissonant definition is in conflict with the common understanding of the term. There are few movers in the oldest cohorts. This was compensated for in the survey. To make the survey representative, the selection was stratified by using earlier moving patterns and region of residence from the registry data. Further, the tables and figures based on the survey are weighted by age, gender and whether the respondents have moved in the period to make the resulting sample representative of the population (values are from the registry data). The main motives are also weighed on the number of motives given, with the most important motive 74 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr given the greatest weight. The informants could give three motives for moving or staying; under the main motives, there were many sub-motives.

Moving patterns and motives among the middle aged and elderly In general, upon turning 40, half of Norway’s population lives in the municipality where they grew up. This applies slightly more to men than to women. Two-thirds of these have never moved and one-third are return movers. During the last 20 years, Norwegians are most mobile in their mid-20s: about 10 per cent of people in their 20s moved across a municipal border in 2005, 13 per cent in the age group 24–27. Of those over 35, only 5 per cent moved and of those in their 40s and 50s, fewer than 3 per cent moved during the year. The mobility rate declines throughout the life course, except for a small bump around the late 60s, probably related to the typical pension ages. Less than 1 per cent of elderly people over 70 moved between municipalities and only about 0.2 per cent moved between regions/parts of the country (Forgaard, 2005, p. 36). When including intra-municipality data from 2004–2009, however, the decline turns to an increase for people 70 and above. Intra-municipal moving is mostly shorter-distance moving and is often explained by housing motives and elderly people moving to institutions (Forgaard, op. cit.) and elderly care is a municipal responsibility. This mobility may also involve moves to a home better fitted to current needs or from a town’s outskirts to housing with easier access to services. An ad hoc analysis of the moving patterns between basic units for people older than 75 in 2004 shows an accumulation in municipal centres between 2004 and 2010, continuing and supporting the changes identified by Forgaard (2005). In the following, we will focus on inter-municipal mobility. The main pattern in the survey data is that moving motives are divided fairly equally between work, housing, place/environment and family. Citing and interpreting moving motives are, however, difficult. What do you state as a motive: the most important issue or the fulfilment of the necessary and pressing conditions for moving? Seemingly, increasing choice in a market (for work or housing) may weaken the need to justify the choices with these specific motives. As shown in the main report from this project, if all kinds of work were to be found in all places, no one would have to cite work as a moving motive (Sørlie, Aure and Langset, 2012). However, work is not necessarily less “important”: this indi-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 cates that the motives cannot be read directly from the rates given; they must be contextualised. The main trend in moving motives across life phases is the monotone increase in family’s relative importance from the youngest to the oldest group (Figure 4.1). Three of the main motives – place/environment, housing and employment – show varied patterns throughout the life course. Employment motives are generally more prominent in younger life phases (22–29 years [through the seven years period]) than older, and this relates mostly to moving in a centralising direction. In the next phase (29–36 years), housing New moving patterns 75 and family motives increase. This increase relates to family establishment, and the major cities’ surrounding areas attract much of this migration. The third phase (36–43 years old) is characterised by families with school-age children; place and environmental motives are important in this phase, while family motives remain high. The fourth (43–50) and fifth (50–57) phases are characterised by children moving out of their family home. Labour motives increase, while housing and place/environmental motives are less frequent and actually at the lowest among those 50–57 years old. In the two oldest age phases (57–64 and 64–71), working motives decrease sharply, while housing and place/environmental motives again are increasingly cited. Housing motives are almost as often cited among the elderly as in the youth and family establishment phases, while place and environment motives remain high. The motives most important in the oldest and next to oldest age groups (64–71 and 57–64 years) are nevertheless family motives, reaching 33 per cent in the oldest group. Family motives generally are more frequent outside than in urban regions, among internal movers in the regions and return movers (especially women) to their birth municipalities, in a decentralised direction.

122 2 100% 8 9 12 90% 24 28 28 29 80% 31 31 70% 33 18

60% 20 21 27 50% 19 24 24 24 40% 28 22 18 30% 25 23 23 20% 25 19 24 24 10% 16

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 10 13 6 0% 3 22 22–29 29–36 36–43 43–50 50–57 57–64 64–71

Health Family Place/environment

Housing Employment Education

Figure 4.1 Moving motives throughout the life course. Percentages. Ages denoted are the ages at the beginning (1999) and end (2006) of the period, from the survey. 76 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr Health becomes a more important motive as age increases: health is cited by nearly no one in the younger groups but passing 50–57 years old this jumps to 8 per cent and is cited by 12 per cent in the oldest group. As physical health declines, health may become more important, and the proximity to health services increases in older ages.

Geographical distribution, distance and centrality Northern regions in Norway are more rural than the southern part. The geographical distribution and directions of movement patterns are thus of great interest to the development of these regions. The registry data show that one in three moves is in a centralising direction, while only one in ten moves against the main rural-urban stream. The rest settle in municipalities with the same centrality as the one they grew up in. The general moving pattern is thus a centralising one. Previous moving patterns lead to further urbanisation. Increasingly, more children are born in urban centres and eventually will settle in the towns and cities they grew up in, if these trends continue. The eldest generations present a counterweight; they more often move out of the large cities and to surrounding areas, smaller towns or even to the periphery. They also move less frequently in a centralising direction. However, since young people are more mobile, this is not enough to stop the overall centralisation. The survey shows that work is a strong motive for mobility in the centralising direction. This motive is less important for people passing 57 years old than for the younger groups. The more decentralised living patterns of elderly individuals and the decrease in work motives partly explain why elderly people maintain the most decentralised settlement pattern. Family, health, place and environment and housing are all increasingly important after passing 57. In general, family and health motives are more cited for people living outside the urban regions. Health may nevertheless be a centralising moving motive, as we saw for intra-municipality movement (due to the location of health care/elderly institutions). Family is the most cited motive among people past 57. This tends to be decentralising for younger age groups (as the parents have a more decentralised settlement pattern than the youngster), and centralising for the elderly people. This is an example of how the “same” motive may imply different kinds of movements dependent on life phase, cohort, age, context and geographical distribution.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Some decentralising moves have been explained by counter urbanisation: migration from urban to rural areas (Berry, 1980). The counter urbanisation literature has been strongly influenced by and based on studies from Great Britain and the United States, focusing on middle-class people searching for the tranquil and charming rural life. Grimsrud (2011) has discussed how well the concept transfers to Norway. While counter urbanisation certainly exists, Grimsrud concludes that it is very limited. Younger people moving back to the place they lived at age 15 and other types of mobility from urban to rural areas still exist. Both younger return movers and people older than 57 years mostly cite family motives in these New moving patterns 77 situations. This does not fit the counter urban profile. Giving place/environment and housing motives, however, it in line with theories of counter urbanisation. A somewhat big fraction of the relocations for people 50–79 is to a municipality within a reasonable driving distance from their old home. About 70 per cent of inter-municipal migration in this age group is between municipalities with geographical centres less than 100 km apart. This indicates that even if the 50–79 age groups move more than before, they do not move very far.

The Arctic north The moving motives given by people moving in or to the northern part of Nor- way is hallmarked by a high share of work motives. Work is also a more frequently cited reason to stay in the (rural) north. The overrepresentation of the work motive may reflect the region’s lack of adequate working possibilities, long distances that make it harder to commute and the less diverse labour markets in small communities. We used registry data over a 15-year period1 to discover settlement patterns of people, ages 65 and up, leaving the labour market during the period. This analysis shows that many elders move out of the northern region when their careers are at an end. Especially among the retirees not born in the north, there is a distinct migration out of the region. Sixteen per cent of this group moved from northern Norway to the south during the period: 22 per cent of the individuals with a university degree. For people originally from northern Norway, the out-migration is much smaller: 2.5 per cent moved south, 5 per cent of the university gradu- ates. These numbers are larger than the moves in the opposite direction, leaving northern Norway with a net loss also in this age group. This shows that work motives are important for moving to and staying in the north and also that people born and bred in the region are much more likely to stay.

Changes in the past 20 years Although the general pattern of mobility across the last 20 years has not radi- cally changed, there have been some changes. (The lower movement in 2008 is probably due to the recession). In this period, yearly mobility rates (between municipalities) have increased more for people 50–79 than for the general population. Elders’ mobility has increased. The overall impressions that middle-aged

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 and elderly people move more than previous generations are thus supported. While a larger proportion of people 50–79 moved each year in 2009 than in 1990, the eldest show a declining moving pattern, as Figure 4.2 shows. The rate is still lower in absolute numbers, because the increase is measured from a lower level. The real mobility among elders may, however, be higher than the data suggest. “Snowbirds” to international destinations (Benson and O’Reilly, 2009; Davies, 2011) are, for instance, not visible in these data. Most of them would not register as moving and resettled, since registering as out-migrating may imply leaving 78 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr

Figure 4.2 Change in yearly mobility rate to another municipality over time by age groups. Index, 1990 = 1.

Source: Registry data.

the favourable Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. Neither the register nor the survey includes data on multiple homes, while half the elderly population own or have access to second homes, and they use them more than other groups in the population (Barlindhaug, 2009). Our study excludes the broader understandings of mobility implied in the new mobility paradigm (Sheller and Urry, 2006). International migrants’ transnational practices – staying for months in the country of origin or elsewhere – are also excluded from this study, as only permanent migration is registered. A full picture of the complexity of elderly people’s migration and mobility thus require better register data.

Gender and education For the last 25 years, Norwegian men have moved more than women have; before that, women generally moved more (Figure 4.3). Most years men’s mobility rate is

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 between 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points above women’s. The discrepancy is largest for ages 30–39 but prevails in age groups up to 70–79. For ages 80 and up, there is much variation, due to a small population and little mobility. There is thus not much difference in migration frequencies among women and men. The most significant gender differences generally are that men to a higher degree cite work as a moving motive, while women more often cite family motives. This difference is greatest for people moving back to municipalities in peripheral regions after living in more urban regions for a while. The gender differences in the work and family motives are also most pronounced in the younger age groups. New moving patterns 79

Figure 4.3 Yearly mobility rate across municipality borders by gender and age group.

Source: Registry data.

In the general population, people with higher education move most frequently, while people who completed high school move even less than the group with only a primary school education. This is true throughout the life course, except for people in their 40s and early 50s. In this age group, people with only primary education moved most frequently in the period from 1999–2006. The older age groups with a university degree moved on average about 40 per cent more than people with primary or secondary education.

Distance between adult children and parents We have asked whether elderly people move in order to get closer to their children, and adult children move to get closer to their parents. This question is based on an assumption that geographical distance between adult children and parents is an indicator of social proximity and the intergenerational provision of help (Fransson, 2004; Malmberg and Pettersen, 2007).

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 In general, men live closer to their elderly parents than women do. The gender differences are largest at the closest distances. This gender difference persists over all ages and increases from people’s early 30s through their 40s. This gender gap has, however, narrowed from 2005–2010. Figure 4.4 shows the proportion of people living close to their elderly parents by their number of children below ten years of age. Although some gender differences exist, the patterns for men and women are the same: men and women who in their late 20s and early 30s have two or more young children live closer to their parents than others do. One way of interpreting 80 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr

Figure 4.4 Percentage of age group (20 years +) with nearest living parent (65 years +) within a 50 km distance, 1.1.2010. By number of children below ten years of age.

Source: Registry data.

this is that adult children’s return mobility is about family ties, place and belonging, a wish for staying closer to one’s parents when having more children yourself, perhaps in order to receive help from grandparents, supporting Pettersson and Malmberg (2009). Another interpretation is that adult children living close to their parents have children earlier in life as well as more children. This pattern is reversed in the next age groups: From their mid-30 years, especially those with more than one child, fewer people with young children live near their parents than do people without young children. People having children later in life may be more established in the housing market and more educated than younger parents and more likely to have moved more and farther away from their parents, following the general pattern that education increases movement. People with young children settled close to their elderly parents are presumably more related to elderly parents providing help for the young family than for receiving help themselves, while this may change during the life course.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 People living in Eastern Norway2 in general live closer to their parents than people in other parts of the country, probably because this is the most densely populated area. Nevertheless, both immigrants from Nordic countries and other immigrants in this area live close to their parents to a larger degree than do people born in Norway. Nordic immigrants living in other parts of Norway live farther from their parents. This difference seems to be because many Norwegians live in their birth municipality and near their parents – about 25 per cent of the population above 30 have never moved. When comparing Norwegians not living in their birth municipality with Nordic immigrants, the immigrant group lives closer to their parents on average, suggesting different patterns of family ties. New moving patterns 81 People born outside the Nordic countries3 who have elderly parents living in Norway seem to live even closer to their elderly parents. One reason for this could be that they, to a larger degree, live in the capital area, where people in general live closer to their parents, but the relation remains when control- ling for this and for centrality, also suggesting differences in intergenerational relations. Immigrants from Nordic countries and countries outside Europe show mostly the same gender pattern as do Norwegians, probably in opposition to common beliefs. For Europeans (outside the Nordic region) women in their 30s and 40s live closer to their parents living in Norway than do similarly aged men, indicating yet an intersection between gender and nationality.

Explaining the geographical patterns A regression was run trying to explain differences in the distance between adult children and elderly parents.4 The variable with the strongest effect in the regression is the one stating whether people living in their birth municipality live closer to their elderly parents than do others. The distance seems to increase with the adult child’s age, but this is not a linear relationship – the average distance increases sharply as young people move away for education, work or to start a family. Later the average distance decreases somewhat from age 30, when some move back to their “homeplace” and some parents move towards their adult children. Per the survey data, moving closer to parents/children is a significant moving motive. As much as 14 per cent of all movers from the three eldest cohorts (23 per cent of the eldest cohort) state proximity to their children as a moving motive, while 8 per cent of the three youngest cohorts state proximity to parents as a moving motive. Adult children and elderly parents thus move in the direction of each other and state family motives for these moves. Significant gender differences exist in generational geographical proximity. Males live closer to their parents than do females. This is partly because men to a lesser degree have moved away from their birth communities and also because families more often settle near the male’s parents (Løken, Lommerud and Lun- dberg, 2013). Rye (2006) also shows that ownership of business or land increase the chances for young men to move back home. If distance is the major factor explaining the frequencies of receiving help or providing help, these findings may

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 indicate that male adult children may both provide more assistance to their older parents and receive more assistance from their older parents than do women. On the other hand, gender norms in care and labour may indicate a variety of processes. Average distance increases with the adult child’s number of young children and with being married. Having children increases the probability of having a partner, and partners often consider each other’s preferences. The largest motive for moving to a place in the survey data is to establish a family. Moving in with a partner is an important moving motive in all Nordic countries (Lundholm et al., 2004). 82 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr Education, and especially higher education, translates as we have seen to larger distances between adult children and parents. The survey data show that respondents with higher education cite work as a moving motive more often than do others and they move more frequently. The level of income also increases with increasing geographical distance to parents. This may imply that the person weighs a high-paying job more, that specialised labour markets are more central- ised and that educated people would be more willing to move to a job suiting their education than, for instance, to be closer to parents. The same relationships were found between education, distance, employment and proximity in the Swedish data by Malmberg and Pettersson (2007) and in the Netherlands by Michielin and Mulder (2007). This indicates generational shifts in education, population pattern, labour markets, etc. While people living in the capital area of Norway on average live closer to their parents than do others, the same is not true for people living in other urban centres. They live, on average, a greater distance from their nearest parent. This corresponds well to the results from the survey where people justify centralising migration with finding work rather than family motives. The NorLAG study (Slagsvold et al., 2012, p. 98f.) shows that family responsibility norms and intergenerational contact rates and support exchanges are strong in Norway, although weaker than in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. It also shows that 70 per cent of older parents see their children at least once weekly, although we expect this to vary in rural and urban regions. This raises the question of what kind of help requires what kind of geographical proximity. The data also suggest that the family and welfare state balance in elder care is around 50–50 (Slagsvold et al. 2012, p. 100). Every day or weekly help requires some kind of geographical closeness. The distance and lower possibilities to obtain help from family members are sources of concern and of lower subjective wellbeing among elders (Slagsvold et al. 2012, p. 101). We find that the proximity between adult children and parents is a result of older parents moving towards adult children but also because children in their 20–30s return to their birth municipality and eventually their parents. Malmberg and Pettersson (2007) have analysed Swedish register data and find that “85 per cent of older parents have adult children within a radius of 50 km, of which 10 per cent live ‘just around the corner’; corresponding figures for adult children are 72 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively” (p. 679). There is no indi-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 cation of any increase in intergenerational distances. They find that “Adult children who are well educated, female, older, born in Sweden, who are not parents, who live in densely populated areas and who have siblings are less likely to stay in the same region as their parents.” (p. 679). According to the authors, this is nevertheless partly contradicted by the next result – that it is more likely that someone will live close to their parents if they are the only child (Malmberg and Petterson, 2009). Our results show the same pattern but include the motives given for moving, for both adult children and their elderly parents, giving access to some subjective moving motives. Family sub-motives and ageing

Figure 4.5 Family sub-motives related to the place moved from. Percentages. Ages denotes the minimum age at the beginning of the period and the maximum age at the end of the period.

Source: Survey data. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Figure 4.6 Family sub-motives related to the place moved to. Percentages. Ages denotes the minimum age at the beginning of the period and the maximum age at the end of the period.

Source: Survey data. 84 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr Family is a strong motive for moving among all age groups and strongest among elderly people. In the oldest age group (64–71), two-thirds of the family pull motives cited consist of a wish to move closer to their children. Elderly people actually move towards their adult children. Additionally, 20 per cent of them move closer to other family. The push motives are more unclear, since people seemingly have other reasons than those in the survey (high proportion of “other”) to move from somewhere. This indicates the limited value of such methods for this type of question – and the complexity of categorising diverse moving motives. Of the push motives, no longer having family ties at the place is the most prominent among the oldest age groups. Death (presumably of a partner) is also a main sub-motive in the oldest group (64–71), while in the groups 50–57 and 57–64, divorce dominates. Lima (no date) shows, based on the NorLAG study, that people in the 35–54 age group rely heavily on help from family (25–30 per cent). Elderly people get less help from family (20 per cent) but rely more on help from neighbours (up to 15 per cent) than do people in earlier life phases (up to 5 per cent among the 35–54 group). Daatland et al. (2009) show how elderly parents, especially women, prefer public help rather than moving in with adult children. Combining the findingsfrom our study with those of these ageing studies indicates that elderly people move towards their adult children and their children move towards their elderly parents when they themselves are in family establishment phases. Both processes seem to lead to the middle aged and elderly providing help to younger generations as much or more than receiving help.

Discussion and conclusion Middle-aged and elderly people are increasingly mobile. They are more mobile than the previous elderly generations, although commuting, “snowbirds” and movement between second homes are not accounted for in this study. If we include intra-municipality moving, elderly people have the same high frequencies of moving as do people in their 30s. The oldest show a declining moving pattern. Their intra-municipal movements involve shorter distances and are in a local centralising direction, indicating movement to institutions or more appropriate housing in their municipality centre. The middle aged and younger elders (50–70) move in a decentralising direction: often from the largest cities to the surrounding areas. They tend to cite family and place/environmental motives

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 for moving. There are thus differences among younger and older elderly people. In the Arctic north distinguished by many small peripheral communities and long distances, the population changes taking place are being amplified. Both young people, middle-aged and elderly people are more inclined to move out of these communities. This is especially true for people originating outside the Arctic with a higher education, while people born and raised in the region leave to a lesser degree. Middle-aged and elderly people’s moving patterns are not much differentiated regarding gender, but there are still gender differences with regard to moving New moving patterns 85 motives. Men generally live closer to their elderly parents than do women and this spurs questions of the intersection of gender, assistance, care and geographical proximity in different life phases. Elderly parents and adult children move closer to each other and such mobility is influenced by socioeconomic conditions, supporting the findings of Pettersson and Malmberg (2009, p. 354). Elderly people’s mobility in this direction is strongest and both they and, to a lesser degree, their adult children cite increased family contact as an important motive for moving closer to each other. People born outside the Nordic countries, whose elderly parents live in Norway, live even closer to their elderly parents. The data show that middle-aged and elderly people assist the younger, maybe even more than they are assisted by their children, supporting and strengthening other findings (Lima, no date, Pettersson and Malmberg, 2009). They seem to be an important resource, doing unpaid work in support of their children’s families. It remains to be seen whether the current generation of adult children will assist their parents in later life phases and their adult children in the years to come. Many adult children and parents live close enough for help to be exchanged; welfare state support as well as personal preferences, abilities and intergenerational solidarity are nevertheless important factors to consider in discussing the implication of these results. Are middle-aged and elderly people’s migration processes and patterns different from those of other age groups? A study discussing differences between migration patterns among elderly people in 11 OECD nations concludes that there is no single developmental path for migration in later life (Friedrich and Warnes, 2000). Migration paths are culturally, historically and environmentally constructed. We find that some differences relate to the life course, being out of the labour market and having adult children. The huge variations seem nevertheless to relate to age and severe health problems. We probably see cohort effects in the educational differences among the oldest and these affect moving patterns, but we will also expect them to change for later cohorts. Education (class) and cohort effects intertwine and create a need to contextualise elderly people’s movement in their own terms. The existence of second and third homes is also related to cohorts. Geographical factors are strong in Norway and cut across other processes of differentiation, and the regional population patterns are continually changing. Our study indicates that life course and age have strong explanatory impacts. Cohort effects, especially since the previous migration and settlement pattern influences later movements, further influence the migration patterns. In addi-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 tion, indications are that there is a class and cohort dimension when higher education produces specific migration patterns among some of the older age groups. Gender is a differentiating dimension in all mobility, although it does not seem to be differentiating in specific ways among elderly people. The pattern indicates a need for more studies of men’s and women’s roles in assisting and caring for younger and elder family members. In sum, when studying elders’ migration, it is important to be aware of differentiating processes, especially since the health situations presumably vary more among older people than they do among other groups. The ability to do so depends strongly on having solid data. 86 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr Middle-aged and elderly people have a low inter-municipality moving rate. Designing studies in this specific age group thus requires close consideration if one is to obtain enough data. There were for instance too few informants to fully utilize the data on questions concerning family sub-motives in our survey. The questions of whether elderly parents or adult children moved in order to assist or receive help could, for instance, not be elaborated in this study, because of too few respondents on such specific sub-questions. Moreover, the current generation of middle-aged and elderly people in Nor- way has wide access to second and even third homes. We expect that these are important in elders’ mobility. The lack of data on this kind of mobility, and on long-term stays in southern Europe, Thailand, etc., may be significant in understanding elderly people’s movements. The overall even distribution of moving motives shows that moving motives are complex and intertwined. In concert with the need for differentiation, such complexity indicate that trying to go beyond the main migration pattern in order to understand and explain mobility among elders also requires in-depth interviews. This conclusion is supported by the somewhat big proportion of “other” answers to some questions in this study. After all, middle-aged and elderly people’s migration and their migration motives vary as much as, and maybe more than, the migration and migration motives of other groups. As the elderly life phase becomes longer for a higher proportion of the population, we must include more elderly people and more of their activities in studies like this. This is necessary to make visible their resources and activities, as well as to plan for good care and life quality in older age.

Notes 1 1995–2010. 2 Akershus, Oslo, Hedmark, Oppland, Østfold, Buskerud, Vestfold and Telemark. 3 Norway, Sweden, Denmark (incl. territories), Finland and Iceland. 4 The dependent variable is the logarithm of geodesic distance between the adult child and their nearest parent in 2010. The independent variables are age, gender, education, income (logarithm), number of children under ten, marital status (child and parents), country of birth, population of municipality (logarithm), whether they live in the capital, in their birth municipality or somewhere else.

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Table 4.1 Regression with distance to nearest parents (logarithm) in 2010 as the dependent variable. All variables are significant on a 1 per cent level or less

Unstandardised Standardised Collinearity Coefficients Coefficients Statistics

B Beta t VIF

(Constant) -2.12 -34.90 Age 0.03 0.06 64.86 1.33 Male (ref: Female) -0.73 -0.09 -99.25 1.06 Education (ref: primary school or less) >High school 0.07 0.01 7.03 1.88 >Higher education 3 years 0.73 0.08 65.56 1.90 or less >Higher education 4+ years 1.14 0.08 74.69 1.50 Income (log) 0.25 0.06 62.55 1.10 Number of children under 0.25 0.05 48.40 1.27 10 years Married (ref: unmarried) 0.24 0.03 31.80 1.12 Parents divorced 0.69 0.06 63.87 1.03 Country of birth (ref: Norway) >Nordic -0.66 -0.01 -13.67 1.00 Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 >European (not Nordic) -1.72 -0.03 -34.14 1.01 >Outside Europe -1.71 -0.05 -56.37 1.03 Lives in Oslo (ref: rest of the -0.15 -0.01 -9.96 1.70 country) Population of municipality 0.58 0.23 193.27 1.82 (log) Lives in municipality of -2.54 -0.28 -311.30 1.07 birth R2 = Adj. R2 = 0.145. N = 1 142 766 90 Marit Aure and Sindre Myhr A regression analysis with logarithmic distance between a subject and their nearest parents was conducted to nuance the picture. The regression equation is given by

ln(distance in meters) = a + bI + e

where a is a constant, e is the error term, b is a vector with the regression coefficients and I is a vector with the independent variables. The variables are age, gender, education, income (ln), number of children under ten, marital status (child and parents), country of birth, population of municipality (ln), whether they live in the capital, in their birth municipality or somewhere else. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Part II Elderly people and climate change Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 5 Climate change in Lapland and its role in the health of the elderly and rural populations

Barbara Schumann

Introduction Lapland, situated in the very north of Norway, Sweden and Finland, has like other regions of the world undergone tremendous changes over the last 100 years. Owing to the impact of human activities, such as urbanisation, mining and other industrial enterprises and to the national economic development and improve- ment in living standards, health care and social services, the lives of people in Lapland have become on average longer, healthier and more comfortable (Has- sler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008; Bogoyavlenskiy and Siggner, 2004; Sköld et al., 2011). But industrialisation has also led to the destruction of the environment and to climatic changes which pose a threat to both humans and nature. Scien- tific evidence suggests that global climate change will have an increasing impact on our lives during this century, and many of the effects will be adverse (IPCC, 2013). By climate change we mean here changes in the mean or variability of the climate that persist over decades or longer, rather than short-term fluctuations in weather conditions, in line with the definition of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2012). Vulnerability to climate change is defined by the IPCC (Anisimov et al., 2007) and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) report (McCarthy et al., 2005) as the degree of susceptibility to the adverse effects of climate change. Adaptive capacity, or resilience, on the other hand, refers to the ability to cope with and adapt to these adverse effects. There are two distinct groups in Lapland that might be more vulnerable than others: rural populations such as the Sami and elderly people. Since the arrival of other ethnic groups, the indigenous population of Lapland, Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 the Sami, have been forced to change their way of life both economically and culturally, and they continue to struggle for their rights as a minority in their countries. Only a few thousand Sami work as reindeer herders today (Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). It is those working in a close relationship with nature – indigenous and rural populations – that are the first to be exposed to negative impacts of climatic and environmental changes (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). Elderly people – here broadly defined as thoseaged 65 or 94 Barbara Schumann older – are a large proportion of the population, especially in remote areas that provide limited working opportunities for younger people. Many elderly people are facing health problems and limited mobility, and they are at risk of being socially isolated. They are a population group that is likely to suffer from the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events, heat waves and unstable weather conditions. This chapter will give an overview about the impact of weather and climate change on the health of the people in Lapland, with a focus on these two vulnerable groups – the elderly and rural populations, including the Sami. Currently observed impacts of weather conditions – temperature, extreme events – and health impacts of climate change anticipated for the twenty-first century will be highlighted in the context of environmental, social and other changes in Lapland. In PubMed, relevant literature was selected using search terms such as “climate/climate change”, “Lapland”, “Scandinavia”, “health”, “Sami”. Furthermore, references in research papers, reports and other sources were screened for articles that would cover our topic. Relevant chapters of the IPCC reports, the ACIA report and the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR) were included as well, particularly the IPCC chapters on polar regions, on health and on other climate change impacts.

Lapland – historical and modern context

Geographical overview We will define Lapland as Northern Scandinavia, lying roughly north of 65°N latitude and including the counties/provinces of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark in Norway, Norrbotten and Västerbotten in Sweden and Lappi in Finland. This is in line with Hassler’s localisation of Fennoscandia (Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). Lapland, in a wider sense, also includes the Kola Peninsula in Russia, but this will not be considered in this article because of considerable socio-economic differences. Owing to the Gulf Stream, the climate of Lapland is rather mild, although interregional differences are large. Central and eastern Lapland have a conti nental climate with cold winters and rather warm summers and less rainfall than the Norwegian coast, which is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean (Has-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 sler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008, McCarthy et al., 2005). The mean summer temperature is around 14°C in Jokkmokk (Norrbotten County, Sweden) and 12°C in Tromsö (Troms County, Norway). In winter, average temperatures are -4°C in Tromsö, but only -15°C in Jokkmokk (Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). Unlike other regions at this latitude, Lapland has extended forests and is to some degree suitable for agriculture. The species diversity tends to be low, and most exotic species are prevented from invading because of low temperatures (Chapin et al., 2004) – something that might change in the future due to climate change. Climate change in Lapland 95 Population In Lapland, as defined earlier, approximately462,800 people live in Norway, 509,400 in Sweden and 185,800 in Finland (Young and Bjerregaard, 2008). Considering its remoteness, Lapland is characterised by a comparably well-developed infrastructure, good transportation facilities and a high standard of living (McCarthy et al., 2005, Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). Both the indigenous and non-indigenous populations of Lapland differ in many respects from those of other people in the circumpolar north: population density is higher, and larger cities are closer than they are for example in Canada (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011; Hassler et al., 2005). Sápmi is the home of the Sami – the indigenous population of Lapland. But the region, like other Arctic places, has been colonised over the past centuries by other peoples, which has led to conflict with the indigenous population and often to their marginalisation (McCarthy et al., 2005). According to Sjölander (2011), there are today between 80,000 and 110,000 Sami, although ethnicity is not reported in national censuses and the exact number is therefore unknown. It is estimated that about 40 per cent of Fennoscandia is used for reindeer herding. Although only a minority of the Sami still engages today in reindeer herding, their traditional way of life, it is considered an essential part of the Sami’s socio-cultural identity (Pape and Löffler, 2012; Berner et al., 2005). Reindeer herders are recognized as the carriers of Sami traditional culture, therefore, quit- ting herding has implications for the status of the individual and for Sami culture and identity in general (Berner et al., 2005). In Finnmark (Norway), there are 2,059 registered reindeer owners (McCarthy et al., 2005); in Sweden it is estimated that about 10 per cent of the Sami work as reindeer herders (Fur berg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). Igl et al. (2010) have pointed out that indigenous populations are affected by both cultural and climatic changes. While the traditional lifestyle of the Sami was characterised by hunting, reindeer herding and fishing, the majority now work in other occupations. Many have, like other inhabitants of Scandinavia, a sedentary lifestyle and a modern diet. The Sami are rather well integrated into society and enjoy a living standard similar to their non-indigenous neighbours (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011; Hassler et al., 2005). The proportion of elderly people (those ≥65 years of age) in the north of Swe- den and Finland is somewhat higher than the national average (see Table 5.1) (Young and Bjerregaard, 2008). Since rural and remote communities often lack Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 employment opportunities, younger people have to move away in search of work, leaving behind an ageing population. In all three countries, mortality rates of the northern counties are higher than the national average, especially for cardiovascular diseases (Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008; Jørgensen and Young, 2008), as shown in Table 5.1. The health status of the indigenous people is in general comparable to that of other population groups (Hassler et al., 2005). The health-care systems of the north are well developed; as in southern Scandinavia, people have access to general health 96 Barbara Schumann Table 5.1 Population and health indicators in Scandinavia – national level and northern counties

Country/ Population Population ≥65yrs Mortality1 Ischemic Physicians county (2006) (per cent of total heart disease / 1,000 population) mortality2 inhabitants

Norway 4,640,200 14.7 633.3 105.5 3.3 3 northern 462,800 range 13.6–16.3 666.2 125.5 3.5 counties Sweden 9,047,800 17.3 593.4 117.2 3.1 2 northern 509,400 range 17.7–19.1 626.6 129.7 2.9 counties Finland 5,255,600 16.0 671.0 162.2 3.2 1 northern 185,800 17.2 693.0 172.4 1.8 county

1 Age-standardised mortality rates (all causes) per 100,000. 2 Age-standardised mortality rates (ischemic heart disease, ICD-10 I20–25).

Sources: Young and Bjerregaard (2008, 3–19); Hassler et al. (2008, 103–116).

practitioners, nurses and specialists (Jørgensen and Young, 2008; Hassler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). Nevertheless, many people have to travel long distances to health-care facilities. This poses a problem, especially for elderly inhabitants who tend to be more dependent on medical care and less mobile than younger people.

Environmental change Human activities have had a strong impact on the landscape of Lapland, through changes in land use and industrialisation. The mining of iron, silver, copper and gold and sawmills, ironworks and wind- and hydropower provide work opportunities for the local people, but they also pose a threat to those engaged in traditional forms of income generation, such as reindeer herding, fishing and farming (Has- sler, Sjölander and Janlert, 2008). Pollution of the environment by contaminants such as mercury, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals, as well as persistent organic pollutants, has been reported from all over the Arctic (Bjerregaard, Berner and Odland, 2008; McCarthy et al., Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 2005). In particular, pesticides can accumulate in the bodies of animals in colder regions, since these have a larger mass of body fat to survive the winter and to migrate. These contaminants threaten both the ecosystem and human health (Chapin et al., 2004).

Climate change Parallel to globalisation and environmental changes, anthropogenic climate change is leaving its mark on the planet and will continue to do so in the Climate change in Lapland 97 centuries to come. In the last few decades, the changes have become increasingly visible and concerns are growing about how they will affect our lives during this century. The central factor in climate change is global warming resulting

from the emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) by factories and cars and from intensive animal husbandry and other sources. According to the IPCC, the global average temperature has increased by about 0.85°C during the period 1880 to 2012, and the rate of warming is getting faster. Since 1951, the estimated warming has been around 0.12°C per decade (IPCC, 2013). In the Arctic and subarctic regions as well as in Antarctica, global warming trends are amplified – surface air temperatures have increased at about double the rate of global temperature changes. Since the 1980s, Arctic warming during winter and spring has been about 1°C per decade (Anisimov et al., 2007; Chapin et al., 2004). According to a range of different projection models, most of the Arctic is likely to warm even more in the twenty-first century. Increases will be less profound during summer than during autumn and winter (Christensen et al., 2007). It is feared that by the end of this century, temperatures will have increased about 5°C (estimated to be between 2.8 and 7.8°C, depending on the projection model) compared with the period 1980 to 1999. Winter warming might be over 11°C, according to some of the projection models (Christensen et al., 2007). Globally, also changes in precipitation (rain and snowfall) patterns have been observed. In the Arctic, precipitation increases have been comparatively small, but they tend to be highly variable across regions (Anisimov et al., 2007). For northern Europe, it is expected that the climate will become much wetter, mainly due to more rain and snow in the colder seasons (Christensen et al., 2007). Due to warming temperatures in northern Scandinavia and elsewhere, reduc- tions in sea ice and glaciers and shorter duration of river and lake ice cover in the cold season have been observed (Anisimov et al., 2007). Snow cover changes are less well documented, but they might be of particular relevance to humans, especially for those working in close connection with nature. Temperature and precipitation changes affect snow conditions in a variety of ways; for example, in the timing of the first snowfall, the snow depth and the timing and duration of melting in the springtime (McCarthy et al., 2005). In the Abisko region of northern Sweden, drastic changes in different climate variables have been observed apart from the “normal” year-to-year fluctuations, such as in snow depth, lake ice

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 melting and precipitation. The snow cover period has been shortened by between 3.1 and 5.1 weeks since the 1980s, and sporadic thawing of snow during the winter is occurring more often than in earlier decades (Jonasson et al., 2012). Rein- deer herders have also reported that spring arrives earlier than before (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). During the twenty-first century, extreme weather events, including storms, heavy rainfall and flooding will get more frequent in the north, according to the IPCC (Anisimov et al., 2007) and the ACIA (Berner et al., 2005). There are a considerable number of reports from indigenous populations all over the 98 Barbara Schumann Arctic that the weather in the last decades has become more unpredictable, extreme and overall “untypical” (Berner et al., 2005, Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011, Anisimov et al., 2007). Christensen et al. (2007) have pointed out, however, that in the case of the Arctic, so far insufficient quantitative data on trends in extreme events have been collected. Reindeer herders claim that the “seasons have been disturbed” over the last 30 years (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011): “The autumns are longer, wetter and warmer with the temperature hovering around zero degrees”, and they start later. Migration of the herds over frozen waters such as rivers gets therefore more difficult and might be delayed. Snow comes and goes during autumn, melts and then freezes – pasturage becomes inaccessible for the reindeer. Usually, winter weather in Lapland is rather stable, with sunny cold weather for weeks on end. Now the weather can change rather rapidly, the temperature might rise considerably and then drop again during only one or two days (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). As a consequence, snow is replaced by ice due to intermediate thawing, making it more difficult for animals to seek shelter or reach food on the ground (Jonasson et al., 2012). Also Chapin (Chapin et al., 2004) observed that traditional signs used for predicting the environment no longer seem to work with accuracy.

Climate change impacts on the environment and ecosystem

Permafrost thawing and erosion According to reports of the IPCC and the ACIA, as well as other scientific publications, warming temperatures are causing permafrost to thaw in many regions. This leads to damage to roads, water supplies, buildings and railroads (Anisi- mov et al., 2007, Jonasson et al., 2012, McCarthy et al., 2005). But there is also a high risk that toxic contaminants, which until now have been contained in the frozen ground, are now released into the water and enter the food chain. They pose a health threat both for animals and humans (Berner et al., 2005, Nymand Larsen et al., 2014). Furthermore, land erosion at the coast is becoming an increasing problem because of shorter periods of protective sea ice cover during winter storms (Jonasson et al., 2012, McCarthy et al., 2005, Nymand Larsen et al., 2014). Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Ecosystem changes Profound changes in the ecosystem have also been noted that can be attributed to global warming. Grasslands and tundra vegetation are being replaced by shrubs and even boreal forest, and the growing season has become longer in the North American Arctic and elsewhere. Considerable changes in the vegetation are also predicted for the next century. There are reports stating that both terrestrial and marine species are migrating from the south to the Arctic and subarctic regions Climate change in Lapland 99 (McCarthy et al., 2005, Nymand Larsen et al., 2014). Reindeer herders in Swe- den have observed that the tree line is rising to higher altitudes, and the forest is expanding northwards. This is in line with scientific studies (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). Reindeer populations depend on the availability of grazing grounds, which are themselves influenced by climatic variability (McCarthy et al., 2005).

Impact of weather variability and climate change on people’s lives Particularly in sparsely populated regions such as Lapland, it may become difficult for communities to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change. Arctic populations are assumed to be vulnerable, as climate change is affecting water sources, food security and the built environment (Arbour, Parkinson and Kulig, 2010, Berner et al., 2005). It has been stated that increasing temperatures in winter might not only pose a threat to the infrastructure but also, owing to the shorter snow season, to tourism, which provides a livelihood for many small communities (Mäkitalo, 2012, Saarinen and Tervo, 2010).

Impact on living conditions of indigenous people Both Chapin et al. (2004) and Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson (2011) addressed the risk of alienation for indigenous people who are used to living in close connection to nature. The reindeer herders’ claim that they do not understand the weather anymore makes that clear: “This may ultimately leave them as strangers in their own land, and increase their vulnerability to both climatic and social change” (Chapin et al., 2004, p. 346). Indigenous people and other inhabitants of remote communities in the circumpolar region state that unstable weather conditions pose a threat to the practice of reindeer herding and hunting (Berner et al., 2005, Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). Although reindeer herders have always had to struggle with difficult circumstances (harsh climate, industrialisation, new settlements, the 1986 catastrophe of the Chernobyl nuclear plant), they are facing now the limits of resilience. This happens particularly in the context of other external pressures such as hydropower, wind farms and roads, which have increased over the last decades and which limit to a large extent the accessibility of land for reindeer

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 herding. Water reservoirs of hydropower plants, for example, block the routes for herds because they are not covered sufficiently by ice during autumn migration, and pasture areas are becoming more and more fragmented and disturbed by roads and other infrastructure (Pape and Löffler, 2012; Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). Many reindeer herders believe that their businesses will not be sustainable in the future due to climate change and other stressors, although shorter winters and longer growing periods might facilitate the reindeer business in other ways (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). 100 Barbara Schumann The impact of climate change on human health The fast and drastic changes of the climate described earlier will also affect human health. Generally, we can distinguish between the direct and indirect effects of weather, climate variability and climate change. The direct effects of weather and climate on health include heat strokes, injuries on icy roads and cardiovascular events due to cold spells. Indirect effects concern infectious diseases, which are dependent on the climate-related transmission of infective agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites) and the survival and spread of the vector (ticks) or host (rodents). Vulnerable populations – the elderly and those living in remote communities – are especially affected by both beneficial and negative aspects of climate change. Elderly people generally have to cope with higher morbidity, which impairs adaptation.

Impact of heat, cold and extreme events on morbidity and mortality Although an increase in the number of very hot days is projected for the north, its impact on population health in Lapland might be considered negligible, since mean temperature will still be much lower than in other regions, and more deaths are observed in the winter than in the summer. Only few empirical studies on the effects of heat and cold have actually been carried out in the very north of Europe, and the statistical power of some of them is weak. In the FINRISK study with a study population predominantly coming from north-east Finland, about half of the participants reported musculoskeletal, respiratory or other symptoms during colder periods. Respiratory symptoms were more common in the north of the country, and generally symptoms were more frequent among participants with pre-existing diseases (Näyhä et al., 2011). In two other studies, Näyhä (2005) and Rocklöv, Ebi and Forsberg (2011) investigated winter excess mortality in Europe and elsewhere; that is, the increased numbers of deaths during the colder season. More people die from coronary heart disease (e.g. myocardial infarction), stroke and respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and influenza) in winter than during warmer seasons in Finland. This affects mainly the elderly, but also younger people. The mortality peak around Christmas hints at contextual factors, such as physical inactivity and the short-term effects of an unhealthy diet. Hence it might not be so much the ambient (outdoor) temperature per se, but individual behaviour that leads to increasing mortality rates at certain times

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 (Berner et al., 2005, Näyhä, 2005). For most populations, there is a U-shaped relationship between temperature and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality with high death rates due both to heat and cold and medium rates at moderate temperatures (the optimum) (Berner et al., 2005). However, regional variations across the Arctic are large due to the adaptation to extreme conditions. In general, below the optimum, a decrease of one degree Celsius is associated with a 1 per cent increase in mortality, while the relationship of mortality with increasing temperatures above the optimum is much steeper. Since low temperatures in higher latitudes are more common Climate change in Lapland 101 than heat waves, cold-related mortality is a more urgent public health problem. Hence in the context of climate change, reduced exposure to extreme cold might be good for health, since milder winter temperatures might reduce cardiovascular and respiratory disease morbidity and mortality. Again, contextual factors have to be considered apart from ambient temperature. Rocklöv and Forsberg (2010) showed that in cities of southern Sweden there is a small but statistically significant immediate effect of heat waves on mortality in people aged 65 or older. Regarding Lapland, we conclude that heat might be a health issue for elderly people suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory preconditions such as asthma, especially in the future due to global warming. However, physiological adaptation processes might mitigate the effects, but these are not yet understood well in Nordic populations, and there is a lack of studies from this area. Messner (2005) concluded, based on data of the Northern Sweden MONICA (Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease) study, that changes in temperature, rather than the absolute value of high or low temperature, are associated with higher incidences of non-fatal myocardial infarction. This would imply that, given that the climate will become more variable in the future, we might also expect higher incidences of myocardial infarctions. While storms and unstable weather conditions have occurred before, they are likely to become more frequent in the future due to anthropogenic climate change. These kinds of extreme weather events, as well as rapid changes in temperatures during one day, pose a health risk for people in the north – people might get trapped in bad weather or suffer from injuries or frostbite (Berner et al., 2005, Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). This is particularly the case for those working outdoors all year round. Previously unknown weather patterns might lead to unpredictable cover of river and sea ice, making it dangerous to migrate on seemingly familiar routes in the colder seasons.

Infectious diseases Climate has always had an effect on infectious disease prevalences and epidemics in human populations. Today changing patterns of infectious diseases – both increasing and decreasing incidences – are being observed all over the world (Chavers and Vermund, 2007). Berner et al. (2005) named botulism, tularaemia, brucellosis and cryptosporidi-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 osis as examples of communicable diseases in the Arctic that might increase due to climate change. Heavy rainfall and flooding might cause, for example, outbreaks of the water-borne disease cryptosporidiosis due to overstraining of the local sanitation system. Warmer ambient temperatures, on the other hand, are likely to lead to more cases of food poisoning such as botulism (Berner et al., 2005). However, single outbreaks might be difficult to link to climatic factors that vary over time, and reliable studies showing the effect of weather events on disease epidemics are still rare and often lack sound statistical methods (Hedlund, 102 Barbara Schumann Blomstedt and Schumann, 2014). Randolph (2009) pointed out that changes in observed disease prevalence cannot always be attributed to climate change. Rather, they might be caused by changes in socio-economic conditions, such as population movements, outdoor behaviour and increased disease risk awareness. In many regions, no reliable small-scale epidemiological data are available, but these are required in order to establish a baseline and detect changes over time (Lindgren, Ebi and Johannesson, 2010). Probably because of warming temperatures, a number of species, including mammals and fish have migrated northwards, introducing new pathogens such as viruses and bacteria to the domestic fauna. The beaver, according to Berner et al. (2005), has recently expanded into the Arctic, increasing the risk of transmission of the water-borne disease giardiasis. Vector-borne diseases. These are infections, transmitted by insects (e.g. tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease; mosquito-borne tularaemia and Pogosta disease). Cold-sensitive vectors are likely to show changes in their survival and reproductive behaviour in response to changes in seasonality and rising temperatures. It is likely that increases in average temperature and precipitation will lead to a higher risk of infectious diseases, because microbial organisms tend to be more adaptive to changing environments than humans. Insect vectors can expand their biological niches and migrate to other regions, because they will benefit from a warmer and more humid ambient climate (Chavers and Vermund, 2007; Lindgren and Gustafson, 2001). Rodent-borne diseases. Rodents are common hosts for infectious agents that can cause disease in humans in the north, e.g. nephropathia epidemica (NE, vole fever) and tularaemia (rabbit fever). There is a clear seasonality of nephropathia epidemica, and the climate sensitivity of this disease in central and northern Europe has been investigated. However, the evidence for northern Sweden and Finland, where NE is endemic, is so far still insufficient (Hedlund, Blomstedt and Schumann, 2014; Roda Gracia, Schumann and Seidler, 2014). But a few studies indicate that NE might become more frequent when winters are getting warmer due to climate change (Evander and Ahlm, 2009; Roda Gracia, Schumann and Seidler, 2014). Food- and water-borne diseases. In a recent systematic review about climatic factors and infectious diseases in the Arctic and subarctic region, we found evidence for a strong link between climatic conditions and incidences of food- and water-borne diseases such campylobacteriosis (Hedlund, Blomstedt and Schu-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 mann, 2014). The results of this review indicated a potentially increasing burden of such infectious diseases due to climate change in the north. Relevance for the elderly in Lapland. Many infectious diseases take a more severe course in people of old age and in patients with a lowered immune status due to multimorbidity. Case fatality rates from nephropathia epidemica increase rapidly with age, although it still is very low (<1 per cent). According to a study conducted with Swedish register data by Hjertqvist et al. (2010), the mean age at death was 73.7 years, although average age of incident cases was much younger (around 50 years). On the other hand, older people with fragile health Climate change in Lapland 103 might be less likely to be exposed to disease agents that seldom present in indoor environments. Relevance for rural communities. People who spend much time in the nature – those picking berries, farmers, forest workers and reindeer herders – are at higher risk of contracting nephropathia epidemica and other diseases transmitted by animals (Ahlm et al., 1994; Eliasson et al., 2002). Several of the known risk factors of these infections are circumstances common in the reindeer herding society and others living in remote places. Incidences might be high in rural Lap- land and, due to socio-cultural factors and long distances to health-care facilities, highly underreported.

Mental health Suicide rates tend to be higher in Finnish Lapland than in the rest of the country (Näyhä, 2009). In a recent study, Helama, Holopainen and Partonen (2013) demonstrated the correlation of both annual and multi-decadal temperature with suicide rates in Finland – in general, the higher the average temperature, the higher were suicide rates. But they could also show that this effect was absent after the introduction of a national suicide prevention programme in 1990, despite continuing increasing temperatures. Although there are also other environmental factors, such as precipitation, solar radiation and their interaction seem relevant (Ruuhela et al., 2009), both climatic and social-cultural factors are linked to the observed seasonality of suicidal behaviour and depression. The indirect impact of weather variability as well as long-term climate change on mental health is mediated through a number of socio-economic factors, for example, occupation, income loss and conflicts around environmental resources. It is also known that extreme events such as storms and floods as well as heat waves can lead to psychological distress, anxiety and depression; and adverse weather events have often stronger impacts on the mentally ill than on healthy people, as indicated in the latest IPCC report (IPCC, 2014). Albrecht et al. (2007) coined the concept of “solastalgia”, which refers to distress experienced due to physical changes of one’s environment. The experiences reported by reindeer herders in Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson’s study (2011) expressing “grief for the future” and a sense of loss resemble such feeling of solastalgia, even if the authors do not refer to this term. Climate change-related loss of traditional lifestyles such as hunting and reindeer herding can lead to mental stress, grief and marginalisation, which

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 are risk factors for depression and suicide (Berner et al., 2005).

Adaptation Adaptation to anthropogenic climate change has to be dealt with by populations of the north in their specific demographic, economic and social context. Factors such as industrial production of food, land use patterns and ecological changes all contribute to people’s vulnerability or resilience to climate change (Chavers and Vermund, 2007). Globalisation, mining and other increasing demands on 104 Barbara Schumann regional resources, as well as global developments such as pandemics, will have an impact on communities in Lapland in the context of global climate change. But also demographic changes – an ageing population, the younger workforce migrating from rural communities to urban areas – determine the region’s ability to cope with adverse impacts of climate change on living conditions and health. Accessibility of health-care facilities is already now limited in remote areas of the north. Climate change might pose a challenge to health systems in Lapland, both in terms of financial and of human resources, if disease burden is increasing in the future. Although people in the Arctic and subarctic region always had to adapt to changing living conditions, future demands might exceed their resilience (McCarthy et al., 2005). Effects might be different for indigenous populations engaged in reindeer herding than for modern communities; adaptive capacity will depend on the access of different groups to resources (Nilsson et al., 2010). Nilsson et al. (2010) have also stressed the importance of monitoring of climate change impacts on society for adaptation planning. They pointed out that adaptive learning across sectors is crucial in order to facilitate coping with a changing environment. This can happen, for example, by sharing technologies and experiences in respect of climate change.

Dealing with climate change impacts on an ageing population – what is needed? The mechanisms that determine how changes in temperature, precipitation and seasonality or increased frequency of extreme events will affect risk of disease are complex (Bjerregaard, Berner and Odland, 2008). Local knowledge is needed to get a sufficient understanding of the potential health threats and health needs of particularly vulnerable populations such as the elderly. Local, regional and national authorities, including health-care institutions, play a crucial role in anticipating health impacts and in developing adaptation strategies. Despite increased awareness and research into consequences of global climate change, there is a profound lack of empirical evidence of concrete health impacts in Arctic and subarctic regions, particularly the north of Scandinavia. Small-scale data on changes in temperature and precipitation over the last decades are missing, as are baseline and follow-up data on disease prevalence. These are necessary prerequisites for quantifying the link between changes in climate

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 and the health status of the population while at the same time accounting for other long-term changes such as societal, demographic and economic trends as well as changes in the ecosystem. Due to the complex mechanisms involved especially in the spread and epidemiology of vector-borne diseases, causal attribution to climate is highly problematic (IPCC, 2014). Surveillance of disease vectors and hosts would improve modelling of current and future impacts of climate on infectious disease incidences. At the same time, we need to monitor human cases on a small scale – both infectious and non-communicable diseases and injuries – to inform stakeholders such as health-care providers and to develop adaptation Climate change in Lapland 105 strategies at the national, regional and community level. McCarthy et al. (2005) pointed out that there is a need for conducting local case studies to obtain a more sophisticated understanding of the interaction between humans and the environment. Local knowledge is a commonly under-used source of information that could clarify causal pathways between climatic conditions and health outcomes and inform adaptation plans tailored for specific populations, such as the elderly. Cross-national cooperation can increase our understanding as well as adaptive capacity. Scandinavian countries are unique in that they have large population registers on age- and cause-specific mortality which can be broken down to the regional level. Climate data are now made available also for subregions such as Lapland. Hence it should be possible to analyse statistically the impact of climate variability and climate change in Lapland, even among specific subgroups, such as the elderly or populations in remote rural areas. By this means, vulnerable subgroups (e.g. elderly living alone or in institutions) can be identified. Besides the “hard indicator” of mortality, morbidity – disease status – is of high relevance. Annual rates of cold injuries can reflect the vulnerability of people to rapid fluctuations in weather conditions, but also to adaptation processes over time. Particularly in Scandinavia, where the infrastructure, including roads and health-care facilities is rather well developed, case fatality from climate-related events in small communities might be too low to detect mortality trends even if morbidity rates are increasing. One example of research describing the climate sensitivity of mosquito-borne diseases on a sub-national level include the study of Rydén, Sjöstedt and Johansson (2009) projecting future climate change impacts on tularaemia in Sweden. Jalava et al. (2013) modelled the relationship between meteorological, ecological and economic factors with the occurrence and incidence of Pogosta disease in central and northern Finland. Scandinavian population registers include not only mortality data but also information about hospitalisation. This can be combined with individual socio-economic data and small-scale climate data to quantify the association between weather and climate variability with disease incidences in more depth than is possible in most other countries across the world. Using such data bases, vulnerable population groups by age, occupation or location might be identified. But to date, surveillance data on vectors and disease prevalences in animal hosts are lacking, which hampers the development of more complex models (Jalava et al., 2013).

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) developed checklists to assess countries’ preparedness for outbreaks after extreme weather events and other climate-related incidents. Such checklists can help to identify gaps in monitoring and needs to improve national or regional planning structures, for example, regarding measures to be taken in the case of an epidemic (Lindgren, Ebi and Johannesson, 2010). Since adaptation to a changing environment is, like the challenge itself, multifaceted, we need the cooperation of different professions and a more holistic approach to interventions than has been previously applied. Chapin and 106 Barbara Schumann colleagues (Chapin et al., 2004) have even demanded a new scientific approach to interdisciplinarity, which can generate novel solutions to formerly unknown situations.

Conclusions This chapter aimed at giving an overview about current and potential future impacts of climate on human health in Lapland, with a focus on the elderly and people living in remote communities. Despite gaps in information about region-specific conditions, changes and impacts, it is evident that climate change in the context of social and environmental changes influences people’s lives in many ways. A number of infectious diseases, including nephropathia epidemica and tularaemia, might become a public health concern, and emerging diseases like tick-borne encephalitis are expected to expand northwards under warming climate conditions. Unpredictable weather conditions increase the risk of injuries – motor accidents and falls – which is of relevance for the elderly and those working outside. Unsafe ice cover on lakes and rivers pose a threat for reindeer herders and others living and working in the nature. Climate and seasonality are associated with depression and other mental health problems. But also long-term climate change is likely to have an impact on future living conditions, working opportunities and social structures in Lapland and will, via such socially mediated pathways, influence people’s sense of belonging, wellbeing and health. It is likely that during this century, the impacts will be exacerbated to a degree that can hardly be estimated based on observations from the past. Those living in remote villages, the elderly with impaired health status and people working in agriculture, forestry or reindeer herding are probably most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. However, we still need to learn more about adaptation processes at the local level. Studies, such as the one conducted by Furberg’s team (2011), have shown the value of qualitative methods in retriev- ing valuable local knowledge. Like reindeer herders, the elderly might possess profound insights into the environmental changes that have occurred in remote regions in Lapland during the last decades, which could add to existing scientific evidence and help fill in the gaps in empirical data. They might also provide us with information about how perceived changes have affected their lives and what kind of societal support they will need to cope with future challenges. Scientific research would benefit greatly by using qualitative local knowledge, as well as

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 quantitative small-scale weather, climate, ecosystem and health data. This will guide policy makers and local stakeholders to develop climate change adaptation strategies for the population of Lapland.

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Shahnaj Begum

Introduction ‘The Arctic’ refers to the region located in the circumpolar high north at and above the Arctic Circle (Arctic Boundaries, 2009). The territory of the Arctic lies within eight northern nations: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States (Alaska) (Fallon, 2012, p. 1). The region is undergoing a rapid transformation, the major driver of which is climate change, a phenomenon proceeding faster in the Arctic than elsewhere on the globe. The natural climate variations in the region differ from the trends observed elsewhere (IPCC, 2007). Temperatures in the region vary considerably from year to year and over decades (IPCC, 2007, p. 7), making the Arctic’s unique eco-system particularly vulnerable (McCarthy and Martello, 2005). In addition to climate change, industrialization and other commercial activities stand to have large-scale impacts on the societies and infrastructure in the region at large. The Arctic is home to more than four million people, a population which includes a significant number (10 per cent) of indigenous persons (Koivurova, Tervo and Stepien, 2008; Begum, 2013). The indigenous and local populations of the region share certain bonds through traditional activities connected to their cultures and livelihoods. The ongoing transformation that is prompting socio-economic and infrastructural change will result in various effects on the region’s population. Older people form a significant proportion of the Arctic population, and this proportion is increasing (Patosalmi, 2011, p. 1), as is shown in Figure 6.1. The only parts of the Arctic where the figure is decreasing are those in Norway marked accordingly on the map (Megatrends report, 2009, p. 43). Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 It has been argued that the increase in the number of older people in the Arc- tic region will be a demographic challenge in the future, especially in the Euro- pean High North (Gender and Climate Change, 2009, p. 10). While older people in general face limitations due to weakening functional capacity, reduced income and restricted social functions associated with age, there are a number of additional factors in the Arctic which cause varied effects for men and women within this specific group. Studies have shown that elderly women are more vulnerable to climate change than men (Shelton, 2009). This vulnerability may also be Gender differences of older people 111

Faroe Islands NORDREGIO Nordic Centre for Spatial Development NR02122

50 km

Chukotka Yukon Alaska

Sakha Northwest Territories

Nunavut Taimyr Krasnoyarsk

Svalbard Quebec Yamalo Nenets Greenland Nenets

Murmansk Finnmark Komi Labrador Troms

Nordland Lapland Arkhangelsk Iceland Norrbotten

Arctic circle National/regional boundary 0 500 1000 2000 km Evolution of the proportion of the population aged 65 and over Average annual growth rate between 1991 and 2006, % Number of persons aged 65 and over in 2006 5 - 7 2 - 5 10000 0,2 - 2 Labrador: 1993 2500 Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut: 1996 0 - 0,2 © Nordregio & NLS Finland 100 Data source: National Statistical Institutes -0,2 - 0 Analysis & design: R. Rasmussen, M.Martin

Figure 6.1 Number of persons aged 65 and over.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Source: Nordregio, map ID: NR02122 (© Nordregio & NLS Finland, analysis & design: R. Rasmussen, M. Martin).

viewed through the lens of social justice as a matter of discrimination. However, the literature lacks examples of how women are more vulnerable than men in the Arctic or how women suffer differently than men because of climate change (Kukarenko, 2011; Prior et al., 2013). Given that there is a lack of coherence in the discussion on discrimination that varies from region to region, unfairness 112 Shahnaj Begum clearly becomes a concern, suggesting that the situation of the elderly merits examining from a gender-based perspective. It is my hypothesis that the day-to-day experiences of women in the Arctic differ from those of men. This paper undertakes to integrate gender-related themes into research on the Arctic, such as the differing social, economic priorities of women and men and the differences in how they experience the problems that they face. According to research, the effects of climate change are not gender neutral; that is, women and men face different vulnerabilities due to their different gender roles (Kukarenko, 2011; Parbring, 2009). Yet these differentiated roles, as well as the vulnerabilities, have yet to be clearly analysed. A recently published book entitled Addressing Climate Vulnerability (Prior et al., 2013) reports that men and women are affected differently by the change occurring in the Arc- tic. Another study shows that the inequality that exists in society between men and women exacerbates this vulnerability (Cumo, 2011, pp. 693–695). With the ongoing transformation, inequality is expected to become even greater. The gender perspective should therefore be integrated into policy and other documents (Preet et al., 2010). In the Arctic, women’s life experiences are seen to be different from men’s (Nuttall, 2005). Women are socially conditioned differently than men; their concerns and responsibilities contrast with those of men due to the respective roles of the genders in society and in the family; and their aspirations overall differ from men’s. The gender-based approach used in this paper serves to reveal the gaps between the situation of elderly women and men and thus to produce knowledge to narrow such gaps and support greater equality. The research concludes with a number of recommendations that might mitigate gender vulnerability. In advocating a gender perspective, this article follows in part the strategy described in the conclusions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC 1997/2).

Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 The word “gender” denotes an attribute that is developed from socially constructed norms and values (Preet et al., 2010, p. 3). In each society, gender roles determine what is permitted and what is not, based on the values of the particular society as they pertain to men and women. This kind of distinction increases gender discrimination in every society (World Health Organization (WHO), 2009). In most cases, traditional norms lead to unequal treatment of men and women, with women becoming more vulnerable as a result. Patterns of disparity can be found between men and women in both developing and developed countries, including the nations in the Arctic. Women and men have different problems Gender differences of older people 113 in the Arctic. For example, older women may experience more stress than men. The societal effects of the ongoing transformation in the Arctic vary depending on age, socio-economic class, occupation and gender (Stott, 2010, pp. 159–160), with the impact of the change mostly affecting the deprived and poor, particularly among the female population (AHDR, 2004). Women experience the humiliat- ing consequences of the change and of inadequate coping capacity (Costello et al., 2009, pp. 1693–1733). In light of the clear gap in research applying a gender perspective in the case of older persons, this research focuses on the question: How has gender been taken into account in the research on the change in the Arctic (direct and indirect) and on the impacts of that change on older men and women in the region? Given the small amount of research addressing this issue, the fundamental aim of this paper is to pinpoint reports of age-related disparities between men and women that have been exacerbated by the rapid transformation now affecting Arctic society. The findings seek to highlight considerations of fairness and equality that will inform research on gender-related disparities among older persons in the Arctic.

Methods This study undertakes to describe the situation of older men and women in what is a changing Arctic and to increase awareness of the possible consequences of this change on older persons’ human right to gender non-discrimination. To these ends, I have chosen to employ a qualitative approach that combines both interpretive (Elliot and Timulak, 2005, p. 147) and critical research interests (Denzin and Yvonna, 2005, pp. 6–10) with a gendered approach. I use content analysis (Mayring, 2000, p. 2) in a ‘close reading’ of research materials to determine what has been said and what has not been said and how gender has been treated (Mayring, 2000). Specifically, I apply a gender perspective in reading the research on life expectancy, livelihood, health and food, education, the economy and empowerment. These themes, which are intertwined, serve as salient indicators of an individual’s wellbeing in society. In examining the research materials, I establish a number of categories for my findings on gender differences in Arctic society and use these as indicators of elderly wellbeing. I have used these categories as a means to understand disparities and, at the same time, to assess how to promote elderly wellbeing. I analyse the strengths and weakness of the research findings by using a wellbeing frame-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 work to determine where there are gaps in the research. I have conducted a comprehensive literature review. To find scientific articles and literature, I have used relevant key words (climate change/Arctic change, gender, elderly men and women, disparity) in searching the Arctic and Pub- Med databases. In my earlier research (Begum, 2013), I concluded that climate change in the Arctic heavily impacts the health of older persons. I also gathered relevant regional and international official documents, reports and statistics, which I examined for their importance to the research and to reveal the research gaps. The salient documents included the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR, 2004), the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (Symon, Arris 114 Shahnaj Begum Table 6.1 Analytical classification of sources

Reviewed documents Key words for search Criteria of assessment of (number) wellbeing

Arctic database Climate change, Arctic Four different criteria of 35 documents change, disparity, gender, assessment dimension elderly men and women, connected to wellbeing elderly health, equality PubMed database 20 documents Relevant reports Life expectancy, 10 reports livelihood, health, education, economy – empowerment

and Heal, 2005), the WHO gender and climate change report (World Health Organization, 2009), as well as certain other policy documents, such as the IPCC report (IPCC, 2007) on climate change and its effects on health. Table 6.1 above presents a tool for analysing gender positioning as this is described in the literature cited earlier. The themes combine to form a framework for describing wellbeing in the case of the Arctic population. In the next section, I briefly review the impacts of change in the Arctic on the elderly in general. In the following section, I go on to examine the impacts with a specificfocus on gender. Well-known scholars, such as T. Kue Young, Peter Bjerregaard, Arja Rautio, Alan J. Parkinson and others have carried out significant research on diverse issues of circumpolar health and wellbeing. Yet this research and other lines of inquiry have ignored the gendered dimension of elderly wellbeing in the Arctic.

Change in the Arctic and its impacts on the elderly As noted earlier, climate change is one of the major drivers affecting development in the Arctic, and in numerous ways. The challenges which climate change poses to the Arctic population have been addressed in a number of scientific reports. The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) has weighed the effect of the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 climate on the health and overall wellbeing of the Arctic inhabitants. The other important report, the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR), specifically identified the groups vulnerable to the consequences of climate change as including children, women and the elderly. In addition, the indigenous peoples of the region have been regarded as major victims of climate change (Watt-Cloutier, 2006). Apart from climate change, a number of other drivers of change have been identified in the region: globalization; growing industrialization, including the spread of mining and hydrocarbon extraction; other commercial activities, such as tourism; and population migration. Gender differences of older people 115 Impacts on health are counted among the most direct and visible threats to the Arctic population. The melting of the permafrost, (Nelson and Brigham, 2003; Begum, 2013), the thawing of glaciers, heat waves and similar phenomena bring a range of changes, such as damage to infrastructure – including transportation routes – flooding, damage to housing and sanitation, reduced access to quality water and a deterioration of other public services, including health care. These impacts have already begun to affect the overall health situation. Bacterial and viral diseases have been observed more frequently in recent years (Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, 2009). Warming results in the introduction of new diseases and a higher risk of infectious diseases (Chavers and Vermund, 2007). For instance, a number of vector-borne and infectious diseases have already been reported in the northern parts of the USA, Russia and Sweden (Parkinson and Evengård, 2009). Despite the delay in recognizing climate-related infectious diseases, an increase in infectious diseases has already been observed today (Parkinson and Evengård, 2009, p. 84). As one of the most vulnerable groups, older persons, who in most cases also suffer from economic hardship, are easily affected by the spread of illness. Changes other than climate change have also had an adverse effect on health, one example being changes in food habits (Parkinson, 2010, pp. 9–12). Insufficient access to traditional food causes increasing dependence on imported food. In the Arctic, imported food has been found to contribute to the increase observed in the rates of food-borne botulism among the population and in the incidence of several diseases, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Jorgenson and Young, 2008, p. 291; Parkinson, 2010, p. 10). Climate change, for its part, has brought an increased incidence of botulism, tularemia, brucellosis and cryptosporidiosis in the region (Berner et al., 2010). In fact, these are common diseases among elderly people in the region today. In addition, damage to transportation facilities affecting the food supply chain is likely to increase exposure to contaminants, threatening not only food safety but also human health in general, with more serious repercussions for the elderly in particular. Other socio-economic, environmental and cultural changes are also apparent in Arctic society that may cause significant social and mental stress to the region at large (Spohr, 2004, pp. 1–7). The socio-cultural lives of the communities in the Arctic have certain features that are susceptible to transformation. In some cases, these features go hand in hand with a community’s identity as Arctic people. For example, communities are engaged in unique traditional activities, such

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 as reindeer herding in Fennoscandia and in northwest Russia, and fishing, sealing and hunting in the North American Arctic. These livelihoods contribute to the residents’ distinctive identity as Arctic people (Parkinson, 2010, p. 10; Hinzman et al., 2005, pp. 251–298). For groups such as indigenous peoples such an identity is crucial, making its loss due to the ongoing and anticipated societal changes a major concern. The ACIA has shown clear links between climate change and socio-cultural and economic impacts. It has been reported that the environmental change in the Arctic threatens the health of its population and will have serious repercussions for their socio-economic and cultural survival (Côté and 116 Shahnaj Begum Williams, 2008). Older persons, who form a significant proportion of the Arc- tic population, are necessarily victims of the social and mental stress caused by such changes (Scheraga, 2008) and are subject to widespread frustration (Haq, Whiteleg and Kohler, 2008, p. 11). Moreover, out-migration, in particular among young adults, has also been reported as one of the challenges facing the Arctic region (Rasmussen, 2009, p. 525). Studies show that young women, who used to take care of their older parents or relatives, are now increasingly moving to the south for various reasons. The trend has been most pronounced among young women in Greenland. A decrease in the younger population and, at the same time, an increase in the elderly population will in all likelihood make the situation difficult, resulting in loneliness and social isolation among older people and leading in turn to a higher incidence of mental illness, stress and frustration. The extensive changes in the Arctic are, however, in one way or another inter-connected, affecting the population at large in various ways that will disrupt entire communities. The changes affecting health and the socio-cultural and economic conditions of life will in all likelihood make older people even more susceptible to negative impacts unless the challenges are properly addressed. In this context, an additional factor to be broached is the differentiated positioning of elderly men and women, for these differences mean that the genders will experience and be affected by the challenges differently. It is therefore important to analyse how gender differences among older people in the Arctic are structured, for it has been anticipated that the changes affecting the region will exacerbate existing inequalities.

Older persons’ gender-based positioning in the Arctic

Life expectancy Life expectancy is one of the major indicators of gender disparity in the Arctic; it of course varies from region to region. While a number of positive changes have improved the life expectancy of the Arctic population (Berner et al., 2010), unless the existing societal challenges in the Arctic community are properly mitigated, gender disparities are likely to intensify. This section discusses how the difference in life expectancy between men and women contributes to gender disparity. However, a review of life expectancy in the different regions of the Arctic is in order before proceeding to the analysis proper.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 The population densities of Finland, Sweden and Norway are low, and the northern parts of these countries are very sparsely populated (Hassler et al., 2008, p. 106). According to national statistics for Finland, Sweden and Norway, these countries are considered home to a particularly older population and are characterized by a low birth rate (Hassler et al., 2008, p. 106). Statistics indicate the following life expectancies for older people: in Finland 75 years for men and 82 years for women (Finland Demographics Profile, 2014); in Norway 77 years for men and 82 years for women (Norway Demographics Profile, 2014); in Sweden 78 years for men and 83 years for women (Sweden Demographics Profile, 2014); and in Gender differences of older people 117 Russia 60 years for men and 73 years for women (Russia Demographics Profile, 2014). Studies based on the statistics for 2007 also show that in Murmansk the average life expectancy was 65 years, with men’s life expectancy being 58 years and women’s 71 years. The life expectancy profile of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region indicates that the gap between men’s and women’s life expectancy is 10 to 16 years in northern Russia, while in the remaining part of the Barents region it is 5 years on average. In sum, Russia has the lowest position in this respect in the Barents region. Sweden has the highest life expectancy with the lowest gender gap – 4 years – compared to other Barents countries (Emelyanova and Rautio, 2012). According to the statistics for 2001 in Canada (The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report Canada, 2010), the life expectancy for Inuit women was 70 years compared with 82 years for Canadian women overall, and Inuit men’s life expectancy was 64 years compared with 77 years for Canadian men overall (Morgan, 2008). In the period until 1860 in Sweden, Sami women had a higher life expectancy than Swedish women in general (Karlson, 2013, p. 446). During the period 1850–1899, Sami men had a lower life expectancy than Sami women. Sami men had the same or higher life expectancy compared to Swedish men in general (Karlson, 2013, p. 445). Studies suggest that within North America and Greenland, Alaskan Natives, residents of the North West Territories (NWT) in Canada and the residents of Greenland generally have lower life expectancies than the residents in the Nordic Arctic countries and, on average, life expectancy is lower for indigenous populations. These trends are derived from the figures for life expectancy in the Arctic population (International Arctic Science Committee, 2010). Studies also suggest that globally women are the most vulnerable group and suffer more than men. At first sight, the data might indicate the contrary; yet for women a longer life expectancy does not guarantee a good quality of life. For women a longer life span often means that they will become vulnerable in different areas (Soroptimist International of the Americas, 2011, p. 4). Higher life expectancy can only be meaningful when other supportive social conditions are present. However, research suggests that elderly women in the Arctic living under poor living conditions suffer more ill health (Romero et al., 2005, pp. 7–18). Women live longer but, paradoxically, where they are more vulnerable to adverse effects of the changes affecting the Arctic; this means extra years of hardship rather than a ‘quality life’. Apparently, based on the statistics shown here, living longer for a woman does not bring any benefit when healthy ageing cannot be

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ensured. Healthy ageing has been identified as one of the indicators of human development (AHDR, 2004). Unfortunately, in the remote Arctic region, the longer women live, the more hardship they suffer. The disparity between men and women in this respect is not only due to biological factors but to other, societal factors as well. As Thomas Kirkwood states:

It might be that women live longer because they develop healthier habits than men – for example, smoking and drinking less and choosing a better diet. But the number of women who smoke is growing and plenty of others 118 Shahnaj Begum drink and eat unhealthy foods. In any case, if women are so healthy, why is it that despite their longer lives, women spend more years of old age in poor health than men do? The lifestyle argument therefore does not answer the question either.

Normally women have a harder life from birth to extreme old age despite the fact that they generally develop healthier living habits than men (Kirkwood, 2010). A woman’s traditional domestic working life can be just as hard as a man’s working life. This is because they never fight just for themselves; they fight for their children, and even for the men in their lives (Capistrano, 2010, p. 2; Ignatieff, 2000, p. 117). However, when women reach old age, there is, increasingly, hardly anyone in the family to take care of them. It is said that in the Arctic communities men get a much better deal out of marriage than their wives: married men tend to live many years longer than single men, whereas married women live only slightly longer than single women (Kirkwood, 2010). In their traditional roles in the Arctic, women suffer from various anxieties, stresses and strains. The literature cited earlier indicates that in their old age women in the Arctic live longer and will continue to live longer in the future. Despite the higher life expectancy, if the societal challenges caused by the changes in the Arctic are not mitigated, women will continue to experience the effects of their vulnerability longer than men. A higher life expectancy only benefits women where healthy living conditions can be ensured that will make a longer life meaningful and cheerful. These conditions can be best provided by adequate health-care facilities, access to a healthy environment, the promotion of social cohesion of older women in all aspects of social life and the empowerment of older people in the society in which they live.

Livelihoods The Arctic is a region with a peripheral character and livelihoods are basically dependent on localized activities. The cultural practices of the local and traditional community play a significant role in older people’s livelihoods in the region (Parkinson, 2010, p. 10). Studies carried out on changes in the Arctic have identifiedchanges in the general living conditions of the population (Wol- sko et al., 2007, pp. 51–61) that are bringing about a transformation in livelihoods. Impacts on livelihoods have consequences for older persons, and some of

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 these effects merit investigation from a gender perspective. The studies reviewed indicate that the local livelihoods of the Arctic include traditional activities such as reindeer/caribou herding, fishing and hunting; boat building, farming, making handicrafts, knitting socks, and making traditional dress are also common. Particularly in the case of indigenous peoples, these livelihoods form part of the peoples’ unique identity (Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, 2009, p. 22). Most of these activities are seen mainly as masculine professions. For instance, in reindeer herding, the reindeer owned by women are also controlled by men and thus women’s contribution to the livelihood is Gender differences of older people 119 ignored (Rantala, 2013, pp. 114–115). In men’s professions nowadays, modern equipment such as snowmobiles and even helicopters are used, whereas women’s professions must still rely on traditional tools. For example, women continue to use traditional practices in making handicrafts such as ‘duodji’1 (Rantala, 2013, p. 112), the economic value of which is not comparable with men’s reindeer herding. No age limits are set on the nature of traditional activities, and thus older persons as well as young may be actively engaged in such activities. The effects of climate change and growing industrialization, as well as the increase in other commercial activities such as tourism, have introduced new forms of livelihood, replacing traditional ones. On the one hand, tourism provides jobs and income for many young and older people. To some extent, tourism strengthens some traditional industries, such as the sale of local handicrafts and various cultural events, leading to complementary and alternative forms of livelihood. On the other hand, the gradual transformation in livelihoods, and the consequent disruption of traditional lifestyles, increases the prevalence of mental and social stress (Parkinson, 2010, pp. 9–10), mostly among older persons since the new activities are not likely to be suitable for them. Moreover, older people fear the loss of their community’s culture, which is rooted in the maintenance of traditional activities. While the direct involvement of men is most apparent in many traditional activities, women are also in one way or another engaged in them. Although women’s roles in such activities has hardly been discussed in the academic literature, women (as spouses and grandmothers) play an important role with their male counterparts during, for example, reindeer herding (Rantala, 2013, pp. 114–116) and other traditional activities. Although a division of labour between men and women would be necessary to maintain reindeer herding as a livelihood (Ruotsala, 2007, pp. 156–157), in many cases women’s roles are invisible in written descriptions of the occupation. One can justifiably ask what kind of politics is at work behind this kind of disparity. The elderly are not a homogenous group (United Nations, UN, 2010). The transformation of livelihoods affects both men and women. While according to some studies women generally experience more mental and social stress (Healey et al., 2008, pp. 199–214; Curtis et al., 2005, pp. 442–450), in the case of loss of livelihoods it is men who easily experience stress. As a result, men suffer from a difficult situation in whichwomen often support the family (Rantala, 2013, p. 117). Women adapt to new situations more easily by taking on additional household tasks, such as taking care of grandchildren at home. In this way, the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 stress associated with old age can be reduced to a tolerable level. However, men in Arctic communities seem to lack this adaptive capacity. Mental stress among men generally leads to a worsening of their situation, in some cases resulting in problems such as alcoholism and suicide. According to the research analysed, differences in societal roles in Arctic communities show the different nature of vulnerability facing men and women. While vulnerability should not be measured in terms of which groups suffer the most, it is certainly the case that there are gender-specific roles for men and women that lead to different degrees of vulnerability. Nevertheless, women’s traditional 120 Shahnaj Begum role in the protection of family integrity makes them accept the extra burden of responsibility in difficult situations.

Health Chapter fifteen of the ACIA identifies impacts of climate change on the health of the Arctic population. These vary substantially depending on factors such as age, gender, socio-economic status, lifestyle, culture and location, as well as the capability of the local health infrastructure and systems to adapt. Some regions of the Arctic have a different population structure than more temperate regions, even within the same country, a pattern seen also within the elderly population. This is particularly true in the case of indigenous rural populations. The populations of Alaskan Natives, Canadian Arctic indigenous groups, Inuit, and Green- landers residents have a smaller percentage of older people than in the Nordic countries (International Arctic Science Committee, 2010). The health of Arctic populations can be determined from a range of health status indicators. Effects on health are the most evident results of climate change in the Arctic (Parkinson, 2010, p. 9) that bring differentiated consequences for men and women. However, the nature and extent of climate change impacts on human health depend on the extent and duration of climate change as such, as well as on the relative vulnerability of population groups and society’s ability to adapt to the change (Geller and Zenick, 2005, pp. 1257–1262). It is claimed, on the one hand, that (as discussed elsewhere in this article), food-borne diseases have increased among the Arctic population because of the increased consumption of imported foods (Parkinson, 2010, p. 10), which are replacing traditional food (Jorgenson and Young, 2008, p. 291; Berner et al., 2010). For example, there is an increased risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases among older people. On the other hand, a Swedish Sami research expert2 has claimed the contrary, suggesting that traditional food increases cancer among the people living in the northern part of Sweden and Russia. Given that the diseases mentioned are gender neutral as such, further research is required to determine the truth concerning the differing health effects of imported foods on men and women. In the conditions prevailing in the Arctic, the temperature is rising and heat waves are causing a significantly higher mortality risk for the elderly (Costello et al., 2009, p. 373), in particular for persons with heart problems and asthma

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 (Climate Change and Health Effects on Older Adults, 2013, pp. 1–2). Women’s mortality in old age due to heat waves has been recorded as being greater than men’s (World Health Organization WHO, 2010; Spohr, 2004). Both extreme cold and extreme heat increase the risk of death among vulnerable groups, of which elderly women are one (Spohr, 2004). However, there is a gap in the research regarding the questions how and why such extreme events affect elder women more than men in the Arctic. In addition, climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria and other vector-borne infections can strike a vulnerable group very easily. In many Arctic countries, as shown previously, women’s life Gender differences of older people 121 expectancy is higher than men’s, whereby women are exposed to various infectious diseases and symptoms such hypothermia, bronchitis and pneumonia for a longer period of time. Extreme events, such as melting ice and frequent floods, increase water-borne transmissible diseases, respiratory diseases and mucous membrane infections in rural and less-developed areas. Older persons are the segment of the population who will suffer most from the mental and behavioural health consequences of these developments. (Haines and Patz, 2004, pp. 99–103). However, gender has not been specifically identified in such cases as a factor determining who suffers the most – men or women. Women are generally resilient in many cases, whereas men become mentally stressed comparatively easily (Courtenay, 2000, p. 1397). Research on diseases affecting older people and attributable to the changes in the Arctic has not to date extended to the identification of the conditions that are most common among men and most common among women. However, the prevailing societal conditions in the Arctic mean that women suffer more when in ill health. Differences exist in the common causes of death, as based on death certifi- cate data, although slightly different measures are used in the Nordic countries than in the North American Arctic (Berner et al., 2010). Data also suggests that Alaska Natives and Greenlanders have much higher mortality rates for injury and suicide (Berner et al., 2010). Mortality rates for heart disease and cancer are now similar among Arctic indigenous populations and comparable to overall rates for the United States, Canada and Northern European countries.

Education, economy – empowerment The informal slogan of the Decade of Women became “Women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income and own 1 percent of the means of production.” (Shah, 2010)

Education is a factor ensuring that a person will enjoy a better position in society. In the Arctic, the level of education of women is high in the Nordic countries. Finland, Norway and Sweden show a higher rate of educational achievement for women than for men. Despite women’s better position in level of education,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 men report higher incomes than women. Although inequalities are modest, such a practice is unanticipated since these countries are known as the most ‘gender neutral’ in the world (Young and Bjerregaard, 2008, pp. 94–95). The long-term effect of this kind of unequal treatment towards women generates poorer women. They become more financially vulnerable than men when they begin ageing. Women engaged in household work are even more helpless. Turning 65 or older does not make a woman vulnerable to the effects of climate change if she suc- ceeds in maintaining her social and psychological wellbeing. Economic instability in old age makes women most vulnerable (Nieminen, 2004). 122 Shahnaj Begum Empowerment promotes practices of inclusion, sharing of information, rewards and gaining authority among other actors in society. Women’s empowerment in Arctic communities is important if they are to be capable of taking the initiative and making decisions by themselves to solve their problems and improve their situation. However, various factors reveal that women are generally less empowered than men in society. Empowerment of women can be seen from two perspectives: social inclusion and economic self-sufficiency. Social inclusion is a matter of opportunities to participate in societal affairs and having a role to play in decision-making. Generally women in Arctic communities are recognized as important players at the societal level. In particular, the indigenous women of the region are recognized as the custodians of traditional knowledge and cultural practices pertaining to environmental preservation, maintenance of bio-diversity and environmental sustainability (Dankelman, 2010, p. 146; Rantala, 2013, p. 113). Interestingly, these women are generally the community’s older members, who are valued because of their experience and knowledge. They act as respected advisors and their influence underpins vital decisions and policy (AHDR, 2004, pp. 187–205). Other research claims that women’s action is not taken into account in the development plans (Rantala, 2013, p. 123). For example, women’s roles are limited in Sami culture and traditions, which some researchers consider deeply gendered (Rantala, 2013, pp. 124–125). Women in the Arctic frequently move from the north to the south (Rasmussen, 2009, p. 525), one of the reasons being that they are undervalued in the community, where men are held in higher regard (Rantala, 2013, p. 122). This assertion is also supported in research on men’s and women’s agency in rural Finnish Lapland by Seija Keskitalo-Foley (2004). The degree to which women are able to assume societal positions varies both geographically and culturally and according to the specific resource-based sector. However, change in the Arctic has impinged on the traditional environment, with traditional knowledge now at risk of losing its inherent value. In the gradually transformed circumstances, an alternative process of environmental management has been adopted in which women’s participation is generally seen as being less valuable than men’s. The research carried out by Joanna Kafarwoski on gendered dimensions of environmental risk, especially that related to health and contaminants, suggests that men and women have not only different perceptions concerning environmental change leading to health risks but also different adaptation strategies (Kafarwoski, 2006). Her research also shows that women’s

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 contribution to environmental footprints is much smaller than men’s (Kafar- woski, 2006). Women’s knowledge on environmental preservation demonstrates the importance of their being included in environmental decision-making. How- ever, the likelihood of their inclusion is actually deeply gendered (Morgan, 2008; AHDR, 2004) and women are less visible in environmental politics. One reason for this is their lesser involvement in political institutions. In the Canadian Arc- tic, for example, women’s representation in political institutions is much lower than men’s. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon, since the 1970s, women’s representation has been around 10 per cent. In the Nordic Arctic, modernization Gender differences of older people 123 and other developments have improved the quality of life of women. However, it has been argued that a hidden inequality between men and women exists in the Sami community, including that in Finland, in regard to social inclusion (Rantala, 2013, p. 116). The second aspect of empowerment is economic self-sufficiency. Despite the touch of modernization in many Arctic communities, women’s roles continue to be that of making a contribution to the informal economy and the household work. Even when women engage in formal employment, they face disparities in regard to both wages and retirement age. Women are generally poorly paid compared to their male counterparts, even in the most gender-neutral countries. According to Finnish sources, for example, in female-dominated sectors and professions, the pay is lower than in the corresponding male sectors and professions (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, 2006, p. 11). Regarding pension age, although it varies from country to country, women nonetheless retire earlier than men. Early retirement naturally brings a lower pension benefit in their old age. In the case of Russia (in Murmansk), the pensionable age for women is 50 years, while for men it is 55. Additionally in formal employment, women are hindered by various other factors, such as loss of job due to maternity or leave during maternity, which eventually affects their economic self-sufficiency when older. A lack of economic self-sufficiency in old age makes women extremely vulnerable to the consequences of the changes taking place in the Arctic.

Conclusion and remarks This article has outlined the impact of change in the Arctic with particular reference to the region’s older persons and the respective position of the genders in society. In light of the research question, it can be concluded that the role of gender in the situation of older persons in the Arctic has been under researched, understated. The position of older persons has been found to be both unequal and ambiguous in academic research, strategic planning and policy documents, as well as in everyday life practices. The research carried out to date also suggests that change in the Arctic will continue to influence livelihoods, cultures, health and the economy in the region’s small, remote communities. Consequently, gender positioning among older persons will continue to be affected unless effective policy measures are introduced and implemented. The findings, however, suggest that women’s situation in the Nordic Arctic countries is comparatively better

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 than that in the other Arctic regions. Based on these conclusions, the article puts forward several salient considerations to inform future efforts to address gender positioning and gender-related disparities exacerbated by climate change:

a) The lack of specific dataand research on the elderly and gender dimension in the Arctic causes the related issues to be neglected and overlooked. Given that the population of older persons all across the Arctic is increasing, high priority should be given to expanding the scope of research on this issue. In such an endeavour, a diversity of approaches and methods should 124 Shahnaj Begum be brought to bear with due consideration of the opportunities offered by multi-disciplinary research in addressing the problems. b) Inequality, or disparity, between women and men is a social concern that should not be merely an academic issue. It requires action. How- ever, before any action can be taken, it is necessary to pay due attention to the division of labour between the genders as well as to their access to resources and decision-making processes. In the Arctic context, achieving greater equality for older persons will require changes at many levels, including changes in attitudes and relationships, in service institutions and legal frameworks, in economic institutions and in political decision-making structures. These issues should be addressed through relevant policy instruments. c) Relevant regional institutions, such as the Arctic Council and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) should take steps in order to address old age, gender-based disparities. Although the health and wellbeing of older persons have been identified as some of the indicators of human development in the Arctic, thus far these institutions have hardly shown any interest in issues relating to the situation of older people, let alone the role of gender in it. These institutions should therefore adopt a carefully planned strategy at both community (local) and regional level. The Arctic organizations for human development should provide research support and technical assistance in the production of policy strategies, as well as in monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of such strategies. d) In policy instruments as well as in academic research, the human rights aspects of gender positioning in the case of inequality and disparity should be integrated with specific reference to the elderly in the Arc- tic; this development would clearly strengthen the process of knowledge production.

This paper therefore concludes that gender-based disparity can be eased by implementing the aforementioned recommendations.

Notes 1 The term duodji means traditional Sami handicrafts made by hand such as clothes, tools, housewares, fishing, tackle and jewelry. The materials used in Sami duodji come

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 mostly from nature, with reindeer being the main source. 2 Prof. Marianne Lilequist made this observation about food contamination in the northern parts of Sweden and Russia at the ‘Arctic Change’ workshop in Tromso on 10 September 2013.

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Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Young, K. T. and Bjerregaard, P. (2008) Health Transitions in Arctic Populations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; pp. 94–109. This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Part III Wellbeing of elderly people Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 7 What is wellbeing for the elderly?

Elina Vaara, Ilkka Haapola, Marjaana Seppänen, and Antti Karisto

Introduction The concept of wellbeing has been used widely in multiple disciplines of scientific research and in political discourses of Western societies. Wellbeing is something almost everyone has an idea about, but a closer look reveals that there does not appear to be a shared understanding of the concept (e.g. Karisto, 2011). Some- times wellbeing has been seen mainly as a question of health, economic state, or sustainability. In empirical research, the concept of wellbeing has been studied for decades, and the results confirm that wellbeing consists of multiple related dimensions (e.g. Allardt, 1976; Bowling and Gabriel, 2007; Jivraj et al., 2014; Vanhoutte, 2014; Hammarström and Torres, 2012; Vittersø and Nilsen, 2002). In recent decades, the role and the perspective of laypersons have been accentu- ated in the research concerning wellbeing. From the epistemological perspective, a relatively shared understanding is held about the importance of studying wellbeing based on how people experience and evaluate their own state of wellbeing. How- ever, the ontological aspect is less discussed; there is a need to gain more understanding about how people see the contents of their wellbeing. Additionally, the domains of wellbeing or items in the questionnaires may reflect only the ideas and assumptions of wellbeing held by the ‘experts’, if laypeople had not been consulted (Bowling, 2005, 38). When people are asked how they are doing in certain aspects, it is then left to the researcher to conclude what aspects are actually the most important for these individuals’ personal wellbeing. The challenge is that the perceived drivers of subjective wellbeing may vary between young and old, men and women, in different subcultures, and according to time periods (Karisto, 2011). When older age is seen as a phase with inherently wide diversity, there can Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 be differences in evaluations about what a good life is, and what is important for personal wellbeing in daily life. In this article, we study how ageing people appreciate various aspects of their wellbeing and discover dimensions based on indicators of wellbeing.

Characteristics of wellbeing The need to appreciate older persons’ perceptions on what is most important for their wellbeing (or quality of life) has been underlined especially by Ann 134 Elina Vaara et al. Bowling (1995 and 2005). According to Bowling, expert (theoretical) and lay models of quality of life largely overlap each other but with some important exceptions. The central dimensions of quality of life, common to most models, are psychological mechanisms (e.g. psychological outlook, optimism-pessimism), health and functional status, personal social networks, support and activities, and neighbourhood social capital. However, in contrast to experts’ models, the lay models also emphasize the importance of financial circumstances and independence (Bowling, 2005, 40). These findings were supported by a recent systematic review on more than 40 studies (Brown, Bowling, and Flyn, 2004) in which older people regarded themes such as social relationships, social and leisure activities, quality of neighbourhood, emotional wellbeing religion and spirituality, independence, mobility, autonomy, finances and standard of living, health, and health of others (see also Farquhar, 1995; Hammarström and Torres, 2012) as important for their quality of life. The Finnish research tradition on wellbeing is strongly influenced by Erik Allardt (1974, 1976, and 1989), who proposed that wellbeing consists of three related basic dimensions: ‘having’, ‘loving’ and ‘being’. ‘Having’ includes health and material level of living and ‘loving’ includes social needs, such as reciprocal relationships, affection, a sense of belonging and support. ‘Being’ refers to forms of self-expression (vs. alienation) and individual growth, as well as irreplace- ability and equality in political resources. ‘Being’ also includes aspect of ‘doing’ such as involvement, which is depicted as active engagement and social participation in societal level and in private life. All three (or four) dimensions are needed to some extent to be well, and their relative emphasis may fluctuate with advancing time. In addition to the dimensions of ‘having’ and ‘loving’, Allardt’s dimension of ‘being’, or ability for self-expression and doing things, is also apparent in a range of studies. Emphasizing activeness is sometimes even exaggerated, but ‘being’ in the sense of meaningful activities and self-expression can be liberating in later life (Nimrod and Kleiber, 2007). Even among the oldest old, an open attitude and being receptive to new ideas may open ways to fulfil oneself. It can be described as mobility of the self (Ziegler and Schwanen, 2011), which means being open to ideas and eager to connect with the surrounding society or a curious mental disposition towards the external world. Wellbeing is associated with gender, class (Hammarström and Torres, 2012), and age (Steverink et al., 2001). For example, Bowling (2005, 39) found in the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 British population that people over the age of 75 are more likely than younger ones to prioritize health and the ability to get out and about and less likely to prioritize, e.g. social relationships and financial resources. In their study, women of all ages were more likely than men to emphasize social relationships, while finances were more important for men. But with increasing age, there is risk for declining health and thinning of social networks (Steverink et al., 2001), which may result in reduction of possibilities for meaningful activities in daily life. At the same time, older people define good ageing (or healthy ageing) also in terms of managing their lifestyles: they emphasize certain meaningful and purposeful What is wellbeing for the elderly? 135 actions (Sixsmith et al. 2014, see also Boelsma et al., 2014), as some other activities may become unobtainable. In the theory of selective optimization with compensation, people maintain preferred activities by making choices and reducing less important activities. Therefore less (meaningful) activity may even result in improved wellbeing (Baltes and Baltes, 1980; Hammarström and Torres, 2012). This highlights the importance of individual adaptations, such as growth and compensation. Hence age is associated with evaluations and drivers of personal wellbeing, among older people the subjective ratings of e.g. health and functional ability may be better indicators of wellbeing (or quality of life) than objective measures (Brown, Bowling, and Flyn, 2004, 8). Overall, different resources are important as they give individuals possibilities to function or act (e.g. Sen 1987 and 2009; Nussbaum, 2004). But wellbeing (as an outcome) is not only a question of the amount of resources, as it also depends on the possibilities to use them, as well as capability for self-expression. Important is what individuals are able to achieve with the available resources and whether they are able to act according to their own values and life goals. The capability approach formulated by Amartya Sen (1979, cited in Kaushik and Lòpez-Calva, 2011) emphasizes substantive opportunities to shape life in an enabling environment, also in later life. To be able “to do” and “to be” are more essential than specific functions or achievements (Nussbaum, 2004). Therefore, different capabilities have an effect on wellbeing whether they are actually utilized or not (Sen, 2009). Research on wellbeing has been vast, but there are still some areas of life that have not been recognized widely, such as new lifestyles (like travelling and Inter- net use), sex life, and aesthetic quality of environment among other environmental issues. Some empirical research does exist, but results may be culturally sensitive and differ both between and within countries and age groups. Therefore, these aspects need more attention in wellbeing research. As societies are changing, wellbeing needs to be re-defined, because the concept of wellbeing is socially defined and dependent on the cultural and historical context and on the phase of life. Therefore, wellbeing is not to be understood as a static construct (Allardt, 1974), but a dynamic multidimensional concept (Brown, Bowling, and Flyn, 2004). In this light, personal values and interests may be different for different people, or may change with strains in the environment or via adaptations to the restrictions, especially in later life (Qizilbash, 2006). Therefore, even if the experience of being well was the same for everyone,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 individuals might draw it from different sources as they age.

Aim, context and data In this article, we study how ageing people appreciate various aspects for a good life. First, we examine what are the most important aspects of wellbeing among ageing women and men. Second, we investigate what kind of latent dimensions of wellbeing exist among the Finnish elderly population. Our third aim is to assess if these dimensions are the same in genders and age groups. 136 Elina Vaara et al. This empirical investigation is based on the longitudinal GOAL survey data (fin. Ikihyvä Päijät-Häme), a ten-year follow-up study from 2002 to 2012. Data consists of three age groups born in 1926–1930, 1936–1940, and 1946–1950. Since 2005 (the second phase of the study), the questionnaires of the GOAL-study displayed a list of about 30 items covering multiple aspects of wellbeing. The respondents were asked how important these aspects are in terms of their own wellbeing. We used ideas from Allardt’s (1989) ‘Having-Loving-Being’ – model as a starting point for the list of aspects but also included additional items. In the present article we utilize the data collected in 2005. Owing to the sam- pling design, both genders and all age groups were well represented. The studied individuals were 55–59, 65–69, and 75–79 years old (in age groups n = 863, 907, and 706, respectively), and just a little over half of the respondents in all age groups were women (55, 53, and 52 per cent, respectively). The research area was the Lahti region and surrounding countryside in southern Finland. The City of Lahti with 100,000 inhabitants was previously a rapidly growing industrial city, but since the early 1990s, it has suffered from a high unemployment rate. The age structure in the City of Lahti has changed drasti- cally and today, over a fifth of the population is over 64 years old (Official Statistics of Finland, 2014).

Statistical analysis To see whether the differences between genders and age groups were statistically significant, generalized linear models with a binomial link function were utilized for dichotomized significance evaluations. Hence we compared the pro- portions of each item being significant or very significant for individual wellbeing to all other options. Exploratory (EFA) and oblique confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) for categorical outcomes were used to exploit the factorial structure of the perceived wellbeing in the data. Models were fitted and modified according to modification indices and theoretical knowledge (see e.g. Kline 2011), and a five factor model with 19 indicators was found to have interpretable results with a best fit (RMSEA = 0.056, CFI = 0.956, TLI = 0.944). Measurement invari- ance was tested with nested CFA models for genders and age groups to see if there is similar underlying phenomena from which these evaluations emerge in subgroups. IBM SPSS version 22.0 and Mplus 7.1 (Muthén, du Toit and Spisic, 1997) were utilized for the analyses. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Importance of various domains of life for wellbeing Certain aspects in life were valued quite uniformly, as seen in Figure 7.1 where the significance of different aspects of life are presented. The most important aspects included personal health, physical fitness, relationships with family members, home-like surroundings, a clean living environment, and nature. These aspects were important for almost all respondents: over 75 per cent valued them as significant for their personal wellbeing. What is wellbeing for the elderly? 137 Economical resources (income and wealth), a good sex life, and relationships with neighbours were not considered among the most important aspects of a good life, even if they were one resource for it. On the other hand, some aspects of life were almost negligible for many in terms of a good life: over a third of respondents did not value helping others or voluntary work, the possibility to influence local decision-making, or belonging to a community. The importance of leisure time activities such as cultural activities, as well as entertainment and having fun were polarized; however, participation in organisational and residential activity was seen as rather irrelevant. Gender differences were not pronounced, but some systematic tendencies were found. Women emphasized the importance of confidential relationships, as well

Health Relations with family members Physical fitness Possibility to live in an environment that feels like home Nature and possibilities to wonder in nature Cleanness of the living environment Confidential relationships Location of home Feeling loved Everyday things that bring pleasure Proximity of services Possibility for physical exercise Beauty of the neighbourhood Quality and equipment of apartment Relations with relatives Size of apartment Good sex life Relations with neighbours Income and consumption possibilities Wealth Possibility to travel Religiousness Being appreciated by others Possibility to study and learn new things Belonging to a community

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Cultural activities Physical appearance Entertainment and having fun Helping others and voluntary work Possibility to influence decisions affecting the neighbourhood Participation in organisational and residential activity

0% 20% 40% 60%80% 100% Significant or very significant Fairly significant Not at all significant or small significance

Figure 7.1 Significance of aspects of life for subjective wellbeing. 138 Elina Vaara et al. as easy, clean, and beautiful surroundings with services close (if needed) more than men. Women also valued the simple pleasures of ordinary daily life, spiced with special cultural activities and possibilities to learn new things more than men. Men, on the other hand, tended to value wealth slightly more than women and also emphasized a good sex life significantly more than women. Additionally, men saw influencing local decision making and organizational participation a little more important for their wellbeing than women did, but overall these aspects were significant only for a minority (9–20 per cent) of women and men. In older age groups, the importance of religiousness and proximity of services were emphasized, but learning, entertainment, and a good sex life were seen as less important. However, differences were rather mixed: gender and age were intertwined in what is important for wellbeing. For example in terms of material resources, no differences were found in the importance of income between genders or age groups. The value of wealth was lower in older age groups, but men saw wealth as more important than women in the oldest age group. There- fore, the importance of capital and property was diminished less in men than in women with increasing age, whereas income and consumption possibilities had, on average, moderate value in all subgroups. Among women, there were more differences between age groups than in men. First, women in the oldest age group valued significantly more than younger women the location of their home and services. Four out of five of all older women said that the proximity of services is very important. Second, older women valued less than younger women how others see them: physical appearance and being appreciated by others in terms of social appearance were not significant for them. Different activities such as exercise and voluntary work were also less important for women in the oldest age group, perhaps due to limitations induced by higher age. In summary, older women had a special tendency to value things that help them and that are a part of their daily life and coping. Younger women saw good human relationships especially important in addition to the overall most important aspects. Men in the youngest age group did not value cleanliness and beauty of environment or the size, quality, or amenities of the home as high as others did. Men in the youngest age group saw entertainment and having fun, as well as a good sex life, as more important than older men. These younger men may have a slightly more cheerful understanding of what wellbeing is, but at the same time they emphasize shared experiences and togetherness rather than immediate everyday

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 material surroundings. Nevertheless, the most significant aspects – for example, health and relations to family members – were valued highly by both younger and older men.

Dimensions of subjective wellbeing Although wellbeing is idiosyncratic in the sense that, e.g. religion can be a very important source of wellbeing for some, five related dimensions were found to summarize and give a good understanding of perceived content of wellbeing. What is wellbeing for the elderly? 139 All variables were not included, even if they were very important for some, but this specific model gave a significant, interpretable, and coherent model for wellbeing. The correlated factors were named ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’, ‘activity and participation’, ‘health’, ‘social relations’ and ‘economic resources’ (Figure 7.2). Health and physical fitness were seen as uniformly important and they form the dimension of ‘health’. The dimension reflects both physical mobility and functional ability. Furthermore, the factor of ‘economic resources’ was composed of wealth, income, and consumption possibilities. Economic resources give access to other external resources, which enhance coping and control in everyday life (George, 1992). The dimension of ‘social relations’ was composed of close, everyday human relationships: relationship to family members, relatives, and neighbours, as well as confidential relationships. The significance of social aspects is that they can enable broader social sphere (Keyes, 1998) with variety of gains. Cultural activities, the possibility to study and learn new things, and community or voluntary work comprised the factor of ‘activity and participation’. This dimension draws a picture of a socially active life with self-actualization. A cognitive and open curious attitude towards the surrounding society and culture can be called “mobility of the self” (Ziegler and Schwanen, 2011), which also enables movement in social spaces. Participation also includes cognitive activities in the social environment and can be seen here for example as being part of a community or study group. The ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’ dimension of perceived wellbeing depicts cosy, home-like, and aesthetic daily living surroundings – having a comfortable, safe, convenient, and beautiful place and space for everyday life with services close by, if needed. This dimension highlights familiar surroundings and situations as well as contentment from the beauty of daily routines (see Haapala, 2005). These five dimensions were related (Table 7.1), and the highest correlations were found between ‘social relations’, ‘health’, and ‘living environment and everyday

Cultural activities (0.767) Possibility to study and learn new things(0.729) Belonging to a community (0.575) Helping others and voluntary work (0.548)

Activity and Beauty of theneighbourhood (0.777) participation Cleanness of the living environment (0.755) Confidential relationships (0.746) Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Home quality and equipment(0.703) Living environment Relations with family members (0.744) Possibility to live in an environment that feels like and everyday Social relations Relations with relatives (0.601) home (0.700) aesthetics Relations with neighbours (0.539) Home size (0.547) Proximity of services(0.518)

Economic Health resources

Physical fitness (0.885) Income and consumption possibilities (0.899) Health (0.814) Wealth (0.829)

Figure 7.2 Five domains of wellbeing (standardized coefficients). 140 Elina Vaara et al. Table 7.1 Correlations of dimensions

Activity and Social relations Economic Health participation resources

Social relations 0.52 Economic resources 0.24 0.21 Health 0.37 0.53 0.38 Living environment and 0.43 0.54 0.44 0.53 everyday aesthetics

aesthetics’, that all featured aspects that were valued significantly for wellbeing. The lowest correlations were found between ‘economical resources’ and ‘activity and participation’ as well as ‘social relations’. ‘Activity and participation’ was comprised from domains that do not necessarily require a high income, and social relations in life are dependent primarily on other processes in life rather than wealth.

Are the dimensions of perceived wellbeing the same for both genders and all age groups? Can the five dimensions be assumed to be the same in both genders and in all age groups? If so, do both genders and all age groups have equal evaluations about the importance of these dimensions? For women and men, the same five dimensions were confirmed (p = 0.471), and therefore perceived wellbeing can be portrayed in a similar manner for both genders. However, there were differences in how they emphasized the importance of these dimensions (p < 0.001). Women assessed ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’, ‘activity and participation’ (especially cultural hobbies), ‘health’, and ‘social relationships’ as more important than men did. Additionally, among women there was a stronger association between health and confidential relationships – implying their mutual importance in the wellbeing of women approaching older ages. Earlier we found that men and women equally valued income and that men and women also gave the same significance to the domain of ‘economic resources’ (p = 0.831). There were statistically significantdifferences in the evaluations about a good

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 life between age groups (p<0.001). Among the oldest individuals, there were more differences (or more dispersion) in the importance of ‘social relations’ and ‘activity and participation’ than in other age groups. With increasing age there can be differences in the abilities to pursue these dimensions. For the two younger age groups, ‘social relations’ had a stronger association with ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’ and ‘activity and participation’ than what was seen among the older participants. This implies that for younger age groups, the activities in these dimensions are connected: those who value close social relations also find a comfortable home with pleasant surroundings and culturally active life What is wellbeing for the elderly? 141 with the possibility to participate in community important for wellbeing. For older individuals, this association was weaker. ‘Economic resources’ again were valued uniformly and moderately in all age groups, as in men and women, and the dimension also had the same meaning in different age groups. Overall, these results highlight that the definition of perceived wellbeing is age-dependent.

Discussion In the present article, we investigated the perceived wellbeing by gender and age. For nearly all subjects, health and physical fitness, relations with family members, home-like surroundings, a clean living environment, and nature were of exceptional significance for wellbeing. Aspects that were often seen as insignificant for wellbeing included participation in organisational and residential activities, the possibility to influence local decision-making, helping others, and voluntary work, as well as entertainment and having fun. We also found that things that are not often included in research, such as feeling loved, lifestyle factors, and a good sex life were very important resources for wellbeing for certain older people. Gender and age were intertwined in what is important for wellbeing, but differences between age groups were more pronounced. Women emphasized more the importance of social relationships, as well as easy, clean, and beautiful surroundings with services close if needed. When growing old, especially women valued, in addition to religion, the proximity of services and things that help and are a part of daily life and coping. Men in the youngest age group did not value the surrounding environment nor size, quality, or amenities of the home. On the contrary, they saw entertainment and having fun, as well as a good sex life as more important than older men. The importance of wealth was diminished less in men than in women with increasing age. Five related factors – ‘health’, ‘social relationships’, ‘economic resources’, ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’ and ‘activity and participation’ – crystallized what is important for a good life among 55- to 79-year-old people in Finland. Health and social relationships were highly important for nearly all respondents, whereas economic resources were perceived as moderately significant for wellbeing. Living environment and everyday aesthetics depicted beautiful, easy, and cosy living surroundings, which has also been highlighted in environmental gerontology. Here the dimension consisted of variables linked to usability of the home. Furthermore, among elderly with functional limitations, the perceived housing might be even

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 more pronounced. Fifth dimension, ‘activity and participation’ was composed of cultural activities, possibilities to study and learn new things, and participation in community and voluntary work. It also represents open mental disposition towards the world. In our research, four out of five older women and men found some form of activity or participation at least fairly important. In line with earlier research, perceptions of a good life differed by gender and age (see also Hammarström and Torres, 2012, Jivraj et al., 2014, Steverink et al., 2001). But contrary to earlier research among older people, we did not find systematic evidence for a decrease in the importance of social relations in older 142 Elina Vaara et al. individuals compared to younger ones (see also Bowling, 2005), even though the 55- to 59-year-old women did emphasize the meaning of social relations for their wellbeing more than others in this research. Women especially valued the proximity of services with increasing age. Six- smith et al., (2014) concluded that independency and living in a home-like place enhance wellbeing but only if care services and assistance are available when needed. Overall, older women emphasized the aspects of easy daily life, contentment, and a peaceful everyday life (see Nilsson et al., 1996). Older women may adapt to the challenges of increasing age in a different way than men. A sense of control over changes also has an effect on wellbeing in later life (Hammarström and Torres, 2012), which underlines the importance of compensation (Baltes and Baltes, 1980). People wish to maintain the ability to participate in preferred meaningful activities and may reduce time spent on those activities perceived as less important. Additionally, if older individuals are able to predict and control at least some changes induced by ageing, decreased total activity level may actually result in improved wellbeing. Some differences between age groups might be due to events and attitudes that have accumulated over the lifetime, because different age groups have lived their lives in slightly different historical settings. For example, older women and men in the study have experienced the horrors of the Second World War, which may have affected their evaluations. However, we cannot conclude whether the differences are due to age or to a cohort effect (see e.g. Jivraj et al., 2014). Health and physical fitness, social relations, home, and everyday living environment were found significant for wellbeing as in earlier research (e.g. Brown, Bowling and Flyn, 2004; Hammarström and Torres, 2012; Rowles and Bernard, 2013; Boelsma et al., 2014). Health and physical fitness have a definite impact on wellbeing when ageing, and it has been reported earlier that positive relations with others correlate with a sense of purpose in life and life satisfaction (Gal- lagher, Lopez, and Preacher, 2009; Steverink et al., 2001). On the other hand, home and meaningful living environment can be a source of wellbeing as being at one with the immediate environment is closely associated with a sense of being in the world (Rowles and Bernard 2013; Haapala 2005). In our research, living environment also consisted of variables linked to the usability of the home, which has been found important in earlier studies (Oswald et al., 2007). Among the elderly with functional limitations, the perceived aspects of housing might be even more pronounced. As Ivanoff et al., (2004) and Sixsmith et al., (2014) found in the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ENBALE-AGE study, the importance of home lies also in possibilities to enhance autonomy and participation: a functional and usable home can facilitate capabilities or independence, especially among older individuals. It has also been suggested that the sensitivity to everyday environments will increase (e.g. Feath- erstone, 1991) also in later life. Altogether, home as a major place for ageing has an emotional dimension and not only functional but aesthetic value too. Similar to lay models of Bowling and Gabriel (2007), we also found the economic resources moderately important. The present results on the decline of importance of financial resources in terms of wealth with increasing age, What is wellbeing for the elderly? 143 especially among women, are in line with earlier findings (e.g. Bowling, 2005, 39). Earlier, a mild association had been found between life satisfaction and material resources (e.g. Steverink et al., 2001), and it has been proposed that the contribution of higher income on subjective wellbeing is mediated by the activities that it enables, such as participation and leisure time activities (George, 1992). Consequently, activities and hobbies or cultural leisure time activities are also associated with wellbeing (see also Brown, Bowling, and Flyn 2004; Kashdan and Steger, 2007). These activities and participation can represent mobility of the self with a curiosity towards the surrounding society. As mental activity and being open to new ideas can be liberating among older adults, mobility of the self may even compensate, to some extent, other losses in mobility (Ziegler and Schwanen, 2011). Allardt’s (1974, 1976 and 1989) theory on wellbeing is not commonly utilized in gerontological research. Allardt states that all domains of wellbeing need to be in an adequate state to be well (Allardt, 1974). As health and economic resources can enable an autonomous life for adults and older adults, they enhance the ability to reach for other sources for being well. In Allardt’s model, these aspects were combined in the dimension of ‘having’, but in this research we found them to be different kinds of resources that enable different activities. Allardt’s ‘loving’ and ‘being’ were congruent with dimensions of social relationships, activity and participation, expressing cultural activities, lifestyles, participations, and self-actualization in this study. The domain of ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’ was an additional measure that was not included in the original model by Allardt. Later on, Allardt (1998) has critically stated that aspects concerning an ecological and aesthetic living environment have been absent in earlier wellbeing research. In recent research, however, the theories on the characteristics of living environment have been emphasized (e.g. Rowles and Bernard, 2013). The capability approach is reflected in the dimensions of ‘activity and participation’ and ‘living environment and everyday aesthetics’, but other dimensions found in this study support personal capabilities as well. If available, capabilities create a space of choices promoting the ability of individuals to sustain a sense of autonomy and personal good life (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Capa- bilities and limitations, however, change with increasing age. As self-realization, autonomy, and opportunities to choose preferred activities are associated with wellbeing and satisfaction in life (e.g. Zarit and Braungart, 2007; Vanhoutte, 2012 and 2014; Sixsmith et al., 2014), targeting attention to participation, pursu-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ing activities, and usable aesthetic home-like environments of individual choice can enhance quality of life in later life. In the end, we want to emphasize that wellbeing is not a steady state but a process of shifts. It is also contextual and environment-dependent (see Kjell, 2011; Allardt, 1974). Relationship with nature, an enabling home and neighbourhood, social and physical surroundings, as well as lived lives as a shared cohort experiences can affect individual definitions of a good life. Longitudinal studies are vital in the research on ageing to confirm whether differences between age groups found in this study are really due to ageing. Broader research is also needed to 144 Elina Vaara et al. investigate, in detail, e.g. the meaning of familiar home-like surroundings and capabilities in daily life among increasing elderly populations. In this research, in addition to health, wealth and social relations, the importance of the ideas concerning an enabling home-like environment, daily activities, and possibilities for self-expression were visible, and it is of exceptional importance to promote these capabilities in ageing societies.

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Marianne Liliequist

Introduction The recent mining boom in Sweden has resulted in a corresponding boom for the Sami identity political movement. In this escalation of “the final struggle” for reindeer herding and the survival of the Sami culture, the younger generation continually underlines the importance of moral support from the elderly. Elderly activists are celebrated on Facebook and Twitter and, in my interviews, the importance of the older generation as transmitters of Sami culture is referred to constantly by the younger generation. The respect with which elderly Sami are treated by the younger generation makes them feel valued, which is in turn an aspect of the quality of life of elderly Sami. This chapter focuses on the role played by elderly Sami in Sweden. What does quality of life mean to the elderly? What creative strategies can they apply to their actions in order to achieve quality of life? In what way are resources for the elderly available to the community? What bearing do ethnicity, gender and social class have on the development of creative strategies? The material consists of fifteen in-depth interviews with Sami women with strong or loose connections with reindeer herding families. Five of them live outside the reindeer herding society.1 The elderly Sami who don’t have any connection to reindeer herding families are living under completely different conditions, and I will deal with this group in another article. Since the younger generation’s respect for the elderly is very important for the quality of life of the elderly, in addition to the older generation I have also interviewed younger Sami women. Although the chapter discusses the situation of both men and women, I have chosen to interview only women, partly because women’s voices have hitherto Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 been lacking in research on Sami culture (cf. Amft, 2000 and Ledman, 2012) and partly to relate to the polarised academic discussion within gender research about the status of elderly women in Sápmi. The chapter will present five women who represent various themes in the material in general. The interview group included people representing north Sami, south Sami, mountain Sami, forest Sami and Sami with jobs outside reindeer herding and living both in sparsely populated areas and in cities. The five participants I am going to present are representative of the interview group as a whole. 148 Marianne Liliequist I have identified two separate creative strategies available to elderly Sami in achieving quality of life. One is practised by many of the elderly who still live among their reindeer-herder relatives. The other is available to those of the elderly who live outside reindeer herding society.

Historical background The Sami are an indigenous people inhabiting an area stretching across the northern parts of four countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. They are also Sweden’s and, in practice, Europe’s only indigenous people. Because their traditional land (Sápmi) has been subject to external state colonisation and they are now a minority population with a language, culture, livelihoods and identity that differ from the majority society, the Sami have been accorded special status. Until the 1850s, the Sami made up most of the population of northern Sweden. Their livelihoods involved herding, hunting and fishing (Sköld and Axelsson, 2005). Since 1673, northern Sweden was colonised by settlers, who in exchange for cultivating the land were granted a fifteen-year period of exemption from paying taxes. The Sami became a minority population and conflicts arose between the Sami and settlers over land and fishing rights, although mutual interchanges did in fact take place between the two sides (Nordin, 2007). The mountain Sami kept larger reindeer herds than the forest Sami and their migration routes extended over larger areas. Sami who did not own reindeer tended to seek employment as reindeer keepers or subsisted on hunting and fishing. Because women could not become independent reindeer owners, they were restricted to marrying reindeer owners or becoming servants. Only the widows of reindeer owners could own reindeer. Some Sami people built settlements. Rein- deer grazing land has gradually declined due to various intrusions such as logging, road construction, hydropower development, mining, national parks and tourism. Reindeer grazing laws now regulate who is allowed to be a member of a reindeer herding district or Sami village (sameby), and who has the right to practice reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. In the early 1900s, most of the Sami were self-subsistent. During the latter part of the century, reindeer husbandry became a mechanised, small-scale industry but which employed only a small portion of the Sami population (Nordin, 2007; Olofsson, 2004; Åhrén, 2008). Throughout history, the majority society has discriminated against the Sami in a variety of ways. State policy in the 1800s was influenced by racist ideologies,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 with the Sami being viewed as an inferior race. In the early twentieth century, Sami children were not allowed to speak their own language in school. For many Sami, the long period of forced assimilation led to the loss of their language and identity (Liliequist and Karlsson, 2011; Olofsson, 2004). Because of racism in the surrounding community, many of the Sami excluded from Sami villages chose to downplay or hide their Sami origins. Only in the 1970s did a political movement based on Sami identity gain its initial momentum, with young Sami people at the forefront (Ledman, 2012). The issue of who has the right to call themselves Sami and is thereby entitled to the rights enjoyed by Sami village members has become Elderly Sami and quality of life 149 an increasingly important item on the Sami Parliament’s agenda (Ledman, 2012; Liliequist, 2010). Of the 60,000 Sami estimated to be living in Sweden today, only 5,000 are directly involved in reindeer herding. Many Sami are connected to reindeer herding through their family ties, but the majority of Swedish Sami have no right to the land that their ancestors inhabited.

Research on elderly Sami Research on elderly Sami is a neglected field, both with respect to traditional nomad culture and in modern Swedish society (Olofsson, 2004). The only academic studies to deal specifically with the elderly Sami in Sweden are articles by Lena Aléx (2007) and Marianne Liliequist and Lena Karlsson (2011). Aléx’s research on the elderly Sami women of today has an ethnic and gender perspective and is based on qualitative in-depth interviews. Liliequist and Karlsson have examined images of elderly Sami in relation to elderly care in Sweden between 1850 and 1930. Otherwise, only occasional, fragmented knowledge of elderly Sami can be found in academic literature (e.g. Amft, 2000, p. 39, Balto, 1997; Campbell 1982, p. 225–240; Cocq, 2008; Beach, 1988, p. 222; Kjellström, 2003, p. 270–278, Ruong, 1975, p. 157; Åhrén, 2008, p. 116–119). Folk-life literature (e.g. Johansson, 1967, p. 126–133, 336–237, Sameland i förändring [Sapmi in change] (1986) and autobiographies also provide an insight into the living conditions of elderly Sami during the traditional nomad period. Within their traditional nomad culture, ageing Sami participated in reindeer herding for as long as possible. Elderly reindeer owners often had servants to assist with the heaviest tasks (Beach, 1988, p. 222). When the elderly became too old and weak to lead a nomadic life, they often set up camps on the shores of lakes and made a scant living from fishing (Kjellström, 2003, p. 278). The same is true of elderly Sami who had either lost their reindeer or had never owned any (Amft, 2000, p. 39). A retired Sami could sometimes find accommodation in the home of a settler (Kjellström, 2003, p. 270; Johansson, 1967, pp. 336–337; Campbell, 1982, pp. 225–230, 236–240). On occasions, a Sami purchased a settlement in preparation for retirement. By the end of the nineteenth century, a number of forest Sami had become home owners and could care for the elderly in their own houses (Ruong, 1975, p. 157).

The elderly Sami woman – dually oppressed Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 or strong foremother? There is also a knowledge gap as regards the situation of the women in the Sami culture. Most of the research has focused on male reindeer owners (e.g. Amft, 2000). There are two opposing standpoints in the research on the Sami woman. One claims that the Sami woman – especially the elderly Sami woman – has had a stronger position in society than in other cultures (Haetta, 1996; Kvenangen, 1996), while other researchers have described the Sami woman as subordinate and dually oppressed through her gender and her ethnicity (Amft, 2000; Beach, 150 Marianne Liliequist 1988; Olofsson, 2004). Lena Aléx (2007) and Anna-Lill Ledman (2012) assume from their intersectional and postcolonial perspective a position in the middle of the academic discussion on the position of the Sami woman. Aléx claims that the elderly Sami women are balancing between different discourses. They see themselves as equal to the men and as living in the shadow of the male reindeer herders.

Research perspective and methodological approach

Narrative analysis I use a narrative analysis perspective, where the way someone portrays their life is seen as closely linked to the identity work of that individual (Arvidsson, 1998). In the identity work, some things are emphasised and other things are set aside. The life story is a form of self-presentation which tells who I am in relation to the outside world and who I want to be. Who are “we” and who are “they”? By highlighting the underlying point, the “moral” of the life story, you can access values and views of the world. You can often find key events and key words in a story which seem to be central to the narrator. Dramatic turning points in the story also show themes that are central to the self-presentation.

Intersectional perspective I look at age, gender, ethnicity, and social belonging as social and cultural constructions (Irni, 2010), and I take an intersectionality approach to my research. The aim of an intersectional approach is to make visible not only the similarities and differences between the sexes but also to understand how the diversity that stems from other social categories affects us in different ways. Gender has recently become an important dimension of ageing in international research (Krekula, Närvänen and Näsman, 2005; Nikander, 2000, p. 250). The term “intersectionality” has had a significant impact on both Nordic and international feminist research. The term originates from the criticism that occurred within feminism in the 1970s regarding white feminists who took a white perspective in their research (Young, 1994). The intersectional perspective has been acclaimed for making more nuanced explanatory models possible in which power categories other than gender also are taken into consideration. Ledman (2012) has pointed out that gender strategies are also dependent on the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 historical context. My aim is to show how Sami notions and personal experiences of masculinity and femininity are renegotiated as people grow older and how age and ageing are intersected with constructions of Sami identity. This is only possible by considering the constant interactions between gender, age, ethnicity and social belonging. In this study, ethnicity refers to a social community that is characterised by an imagined kinship and occurs through contact between people who view themselves as part of a special group (Eriksen, 1998). This means that the Sami identity can be viewed as dynamic and changing. Ethnicity is not used to define the Elderly Sami and quality of life 151 characteristics of different groups but is instead focused on how notions of ethnicity are formed in the relations between different groups. A sense of social belonging is also important in identity work. Nowadays, most Sami do not participate in reindeer herding, but a large group is still interconnected in one way or another in the reindeer herding society, for example, by spending their free time in the Sami village helping out their reindeer-owning relatives. Reindeer herders in the south of Sápmi live under more pressure from their non-Sami neighbours than those in the north, and this might affect their habitat. Forest Sami have lived closer to their non-Sami neighbours than mountain Sami, and this implies assimilation requirements and racism but also cooperation and community (Liliequist, 2010). This is why profession, family affiliation, language and geography (cf. Naskali, 2013) are included in my account of the social affiliations of the Sami.

Resource perspective I have chosen a research perspective which allows me to examine older people as active subjects who creatively invent and select action strategies in order to fulfil their own ideals. I also view the older generation as a potential resource for the community, an asset too seldom utilised despite the fact that the elderly often long to be involved (cf. Blaakilde, 1999; Torres and Hammarström, 2007). According to my first study, based on interviews with senior Sami (Liliequist, 2010), it seemed that, out of a sense of tradition, the Sami community still made use of the older generation’s knowledge and experience to a much greater extent than other parts of Swedish society. This view of the elderly as key knowledge intermediaries and role models has in fact grown stronger in recent times due to the Sami identity struggle, based on which the elderly are playing an important role in the struggle for cultural survival. Of course, one cannot generalise – there are differences based on gender, age or social class – but Sami attitudes to older people often seem to present a positive alternative to those of the rest of Swedish society, which commonly regard the elderly as passive subjects in need of care and an economic burden on society. The “Umeå 85 + study” is a research project in which older people from Västerbotten – including Sami – were interviewed about their views on “successful ageing”, i.e. what constitutes quality of life in old age (von Heideken Wågert, 2006). According to these elderly people, the prerequisites for achieving quality

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 of life were as follows:

• A sense of participation within a social network (Aléx, 2007; von Heideken Wågert, 2006). • Feeling valued (Santamäki Fischer, 2007). • Being as independent as possible for as long as possible (Nilsson, 2006).

This emic definition of “successful ageing” andquality of life forms the starting point of my research. I also use the term “creative strategy of action” (Häggblom 152 Marianne Liliequist Kronlöf, 2007) to emphasise the inventiveness with which elderly people achieve what they define as quality of life. My question, therefore, is as follows: what creative strategies do elderly Sami use to achieve a sense of belonging and to feel valued and independent?

Postcolonial perspective The view of ageing, the role of the elderly in society and their ability to act as creative subjects must be understood in a historical context. My analysis has a postcolonial starting point whose basic assumption is that people in the Nordic countries are influenced by a colonial discourse that still has an impact on perceptions of the Sami (cf. Ledman, 2012). Edward W. Said (2004) is a prominent figure in the postcolonial field and his thoughts on the Western, colonial-based notion of the “Other” can be applied to representations of the Sami. The “Other” is the primitive savage who is at an earlier stage of the Darwinian development process than the white man. On the one hand, the “Other” is dreaded because he is foreign, strange and unclean, but on the other hand he is fascinating due to his naturalness and authenticity. Liliequist and Karlsson (2011) have shown how the image of the older Sami as the “Other” was designed for official purposes in the early 1900s, while also taking root within an older, oral and popular discourse. I am inspired by Poka Laenui (2000) who describes the process of colonization and decolonization of indigenous peoples as happening in different stages. Strate- gic essentialism will also be an important concept in this study, which means that oppressed groups, for example, Sami and women, are able to point to earlier silent experiences and make their voices heard through political demands built upon an imagined, authentic, common identity (cf. Ledman, 2012). Linda Tuhiwai Smith (1999) has emphasised how important it is that the Western academic community critically examine its research on indigenous people and that such research be permeated by ethical considerations of the “research objects”, i.e. the people who are often affected and influenced by the research. As a non-Sami researcher, it is especially important to take a reflexive approach. Reflexivity means critically examining your own position in relation to the research field in question. I therefore requested comments from a Sami point of view, both outside and within academia, on my article and allowed these comments to affect the content of the text. My research position involves both proximity and distance to the participants. I am not Sami myself, but I have

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 had contact with Sami people in a positive way through my upbringing in the mountain regions, and I have a lot of experiences in common with the Sami I interviewed. At the same time, their stories about the racism they have faced reminds me of the shame I felt as a child when some grown-ups spoke of Sami people in a downgrading way. The shame in belonging to an oppressive majority culture has sometimes stopped me from asking follow-up questions when racism among people from sparsely populated areas has been the subject of conversation. Nonetheless, I have been told a lot spontaneously, but the question is whether they confide as much in me as they would have in a Sami interviewer. Elderly Sami and quality of life 153 Elderly Sami as transmitters of traditional knowledge In traditional nomadic Sami society, during the era of self-subsistence, knowledge of reindeer herding, hunting, fishing, food preparation, crafts, childcare and general survival skills was passed down from generation to generation. Elderly people’s experience-based knowledge was valuable to the survival of Sami villages. Within reindeer herding communities, important information was passed on about reindeer grazing, reindeer moving, the impacts of different weather conditions and the presence of predators (cf. Balto, 1997). The elderly represented knowledge gathered through centuries of experience of land use. Hugh Beach notes that with the mechanisation of reindeer herding – the use of trucks, snowmobiles and helicopters – the knowledge held by the elderly became less relevant, with the younger generation taking the lead. However, he also writes that the younger generation still reaches out to the elderly in times of crisis, since the latter have gathered knowledge over time (Beach, 1988, p. 103). On the other hand, several of my informants claim that the elderly remain authorities in terms of transferring knowledge of reindeer herding and all other aspects of life. It also seems that the importance of traditional knowledge and the leading role played by the elderly have both been emphasised in recent years due to the Sami’s increasingly strong, identity-based political awareness. Aina, a 23-year-old university student belonging to a mountain Sami reindeer-herding family in the north, contrasts the Sami attitude to the elderly with that of the “Swedish”:

In the Sami world, this is completely different to the situation among the Swedes. You appreciate the elderly in a completely different way. They are the ones with all the knowledge, all traditional knowledge and you always ask them for advice, which they have requested in turn from their elders. This is a tradition that is handed down – it really is about everything you do, from the knowledge of healing and food to how to make different dishes, it’s about everything – lifestyle and how to get different things done in the best way, and recipes and advice about how to live your life.

Aina describes the elderly Sami as “leaders and cultural transmitters”. Various family specialities are passed down from the older generation, such as the particular family’s traditional way of smoking reindeer meat, she says. Even in reindeer herding, the elderly act as leaders when the family gathers to plan future work. Aina explains this as follows: Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Within reindeer herding, you have also inherited everything, you know the terrain and you live within a certain area and have been on that site from generation to generation. You know exactly where best to travel and that trail and lake that you shouldn’t venture onto when the ice is weak – you know it already.

The elderly have also been custodians of a narrative that transfers the unwrit- ten oral history of places and events, a history affiliated with specific people. Elin, 154 Marianne Liliequist a 35-year-old teacher living in a town, grew up in a mountain Sami village in the south of Sàpmi, where the narratives of elderly Sami were constantly present. She fears that this tradition of oral storytelling will not be passed on by the younger generation of Sami – particularly by those who have moved to urban areas. This tradition is likely to die out with the elderly. It tells about the land itself, the places where reindeer herding is carried on and which are associated with the Sami village’s history and identity. The summer settlement is especially associated with strong emotions (cf. Åhrén, 2008). For the mountain Sami, the summer settlement is situated on the high mountain area, while for the forest Sami, the Sami villages’ huts may stand by a lake. Even when the narratives of the elderly are primarily intended to entertain, their stories often contain embedded messages on the theme of central cultural values. Storytelling is the primary means of passing on moral values to the younger generation (Balto, 1997). The elderly in the Sami villages are role models, says Elin. They are not afraid to instruct younger members of the community on what is considered suitable conduct. Younger people respect the elderly and try to comply with their instructions. Kajsa, a 63-year-old Sami musician, with her roots in a reindeer herding family in the north, has lived most of her life outside reindeer herding, but has for several years been married to a reindeer owner. She celebrates the elderly women in her mother’s generation. Being alone with her mother and learning her knowledge of the hidden things and her approach to life is something that Kajsa sees as invalu- able. When someone had passed away, her mother comforted her by saying that the dead are not gone, they are still with us all the time. Kajsa says that nowadays we don’t have time to listen to “de underjordiska” (supernatural beings) but if we stopped for a moment we could share their wisdom. Her mother’s approach to life was that you should never take more from nature than you absolutely needed and that you had to thank nature for everything you received: the berries you picked, the fish you caught, the reindeer you butchered, etc. Humility towards nature and the spirits, a stillness and an inner calm – that is how Kajsa remembers her mother. Kajsa’s particular artistic approach, what she calls “the aesthetics of slow- ness”, comes from her mother. “It is the Sami myths and nature that have inspired me in my music”, she says. She emphasises the stories about the tribal mother, the goddess Akka and her three female helpers and says that the woman has had a strong position in the Sami culture. Kajsa, Elin and Aina celebrate the elderly and especially elderly Sami women,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 and they are in a way using strategical essentialism as a decolonizing method. The elderly Sami stand out as symbols of Sami identity. But they are not uncritically admired. For example, Elin says that sometimes she feels a little nervous when with the elderly, becoming insecure about whether she is behaving properly. Elin explains as follows:

Because I am used to comments such as: “You should not speak to me like that, because you’re younger than me”, or “You should wear your shoes outside Elderly Sami and quality of life 155 your pants because otherwise this will happen”, or “In the hut, sit on the right side or ´skrömta´ (= supernatural being, author’s remark) will come. “This can upset you a little . . . but that was also the case for our parents’ generation. They are quick to make their point.

Aina points out that she sometimes feels a little uneasy about the opinions of the older generation: they are often a little old-fashioned, she says, especially when it comes to gender roles and how to behave properly. Most participants view the elderly as role models and authority figures, but Sigrid’s perception is slightly different from the others. She is a 30-year-old woman, a student with strong connections to her south Sami mountain reindeer herding family. Sigrid says that of course the young generation have respect for their elders, but they see them more as equals than central figures. Accord- ing to Sigrid, “Some younger reindeer herders can even express irritation at the presence of an elderly reindeer herder during the most intense reindeer marking period”. “However, on the whole, everyone shows understanding for and appreciates the presence of the elderly”, she adds. But anyway, she says that she has got her strength and her feministic perspective from her mother. Sigrid lives much closer to the everyday life of her reindeer herding family than Elin and Anna and perhaps that’s why she does not idealise them. Kajsa lives nowadays in a reindeer herding family, but working as a musician means standing out from the reindeer herding lifestyle. Sigrid does not think of the elderly as symbols of Sami identity, but she presents the Sami way of living as an ideal as regards attitudes towards the elderly. The elderly are able to untangle the extremely intricate family relationships going far back in time. Family stories combined with personally affiliated geographically based tales form an oral history in which the elderly are the experts. For many Sami, one’s identity is determined by family connections. The relationship system means that everyone exists in a given pattern, and you are always someone who belongs to other people – no one can take away your name. While the older generation’s knowledge of family history is a resource for the younger generation, the elderly also find a resource in their strong emphasis on kinship. Your family connection means that you are always included – you are always someone – your identity is fixed and you are always welcome at family gatherings and in various Sami contexts. Even relatives from afar are included in the community – you take account, for example, of third and fourth cousins:

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 “Swedes are surprised when they find out how many cousins you have!” Sigrid says, “It doesn’t matter how much you dislike someone, as long as you are family you defend them!” Family connections are unconditional and no one should be excluded, unless they have renounced their Sami identity. Åhrén (2008) writes that the first thing a Sami asks about when meeting an unfamiliar Sami is the family to which the person belongs and the relationships between that family and your own. “Everyone discusses who is related to whom – all the time!” Sigrid says. 156 Marianne Liliequist Being active in reindeer herding – a creative strategy For elderly Sami living within the reindeer herding context, the will to be active as long as possible is very important. Either they have their own small flock or own some reindeer taken care of by others. They also participate – or are at least present – at events such as the slaughter and marking of reindeers. Sigrid refers to her parents and relatives in their seventies and eighties, who are still involved in reindeer herding, albeit on a smaller scale. For example, they do not participate in the long summer drive up to the mountains. If they were forced to quit, she is afraid that they would give up completely. “If they couldn’t continue reindeer herding, they would probably drop dead!” explains Sigrid, only half-jokingly, when commenting on her older relatives’ stubborn insistence on reindeer herding work. To elderly people in reindeer herding families, participation in reindeer herding means quality of life. This is true of both men and women. Reindeer herding is their life, not just a job but a lifestyle. Both men and women participate in reindeer herding. Working with reindeer means quality of life, a sense of participation, belonging and meaning. The elderly people’s herds are smaller, and older herders tend to receive help from younger members of the community. “It seems that the elderly require little technical equipment for reindeer herding and do not have to make big investments”, says Sigrid. They make a point of managing as much as possible in “the old way”. Men speak with pride about the time when they were skiing all night long to guard the herd and the women tell how they took lodgings in a peasant’s draughty bakery cottages in winter – “you were not so demanding in the old days”, as they say. To Sigrid’s parents and other elderly relatives, involvement in reindeer herding implies quality of life. Reindeer herding is a way of life: by participating in it, the elderly feel part of the community. Elin points out that, in her mountain Sami home village, the older Sami are a natural part of the community:

The elderly are so evidently a part of society – they do not withdraw into solitude. They accompany others out onto the mountain. It’s as if it’s not up for discussion – it’s so obvious . . . You always meet the elderly out in the reindeer pastures, even the “ancient” ones . . . They are always there. Although they can hardly walk, they will stand there. That is never a problem. If somebody says that they would like to go on calf marking – then you arrange it. It doesn’t feel like a big, complicated deal. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 “There is a general understanding that the elderly want to participate to a smaller extent”, she says. They are always present for the slaughtering period, since there is a highway all the way to the slaughtering site, and they participate to some extent in calf marking. “In everyday life otherwise, you can often stop by for a coffee and chat with the elderly in the village”, comments Elin. Motorisation has made it easier for the elderly to get around. For example, they can travel to the summer location by plane (cf. Beach, 1988, p. 185). Both men and women participate in reindeer herding. Whenever possible, the older Elderly Sami and quality of life 157 generation tries to engage in reindeer herding in the “old” way and to manage without modern tools. Traditional reindeer herding is something that older women are very familiar with, since women participated in reindeer herding to a greater extent before motorisation (Amft, 2000; Nordin, 2007). Reindeer herding is more than a profession, it is a way of life where economic activity is inextricably linked to family-based socialization. This strengthens the cohesion between generations, with the elderly being included in the community in a natural manner. Your co-workers are usually friends or relatives, and work merges with family life and leisure. You live reindeer herding (cf. Nordin, 2007; Åhrén, 2008). Younger people often help the elderly with heavier work. If elderly people cannot manage with their work, but would still like to keep some reindeer and retain a feeling of participation, they can pay a younger reindeer herder to do the hard work (cf. Beach, 1988, p. 74). Reindeer herding is a powerful, unifying symbol of the Sami identity.

Being a tradition transmitter – a creative strategy for those living outside the reindeer herding society From the perspective of her Sami mountain home environment, Sigrid says that among the Sami the generations are not divided in the same way as among “the Swedes” – the elderly participate on the same terms in everyday work and socialization. “A 15-year-old can hang out with a 50-something, that’s not unusual”. However, Inga, a 75-year-old woman of forest Sami origin, who has spent half her adult life as a teacher in a city, argues that the generations are now dividing even within the Sami community. The older generation formerly lived close to younger people, and the elderly were important educators of their grandchildren. Inga’s grandfather lived on the homestead together with his children and grandchildren until his death, and the grandchildren received their Sami upbringing through him. Today, when reindeer herding is a predominantly male occupation and women educate themselves to follow other careers, reindeer herding families often settle where the women get jobs. If the woman finds a job in an urban area or city, the elderly can either choose to stay behind in the rural area or to accompany their children. “Those who do the latter sometimes discover that they become quite isolated”, says Inga. They may not know anyone in their new location and their children and grandchildren busy themselves with work, school and leisure pursuits. Besides family gatherings, most interaction with peo-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ple from other generations occurs in Sami contexts – for example, at concerts, during Sami Week and in Sami organisations. Many elderly people who live outside reindeer herding take on the role of tradition intermediaries, thereby fulfilling a critical need amongst the younger generation. They fight to prevent the Sami identity from disappearing as their generation dies out. This also applies to elderly Sami who have lived their entire lives outside Sami villages. The younger generation has a strong need for knowledge from the elderly, because the latter are the last remaining link to the traditional Sami way of life. This is particularly important to younger Sami who do 158 Marianne Liliequist not have an elderly relative from whom they can receive traditional knowledge. Elin says that the elderly should also take more responsibility for teaching their skills to young ones who have no older relatives. She is very upset about the fact that Sami handicrafts are in danger of dying out with the elderly generation. But it can be difficult to persuade the elderly to teach on courses, “ ‘No, I can’t, they say, but if you meet them one to one then of course they can, they know everything!” Åhrén (2008) has described how important identity work is for young Sami people in post-modern society. In her thesis, Lotta Omma (2013) has indicated that most Sami young people have experienced racial discrimination, while in health terms many have a lower quality of life than the corresponding group of non-Sami young people. The survey also reveals that young people whose Sami identity has been reinforced experience greater wellbeing than those with weaker Sami identities. The language, Sami cooking and Sami handicrafts, such as leather processing, frock sewing and ribbon weaving are key elements in identity work. For Sami who have moved from the Sami villages, transmission of traditions becomes important, since they do not live in the midst of Sami everyday life: the Sami identity needs active restoration on a continuous basis. Elderly people who accept this challenge feel that they are important to the Sami identity work of the younger generation. In this way, within this group the elderly are role models and co-creators of the Sami identity in a more intentional and goal-oriented manner than inhabitants of Sami villages who are busy, as Sami, performing their everyday work.

The struggle for decolonization Inga, whom I mentioned earlier, is a well-known lecturer who is often invited to various cultural events to inform her listeners about the history and way of life of the forest Sami in the south of Sápmi. She has also tried to pass on this knowledge to her children and grandchildren, and she shows me a booklet she has created about the forest Sami, with text, photographs and drawings. Her grandchild is following in her grandmother’s footsteps, having protested about the fact that at her school they are learning about Native Americans of North America but not about Swedish indigenous people. To understand the huge importance of the Sami’s struggle for identity to Inga, one needs to know something about her experiences while growing up. Her commitment to the struggle has its background

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 in the stigma attached to Sami culture during her adolescence. The concept of stigma is derived from Erving Goffman (1972) and describes the brand marking that Sami experience when their lives and self-esteem are overshadowed by the disparaging attitude of “true Swedes”. Inga is driven by a longing to restore the Sami identity so despised during her upbringing. In her childhood, only her grandfather spoke Sami with the children. Her parents spoke only Swedish with them, hoping that they would be assimilated into Swedish society and avoid the racism to which they themselves had been exposed. Sami was the “secret language” spoken by parents when referring to matters which they did not want their children to understand. Both parents boarded in villages to attend Swedish Elderly Sami and quality of life 159 schools and were teased by the other children for being Sami. A particular episode recalled by her father is etched on Inga’s memory. When her father was 12 years old, his mother died. The funeral was held many miles from the village in which he was boarding. Since the weekend coincided with a major church festival, many farmers drove by in horse-drawn carts, but none stopped to pick up the boy heading to his mother’s funeral in a Sami frock. Inga comments as follows:

Nobody cared about where the Sami kid was headed. Can you believe how adults . . . and he was on his way to his mother’s funeral, but for him that was the worst thing about it – that nobody cared. Yes, it took a long time before he wore Sami clothes again, even though he was a reindeer herder his entire life.

This event had far-reaching consequences: Inga’s father opted out of wearing the Sami frock and speaking the language, and only after his retirement did he have the opportunity to become genuinely proud of his culture. Inga has often pondered how her grandfather felt when everything that he represented had to be hidden and forgotten. Inga was given the opportunity to study for a degree, which was uncommon for Sami girls in the 1940s. At school she learned about Swedish culture, which often clashed with Sami living conditions. Inga is ashamed to this day, she says, when she thinks about how she was taught to regard her origins through distanced, critical eyes. As a schoolchild, she learned how a “real” Christmas should be celebrated, when home interiors should be cleaned and polished before Christmas Eve. That was not exactly how Christmas Eve was celebrated at her home. Christmas was the time when the reindeer herd came by and her father, together with the other reindeer herders in the Sami village, took shelter in the farm’s three cottages. With only one room and a kitchen, the little cottage was crammed with “men and dogs and kids”:

There were backpacks with food that would be cooked on the wood stove, dogs to be fed, and hay to be dried for shoes; we only had one room and a kitchen and we children had to lie on the floor – we thought it was great fun!

One Christmas, Inga stumped up the courage to say to her mother, “I hope that the reindeer herders aren’t coming for Christmas! But then I was told: ‘They are welcome whenever they come’! . . . As I grew older, I even felt remorse about my

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 thoughts”! Throughout her adult life, Inga has struggled for the restoration of the Sami. The sense of alienation that plagued their childhoods has increased the need for ethnic affiliation among the elderly Sami I interviewed, and this becomes clear in their life stories.

Creative strategies for successful ageing Andrea Amft’s (2000) criticism of the researcher who points out the strong position of the elderly women in the Sami society is very severe, and she says that 160 Marianne Liliequist there is a myth about the elderly Sami women. However, it seems as if Amft thinks that myth is the same as something false, but a myth is something much more complicated, I think. A myth tells you something about reality and a myth does something. A myth can be used in a strategy for ethno-political mobilization and feministic struggle as strategical essentialism. The myth about the elderly Sami women is used by most of my participants as a symbol of Sami identity in the struggle for decolonization. This is exemplified by Kajsa, Aina and Elin. Inga doesn’t emphasise the elderly Sami woman especially, but she uses strategical essentialism by upgrading the earlier so despised forest Sami culture. As Maria Carbin and Sofie Tornhill (2004) have stressed, in the intersectional analysis you have to look at each specific situation in its historical and social context, and this is the light in which Sigrid’s approach should be seen. She doesn’t emphasise the Sami and neither the elderly Sami women. Although she sees her mother as inspiring herself to become a feminist and the elderly women in her family as strong and authoritative, while the men are portrayed as more peaceful and gentle, she doesn’t emphasise the Sami woman in general as especially strong or equal. She is involved in a feminist organization where most of the members are not Sami. One way of explaining the difference between her and Aina’s and Elin’s approach could be that she spends more time with her relatives and that maybe there is less room for idealization in the everyday life of the Sami village. Sigrid also hasn’t experienced the inner colonization that Inga has been through and for this reason she might not have the same need to re-establish the Sami. Kajsa often refers to the past, to the traditional Sami way of life. It is the lifestyle of the past that she puts in contrast to Western destructive materialism. Kajsa’s perception of the strong position of the women in Sami society is partly taken from myths and partly from her own experience. As a musician in Swedish society she has experienced how much harder it is for women to get ahead, while her experience of reindeer herding society is that the women are often expected to make the financial decisions. Inga emphasises ethnicity, the culture of forest Sami, while gender doesn’t appear in her story. Her experience of inner colonization meant that she made it her life’s task to re-establish the Sami and through this free herself from shame. The forest Sami have been most exposed to swedifaction since they have lived so close to the majority society. Mountain Sami and Sami in the north of Sweden have also been forced to assimilate, but they haven’t lived under the same pressure from the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 majority population. The explanation for the gender order not being mentioned in her life story could be that she hasn’t perceived herself as being oppressed as a woman. She was the first in her family who had the opportunity to study, and she was never teased in school like, for instance, her younger brother was. Most of my younger participants have expressed a need for the elderly to medi- ate the Sami culture. To assume the role as transmitter of knowledge has meant that the elderly feel needed. As recorded in my material, two dominant creative strategies can be observed among the elderly Sami of today: strategies aimed at attaining a feeling of participation and continuity in life and a desire to feel valued while remaining as independent as possible. Practiced by the elderly who Elderly Sami and quality of life 161 still live among their relatives in Sami villages, the first strategy involves active participation in reindeer herding for as long as possible. Reindeer herding offers a lifestyle which, for everyone in Sami villages, symbolises the good life. The other strategy, which is also available to elderly Sami who live outside the reindeer herding culture, involves highlighting their roles as creators of the Sami identity for the younger generation. Rehabilitation of the Sami identity creates a feeling of meaning and continuity and forges a sense of solidarity with younger Sami who are seeking to regain contact with their roots. As a person grows older, the gender order is often renegotiated. Until 1971, Sami women formally played a subordinate role in the Sami village and the rest of society, although they exercised considerable informal power in the family and Sami society. My material suggests that their status grew as they became older (cf. Aléx, 2007). Men and women participate side by side in reindeer herding in cases where it is continued for as long as possible into old age. Men’s former position as the Sami village’s sole decision-makers on reindeer herding loses its importance among the elderly, placing the women on a more equal footing through their significance as creators of identity. Based on their experience of life, elderly Sami women have always played a central role in Sami family networks and have gathered knowledge on their people’s language, handicrafts, food and oral history. They have also gathered knowledge on their family and its inter-family relationships (cf. Amft, 2000, p. 23). These issues have become increasingly important identity markers in the struggle to recover the Sami identity, leading to the further strengthening of the social position of elderly Sami women.

Notes 1 The following lists the age and personal details of the 15 interviewees, in no particular order: • Twenty-three-year-old student from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Twenty-seven-year-old student from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Twenty-seven-year-old shop assistant from a reindeer herding family, forest Sami. • Twenty-nine-year-old teacher married to a reindeer herder, mountain Sami. • Thirty-year-old teacher from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Thirty-two-year-old nurse from a reindeer herding family, forest Sami. • Thirty-five-year-old teacher from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Thirty-six-year-old daycare centre worker married to a reindeer herder, mountain Sami. • Sixty-three-year-old musician from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Sixty-five-year-old nurse from a reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Sixty-seven-year-old politician from a mountain Sami family.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 • Seventy-year-old reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Seventy-two-year-old reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. • Seventy-five-year-old former teacher from a reindeer herding family, forest Sami. • Eighty-year-old reindeer herding family, mountain Sami. The anonymity of the participants is protected.

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Eija Jumisko

Introduction Supporting elderly people’s ability to live at home is a central goal in social and health policy in Finland. In addition, most elderly people want to live in their homes for as long as possible. Homecare comprises home services, which include support services, and home nursing, which includes rehabilitation (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, 2013:19, pp. 21, 36–37, 62). The major part of homecare is delivered by publicly owned primary health-care centers, social care organizations, or joint health and social centers. In addition, these institutions also control the major part of the private provision of homecare through purchases and monitoring of the quality of care (Paljärvi et al., 2011). The content of homecare has considerably changed in the last few decades. Today the focus is more on home nursing and the homecare resources are targeted at most on frail and dependent elderly people, especially those who live alone (Paljärvi, 2012, pp. 13–14, 32–36, 102). Homecare consists of temporary and regular homecare. Temporary homecare is provided to people with an interim need of service, e.g., after surgery. Regular homecare refers to continuous care. According to Morgan and Yoder (2012), person-centered care is a holistic approach to the delivery of care that is respectful and individualized, allows negotiation of care, and offers choice through a therapeutic empowering relationship. Depending on the context in which care is provided, the word “person” is interchangeably used with the patient, client, or resident (pp. 7–8). In homecare, client-centered care is often used to describe the person centeredness of the care provided. Client-centered homecare is in line with the concept of client orien- Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 tation, which the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities (2013:19) use in their quality recommendation to guarantee a good quality of life and improved services for elderly people. Client orientation “refers to examining and categorizing service activities from the perspective of the client receiving the service. The activities of a client-oriented organization are planned with a focus on the needs and resources of the client receiving the services. The client is involved in assessing the service needs, planning and implementing the service, and evaluating the effectiveness Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 165 and quality of the service. The client’s possibility of making choices is a part of client orientation” (2013:19, p. 60). Client-centered care has been a goal in Finnish social and health care for many decades. However, it is still not always a reality in old people care. Many studies conducted in different contexts have shown that elderly people and their close relatives do not always receive the care they need. For instance, they have experienced receiving insulting treatment from professionals (e.g., Hertzberg & Ekman, 1996; Hertzberg and Ekman, 2000; Klemola 2006; Berglund, 2007; Saarnio, Mustonen and Isola, 2011; Järnström, 2011; Bailie, Cox and Merrit, 2012). The barriers to developing client-centered care are the vagueness of the concept and professionals’ differing ways of understanding it (Gillespie, Florin and Gillam 2004; Gachoud et al., 2012). Organizations may describe their service as being client centered without the necessary cultural shift to make it a reality. Resource constraints and professionals’ knowledge, attitude, and personal qualities can be barriers to implementing client-centered care (Mead and Bower, 2000; Kirkley et al., 2011). Managers with superficial understanding of client-centered care are challenged in identifying the areas for development beyond increased resources (Kirkley et al., 2011). Most of the elderly people who receive homecare in Finland are 75 years and older. An increasing number are afflicted with a type of memory difficulty. There- fore, they need professionals who have in-depth understanding of the meaning of client-centered homecare and who work in a client-centered manner.

Aim of the study The aim of this study was to describe and analyze elderly homecare recipients’ experiences of homecare: the meaning of homecare in their lives, the content and adequacy of homecare, their involvement in the planning and decision making of their homecare, interactions with homecare staff, expectations and satisfaction with homecare, and proposals for development. This study also aimed to identify and reflect on the aspects that support or challenge client-centered care. In this study, homecare refers to the combination of home nursing and home services. Home nursing refers to primary health-care outpatient services (e.g., medications, measurements, health counseling). Home services refer to supporting the person in need of homecare in terms of basic needs (e.g., bathing, eating) and support services (e.g., meal service, transportation). Client-centered care refers to client orientation and person centeredness in homecare. Homecare is

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 planned and performed according to the needs and expectations of the client, who is the old person in need of homecare. The old person is encountered with respect, is listened to, and is confirmed as a unique person.

Method This study is a part of a qualitative inquiry performed in the IkäEhyt project (Supporting Elderly People’s Well-Being and Coping) in northern Finland. The overall aim of the inquiry was to describe and analyze experiences in and opinions on homecare from the perspectives of elderly homecare recipients, their 166 Eija Jumisko carers, and homecare managers. The data were collected through observations and tape-recorded homecare visits. Elderly homecare recipients, their carers, and homecare managers were also interviewed. This study describes the results from the analyses of the interviews with elderly homecare recipients. The author of this study collected the data and performed the analysis. The other data collected in the IkäEhyt project are presented in other papers.

Participants and procedures Four men and three women participated in the study. The interviewees’ ages ranged from 72 to 89 years. Three of the participants were from 72 to 75 years old and four were from 82 to 89 years. Three participants received homecare for approximately one year, three participants from four to five years, and one participant for approximately ten years. The participants needed one to four homecare visits/day (mean = 3). They lived alone or with a spouse in different areas in a small rural municipality (4,000 inhabitants) in northern Finland. For the criteria for participation, the old person should be receiving regular homecare and had the capacity, interest, and desire to narrate his or her experiences. Homecare staff recruited the interviewees. All participants gave informed consent. They were given a guarantee of confidentiality and anonymity in the reporting of the findings. The local committee for social and health services in the municipality approved the study.

Data collection The data were collected in two focus group interviews. The author and two students from a program for elderly care at a university of applied sciences served as the moderators. Focus group is a useful method to explore people’s knowledge, experiences, attitudes and opinions, specifically what they think, how they think, and why they think that way. Focus groups can encourage contributions from people who may be reluctant to be interviewed alone or who feel that they have nothing to say. Depending on the purpose of the study, the ideal group size is from 4 to 12 people. The method is a fast and economic way to simultaneously collect data from several people (Kitzinger, 1995; Polit and Beck, 2012, pp. 537–538). The moderators’ role is to facilitate a trustworthy, relaxed, and non-threatening

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 atmosphere, engage all participants in the discussion, and ensure that all relevant issues are covered in as much depth as possible. Furthermore, the neutrality of moderators is important (McLafferty, 2004; Polit and Beck, 2012, p. 538). The interview guide had the following themes: the meaning of homecare in the elderly individuals’ lives, the content and adequacy of homecare, their involvement in planning their own care and in decision making, interactions with homecare staff, expectations and satisfaction with homecare, and proposals for development. Clarifying questions were asked, such as the following: Can you give an example? Have you done that? What do you think? Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 167 The interviews were conducted in a quiet and comfortable room for two con- secutive days in the spring of 2012. The groups consisted of four and three participants on the first and second days, respectively. The participants were provided taxi transportation to the interview location at the center of the municipality. Before the interviews commenced, the moderators and participants enjoyed coffee with coffee bread and were introduced to one another. The participants seemingly knew one another in some way because they have been living in the same municipality for a long time. The moderators repeated the information about the study and its ethical considerations. Both interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Each interview lasted for approximately an hour.

Data analysis The data were analyzed with inductive content analysis that is well suited to the analysis of data on the multifaceted and sensitive characteristics of the caring phenomenon (Elo and Kyngäs, 2008). The objective is to understand the manifest and latent content of the data (Sandelowski, 2000). The process of inductive content analysis includes open coding, development of categories, and abstract- ing (Elo and Kyngäs, 2008). Abstraction means descriptions and interpretations on a higher logical level than the original interview text (Graneheim and Lund- man, 2004). However, the researcher stays close to the data moving back and forth between the whole and parts of the texts (Burnard, 1991; 1996; Graneheim and Lundman, 2004). The analysis started with the reading of texts several times to get a sense of the entire content and become immersed in the data. Notes and headings regarding the topics discussed in the interviews were made while the texts were read (e.g., satisfaction in care, characteristics of the staff, carers being always in a hurry, desires). The texts were read through again, and headings about the content areas that could be differentiated and excluded from the text were collected on coding sheets. Describing all aspects of the content, specifically excluding “dross,” was important. The categories were freely generated at this stage. Next, the list of categories was worked through several times, and categories were grouped under high-order headings according to similarities and differences in content. Doing so helped decrease the number of categories. The interview texts were then re-read alongside the final list of categories to ensure that these categories covered all aspects of the interviews. Adjustments were made as necessary. Categories were

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 named with the use of content characteristics words (cf. Burnard, 1991; 1996; Elo and Kyngäs, 2008). During the entire process, aspects that supported or challenged client-centered care were identified and reflected on.

Limitations of the study The methods chosen to collect data and analyze them were relevant for the purposes of this study. The focus group interviews helped obtain good data. However, the individual interviews that involved questions on unsatisfactory homecare experiences 168 Eija Jumisko could have provided additional data. Discussing these experiences seemed to be a sensitive issue for the participants. Polit and Beck (2012, p. 538) indicate that some people are uncomfortable expressing their views in front of a group. Another risk is that “group think” occurs. The moderators were aware of these risks and attempted to create a permissive atmosphere for the expression of all viewpoints in both interviews. The homecare staff recruited the participants according to the criteria for participation. One of the participants seemed to have memory difficulties, and she sometimes interrupted the interview with comments that were not pertinent to the discussion. The moderators’ role was to direct the interview according to the purpose of the study and without insulting the participants. The analysis was performed by the author and discussed in general with other researchers in the area. The study was based on interviews with people and on Western literature.

Findings The findings were described with the use of four categories: receiving homecare becomes a familiar part of daily life, encountering friendly carers with a genuine desire to help, having an undertone, being grateful and trusting that they will always receive help from somewhere.

Receiving homecare becomes a familiar part of daily life The participants said that homecare was very important for their ability to live at home; it was a necessity when one’s own health has declined. They emphasized that carers should do their work without the participants needing to advise and guide them all the time. The participants described various tasks that the carers performed. Most of these tasks were related to the participants’ physical needs, such as helping them wash themselves, making food, performing laboratory tests and other measurements, or light cleaning of the house. The participants said that they felt good whenever their carers had time to converse with them and help them get out. It was comfortable and important to meet carers who knew participants, their needs, and other family members. The participants also mentioned that knowledge of the carers about the “place” was also necessary. The participants encountered different carers in a day, some of whom they had never met before. This issue was not considered by the participants as a major problem, but they empha-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 sized that new carers should know what to do. Encountering new personnel was described as both a pleasure and a necessity. The participants also understood that having the same carers all the time was impossible because of the carers’ different shifts. The participants enjoyed meeting new people, and they strived to get to know and become familiar with every carer who came to their home:

Interviewer 1: . . . what if there comes someone totally strange, some substitute whom you do not know? How does it go then? Participant C: (laughs) He/she comes, and that’s it. There’s nothing extraordinary. Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 169 Interviewer 1: So. Participant C: You must accept him/her even if he/she’s a stranger or had never visited me. Participant B: No one strange ever comes. I know everyone (laughs). Participant C: You are local and were born here. Participant B: And if someone strange comes? Participant C: So then you. Participant B: He/she leaves me as familiar (laughs together with the other participants). (Interview 1)

It may be that the participants’ effort to get to know every carer who entered their home enhanced the possibility that they can regain power over their home and daily life, as well as feel comfortable and safe in a situation where they are not free to choose their own carers. In addition, this supported their feeling of dignity. Studies (Lindahl, Liden and Lindblad, 2009; Öresland et al., 2009) show that homecare recipients want to safeguard the ownership of their private homes as their own territory, although they are sometimes forced to adjust to carers’ routines. Gillsjö, Schwartz-Barcott, and von Post (2011) state that the home is one’s stronghold and place of freedom. Home is where elderly people feel comfortable being themselves and where they feel safe and free to choose who to welcome into their home. This feeling helps preserve and maintain their dignity (pp. 1, 5–10). Elderly people are afraid of situations where they cannot express their needs and are among strangers who do not know them and their life history. Being treated without dignity means failure to be seen as a unique person and to relate to persons one knows (Harrefors, Sävenstedt and Axelsson, 2009). Experiences in receiving homecare varied. One participant said that he was forced to fight for his right to receive homecare. Another said that he has been a recipient of homecare in his family for about 20 years already since his parents and his wife needed it. After his wife died, the homecare visits continued. The participant even described how he peeled potatoes and made them ready so that his carers can cook fish soup for him. He was grateful for the homecare visits that broke the silence and loneliness of his day. He lightly laughed and said,

You can’t stop (homecare) once you start with it . . . you must have it even if you don’t want it . . . and I haven’t broken the relationship; it’s the same if they come . . . when I’m alone, it’s nice that there’s someone I can talk to.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 (Interview 2)

Encountering friendly carers with a genuine desire to help The participants said that they trusted the staff and even those they have not met before. Carers visited the participants as agreed and often even called them before the visit. Carers were described as friendly, hardworking, and willing to help. The participants appreciated that the carers were in good humor, asked how they felt, and immediately reacted to their needs, e.g., by organizing an appointment with 170 Eija Jumisko the doctor. This finding is in line with that of other studies. Homecare recipients appreciate a carer who is cheerful, calm, and talkative, as well as someone who really cares for them and is always present. Carers are described as friendly, reliable, and skilled (Andersson, Haverinen, and Malin, 2004), and their good mood is experienced as supportive and stimulating (Öresland et al., 2009). Öresland et al. (2009, p. 224) state that homecare recipients want to control their own independence as much as possible, and this includes their need for a ‘breathing space’, a zone where they can be private and take a break from being a ‘patient’. In this space, they want to be treated as an equal in the relationship and discuss matters not related to care. In this study, the participants described that they enjoyed talking about various things with their carers and not just about themes concerning health and illness. One participant said,

A friendly worker should in no way be in bad temper. . . . appropriate and like now when you have had them for a long time, you get to know each other, and we talk my matters and their home matters, so their visit is really enjoyable. (Interview 1)

In this study, many of the carers were much younger than the participants, but this did not pose a problem as long as the carers appropriately dealt with the elderly people. The participants expressed that not all staff have the same attitude toward work. Some carers helped the participants more carefully and in-depth, e.g., gave a thorough massage, changed the curtains and swept snow from the steps while others routinely performed only the most essential tasks.

Participant C: There are also those who want to help; they really have a natural desire to help. Participant B: Yes. Participant C: And then there are those who don't have that natural desire to help. Participant B: Yes, you talk right. Participant C: Yes, I think so that I talk near the right thing (laughs). Interviewer 1: How do you see that kind of a carer, who does not have a desire to help? Participant C: (talks with laugh) They help by necessity, as they must, but

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 of course we all have that also, that we don't have a will to help in that way, really really from the bottom of our heart. (Interview 1)

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities emphasize a comprehensive and continuous assessment of individuals’ service needs (2013:19, pp. 26–27). Performing the most essential tasks must be according to the service plan that is planned together with the homecare recipient and, if needed, also together with his/ Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 171 her close relatives. However, carers’ ways of doing their work vary, and carers who want to help the participants in depth show an attitude that support client-centered homecare. McCormack (2005) expresses that professional caring involves not just providing care in a routine and task-oriented manner. It includes emotional involvement, self-awareness, and the purposeful use of the self as an instrument. Carers were described as often in a hurry. The participants understood this because “there are so many old people the carers must take care of, and anything can happen during the day.” The carers expressed that sometimes emergency situations come up and this was the reason for their hurry. The participants said that more carers are needed.

Having an undertone The participants had different experiences of participation in planning and decision making concerning their care. They described examples of participating in meetings where they planned their care together with their close relatives and homecare staff. However, some participants said that they were asked about their needs and opinions, but the decision was made only by their close relatives and the homecare staff. Some participants expressed that they did not plan their care and services with anyone. The participants were seemingly cautious in giving negative feedback to carers. The participants experienced having carers who appreciated their feedback and took it seriously. However, the participants also said that they sometimes chose not to say anything if they experienced care that was not thorough and good as they expected it to be. They felt that criticizing the carers who tried to do their best was improper and not good. Instead, giving negative feedback conveyed in humor was easier for the participants than directly expressing it. One participant mentioned that he talked about negative care experiences with trustworthy, older carers who in turn took care of the follow-up processing of the feedback. For the participants, this was better to do rather than upsetting carers. Although the participants mentioned negative aspects in homecare quality, they were also quick to add and emphasize to the interviewers the good aspects of the care. The participants’ own experiences of receiving negative feedback also affected their willingness to give feedback:

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Participant A: if that happens now when these new come you just say to these older . . . I said about one thing . . . and she said that she brings it up when they have these meetings and I said that don’t tell that . . . I said that it is not good if you say who said it . . . she just said that she brings it up that she [another carer] must also clean . . . she left then even though that I said that I cleaned myself and there was not so much to clean in the toilet, but she asked if she [another carer] went to toilet, and said that “Oh my goodness,” it is, it must be done, and she brings it up and I said that don’t tell them . . . it results in bad pout, that I have criticized them. 172 Eija Jumisko Participant B: Yes, it is not good to criticize. Participant A: No. Participant B: And you don’t need to criticize them. Participant A: No. Participant B: They do their work, so . . . Participant A: Yes, I mean that you don’t have to criticize. Participant B: No. Participant A: I also worked before, so I know that if I’m criticized, I’ll be hurt (laughs). Participant B: Yes (laughs). (Interview 2)

In the study of Öresland et al. (2009), homecare recipients emphasized their participation in their own care. Involvements in decisions and to be respected for one’s opinions are crucial even if the participants often choose to hand over all the decisions to their carers or were excluded from these decisions. In some situations, the participants were resigned because they did not want to quarrel with the carers (pp. 223–225). Being involved in decisions in one’s own care, to be respected for one’s opinions, and to be able to discuss matters concerning one’s own life without fear or anxiety are essential parts of genuine client centeredness (Gillespie, Florin, and Gillam, 2004; Finfgeld-Connett, 2006; Morgan and Yoder, 2012). These principles are also upheld in several laws, regulations, and recommendations that guide social and health care in Finland.

Being grateful and trusting that they will always receive help from somewhere Overall, the participants were pleased with homecare, and they said that they did not require more. They compared the services they have to the past when old, “senile persons” were left alone, excluded from society, and were forced to take care of themselves. They were afraid of inferior services in the future and hoped that the current standards will be maintained. The participants were also worried about lonely, old persons and pointed out that society should not forget these elderly individuals who have paid their taxes. They only wished for more help with cleaning their houses and cooking. One participant said that the carers should be there at the “right time,” e.g., every time she needs help with getting her trousers up. However, she accepted reality because she had no choice: Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 You can’t get help when you need it. You must manage it in some way. You must get the trousers up, you can’t develop it, and you can’t change the times in homecare, because there are so many who need the same. (Interview 1)

Every participant seemed to have some nearby person, e.g., his or her child, grandchild, neighbor, or friend from whom he or she received help with the tasks homecare cannot do. They said that they could always get help from somewhere. Participants said that they were informed about opportunities of getting help Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 173 from enterprises and other organizations. Some of these alternatives were experienced as expensive and therefore impossible to use.

Discussion The participants described many aspects that support client centeredness in homecare. Overall, they were pleased with the content of the care they received, and they deal with friendly and reliable carers with a genuine desire to help them in their daily lives. This finding is in line with that of other studies; elderly people are generally pleased with homecare despite the many changes in the area in the last few decades and regardless of the way homecare is organized (Tepponen, 2009, p. 37; Paljärvi, 2012, p. 85). The homecare setting in this study demonstrated elements of a supportive care setting as described by Edvardsson, Sandman, and Rasmussen (2005) who examined data from different settings (hospice, geriatric care, acute medical care) and participants. A supportive care setting involves the possibility of creating and maintaining social relations. The person in need of care can follow his or her own “rhythm” and is seen, acknowledged, and cared about. Experiencing safety includes understanding what is happening and being in safe hands. This requirement means getting honest answers and actions, as well as being able to trust that one will receive help without delay. In this study, the participants can follow their own rhythm because they still lived in their own home. They experienced safety because they were cared for, and they can trust that they will get the help they need. They also met carers who efficiently and patiently helped them and did things that other carers never did and without the participants needing to ask. Edvardsson, Sandman, and Rasmussen (2005) indicate that experiencing willingness to serve in the environment is one part of a supportive care setting. It includes doing a little extra and receiving a little extra, added thoughtfulness and concern, the individual attitude of not merely caring for another (carrying task and routines) but also caring about others. Receiving a little extra is being offered something without having to ask and without demands for giving something in return or feeling of being a burden. The physical environment can convey messages of caring/uncaring, life and death, the home-like, and the institution-like (pp. 344–351). The participants depended on homecare and were forced to accept its organizational and institution-like rules. These rules did not always have qualifications that supported the participants’ own rhythm of daily life. The

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 participants encountered different carers, some of whom they have never met before. Carers were usually in a hurry and not available at all times that the participants needed help. Furthermore, the participants did not always have the opportunity to be active and equal partners in planning and making decisions about their own care. They were also cautious in criticizing the care they receive because they did not want to upset their carers. This study was conducted in a small municipality where the carers and homecare recipients usually know each other and each other’s family relationships outside the caring relationship. This closeness includes the risk 174 Eija Jumisko that the elderly homecare recipients and the carers assume that they know and understand each other more than they actually do. This set-up may also be one reason for the participants’ hesitation in criticizing the care they receive. How- ever, client-centered care is not realized in an ideal manner if elderly individuals’ autonomy, their strengths, and their right to be included in decisions about their care are not completely implemented. Lindahl et al. (2009) emphasize that devaluing homecare recipients’ knowledge and opinions is an exercise of institutional power. The phenomenon of professional friendship and the question of power among carers, clients, and close relatives must be addressed and reflected in homecare settings. Kivelä and Vaapio (2011, pp. 209–210) argue that communication and interaction problems and a lack of discussion among professionals, clients, and their close relatives are too common in old people care. They express that the professionals involved in the care of old people should have the will to face concerns related to the services they provide without needing to hide behind their professional roles. This requirement includes the ability to receive criticism. The participants trusted that they will always receive help from somewhere. Knowing who to contact to receive formal help from professionals or informal help from other people is relatively easy in a small municipality. The participants were grateful for the help they received, especially when they compared how elderly people were treated in the past. They understood and accepted the reality that they cannot receive the ideal homecare they desire. Juvani, Isola, and Kyngäs (2006) argue that people who have experienced war and periods of shortage of goods value resilience and satisfaction with the present time and have difficulty asking for help. Being critical and complaining about care is not good, especially when one depends on it, so one should just be grateful for receiving it (Andersson, Haverinen and Malin, 2004; Paljärvi, 2012, p. 99). Complaining is seen as inappropriate and threatens one’s dignity and possibilities for receiving help (Andersson, Haverinen, and Malin, 2004). The findings in this study show that the idea of client-centered care must be clearly articulated in homecare. Carers and managers should take time to reflect on what the concept of client-centered care really means in their practice and encounter with homecare recipients and their close relatives. This task includes reflecting on important values in care and how these values are implemented in daily practice. Elderly people’s possibilities to be active and equal partners in these discussions and development of care are crucial for the genuine development of client-centered care. Kirkley et al. (2011) and Morgan and Yoder (2012)

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 emphasize the importance of leadership style and managers’ knowledge, attitude, and skills. Managers should value and support staff, manage risks, and lead their organization to adopt a solution-based approach and a flexible culture in which experimentation is encouraged. The educators of social and health professionals should also reflect on how they support their students in understanding client centeredness. Does this comprise the teaching of communication and interaction skills only? These skills are crucial components of client-centered care, but they do not represent the entirety of it. For instance, at what level are the questions of power and shared decision Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 175 making reflected on (cf. Gillespie, Florin and Gillam, 2004; Lindahl, Liden, and Lindblad, 2009)? Furthermore, genuine client-centered care is impossible without carers’ ability to deeply understand the meaning of living daily life with illness or disability and depending on care. Understanding the meaning of being a close relative to a person with an illness or disability is also crucial. Are these themes addressed enough in curriculums, or are curriculums, especially those for health-care professionals, still guided too much by the medical perspective and disease treatment?

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Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Paljärvi, S. (2012) Muuttuva kotihoito. 15 vuoden seurantatutkimus Kuopion kotihoidon organisoinnista, sisällöstä ja laadusta [Homecare in change. A 15-year follow-up study in the organisation, content and quality of homecare in the City of Kuopio] PhD thesis Dissertations in Social Sciences and Business Studies, University of Eastern Finland, pp. 5–13, 32–36, 85–99. Paljärvi, S., Rissanen, S., Sinkkonen, S. and Paljärvi, L. (2011) ‘What happens to quality in integrated homecare? A 15-year follow-up study’, International Journal of Integrated Care, 11, pp. 1–14. Polit, D. F. and Beck, C. T. (2012) Nursing Research. Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice, 9th edition. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Elderly homecare recipients’ experiences 177 Saarnio, R., Mustonen, U. and Isola, A. (2011) ‘Dementoituvan vanhuksen haasteellinen käyttäytyminen laitoshoidossa: esiintymismuodot, yleisyys ja hoitajien toimintatavat’, [Challenging behaviour in the elderly with dementing illness in institutional care: Forms of challenging behaviour, frequency of challenging behaviour and nursing staff’s modes of action], Hoitotiede, 23(1), pp. 46–56. Sandelowski, M. (2000) ‘Whatever happened to qualitative description’, Research in Nurs- ing & Health, 23, pp. 334–340. Tepponen, M. (2009) Kotihoidon integrointi ja laatu [Integration and quality of home care] PhD thesis Faculty of Social Sciences, Kuopio University, p. 37. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Part IV Local traditions of Arctic communities Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 10 “Wanting Greenlandic food” A story of food, health, and illness in the life of an elderly Greenlandic woman

Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke

Introduction In this chapter, we wish to draw attention to a tradition within critical medical anthropology that relies on the notion of social suffering in analyses of public health. The experience of suffering brings into a single space an assemblage of human problems that have their origins and consequences in injuries that social forces have inflicted on human life. Social suffering is an intended or unintended result of political, economic, and institutional powers (cf. Kleinman et al., 1997). An important aspect of this violence is what the medical doctor, anthropologist, and health activist Paul Farmer – borrowing from Johan Galtung – coined “structural violence” (2004). A central aspect is the erasure of history, personal biographies, and individual voices through social processes. At the heart of this are social inequalities, which are routinely experienced by people marginalized by racism, gender inequality, religion, age, and other such criteria. In several studies dealing with poor and disenfranchised women, the anthropologist Veena Das focused on what she coined ‘critical events’ in order to think about violence and how it affects everyday life (Das, 1995a; Das, 2007). Instead of asking how we should look at and logically grasp violence, Das places the emphasis on asking “Who hears this voice?” In a world where so much suffering is silenced, Das refers to the social scientist as an expert witness who has a moral obligation to let these voices be heard. She states: “When we listen sensitively and let stories happen to us, this will in turn affect the way we present our ethnography” (Das, 1995b, 166). In this chapter, we aim to show how sensitive listening to a personal food biography adds to our awareness of the health and illness experiences of an elderly Greenlandic woman Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 we have called Sara. We will argue that sensitive listening will open up for an understanding of how adverse events are inscribed in the body in ways that shape a social hierarchy, which again regulates access to local food delicacies. Furthermore, Sara’s story also reveals how embodied memories of food can be expressions of belonging as well as alienation and loss in a changing Greenlan- dic society. Lastly we will argue that researchers as listeners become part of a moral community of expert witnesses, which obliges us to let the voices of our interlocutors be heard. 182 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke Our focus is on access to valued local food. We start by outlining some critical events in Greenland and the Arctic in general that have impacted our informants’ health and wellbeing. We will then elaborate on sensitive listening in ethnographic interviews before we present our case, where Sara’s food biography is presented. Finally, we apply two theories of pain to uncover what lies hidden in Sara’s low-key narrative. A key point we argue is that sensitive listening is needed in order to give voice to victims of structural violence so that their pain may be experienced by others (cf. Das, 1995a: 195f.). We claim that this kind of ‘story telling’, which gives voice to subaltern experiences of global processes that often stay hidden and unexplored, creates much-needed moral communities.

Critical events in Greenland Kalaallit Nunaat ‘Land of the Greenlanders’ is the Inuit name for Greenland. Kalaallit is the collective name of Greenland’s indigenous people who are Inuit. The Greenlandic food, called kalaalimerngit, not only nourishes bodies but feeds souls (Cone, 2005). According to Inuit mythology, all non-human entities have souls (spiritual dimensions). As one of Marla Cone’s elder Greenlandic narrators told her: “Eating food that does not feed both the soul and the body makes ‘metabolism to go wrong’ ” (2005, p. 12). Many elderly Greenlanders express that both their bodies and souls are at stake when eating the imported industrial food or the ‘wrong food’. Originally, food in Greenland was considered the same as meat (neri). A number of Greenlandic terms are derived from neri: to eat is nerivoq and when dinner is ready one calls nerisassat, often shortened to neri. The word for table, nerrivik, actually means a place where one eats meat (Larsen and Old- enburg, 2000, p. 145). For many elder Greenlanders the local food – the meat – is a question of identity of “who am I?” Hence health and illness experiences of Greenlandic people are deeply related to Greenlandic food. Kalaalimerngit is about the sense of local belonging: the relation to the ocean, the land, the people, and everyday life. In general “kalaalimerngit” used to refer to food made from Greenlandic animals, but in everyday speech crowberries and other eatable plants harvested in Greenland are designated “local Greenlandic food” (Rybråten, 2006, p. 53). Cone maintains that the ocean is the food basket for the 57,000 Greenland- ers living on the island. In larger towns, such as Nuuk and Disko Bay, people eat about half as much seafood as the rest of the population because of access to

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 imported food options and the difficulty of buying the local seafood and meat at reasonable costs. In Greenland, food sharing used to be the most important access to local food and constituted an important expression of identity and local belonging. As the inland ice melts, a new Greenland is emerging. The process of top- ographical reshaping is coinciding with the emergence of a new Greenlandic nation that is redefining people’s relationship to place, environment, and one another (Nuttall, 2009, p. 297). Nuttall shows how climate change and nation building is interwoven. He says there is a redefinition of resources and rights to “Wanting Greenlandic food” 183 access them. Greenlandic food such as caribou, whales, seals, and fish – which have traditionally been subject to common-use rights vested in members of a local community – are becoming national and privately owned divisible commodities. The ways they are caught, used, and consumed are now subject to rational management regimes defined by the state and the interest group of hunters and fishers, rather than locally understood and worked-out rights, obligations, and practices. Today, hunting rights are vested in people as members of social and economic associations irrespective of a local belonging (2009, p. 308). In addition, a warmer climate brings opportunities for opening up the self-governing North Atlantic territory to mining and hydrocarbon extraction (Nuttall, 2009, p. 296). Nuttall illustrates how climate change means different things for different people. Some politicians see a warmer climate as a positive transformation, helping Greenland to become a modern nation (2009, p. 297). They are aspiring to remove Greenland from its current economic and political marginalization. For them, new industrialization translates to greater political and economic independence from Denmark. By contrast, other stakeholders draw attention to global consumption patterns and the globalization of leisure. This positions Greenlanders as victims of modernity and environmental change. This view coincides with the message from the Arctic Council’s Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), which views indigenous people unable to respond effectively to the environmental and social crises that Arctic meltdown will bring. In scientific assessments, the Arctic is often represented as both an environment of risk or at risk for indigenous peoples (2009, p. 305). As often pointed out in scientific research reports, Greenland is one of the places in the Arctic where contaminants end their global voyage. Therefore, the consumption of local food in indigenous communities is of high relevance for health (cf. T. Kue Young, 2012). In current research projects, the voice of indigenous women and their health, illness, and everyday experiences are notoriously absent. By contrast to the mechanistic scientific perspective, Nuttall calls attention to local Greenlandic examples grounded in everyday experiences. He emphasizes, from his long-term anthropological fieldwork in Greenland, that native Green- landic people interpret climate change not as an alteration to the external environment separate from themselves but as a change of personhood (2009, p. 298). Nuttall drives home the importance of grappling with the interplay of climatic, social, economic, and political processes when anthropologists work in indigenous communities confronting climate change (2009, p. 292). He states that

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 anthropology reminds us that our task is both epistemological and ontological in how we grapple with understanding what people know about the world, how they move within it, how they relate to it, how they think and feel about it, and what they say about it (2009, p. 293). Nuttall also emphasizes that a community’s ability to adapt to climate change has to do with its ancestral way of becoming one with the environment around them (Crate and Nuttall, 2009: 31); namely, the process of becoming as “the breath of life” and thus the reason things move and change. It is an all-pervading, life-giving force connecting a person with the rhythms of the universe and integrating the self with the natural world, thus 184 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke linking the individual and the environment.” (Nuttall, 2009, p. 299). It links the individual and the environment. A person who lacks “the breath of life” is said to be separated from an essential relationship with the environment that is necessary for human wellbeing (Nuttall, 2009, p. 299). Indigenous Greenlanders’ capacity to adapt to change is highly dependent on the strength of their sense of community, kinship, and close social associations. In a world of flux, uncertainty, and unpredictability, social relations are a source of constancy (Nuttall, 2009, p. 300). If a person breaks from networks of kin and social relationships, they are set adrift from the security of their social world. Loss of community is a threat to individual and social identity and, combined with loss of livelihood, exposes people to the impacts of climate change in a way that makes it difficult for them to respond effectively (if at all). To become a stranger in one’s own land does not happen solely because the environment has changed but also because political and social change threatens the social cohesion of community and endangers one’s livelihood; they separate one from fundamental relationships with people, animals, and place (Nuttall, 2009, p. 300). Access to local foods is a central aspect of these social changes. An acute awareness of changes in the natural environment is therefore a prerequisite for successful adaptation to change, not necessarily viewed in negative and nostalgic terms. Since much of this knowledge is embodied and implicit, it is important to pay attention not only to that which is spoken but also to how things are communicated, and the context in which they surface.

Sensitive listening in ethnographic interviews Through ethnographic interviews Das argues how critical events and everyday concerns are deeply connected in ways women often experience as an inability to maintain everyday domestic life (1995a). Throughout trying times, everyday tasks have to be performed. The intersection between the critical and the mundane is an important gateway to ethnographic insights, yet it is at this junction that social scientists often lose interest in what is at stake. The kind of work that needs to be done to maintain the everyday, and the ways in which the ordinary and the extraordinary are braided together are theoretically difficult to understand, she claims. Das underscores that to think about the ordinary can be an important methodological tool (cf., 2007). In order to gain insight into this field, Das pinpoints that there is a need to pay close attention to body language, how

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 people talk, the absence of talk, and the silent moments. Expanding on the topic, she draws on Wittgenstein and his private language argument, summarizing it by emphasizing that:

the statement “I am in pain” is not a declarative statement which seeks to describe a mental state; rather, it is a complaint. It is not a descriptive statement because the word “pain” comes to refer to the sensation of pain only by virtue of being a learnt, articulate expression of such unlearnt inarticulate expressions as whines, moans, etc. Although it is true that I might say “I am in pain” or make moaning and groaning sounds indicating behaviour under “Wanting Greenlandic food” 185 pain without in fact being in pain, or though I might conceal the fact that I am in pain, this does not make the relation between the expression of pain and the sensation of pain a contingent one. (Das, 1995a, p. 194)

What is at stake here is how we, as fellow humans, can have access to the pain of others. As Elaine Scarry forcefully argued: “ ‘having pain’ [. . .] is to ‘have certainty’ [. . .] ‘hearing about pain’ [. . .] is ‘to have doubt’ ” (Scarry, 1985, p. 4; cf. Wittgenstein, 1953, pp. 246 and 303). How, then, can we know the pain of others? To deal with the issue of doubt confronted with the suffering of others, Das distinguishes two aspects of pain: its communicability and its inalienability. Start- ing with the latter is to ask what it means to ‘have a pain’ (Das, 1995, Das 1995a, p. 194). Exploring the subject’s relation to his/her own pain, Wittgenstein concludes that we can only learn about our own pain through communication and identification. Receiving responses from significant others, we learn about our own pains (cf. Wittgenstein, 1953, pp. 288–293). Wittgenstein’s conclusion is that my pains are those to which I give expression, and we may indeed determine the pain to be located outside our own body (Wittgenstein, 1953, p. 302f.). The fact that my pain may be located in another’s body shows that there is no individual ownership of pain. Wittgenstein’s conclusion is that there are no private languages – even pain is social at the core. The need to give voice and expression to felt pain, is in fact the birth of culture (cf. Das, 1995b), and through the act of relating to the pain of others, we become witness to and collaborators in moral life (Das, 1995a, p. 194f.). Let us know turn to Sara’s story in order to illustrate the significance of this rather philosophical introduction. It constitutes a narrative primarily involving Sarah and Trine, the first author of the current article.

Sara’s story: being outside Nuuk is the capital and the largest city on the island and was the home of slightly more than 16,000 inhabitants at the time of the research described. Nuuk is presented in glossy tourist magazines and booklets as a modern city experiencing rapid growth and development and is an important Arctic hub. Tourism, communication, and IT technology are areas highlighted as being heavily invested

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 in. These and the extensive building activities and construction projects draw a large number of non-indigenous inhabitants to the city. The three hundred years colonial history has made Nuuk resemble a miniature suburb of Copenhagen. Many of the administrative workers and those in key positions came from Den- mark. Nowadays, Nuuk is a modern city with many migrant workers from Asia and other parts of the world. As a social anthropologist connected to the Arctic health research team at the University of Tromsø, Trine was conducting ethnographic interviews with indigenous women in Nuuk in 2008. The team had selected Greenland for a study concerning indigenous women, health, food habits, and adaption to the arctic 186 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke change. Towards the end of August, Trine was a participant in an Arctic health research conference in Nuuk. She stayed at the conference hotel in the centre of Nuuk. From the window at the top floor of the hotel, Trine had a marvellous view of the city centre and the surroundings of Nuuk. In the last days of August, the sun was shining from a clear blue sky and the splendid landscape with sea ice drifting by in the harbour was visible. The new and sparkling building constructions in the centre looked great. However, these did not catch her attention as much as the women selling crowberries (Empetium nigrum) at the pavement outside one of Nuuk’s biggest supermarket, Brugsen. It displayed fresh Greenlandic food and imported food from all over the world. The area was filled with noises and traffic day and night. Vehicles, cars, planes, and people were continuously moving. Tourists, conference participants, business people, construction workers, and locals were evident throughout the area. The only people not in constant movement were the women selling crowberries. They stayed in their fixed places from early morning to late afternoon. Sara, whose story we are presenting in this chapter, was one of them. Passing the local berry vendors daily, Trine became aware of Sara’s smiling face, and her attempt to converse with the busy passing pedestrians who seemed not to notice her expression. Trine introduced herself to Sara as an arctic health researcher who wanted to hear the food biographies of Greenlandic women. Sara showed interest in participating. Every time when Trine passed, Sara asked her in fluent Danish to taste her crowberries. She told about the uses of crowberries, her memories of the land, and her mother who was also a berry picker from Nuuk. Sara talked vividly about her life and the crowberries she was harvesting from the surroundings of Nuuk. Since being a very small girl, she had picked crowberries. Sara grew up in Nuuk with her Greenlandic mother in the 1950s. As many other children in Greenland at that time, she had never met her Danish father. Sara talked with enthusiasm of the berry picking in Nuuk.

Sara: I am very happy when I am outside picking crowberries. I feel like I’m alive in summer when I pick crowberries.

Sara said she had spent every single day this summer picking crowberries. The last few years she had picked thousands of litres from the surrounding areas, filling many freezers. From her mother she learned how to use crowberries to prepare fish, cakes, and juice.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 One day the weather changed. It was raining and a cold wind swept over Nuuk, and the berry sellers were standing at their usual place outside Brugsen Supermar- ket. Trine recognized Sara and her very thin and slow moving body. Sara told her the cold wind felt like painful knifes in her body and made her move sluggishly. Trine asked Sara if it was possible for her to sell the berries inside at the supermarket on cold days. She answered that she does not enter “the Danish world” and stated:

I have been outside, and never entered that door. I don’t visit the expensive supermarket, and I have never been to a restaurant. “Wanting Greenlandic food” 187 The food prices had increased dramatically, and Sara could not afford to buy the Greenlandic meat and seafood at the expensive supermarkets. Sara added that she had not been out of Nuuk because of the high transportation costs. One day Sara said she would tell her story to Trine as an arctic health researcher. Sara invited her home to “kaffimik”, a social gathering over coffee and cake. They met in the apartment block, in the flat of her ‘ex-man’. Sara had moved out from her ex-man about ten years earlier, into a simple single room in another apartment bloc in the same area. Sara indicated that she still came regularly to his flat to do housework, where she had done the everyday work of cleaning, cooking, and socializing. Yet Sara claimed that she did not regularly share meals with her ex-husband. When Trine entered, Sara was cleaning. The floors were still wet. Sara regularly put her hand on her lower back, and she moved very slowly, as if in heavy pain. Trine was told to sit down by the dining table. Sara had made the cake for the kaffimik and filled the cake with crowberries and vanilla custard. Subse- quently, her daughter had decorated it with strawberries. Sara repeatedly talked about that as a failure. Her daughter should have decorated the cake with crowberries from Greenland, she said. Trine, as her guest, had to cut the cake. Sara sat herself in the sofa and placed a bottle of beer carefully in front of her at the table. When she opened the beer, it was as if she had un-bottled memories. She instantly started telling about a critical event from her youth that had changed her life. The detailed memories from her youth displayed a profound experience of being an outsider, excluded from what she called the ‘Danish world’.

Sara: When I was 15 years old I worked in a kitchen in Nuuk. It was my job to lift a heavy pot. I bent down and lifted that heavy thing and at the same moment I heard my back break. The heavy pain remained, and I could not continue working. I went to see the doctor. The doctor told it was nothing to do, but I got pills.

Sara’s hands were placed on her lower back. She whispered about that moment when she heard her back crack. From that moment her life changed. She told about the doctors she had met over a generation. Her experience was that they never invited her to talk or talked with her – they spoke to her and supplied her with medication. She told that she needed the pills and the bottles of beer to survive the pain. Some strong Danish words described the heavy pain she had suffered every single day after that moment.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Sara: The pain was like hell. The four childbirths were all in heavy pain. Winter- time in here (the housing bloc) is all pain. The cold wind sticks the pain to the bone and makes the body unable to move. I feel locked inside. The pills and alcohol help for a while to move the pain from the bone.

Sara emptied the bottle of beer, while Trine drank a cup of coffee and listened attentively to her story.

Sara: I went through primary school. I started in a Greenlandic class, but I got good results and was put in a Danish class. After my back broke, things just 188 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke changed. I got the message that I was slow and delayed my classmates. Then I had to return to a Greenlandic class. I tried some time to go to high school, but the pain stopped me.

Sara put her pain into words. She emphasized the word slow. Sara had experienced a school system that created a boundary between herself and her classmates. The school system defined her as slow. The larger Greenlandic society and the school system were written into Sara’s body, and the social hierarchy was recreated as boundaries inside her body (cf. Pandolfi, 1990).

Wanting the real Greenlandic food Trine asked Sara one of the interview questions about the everyday food habits. Trine asked if Sara could tell her what kind of food she used to eat. Sara suddenly closed her eyes, and there was a silent moment. After a while she began to smack her lips and a sound from her mouth saying, “Ummm,” was audible. It was as if a memory of the ‘real food’ was recalled in Sara’s mouth. For Sara it was difficult to find the Danish words to communicate her experience, but she whispered some unintelligible words before she said: “Mattak is the very best. Nothing is like mattak. That tastes very nice. Mattak is the real food. I want to eat mattak. I am hungry for the mattak”. Memories of the taste and smell of the whale meat, the mattak she used to eat, were evoked. Sara searched for words and discovered her body’s hunger for mattak as she spoke. She expressed her desire for whale meat, the real Greenlandic seafood. The simple question about the everyday food habits evoked an otherwise fairly silent and immobilized body to speak. There was a moment when she realized her body’s hunger for the real food, the whale meat, the food that “feeds body and soul”. The silent body acted as a subject, an interacting conversation partner. The inner world started to speak and reminded her of the food she wanted and hungered for. Sara was entering into an active relationship to her own pain. She expressed her want of being part of a sharing network of the Greenlandic seafood. Larsen and Oldenburg (2000) write about food in Greenland. They show that even around the millennium, the catch was willingly divided between family and friends. Mattak, raw whale skin and blubber, is one of the most particular foods in Greenland and very exotic for tourists. In Greenland, blubber

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 was eaten raw most of the time. Raw meat was enjoyed either freshly caught or frozen. Fresh meat was usually eaten at the time of hunting. The hunter and his companions enjoyed fresh bites from newly killed animal, or the catch was distributed at the time of homecoming. From time immemorial the catch was shared amongst participant hunters according to a fixed schedule as part of a reciprocal system of support; remnants of this schedule survived even in the 1950s. The eyes, which were considered particularly delicious titbits, were apportioned to the hunter. Those present at the flensing, especially children, were given “flensing bits”, shreds of skin with blubber (Larsen and Oldenburg, 2000, pp. 162–164). “Wanting Greenlandic food” 189 Trine asked Sara how and where she could get the whale meat.

Sara: Mattak is expensive to buy. Just a small piece of mattak is too expensive. I want the mattak, the real Greenlandic seafood but it is too expensive to get.

Sara craved for the Greenlandic seafood, but for her the Greenlandic meat and seafood was too expensive to buy. She said the mattak was hard to get hold of without paying high prices at the local open air market or in the supermarkets. Sara had no access to the traditional networks nor was she able to share the seafood (cf. Larsen and Oldenburg, 2000, p. 162ff.). The local seafood and meat are available for those who are well of. When asked about her every day food habits, Sara whispered: “I eat the chicken and the beef. I eat the low priced stuff from the dime store. It’s not real food.” This was what she could afford to buy, but she did not consider it to be ‘real Greenlandic food’. Sara wanted the ‘real food’, the Greenlandic seafood. She expressed a feeling of eating the wrong food, as a sensation of a failure in her metabolism. Sara’s statement fit very well with that of Marla Cone’s Greenlandic narrators who spoke about the wrong metabolism by eating food that did not feed both body and soul, which created a sensation of an internal imbalance. Sara’s ex-husband entered the room. He was informed about the interview and agreed to take part. He found a bottle of beer and sat on the sofa. Sara gave him the best seat and placed herself in the background. Her voice became entwined with his voice as she helped him with Danish words.

Sara: We want to eat fish, and all kinds of food from the sea. And of course nothing is like whale. But it costs a lot of money to buy the fish at the local open air marked, and we have no boat to go fishing. They (hunters) do not share the fish and the meat from our whales, seals and reindeers. We do not know people who will lend us a boat. The transportation costs are high so we can’t go outside by boat. We are excluded from our country’s food.

They both entered the position as storytellers. Sara nodded in agreement with her ex-husband and underlined that they were excluded from the real Green- landic food from the sea. They told about their experiences of being outside the sharing network of the Greenlandic seafood that used to be typical for Green- landers. Sara’s ex-husband said that many who had lived in this area were marked

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 as outsiders and alcoholics. On the wall in his sitting room there were old photos of his family and home village. The photos evoked memories of loss. Sara told his home was lost in the 1960s. Now the houses in his rural home village are rented out to tourists who pay good prices to stay there. Tour companies take all the money. He had never visited the village after they had to move into the apartment bloc in Nuuk.

Sara: We have to live in blocs, but we are human beings who are connected to the land. They [the International companies] are taking the land for their own use, and we are prisoners inside these boxes. We are homeless! 190 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke Sara helped her ex-husband to find the Danish words to express the strong feelings for what was going on in the region. They told about their worries for the future, and the multinational companies coming to Greenland with thousands of foreign workers.

Sara: They [the International companies] are planning to excavate the land. Huge platforms and many thousands of workers will come to take our land and our foods.

The work of pain In the introduction to Sara’s story, we argued with Das that there exists a relationship between pain and language and that the subjective response to a subject’s own pain is, in Das words “the birth of culture” (Das, 1995b). Sara’s story testifies that there is more to the story. Pain is central to the establishment of social hierarchies. Elaborating on this aspect, Das (1995a, p. 176) introduced two theories of pain. The first theory emphasizes how pain is a medium through which society establishes its ownership over individuals. The second theory focuses on the restorative aspect of pain as a medium through which subjects can give voice to injustices done to them, hence being the foundation for moral communities. As we elaborated earlier, the second theory focuses on how the expression of pain is a medium through which social injustice can be represented. Both theories under- score the fact that pain is an intimate part and constitutes a neglected area of social processes. One important link is through voice. Das refers to expert witnesses who speak on behalf of the sufferer and silence, the voice of the sufferer. There is a translation and transformation of the voices of the sufferers, vulnerable and subaltern (e.g. Scheper-Hughes and Lock 1987, p. 8). Sara’s story is an illustration of how a social hierarchy is established and the role the distribution of suffering plays in it. In Sara’s testimonies, experts belonged to the social elite or what she called the ‘Danish world’. Sara remembered clearly the words of the medical experts that translated her suffering in ways that inflicted further pain. She had met a generation of doctors who did not listen to her story or touch her body. They did not respond by asking what’s troubling her and invite her to share. Instead they treated her as a medical problem and minimized her pain and complaints. Sara expressed an experience of being an object for medication, and not a subject to be spoken with in relation to the experts. When she shared these stories with

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Trine, she also invited her into a moral relationship in which the anthropologist became a custodian or a translator of Sara’s voice to a larger audience. In such a case, it is important to critically think through the social relations that emerge. We will now look at the first of the two theories of pain Das refers to, namely how the distribution of pain is linked to social stratification.

Pain and social hierarchy According to Das’s first theory, pain is the medium through which society establishes its ownership over individuals. This formulation is constructed based on “Wanting Greenlandic food” 191 Pierre Clastres (Clastres, 1989) reading of Durkheim, who argued that the establishment of social groups was only possible at the price of subjective pain, as the collective is inscribed on individual bodies through rites of passage, among other means (cf. Durkheim, 1912, p. 321). Clastres claimed that pain is a central aspect of the social contract, since the social distribution of pain creates and confirms social hierarchies. The central points, as we will argue, revolve around memory and forgetting. The infliction of pain is by nature a direct inscription without room for dialog. Hence Clastres argued that when societies mark individual bodies, the collective is given primacy over the individual. The marked body is in this interpretive frame read as the canvas on which a social contract is written. The pain associated with the mark prevents forgetting. The body as such is transformed to a memory, which reminds the subject of his or her place in the social hierarchy. Sara’s story illustrates how successfully her painful back had placed her in the periphery of the Danish world in Nuuk. When Sara was asked about her relationship to food-worlds, her story immediately picked up from the life-changing experience when her salaried work in a kitchen injured her back and secured a place for her at the lower end of the social hierarchy. Sara experienced having failed at school after this event. She was held responsible for delaying her up-and-coming classmates and sent back to the colonial periphery of a Greenlandic education. Her aching back continuously told her that she did not belong in the ‘Danish world’. Her damaged back was effectively a break with the ‘Danish world’. This occurred when she was only 15 years old. Her body reminded her every day about the pain inflicted on her. She remembered her failed obligation as a “Greenlandic ideal” at school. The experts translated her suffering as being ‘slow’, a stigma she was “marked” by as an elderly lady as well. The pain that first transformed her into a ‘slow learner’, now made her ‘move slowly’. Both circumstances located her in the social hierarchy. Sara’s story shows that the pain inflicted in her teens still had impact in her life. It did a job when it first firmly placed her within a hierarchical social structure outside of the privilege of a Danish education. Decades later her story informs us of how her ‘marked body’ still deprives her of access to both her Danish and Greenlandic heritage. This, among other things, is revealed when Sara spoke about the isolation and alienation she felt in relation to the new Greenlandic society; particularly, during wintertime when pain was particularly acute. The pain locked her inside the housing block in the centre of Nuuk – a position she described as homelessness.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 What we have seen thus far has a strong resemblance to Nietzsche’s writing on how social contracts where written in feudal Europe (Nietzsche, 1887, section 3). Nietzsche saw the relation between society and the individual as analogous to that of creditor and debtor and wondered how this relationship was secured in a non-literate society. Nietzsche speculated what would prevent forgetting and came up with the answer that the thing that was never forgotten was that which never stopped to hurt. Das refers to three points that are notable in Nietzsche’s reflections. First, the equivalence between injury and pain, so that the infliction of pain on a person who has caused injury by failing in any of his obligations to his creditor is seen as just. Second, memory is created through the infliction of 192 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke pain and, the direction of this memory is not the past but the future. The pain in other words secures a particular relation in the future – the subordination of those afflicted by pain. In short, Nietzsche argued that “the body marked by pain is a body easily governed” (Flikke, 2001, p. 165). Memory is created through the ritual infliction of pain. However, Das emphasizes that for Durkheim and Clastres the characteristic of the rites of passage is that the neophytes are reduced to a uniform group with the same social status. In contrast, Nietzsche argued that pain can also separate the debtor from the creditor and thus create social hierarchies. The pain, indignity, and torture inflicted upon the debtor are legitimized by the feeling that the debtor has failed in his obligation to the creditor (Das, 1995a, p. 183). In other words, Sara is positioned in her peripheral place of the Greenlandic society because she failed her part of the social contract. It is central for Nietzsche’s thoughts on the distribution of pain that it is not a coincidence that some people suffer more than others. This uneven distribution of suffering has made Das claim that culture at times functions to distribute pain unevenly in a population. For Das, this first theory of pain addresses one aspect of the work of pain. The second theory is another more redemptive approach to pain, which drives our argument and engagement in this chapter. Yet it also embeds the social scientist in a moral community as an expert witness and the obligation to let the voice of the suffering to be heard. As social scientists, we hear the voice of the suffering when we acknowledge the expression of pain.

Who hears this voice? The second theory refers to pain as the medium through which subjects can give voice to injustices done to them. Das’ point is that in order to create a moral community through the sharing of pain, as was envisaged by Durkheim, individual pain must come to be collectively experienced through sharing. Yet medical or social scientists often come to the conclusion that extreme pain is the end of language. Many studies show how chronic pain patients tend to grow silent (e.g. Good, 1994; Jackson, 1994). They lose language and their ability or willingness to express their experiences. In a study of torture, Scarry similarly argued that severe pain destroys the victim’s friendship with her/his own body in ways that mute the victim and ‘unmake’ their life world. Intense pain, she claims, “is world-destroying” (Scarry, 1985, p. 29). Das asks the pertinent question: if

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 pain destroys one’s capacity to communicate, how can it ever be brought into the sphere of public articulation and the establishment of moral communities? Answering this question she follows the lead of Wittgenstein, who stated that the expression of pain is an invitation to share. Pain, as we argued, is the birth of language and culture, not the end of it (Das, 1995b). Recall how when Sara opened a bottle of beer the act seemed to release memories of the past. The beer as part of her ‘self-medication’ along with the pills she received from her doctor made up her strategy to deal with the pain; it was an entryway into the larger context in which beer played a role. As such, it released a “Wanting Greenlandic food” 193 need to communicate her experiences with Trine. However, she not only recalled the pain and indignities she had experienced but the focus on food also brought forth good and vivid memories attached to local foods and outdoor life. She told of her summers when, despite her slow moving and painful body, she experienced a feeling of being alive and connected to the land. When she was not locked in her apartment in the winter, her body was in rhythm with the land when she picked crowberries. The summer meant she had access to one last local delicacy, the crowberry. Her story reveals that this was the one arena where she felt at home and secure in her heritage. Her description testifies of a feeling of belonging to the land that she, through events of her life and the politico-economic changes in Greenlandic society, was gradually barred from. She praised the land with words of gratitude for supplying her with the crowberries. In this context, the pain changed in significant ways. What used to be described solely in negative manners now surfaced with a positive meaning; it turned her to the rhythm of the land – it was transformed to a mark of belonging. As such, Sara’s story reminds us that food can be a key notion in larger social processes of identity formation and alienation. Social, political, and economic processes have an immediate impact on the everyday life and health of individuals in the Arctic. As a result, some people carry a heavier burden and suffer more than others. We claim that the voices of marginalized indigenous women are voices often not heard and thus are victims of structural violence. They are not only muted in Ardener’s sense (1975) but are also prime victims of structural violence. Sara’s story shows that the expression of pain experienced in the social and political body (Scheper-Hughes and Lock, 1987) is an invitation to share. People like Sara, who live in the periphery of the new Greenland are marginalized and do not have the financial resources to buy the local seafood and meat from the land. At the same time, the changes in the society mean that the former distribution networks collapsed in the face of modernization. At the rate the Arctic is currently changing, it is important to listen to and share the stories of those affected, as yet not presented through the media and circulated reports. What we see through this discussion of pain, voice, and society is a glimpse of the fact that the inner world has a history, which can be analysed through idioms of the body. To grasp this part of experienced reality, we have argued that it is not enough to focus on words. Since pain tends to disrupt the relation to words, there is a need to pay close attention to silences, pauses, the body language, and

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 the context in which such expressions enter into the conversation. We have for instance suggested that it is not a coincidence that she started telling her story when she opened a beer bottle. Feelings, emotions, pain, sufferings are often taken for granted as a private inaccessible part of the ‘other’. Yet we have argued that an attentive ‘reading’ of the body, disruptions, silences, and pauses can be fruitful venues into stories of pain and suffering. As Scheper-Hughes and Lock says (1987, p. 29): “The language of the body, whether expressed in gestures or rituals or articulated in symptomatology is vastly more ambiguous and over determined than speech”. 194 Trine Kvitberg and Rune Flikke Conclusion The interview showed us that a primary concern for marginalized indigenous women in Nuuk was a lack of access to the local meat and seafood (kalaalimerngit). In this time of rapid changes in the Arctic, the illness experiences of the suffering need to be heard. We suggest that anthropological research to be initiated in the Arctic in relation to marginalized women’s consumption of what they experience as the “wrong food”, and what nutritionists call malnutrition. There are many voices of malnutrition that are difficult to hear, yet of vital practical importance in relation to addressing health issues in marginalized populations. In this chapter, we have tried to show how a simple question of everyday food habits was answered with careful and subdued verbal and bodily utterances of pain and discomfort. These were tied to the longing for traditional food in the context of larger social processes in which the unavailability of local food delicacies surfaced as a central aspect of the social suffering experienced by a marginalized Greenlandic woman. We have argued that sensitive listening is a key to elicit these experiences. Sara was able to tell her food biography in her own way when she met an attentive listener, someone who sought out common ground, and searched for resonance (Wikan, 2012). Her story was an invitation to share and get in touch with her painful experiences of being a woman on the outskirts of both the Dan- ish and Greenlandic society to which she belonged by birth and heritage. What surfaced in these stories was the close relationship that existed between pain, fulfilment, identity, social marginalization, and food. As health researchers and health care workers we are invited to listen to peoples’ stories and let them ‘happen to us’ but we also need to listen to pauses, silences, bodily discomforts. We are invited to take culture and a wide range of diverse experiences and expressions into consideration. The anthropological method is also about letting the pain of the other happen to us, and anthropology as a body of writing is able to receive this pain (Das, 1998, p. 192). Through the reading of Das and her elaboration of ‘critical events’, our aim has been to remind the reader of the fact that the expression of pain is not only an invitation to share but is a key element in the social contract of creating moral communities.

References Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Ardener, E. (1975) ‘Belief and the problem of women’, in: Ardener, S. (ed.) Perceiving Women. London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, pp. 1–17. Clastres, P. (1989) Society against the State, New York: Zone Books. Cone, M. (2005) Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic, New York: Grove Press. Crate, S. A. and Nuttall, M. (2009) ‘Introduction: Anthropology and climate change’, in: Crate, S. A. and Nuttall, M. (ed.) Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Action. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, pp. 9–36. Das, V. (1995a) The Anthropology of pain. Critical Events: An Anthropological Perspective on Contemporary India, Delhi: Oxford University Press. “Wanting Greenlandic food” 195 Das, V. (1995b) ‘Voices as birth of culture’, Ethnos, 60, pp. 159–179. Das, V. (1998) Wittgenstein and Anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology 27:171–195. Das, V. (2007) Language and body: transactions in the construction of pain. Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary. Berkeley and London: University of California Press, pp. 38–58. Durkheim, E. (1912) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, New York and London: The Free Press. Farmer, P.E. (2004) ‘An anthropology of structural violence’, Current Anthropology, 45, pp. 305–325. Flikke, R. (2001) Curing the Ills of History: From Colonial Public Health to Hygiene and Heal- ing in Contemporary South African Independent Churches. Department of Social Anthro- pology. Oslo: University of Oslo. Good, B. J. (1994) ‘The body, illness experience, and the lifeworld: A phenomenological account of chronic pain’, in: Good, B. J. (ed.) Medicine, Rationality, and Experience: An Anthropological Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 116–134. Jackson J. (1994) ‘Chronic pain and the tension between the body as subject and object’, in: Csordas TJ (ed.) Emodiment and Experience: The Exitential Ground of Culture and Self. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–228. Kleinman, A., Das, V. and Lock, M. (1997) Social Suffering. Berkeley and London: University of California Press. Larsen, F. and Oldenburg, R. (2000) Food in Southern Greenland for 1000 Years, Højbjerg: Forlaget Hovdeland. Nietzsche, F. (1887) On the Genealogy of Morals, New York: Vintage Books. Nuttall, M. (2009) ‘Living in a world of movement: Human resilience to environmental instability in Greenland’, in: Crate, S.A. and Nuttall, M. (ed.) Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Action. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, pp. 292–310. Pandolfi, M. (1990) ‘Boundaries inside the body’,Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 14, pp. 255–273. Rybråten, S. (2006) ‘Naturen kan ikke styres’: Natursyn, identitet og holdninger til statlig forvaltning av levende ressurser i Qeqertarsuaq, Vest-Grønland, [Nature cannot be controlled: On nature, identity and attitudes to government management of living resources in Qeqertarsuaq, West – Greenland], Department of Social Anthropology. Oslo: University of Oslo. Scarry, E. (1985) The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Scheper-Hughes, N. and Lock, M. M. (1987) The mindful body: A prolegomenon to future work in medical anthropology. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, New Series 1: 6–41. Wikan, U. (2012) Resonance: Beyond the Words, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Wittgenstein, L. (1953) Philosphical Investigations, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Young, T. K. (2012) Circumpolar Health Atlas, Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 11 ‘Our forest’ Ageing, agency and ‘connection with nature’ in rural Tornedalen, northern Sweden

Tarja Tapio

Introduction In a small, rural village of less than 140 inhabitants in Tornedalen, North Swe- den, I was told by older people that freedom and nature are the most important things for them in their daily life. During the research process on which this paper is based, I was also told that older people wanted to live until the end of their lives in that particular village, which is remote from a town, facilities and services. ‘Nature’ and ‘freedom’ were repeatedly seen as inter-dependent, even though the tellers were no longer able to participate in fishing, wild berry picking and hunting to the same extent as earlier in their lives, and they realised their increasing limitations and declining capabilities. The aim of this paper is to explicate the ways in which ‘connections with nature’ pervade the everyday lives of older people in the small, remote village of Aapua in Tornedalen, North Sweden: they belong to a national minority called Tornedalers. Connection with nature is the central theme of the research, and the paper explores its relationships to normative values and to structural elements such as ethnicity in maintaining and supporting quotidian life. The paper also argues that it is important to understand the role of connection with nature in the context of everyday lives in small, rural villages all over the world, where ways of life based on traditional livelihoods have adapted to nature and climate, not least among indigenous ethnic groups like the Sami people in the circumpolar latitudes. Hardly any previous research has considered this particular issue. In social gerontology, agency is often defined as synonymous with an individual’s state of autonomy and independence, but this has been criticised as presenting overly Western values and putting too much emphasis on individualistic Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 concerns. According to Wray (2004, p. 22), however, experiences of autonomy and independence are not confined to Western culture. As such, we must concentrate on looking at social and cultural elements on which autonomy and independence are based, taking ethnic diversity into account. In this paper, I consider the village of Aapua to look at agency as interrelated with ethnicity necessitates taking into account its collective and structural elements rather than using definitions that put too much weight on individualistic factors. In essence, I am analysing the importance of connection with nature for older Tornedalers in Aapua, in terms of agency. ‘Our forest’ 197 Seven older Tornedalers participated in the research process that follows Heron’s (1996) research principles known as co-operative inquiry. I have used storytelling as a research method for two reasons. First, Meänkieli the mother language spoken in the village of less than 140 inhabitants, is an oral language. Even though participants speak Meänkieli daily, they cannot read or write it fluently or at all, as a consequence of the Swedish schooling in Tornedalen in their time (see Elenius, 2001). It is also crucial that participants feel that they are unable to express their experiences and tradition-based knowledge in Swedish. There- fore using storytelling in the native mother language includes empowering aims. Second, storytelling is a typical way of passing knowledge and spending time together in the village. By doing so, participation in the process also provided an opportunity to enjoy the flow of the traditional storytelling and commemorating together. This was an important point in the structurally ageing village in which every third inhabitant is retired and living alone in his or her own house and where it is difficult to find organised activities for leisure. As co-operative inquiry, the contents or the plots of the stories or narrative processes are not directly concerned as data as they would be in the case of qualitative or narrative study (see Alasuutari, 1995; Holstein and Gubrium, 1995; Ray, R.E., 2007). Storytellers have reflected on the main research themes that emerged during storytelling in subsequent group interviews (see Clarke and War- ren, 2007, pp. 468–9). The connection with nature emerged as the key theme and participants reflected on the theme as a part of the process of analysis. Par- ticipants reflected on connection with nature in the light of their everyday lives today and in the light of their future. My role, as well as other participants’ roles, varies between co-subject and researcher during the research process (Heron, 1996, pp. 19–24). For example during storytelling I was co-subject as listener to storytelling, while storytellers as subjects participated actively by telling stories and commemorating. During group interviews in which themes of stories were reflected on as a part of the collective knowledge-forming, I was co-researcher as I asked more about matters that were told which emerged as significant for older people of Aapua, and meanwhile other participants represented researchers by explaining and illustrating these matters.

Tornedalen’s background Tornedalen is a large region of 34,717 square kilometres, most of which is north of Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 the Arctic Circle. It is divided by the 540 kilometres long Torne River, with the western half in Sweden and the eastern half in Finland. Following the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia of 1808/09, Sweden ceded the eastern half of its kingdom to Russia – the area that since 1917 has been the Republic of Finland – with devastating and divisive consequences for the people and villages of the Tornedalen (Lähteenmäki, 2004, p. 33; Bladh and Kuvaja, 2006, p. 3). Today, Tornedalers in Sweden belong to an official national minority whose language is Meänkieli, a dialect of Finnish. There are approximately 50,000 Meänkieli speakers in Sweden. Note that ‘minority’ in this case refers to a status that gives most 198 Tarja Tapio of the members more powers over resources and greater access to decision making than is true of most minority groups (Holmes and Holmes, 1995, p. 185). Moreo- ver, the positive effects of ethnic and cultural revitalisation are clearly evident in the society and culture of Tornedalen today. Three elements must be taken into account to understand ageing in Aapua. First, the settlement is just north of the Arctic Circle and remote from facilities and services, being approximately 65 kilometres from the nearest medical centre, bank and pharmacy. Second, although Aapua is regarded as a rural and margin- alised village by outsiders, the older people that were born there wish to live the rest of their lives in the village. Many who moved during their working move back to Aapua after retirement: in 2007, 16 residents had returned in this way. Third, the population of Aapua is ageing rapidly, and 54 persons of the population of 139 were aged 65 or more years in 2005, most of them living alone in their own houses as participants counted during the research. Another large group are those who have retired and are living with another retired person. There are only a few families with young children in the village.

Theoretical background In contemporary cultural gerontology, the conceptualisation of ‘agency’ con- centrates on the ways that older people as individuals re-identify themselves after retirement by adapting new lifestyles, including their consumption choices (Jamieson, 2002, p. 16; Katz, 2005; Tulle, 2004; see also Hendricks and Hatch, 2006). Peter Laslett (1996) defined this stage of life as the ‘third age’. Expli- cations of agency concentrate on the resources older people have and are able to command in the fields of leisure, culture and politics to achieve longer life expectancy, a higher material standard of living and better health in old age than previous cohorts. It is not only that lifestyles in old age are seen as expressions of people’s capabilities and opportunities to choose, for as Tulle (2004, p. 175) argued, ‘the burden of responsibility for the avoidance of decline and dependency has shifted onto individuals. Agency in later life seems to be restricted to techniques of self-government’. The emphasis in this paper is on the structural rather than the individual influences on ageing. In this paper, agency refers to older people’s opportunities and capabilities (Giddens, 1984, p. 25; 1979, p. 64), the context of their daily lives and ethnicity. This is a two-way relationship: ethnicity, norms and values are infused and shaped by the traditional way of life, but the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 recognition of a distinctive ethnic status has modified the village’s capabilities and opportunities. The participants in this study were born in traditional Tornedalen society before modernisation, but they grow old surrounded by modern Swedish society. Since it was problematic to ask directly about their ethnicity or about the norms and values that influence their daily lives, storytelling was used to reveal the participants’ shared history and experiences. Storytelling also allows the past to be brought into the present and shows us how it informs expectations of the future. The participants were seen as representatives of a particular local generation ‘Our forest’ 199 (Jyrkämä, 1995, p. 211), in a way a ‘mini-cohort’ that has been born and brought up in the same area, in this case one village. The members of the local generation were born during the same period, have lived through the same eras in the one area and their most significant life experiences have been moulded by the same historical events and circumstances. Moreover, participants regard themselves as the last generation of Tornedalers who experienced the area’s traditional collective way of life in Tornedalen and believe that they will be the last generation to speak Meänkieli every day. Collective memory is understood here as a local generation’s stock of knowledge (Holstein and Gubrium, 1995, pp. 30–3). Sociologists have defined collective memory as a foundation for society in general (Halbwachs, 1992; Connerton, 1989; Misztal, 2003). Stories told by the local generation represent mediated tradition that is based on collective memory and has normative or moral content (Giddens, 1996, p. 16; p. 18). This normative or moral nature is closely bound up with the interpretative processes by which past and present are reconciled. In the light of co-operative inquiry, stories are seen also as presentational knowledge (Heron, 1996, pp. 33–4, p. 37), which refers to knowledge that is shaped and expressed in performing arts like dance, sculpture, painting and drama – and storytelling (see Reason and Hawkins, 1988). Stories as presentations are understood as rooted in a collective memory of the society (and when delivered to a researcher as mediated by his or her presence). Ethnicity has been interpreted in two ways in previous literature. First, it has been regarded as a resource, as with the notion of ethnic compensation (Sokolovsky, 1990, pp. 202–3), which derives from ethnic identity and the practices of everyday life that reflect the community’s norms and values. Ethnicity also provides strategies and role models by which to counter the losses of old age, e.g. Luborsky and Rubinstein (1990) suggested that ethnicity provides continuity, as in the case of widowhood. Second, ethnicity is seen as reinforcing multiple jeopardy (Markides and Mindel, 1987, pp. 31–5; Blakemore, 1989, p. 162; Sokolovsky, 1990, pp. 202–3) and marginalisation. Multiple jeopardy refers to structural age-related and cumulative disadvantages in old age that stem from one’s ethnic background and the associated geographical location and position in the social structure or hierarchy. Marginalisation and multiple jeopardy are seen as structural disadvantages that restrict access to resources and decision making. Both ethnic compensation and multiple jeopardy therefore recognise the structural elements of ethnicity that either create or restrict opportunities and agency. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Research process

Participants and place The participants were born in Aapua and lived in the village in their own homes during the research process in 2005. Seven Meänkieli-speaking Tornedalers between 65 and 79 years of age, three women and four men, agreed to participate and tell their stories. Each participant identified him/herself as ornedalerT 200 Tarja Tapio and was identified as Tornedaler by others. The youngest and the oldest were women. One man lived alone, two women and two men with their spouse and two participants lived with a retired family member. Two men were widowed. All participants knew each other well and all of them were related at least to one other participant directly or through marriage. Participants included one married couple, and two storytellers were sisters. Three storytellers had lived part of their working lives elsewhere in Sweden but had returned to Aapua after retirement. Data, which includes four storytelling sessions and four group interviews, each one-and-half-hours long, was recorded in Aapua during 2005. All seven participants were met together as a group on each recording. Only one person left after the sixth meeting because of a change in his condition. I met participants infor- mally once before recording to get the first contact with them and once after as their experiences about the process were inquired. In addition, I recorded short, freely told life histories of each participant during the ninth complementary meeting in which all participants attended together as well. I also visited participants’ homes, although data was not recorded during these visits. The first contact with participants was made with the assistance of STR-Tornionlaaksolaiset, Svenska Tornedalingars Riksförbund – Tornionlaaksolaiset, the Swedish Tornedalers’ Organization, which has its headquarters in Aapua. Representatives of the organization helped me to invite participants to tell their stories and provided a place for research meetings. In autumn 2006, I organized a general meeting for people of Aapua during which I explained about the state of the research and its themes. Altogether I went to Aapua thirteen times.

The data collection process and methods There is little knowledge available about getting old in Tornedalen from Torne dalers own experience. To speak out about their knowledge and experiences in the form of stories and reflecting on matters that have been told is seen by them as participatory, empowering and emancipatory (Peace, 2002, p. 231). Thus the research process aims to develop methods for knowledge-forming based on par ticipation in general (Peace, 2002, p. 226). In terms of empowerment, storytelling provided participants an opportunity to spend time together as well as to speak their mother language. The term muted voices (Ardener, E, 1975; Bowes and Domokos, 1996) is useful here, since it refers to definitions based on knowledge and experiences that an ethnic minority has considering themselves and their

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 daily lives, but which have been muted by using majorities’ definitions or other stereotypical ways of defining ageing in Tornedalen. In terms of emancipation, stories as presentational knowledge based on the collective memory of the society are viewed as a ‘raw material’ for further reflection and knowledge-forming considering ageing in Tornedalen (see Heron, 1996, p. 34, see also Reason and Hawkins 1988). Regarding the emancipatory dimension, participants are regarded as ‘knower’ in matters that deal with themselves, not just informants who reply to questions asked of them (see Peace, 2002, p. 232; Heron, 1996, pp. 20–2). ‘Our forest’ 201 The data collection process was carried out through four stages each of which was grounded on the previous except for the storytelling during the first recorded meeting, which was the starting point for a research process as a whole. Storytell- ing is used as a method during the first two stages and reflective group interviews during the third and fourth stage the way I will explain here. While moving from a previous stage to the next, there is overlap in research meetings. The first stage includes also the first meeting without recording. The first meeting was very important for research as it formed the basic trust and evoked involvement especially between myself as researcher and the other participants as well as between myself and other members of the community. During the first meeting, I also explained the way I viewed the research process would be carried out. The first stage’s storytelling consisted of three first recorded sessions. The opening question was: ‘Could you tell me something about an old person you have known, seen or heard about. It doesn’t have to be a complete story. Just tell me what comes into your mind’. I also asked participants not to worry if stories were true or not and not to think about the form of the stories. By doing so, I aimed to frame the storytelling as little as possible. This was to ensure that emerged matters for first pre-themes of the stories to a great extent came out storytellers’ own stories and experiences shared by the participants and local generation (see also Clarke and Warren, 2007, pp. 468–9). It was an important point that I was born and living in Lapland, North Finland, especially during the first contacts. Since living in Tornio, in Tornedalen in Finland, I am also familiar with ‘Meänkieli’ pronunciation and vocabulary so that I was regarded by participants as able to understand the way of life and ethnicity of Tornedalers. During the first stage I represented subject, and other participants represented co-subjects, since the focus was on establishing basis for following process. Participants represented also co-researchers by sharing their stories as presentational knowledge. At the second stage, which consisted of the third and fourth storytelling sessions, participants were asked to tell me more about important matters that emerged from the previous storytelling in their point of view. I asked them to tell me more about religion, local society in Aapua today and before modernisation, social changes participants have gone through during their lives, meaning of Meänkieli as mother language and identity as Tornedalers. Also, nature seemed to play a very important arena for everyday life in general. Again, story telling was not framed or limited and participants were free to tell what they considered worthy of telling. Regardless, participants were not asked directly

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 to tell stories; it was usually that participants chose to tell more stories, rather than explain or discuss emerged matters. Matters that remained meaningless or were regarded as unimportant by participants were left out. Participants became involved and engaged with the process according to their own will, motivation and interest at the second stage. Thus participants represent subjects as I represent co-subject since my concentration was on the facilitating and listening to the storytelling. All participants, including me as researcher, represented co-researchers since the purpose of the second stage was to form pre-themes for following reflections. 202 Tarja Tapio At the third stage, which consisted of the fourth and fifth recorded sessions, the aim was to reflect more on matters than pre-themes represented to participants in their daily lives. By doing so, primary themes were formed and framed as ‘Meänkieli as mother language and meaning of the ethnic identity as Tornedalers’, ‘traditional way of life infused with everyday life of the local generation today’ and ‘change in values from sustainability to consumerism’. Participants told many stories in which religion was represented in the context of the everyday practise as the element typical of the traditional way of life. During further reflections, ‘religion’ merged as the sub-theme for the second research theme, which is about the traditional way of life and its normative values in every day practise today. As participants began to reflect more on the importance of the nature for their daily lives, ‘connection with nature’ merged as one of the key themes. Here all participants represented co-researchers while participating together and knowledge-forming. In the third and fourth stage, I also represented co-subject, since my role was to facilitate the reflection process. At the fourth stage, participants concentrated on focusing on their everyday lives and ideas about the future by reflecting on their lives in the light of each research theme. Also stories were told as a part of reflection. This was done during the sixth, seventh and eighth research meetings. At the last stage, participants represented researchers in the context of the collective knowledge-forming process by explaining and illustrating their everyday lives and future expectations in the light of each research theme.

Analysis I began analysis by marking storytelling and group reflections in transcribed data by using different colours. I also marked my comments and advice, which dealt with very concrete matters as I asked participants, for example, to move closer to the microphone or hand me the list of participants. Also general comments made by participants that dealt with things outside the process were marked in the text. Participants were for example commenting about the shortly arriving postman or a sudden rain. Since the analyses was not about to concentrate on interaction or situational aspects, I considered storytelling and group reflections or interviews as the main data for following analysis. Thus storytelling as data includes complete, repetitive oral stories circulated in the local community, including a plot structure and more general telling about living in Aapua, mainly in the past.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Group interviews as data first involved reflections on how pre-themes of the stories emerged today and second, reflections on how everyday life and the future is viewed in light of research themes. I divided the main data into short chapters, each of which formed an individual story or a narrative entity (see Alasuutari, 1995, p. 71). Next I coded each chapter according to which research theme they belonged to. I started coding from the data which was recorded last in the process. This was because of the presumption that the last reflective group interviews formed the most important and central data for research analysis, as it represented knowledge in multi-layers. By this I point out ‘Our forest’ 203 that the research was an ongoing process in which the last reflective interviews consist also of elements carried out from previous reflections and storytelling. After data was coded, I formed four different ‘data baths’ according to research themes which were saved as separate files for analysis. I illustrate analytical reading as following separate data baths leading from the last session’s multi-layered data till the storytelling at the very beginning of the data collecting process. I define the analysing processas an analytical reading or exami- nation since I did not use any particular analyse programs or methods, such as content analyses or plot structure analyses. Instead I examined the data by focusing on ethnicity as a value- and norm-based structural element and analysing how normative values were taken into account in everyday life and future expectation of participants in the light of each research theme. The analytical reading began from group interviews as recorded at the last session. Analytical reading was done several times before and during the writing process to ensure that findings and conclusions were carried out from participants’ experiences and collective knowledge instead of intentions, interests and presuppositions of my own only.

Findings

‘We lived so fine here’ Nature and especially forest around Aapua does not only represent an important base for participants’ livelihood as it was in their youth and adulthood, but base for everyday life in general as illustrated here. Margit began the extract one, which belongs to the first stage of the research process, by explaining how they had much work for living in Aapua since they had such ‘good forests’ around them. Helge explained after Margit that elsewhere by the ‘Väylä’ there was nothing for work. By this Helge pointed out how good life was in Aapua because of the forests around them as Elma said later in the extract. The word ‘väylä’ is related best to the English word channel. Väylä is the traditional name for the Torne River, since the river was understood as a channel that rather connected Finnish and Swedish Tornedalen as well as relatives and families at both sides of the river than separated them. Väylä refers only to the Torne River and nowadays it is commonly used on both sides of the river. Using the name ‘Väylä’ is also a marker for being familiar with culture and society in Tornedalen.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Everyday life was materially secure, and the members of the local generation were not forced to seek livelihood outside the village as all lumberjacks that came to Aapua for work at the forest. According to Per, the forest did not supply a livelihood only for men born in Aapua and for outsider lumberjacks. Since Aapua was populated by pig families with usually more than one child in each, there were jobs also for teachers, postmen, bakers and millers as Per points out in the extract one. Forests provided continuity and security since the members of the local generation were not forced to move away from Aapua for living and the local generation stayed pretty much the same during their lives regardless of the huge social 204 Tarja Tapio changes brought by modernization. Thus the forest’s influence led to strong integration of those who had been born and lived in Aapua and ties between members of the local community stayed strong till nowadays. At the end of the first extract, Elma explained that they lived so fine in Aapua since they had it ‘all’: wild berries in the forest and fish in the lake. Elma pointed out that there are still plenty of berries in ‘Aapuanmettät’, in the forests of Aapua to pick. Thus life in Aapua was also fine since forest and lakes provided and maintained everyday life’s practice in general as pointed out earlier. By this I underline the importance of the forest and nature that has stayed strong till nowadays, representing continuity and security. The importance of nature comes out also as it was usual that while participants told about the forest, they made a difference between the forests around the village of Aapua and ‘other’ forests as Elma did in the extract. Words ‘Aapuan mettät’ (The forests of Aapua) and ‘meän mettät’ (Our forests) were commonly used to describe particularly the forests around Aapua. It is interesting that ‘our forests’ doesn’t refer to an ownership but to the special relationship with it. Thus the livelihoods the forest provided were not regarded as the only reasons for its high value. Using the concepts ‘our forests’ and ‘the forests of Aapua’ illustrates that participants’ relationships between themselves and forest around them was intimate, important and collectively shared. Furthermore it is reasonable to speak about the connection with nature based on normative values shared by the members of the local generation adapted and maintained in their daily life rather than meaning of nature for each individual participants. As so connection of nature is viewed as a structural element merged with ethnicity as entity.

EXTRACT: 1 MARGIT: we had so much work here since we had so good forests around here there were so many lumberjacks here; nobody had to leave to work elsewhere HELGE: state’s forest see, elsewhere by the ‘Väylä’ there was nothing for work PER: yes, listen it is altogether near hundred that have been working at the same time in Aapua

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 forest were as one, and there were teachers too and every other kind of jobs were too ELMA: we lived so fine here, indeed all those wild berries and everything in the ‘Aapuanmettät’ there is plenty of wild berries and fish too (5.4.2005:88, 2a) ‘They were about to ruin our forest’ ‘Our forest’ 205 Usually nature was representing an important background, the milieu of the story about old people and past times. Nature and forest also provided an important topic for stories about the local generation’s own lives in their adulthood. In extract two, which belongs to the third stage of the process, participants told about the civic movement in Aapua in the 1980s and ‘Our forest’ played the key role. Forest coppice poisoning was started in Swedish forests to maximise the growth of trees useful for forestry by eliminating coppice that was useless for building and paper trade. Participants, as well as other people in Aapua, consider the forest around the village is their own in the sense of relationship rather than ownership, since the forest around Aapua is actually owned by the Swedish state. So people in Aapua felt strongly about coppice poisoning since it was ruin- ing their own forest as a natural environment and resource for their daily lives, destroying the wild berries and animals as well as water and fish in it. To stop the poisoning, people in Aapua started an action that prevented aeroplanes from spreading poison as well as filling tanks of those that did poisoning on land by hand. The action took the form of every day seasonal activities. In extract two, participants commemorated and explained about the civic action in which they participated. Per started by commemorating how the civic movement arose in Aapua. Elma and Margit confirmed this by saying that of course it began in Aapua, not elsewhere, noting that participants are very proud of the way things emerged. Elma pointed out that it was Paavo who mastered the movement. Paavo was the informal leader figure of the village in his time, ‘the village elder’. Elma explains how they first went to sit in the forest in the place called Salvatti so that aeroplanes could not spread coppice poison because of people below. In Salvatti, they also prevented those who were poisoning coppice on land from filling their tanks. Tage told after this how a man called Ookke sat on the poison barrel and lighted a cigarette. Those who came to fill their tanks were unable to approach the poison barrels since they were aware of the fact that the barrel could ignite at any moment. So they returned without filling their tanks. Elma commented that otherwise they just sat there nice and calm not doing anything against the law. In the second place called Lauri, they had tents for camping and they stayed overnight, each in their turn. In the third place by the lake, Syväjärvi, in which they hiked, people were collecting berries and did tasks that they usually did during the autumn so that planes could not spread poison and again because of the people below. Helga said that she picked blueberries, pointing out her participation as an important part of the civic movement. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

EXTRACT 2: PER: so, it arose here ELMA: here of course MARGIT: here of course, it arose here and who were those that started it (asking) ELMA: it was Paavo that mustered first we went just to sit there 206 Tarja Tapio PER: oh, yes, to Salvatti ELMA: and we just sit there kindly, did not do else yes and in Lauri we had tents (for camping) and that is what that painting is about [pointing the painting on the wall] PER: oh, yes TAGE: and Ookke went and sat on the poison (barrel) and lighted the cigarette and those that came to fill their tanks, said that the barrel will ignite ELMA: so that, it will ignite TAGE: so, that he must move away he (Ookke) just ignored and just smoked on, you see so, they said that it is better for us to go away ELMA: otherwise we just sat there nice and calm PER: oh, yes we did TAGE: and then we ranged at the other side of the lake Syväjärvi and we just made coffee there (by camp fire) HELGA: and those that wanted, picked wild berries so did I, I picked blueberries (27.4.2005, 316. 4b) “We have this freedom here”

Today picking wild berries in forests is regarded as a very important and necessary yearly repeated task by participants as well as growing their own potatoes and vegetables. Elma began extract three by stating that in Aapua they had freedom to be wherever they wanted to be. Margit continued that in Aapua they could just walk around. By this she meant that she did not need to go to a particular place or ask any permission or follow certain timetables to go for a walk for example in the forest. Helge wanted to point out that it was always better to do your own job rather than walk around without doing anything special. By this he pointed out that walking around for example in the forest it is not just for leisure but for doing your job. Next participants explained together how they grow their own vegetables and pick wild berries today. Helga explained that doing these tasks involved freedom. Elma continued by saying that of course they picked wild berries, and Helge continued being more exact by saying that they picked also arctic cloud berries. Elma said proudly that she had never bought berry jam from a store. Helge continued by explaining that they did not pick berries as they used

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 to do earlier in their lives, as complementary livelihoods with the purpose to sell outside but just enough for their own needs. Tage confirmed this. Participants did realize their growing limitations to hike in the forest and as a part of fishing and hunting aswell as the diminishing ability to pick wild berries. Thus I viewed the importance of seasonal tasks as picking berries or growing vegetables were not only in their nature as complementary elements for everyday livelihood. Instead being aware of the possibility to participate is viewed here as an important source for a sense of freedom. Put another way, regardless of if participants do not do things anymore as they did earlier in their lives, they still ‘Our forest’ 207 have a possibility or ‘freedom’ to do them as an important part of their seasonal practice as it used to be. Thus seasonal tasks done in nature represent freedom for the people of Aapua. From this point of view, freedom to do things and freedom to go and to be in places does not refer to an action itself, such as berry picking, hunting and fishing. Instead freedom represents a particular sense of doing things and being places without limitations, regulations or orders given by those who are seen as outsiders. This is an important account referring to autonomy, independency and empowerment in the context of everyday life as well as to capability in general. Thus connection with nature embodies agency.

EXTRACT 3: ELMA: we have freedom to be where ever we want to HELGE: oh yes, it is the freedom that we have here MARGIT: to walk around HELGE: yes but is always better to do your own job ELMA: see we have our own potatoes and TAGE: that is what we have here MARGIT: and one can have own vegetables HELGE: oh, yes we have that freedom here MARGIT: oh yes, it is really so HELGE: oh yes it is really so ELMA: of course we collect berries MARGIT: [we pick berries] HELGE: and arctic cloudberries ELMA: i never bought jam from a store in my life! HELGE: we do not pick as much we did in 1980’s now a days we pick just enough TAGE: that we have enough for ourselves (12.7. 2005:465–466, 7a)

In extract four, I illustrate how connection with nature emerges only in Aapua. I asked if people had to move away from Aapua what they would miss the most. Again, they replied ‘nature’ and ‘freedom’. In this sense, older people of Aapua are dependent on the place in which they live and the community around them, as well as value- and norm-based structures as the con-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 nection with nature as the crucial part of ethnicity. Thus agency must not be viewed only in the light of independency but also as interdependency. Helge explained that in Aapua it was so ‘loose’. By defining life in Aapua as loose, he points out that life in Aapua in general is not like it would be in cities, which are full of ‘cramped crowds of people’ and thus difficult to live in since there is nowhere to go to be in peace. The word loose in extract four is the straight translation from the word ‘välejä’ in Meänkieli used in Aapua. By this Helge referred to Aapua as a physical and personal area, as a mental space in which it was possible to sense particular freedom to be and to act. This regard being in 208 Tarja Tapio peace without too many people around and Aapua, surrounded by forest, is such a place to be in peace and to have a freedom. In the light of the illustration, I suggested that the local generation was dependent on their connection with nature emerging in Aapua to make them feel free and capable. The freedom referred to here also included autonomy, independency and empowerment in the context of the daily life in general as pointed out earlier. Thus connection with nature has a great significance and is understood as a crucial part of value- and norm-based structures adapted mainly in the context of the traditional way of life in Tornedalen in terms of autonomy and agency of the oldest local generation.

EXTRACT 4: TARJA: If this group has to move, what would be the first thing you will miss here in Aapua what is the first and the most important thing for you TAGE: well the freedom HELGE: and nature OVE: [and nature of course HELGE: see, it is so loose* here in the city cramped crowd of people it will not, it is difficult to be nowhere to go to be in peace TARJA: somehow freedom and nature are going together MARGIT: oh yes, so it goes HELGE: yes, you see it is so loose here (12.7.2005: 468. 7a)

Summary and discussion For the local generation that participated in this research process, connection with nature is an important resource for daily life, providing a particular sense of ‘freedom’. ‘Nature’ and ‘freedom’ were expressed as interrelated by participants and as the most important things in Aapua, as Elma and Helge pointed out in extract three: Elma: ‘we have freedom to be where ever we want to’. Helge: ‘Oh yes, it is the freedom that we have here’. Nature represents a sense freedom ‘to do things’, ‘to go to places’ and ‘to be in

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 places’ without orders, limitations or permissions given by outsiders. Thus ‘freedom’ is understood as a synonym for autonomy and independence as well as for empowerment. As such, freedom is understood in terms of agency only in an interrelationship with nature defined as a connection with nature. Since freedom does not refer to the actual ability of older people to do things in nature compare to what they used to do earlier in their lives, I identified that ‘freedom’ had more to do with everyday life in terms of agency in general rather than with concrete action in nature, as storytellers repeatedly combined ‘freedom’ and ‘nature’ in their reflections during data recording. This is shown in the ‘Our forest’ 209 end of extract four by Margit and Helge as I asked: ‘somehow freedom and nature are going together?’ and Margit replied: ‘oh yes, so it goes’ with Helge’s support: ‘yes, you see it is so loose here’. Thus attention was captured by the way ‘freedom’ and ‘nature’ emerged and were repeatedly expressed as interrelated regardless of participants’ realization about age related and cumulative changes they have faced in their own capability to act and to do things in nature. That led me to analyse this particular theme. Instead of viewing participants’ actual inability to do things in natural surroundings and the sense of freedom nature promotes as a contradiction, I considered that while participants are speaking about ‘freedom’ and ‘nature’, they do not refer to their factual, physical surroundings and their actual capability to do particular tasks. Rather connection with nature is seen in the light of agency, which refers to the interrelationships between members of the society and social structures based on shared values and norms as resources and rules for everyday life. For older people of Aapua, connection with nature as embodying agency emerges only in Aapua. This is pointed out in extract four by Tage, Helge and Ove. I asked what is it that they would miss the most in the case that they had to move away from Aapua. Tage replied: ‘well, the freedom’ and Helge continues: ‘and nature’. Then Ove continues by overlapping others: ‘and nature of course’. If storytellers had to move to live in another place, away from Aapua, they would miss their ‘freedom’. In terms of agency, they would miss their autonomy and independence as well as one of the basic, value- and norm-based reasons for action and participation in everyday life in general. In this sense, the older people of Aapua are dependent on connection with nature as the one of the most important sources for their autonomy and independence as well as empowerment, all of which are regarded as being interconnected with the definition of agency in social gerontology (see also Wray, 2003). Thus I focused rather on interdependency between structures and members of the local generation than on independency of individuals. It also emerged from my research that agency in the ‘Meänkieli’ speaking ethnic and national minority, in the remote village of Aapua in Tornedalen, cannot be described by using Western valued-based definitions of independence, autonomy or agency, nor concepts such as successful ageing, active ageing and quality of life Older Tornedalers desire to live the rest of their lives in that particular village regardless of negative views of those who have not been born in or lived in Tornedalen, who see it as a marginalized and isolated, structurally ageing envi-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 ronment very far away from services and facilities. Analysing and explaining the importance of connection with nature provides understanding in the case of older Tornedalers and their resources in everyday life. My paper implies that it is important to realize the meaning of connection with nature as the crucial element of norm- and value-based ethnicity for understanding the agency of older people in rural villages all over the world. This is crucial, especially in terms of local generations whose traditional ways of life were adapted to a significant extent into nature and climate, as in the case of Tornedalen as well as among indigenous communities such as the Sami people in the circumpolar area. However, there is 210 Tarja Tapio hardly any research focusing on the way that nature and agency are interrelated. By illustrating this particular issue, my goal is to contribute to this topic. This paper has also revealed structural elements that have great significance in understanding older people in the context of their daily lives. This paper is also about developing participatory, co-operative methods aimed at understanding ageing, agency and ethnic diversity in various communities. Using storytelling as method lead me as a researcher to step into the world which is constituted by life experiences of older Tornedalers in order to understand, as well as enjoy, the flow of the storytelling.

Acknowledgements I thank warmly storytellers in Aapua for their stories and participation: Helge Oja, Elma Uusitalo, Helga Lahti, Tage and Margit Lantto, Per Lantto and Ove Andersson. I also thank Alison Bowes and Sarah Wilson for supervision during the writing process and, Corinne Greasley-Adams for commenting on the manu- script at the University of Stirling, Scotland.

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Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 wide Perspectives. Westport, Connecticut, London: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, pp. 229–40. Markides, K. S. and Mindel, C. H. (1987) Aging & Ethnicity. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Middleton, D. and Edwards, D. (ed.) (1990) Collective Remembering. London, Newbury Park, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Misztal, B. (2003) Theories of Social Remembering. Maidenhead, Philadelphia: Open Uni- versity Press. Paulaharju, S. (1935) Anteckningars från Samuli och Jenny Paulaharjus resa till Aapua Som- maren 1935 [Samuli And Jenny Paulaharjus’s field notes during the journey to Aapua summer 1935]. Helsinki: Suomen Kansanrunous Arkisto. 212 Tarja Tapio Peace, S. (2002) ‘The role of older people in social research’, in Jamieson, A. and Victor, C. R. (eds.), Researching Ageing and Later Life. Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open Uni- versity Press, pp. 226–44. Proctor, G. (2001) ‘Listening to older women with dementia: Relationships, voices and power’, Disability and Society, 51(3), pp. 361–76. Ray, M. (2007) ‘Redressing the balance? Participation of older people in research’, in Bernard, M. and Scharf, T. (eds) Critical perspectives on ageing societies. Cambridge: The Polity Press, pp. 73–87. Ray, R. E. (2007) ‘Narratives as agents of social change: A new direction for narrative gerontologists’, in Bernard, M. and Scharf, T. (ed.) Critical Perspectives on Ageing Societies. Cambridge: The Polity Press, pp. 59–72. Reason, P. and Hawkins, P. (1988) ‘Storytelling as inquiry’, in Reason, P. and Rowan, J. (eds) Human Inquiry in Action. Developments in New Paradigm Research. London: Sage Publications, pp. 79–101. Sokolovsky Jay, 1990 (ed): Bringing culture back home: aging ethinicity and faimilysup- port, in The cultural context of aging: worldwide perspectives pp. 201–2011. Bergin & Garvey Publishers. Westport, Connecticut, London. Tapio, T. (2008) ‘Meilä on vaphaus olla missä vain’: luontoyhteys, kokemus ja toimijuus pienessä tornionlaaksolaisessa kylässä’ [We have this freedom to be where we want to: connection with nature, experiences and agency in a small village in Tornedalen] in Heimonen S. and Syrén I. (ed.) Kokemus ja kokemuksellisuus ikääntyessä. Oraita 1. Hel- sinki: Ikäinstituutti, pp. 29–35. Tapio, T. (2010) ‘Meilä on kaikila samanlaiset tarinat’: Tarinankerrontatutkimus tornionlaak- solaisuudesta vanhimman aapualaisen paikallissukupolven arjessa ja tulevaisuudessa. [We all have the same stories: A storytelling case study of Torne Valley-ness in the everyday life and future of elderly Aapua residents] Jyväskylä studies in education, psychology and social research 395. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän Yliopisto. Tulle, E. (2004) ‘Rethinking agency in later life’ in Tulle, E. (ed.) Agency in Later Life. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc., pp. 17–189. Wray, S. (2003) ‘Women growing older: agency, ethnicity and culture’. Sociology, 37(3), pp. 511–27. Wray, S. (2004) ‘What constitutes agency and empowerment for women in later life? Connecting Ethnicity, Agency and Ageing’, The Sociological Review, 52 (1), pp. 22–38. Wray, S. (2007) ‘To what extent do ethnicity & cultural diversity influence women’s experiences of growing older’, in Tiihonen, A. and Syrén I. (ed.) Ikääntyminen ja sukupuoli. Oraita 1. Helsinki: Ikäinstituutti. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 12 Towards a broader inclusion of heritage language and traditional knowledge in the Vepsian revival movement Cultural, ideological and economic issues*

Laura Siragusa

Introduction At times, departing from the Vepsian villages where I had been conducting research triggered in me a sense of desertion and neglect. I particularly suffered leaving behind the people I had been working with, since I knew that many of them would be confined to isolation and loneliness, especially in the winter. Some of the villagers, mostly babushki (R. Grandmothers), repeatedly implored ‘Come back again!’ upon my departure.1 And their plea echoed in me long after leaving. Baba Gal’ya (pseudonym) grabbed my hands, stared right into my eyes, and asked me many times to visit her again in her home in Nemzha, a Vep- sian village in the Leningrad Oblast’. I became acquainted with Baba Gal’ya when I visited Nemzha with two friends/colleagues from Estonia in June 2013 (Figure 12.1). At the time, Baba Gal’ya had endured a recent family loss, and she seemed particularly worried about facing old age in complete solitude. She portrayed her big house as a place which was once full of life, where even controversial family dynamics kept it animated. She explained how she was now the only resident of the house and continued, ‘I would like to keep half of the house shut, since it can be challenging to warm it all up during the winter [indeed, she had previously admitted that most windows and doors needed to be fixed and that insulation was generally very poor]. But there is no man around anymore. So, I keep the two main parts of the house separated by a cloth [which she pointed out].’ On this occasion, she spoke both Russian and Vepsian. She Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 switched between the two, often depending on who she was talking to, since my colleagues spoke better Vepsian than me. From time to time, Baba Gal’ya meets a neighbour or two to play cards and chat. But this seems not enough to distract her from the risk (and fear) of experiencing continuous loneliness. Her neighbours reported that Baba Gal’ya had the habit to retreat in her home for days in total isolation during ‘difficult times.’ However, nobody explicitly referred to this isolation as depression, desolation, or any other undesirable social and personal condition. 214 Laura Siragusa

Figure 12.1 Nemzha, a Vepsian village in the Leningrad Oblast’.

Source: The author took this picture in the summer of 2013.

From my fieldwork, it became clear that life in the villages varied substantially depending on the season. The elderly villagers (those older than 50–60) engaged with assiduous work during the summer months, either in the garden or fixing windows, doors, stoves, and other appliances around the house. Instead, in the winter they were often sitting alone at home, doing some hand work, such as knitting, and listening to the radio, watching TV, or simply looking outside the window, overviewing the snowy and dark streets. Thanks to her more upfront acknowledgement of isolation and loneliness, Baba Gal’ya brought to the surface some of the most recurrent concerns among Vepsian elderly villagers. In particular, her observations referred to what it involved entering old age in the rural

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 areas of the Vepsian territory. Some of the main concerns are: isolation, loneliness, premature death of family members (often men with the consequent majority of women in the villages), and general lack of people, animals, and collective activities in the winter. What she (as well as other elderly villagers) was missing the most appeared to be engaging with the world, human and non-human beings. Stemming from the considerations made by Baba Gal’ya (and less explicitly by other villagers), I aim to demonstrate how a combination of language ideologies, political and economic factors, and sometimes also specific research practices risks marginalizing Vepsian elderly villagers, as well as their heritage language and Towards a broader inclusion 215 traditional knowledge. In this paper, heritage language and traditional knowledge refer to the ability to relate to the world and attuning with it through the spoken word. Thanks to spoken Vepsian, the villagers can experience feeling at one with the environment where they dwell, its human and non-human inhabitants. More specifically, I want to contextualise such analysis within the broader discussion around endangered languages and their revival. Indeed, Vepsian language is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO, and a group of Vepsian activists has been promoting it since perestroika. I will start this paper with a presentation of Veps and their revival movement, followed by the presentation of some key concepts which support my argument, such as heritage language, traditional knowledge, and the dichotomy inclusion-exclusion contextualizing them within the Vepsian case study. This section will be followed by a self-reflexive analysis as a linguist anthropologist where I aim to challenge specific research practices. These, con- sciously or not, risk marginalizing the elderly. Next, I will make some considerations on village economy and how this intertwines also with gender-related questions.

Veps and Vepsian revival: ideologies, politics and economy Veps traditionally occupy a vast area at the periphery of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad, and Vologda Oblasts (see Figure 12.2) (Puura, 2012). This northern territory is multi-ethnic as Karelians, Russians, Ingrians, etc. also live here and that is one of the reasons why people employ Russian as a lingua franca, particularly in urban centres. Vepsian elderly villagers are often bi-lingual and can speak Russian and their Vepsian dialect of origin. Those living in the Republic of Kare- lia speak an alleged northern dialect of Vepsian. Veps living in the central regions of the Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts speak central-western and central-eastern Vepsian dialects respectively. And those Veps who inhabit the southern part of the Leningrad Oblast’ speak southern Vepsian dialect. According to many Veps, these dialects are mutually intelligible. Vepsian traditional settlements consist of villages surrounded by forest, lakes, and rivers (this all-inclusive territory is called külä in Vepsian). Here the villagers have developed a particular relation with the environment, where Vepsian heritage language has become the eye through which life is seen and interpreted and a way to experience emotions and interact with human and non-human beings. Vepsian spoken language brings together the different agents dwelling in this territory.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Vepsian language was standardized and written for educational and publishing purposes for the first time in the 1920s–1930s, following existing Soviet political and language ideologies. At the time of korenizatsiya (R. Indigenization) a group of scholars mostly coming from the Leningrad Oblast’ began collecting language material in order to publish textbooks and promote Vepsian language in schools (Strogal’shchikova, 2008). Their work matched specific language ideologies, according to which a language can develop in a linear manner and literacy is considered more advanced and developed than orality. The phrase language ideologies follows the paradigm set by Woolard and Schieffelin (1994), according 216 Laura Siragusa

Russian Federation

Republic of Karelia Finland

Northern Veps

Central-western Veps Central-eastern Veps

Southern Vologda Oblast’ Veps

Leningrad Oblast’

Figure 12.2 Vepsän ma (V. Vepsian land, territory)

Source: I adapted this map from Mullonen (2012). The two striped sections at the centre of the map represent the territory covered by contemporary Vepsian villages. I also indicated the main dialects of Vepsian in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts in north-western Russia. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

to which people share belief systems and values which extend to language. The endeavour of these scholars reflected the cultural ecology dominating during the Soviet regime, emphasizing progress, civilization, and acting kul’turno (R. Cultur- ally, educated). In fact, such ideologies had already manifested at the time when the missionaries reached these northern regions (Rogers, 2009). Their activities provided several outcomes and 53 Vepsian primary schools opened between 1935 and 1936, counting 30 Vepsian books in total (Strogal’shchikova, 2008). Towards a broader inclusion 217 However, this movement was destined to be short-lived. In 1937, Vepsian education was abruptly interrupted and it was only with perestroika that Vepsian literacy was restored. Stalinist terror measures and the policies of assimilation which followed him had relegated Vepsian to being experienced as a secret language among the elderly (my own field notes). Both Russians and Veps ridiculed Vepsian for being an under-developed language. Such widespread language hierarchies hindered the Vepsian children (the present-day middle generation) from learning Vepsian both structurally and as an impulsive response to life. Indeed, nowadays most of them claim to know the language only passively, i.e., to understand it but not to be able to speak it. Not only did they not learn how to be responsive to life by employing Vepsian oral form, but they often did not develop positive feelings for it at the time of their youth. Once the kolkhoz era came to an end, many moved to the city where more jobs were available and adopted Rus- sian to interact with one another. Vepsian traditional knowledge and heritage language, their relational and unifying qualities, remained mostly restricted and limited to Vepsian elderly villagers. At the end of the 1980s, a group of Vepsian and Ingrian scholars and political activists from Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, appreciated the urgency to support and bring together those Veps scattered around the traditional Vepsian territory. And they began promoting Vepsian language and culture as a symbol of integrity and political action. The cultural events which epitomize the beginning of the movement were the Festival Elupuu (V. Tree of life) in Vinnitsy, Leningrad Oblast’, in 1987, and a scientific conference in Petro- zavodsk in 1988 (Klement’yev et al., 2007). This movement aroused from the desire for justice of a group of scholars/activists who aimed to reinstate a sense of unity and community (sebr in Vepsian) which had distinguished life in Vepsian villages. In this paper, I will use the terms ‘activists’ and ‘scholars’ interchangeably since the boundary between the two is often fuzzy. At the beginning of the movement, the scholars attempted to obtain economic investment in Vepsian rural areas from the federal and regional authorities (Klement’yev et al., 2007). Once their requests were rejected, they turned to language and culture to achieve their social and political goals. The main founders of this second movement were Nina Zaitseva and Maria Mullonen dealing with language matters and Zinaida Strogal’shchikova dealing with ethnographic and political issues. In regard to language, the scholars followed the practices of their 1920s–1930s predecessors in creating a written language and promoting it at school. In doing so, they ech-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 oed the ideologies and language ecology of the time which viewed literacy as a more prestigious and socially-powerful tool to gain visibility and recognition in the multi-ethnic environment where Veps lived. I borrow the phrase language ecology from Mühlhäusler (1996, 2000) and Garner (2004). It involves understanding language practices in relation to the main forces in a place at a specific time, including language ideologies and attitudes, and understanding language practices as relations themselves. I should point out that this form of intervention and ideology does not pertain only to the Vepsian revival movement, but it corresponds to the course of action of other activists elsewhere around the world (see, for example, Dorian, 1981; Fishman, 1991; Hinton and Hale, 2001). 218 Laura Siragusa Reintroducing literacy was aimed at inducing pride among the Vepsian population and recreating social and cultural integrity. Literacy stood for a sense of unity which had characterized life in the villages, comprising land, human and non-human beings and became a symbol of geo-political compactness. Its adoption aimed to overcome the political and administrative division. It is no surprise that the newly-created Vepsian standard form incorporated the three main different dialects of Vepsian (Zaitseva, 1995). The Vepsian linguists opted for those forms which were intelligible to all Vepsian groups in order to include all Vep- sian ways of speaking in it and make everyone feel part of the codified language. Clearly the promotional activities of the scholars had a strong political message and weight. The late-1980s movement paid off in several ways, from ‘opening up Veps to the world’ (as Nina Zaitseva put it during an interview) to restoring confidence among Veps, from creating the basis for generational transmission of the language to creating visibility among a multi-ethnic population which often perceived differences as a threat to social cohesion. The creation of Vepsian literacy has guar- anteed generational transmission and has contributed to the expansion of the area of action and domain of use of Vepsian language. The oral use of Vepsian, which predominated among elderly villagers, extended to the written use mostly among young Veps in the city. Thanks to the enterprise of Zinaida Strogal’shchikova, Veps also obtained the status of minority indigenous peoples of the North, Sibe- ria, and Far East of the Russian Federation in 2006 (Strogal’shchikova, 2007). And this allowed them to build a new school in Sheltozero, a Vepsian village of the Republic of Karelia. The Vepsian revival movement mostly executed and provided positive outcomes in the Republic of Karelia, where it had initially spurred. Instead, the Vepsian villages in the Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts remained marginal to the movement. Creating a written form has enabled the activists to document Vepsian rituals and traditions and specific epistemologies. Researchers at the Academy of Sciences in Petrozavodsk conduct frequent (often yearly) expeditions around Vepsian villages and store their gathered data in the archives at the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History. This work on language serves as the basis to write primary school texts as well as Vepsian prose and poetry. They also cooper- ate with university students who experiment with fieldwork themselves and make first attempts in lexical data gathering. Such work and cooperation represents the foundation not only for research but the possibility to transfer this knowledge

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 to the next generations. Indeed, most university students come out of university being able both to speak and write standard Vepsian – skills which most of them have acquired only during their tertiary studies. Despite all these achievements, it is manifest that the focus of this movement remains mostly the youth as a symbol of the future and the documented language and traditions as a symbol of a lost past. Collecting language and cultural material aims to document it, fearing that it might get lost once and for all. Metaphors of the life cycles of a language have dominated academic and political discourse in the last decades. And I have already argued against the risks of adopting such Towards a broader inclusion 219 a metaphor of doom elsewhere (Siragusa, 2012, 2015). Not only does such a metaphor enable people to claim that languages die, but it also risks marginalizing those who still speak their heritage language (allegedly, the elderly) as icons of something which will soon vanish. While investing primarily in the youth provides clear generational benefits for the maintenance of epsianV language and culture, it also excludes those who still speak the language from its revival. It partly marginalises them as living beings and also detaches their language from its relational, socializing, and attuning qualities. And this reinforces a separa- tion between life as an embodied experience and an abstract conceptualization of ideas, rules, and systems.

Inclusion-exclusion: ideologies and research practices I adopt the term exclusion as it has been defined by Walker and Walker (1997). Exclusion covers multiple aspects of social life which are intertwined with one another. It concerns ‘the dynamic process of being shut out, fully or partially, from any of the social, economic, political or cultural systems which determine the social integration of a person in society’ (Walker and Walker, 1997, p. 8). In the case of this paper, I specifically target cultural exclusion, which is not separated from the economic, political, and other aspects of social life. Rather, stressing cultural exclusion aims to bring to the surface the importance of creating and sustaining a dialogue among the different agents involved in a revival movement and to evidence the complexity of the forces which make up social life. I also argue that most of the time exclusion is partial (and the same could be stated for its counterpart, inclusion). In this sense, I like to think of the metaphor of a ‘slightly complicated door’ adopted by Delaplace in Billé et al. (2012) when referring to geo-political frontiers. Partial exclusion means that somebody is being discriminated, put aside, voluntarily or not, from certain social activities, but that this individual or group has not been entirely isolated from the complex mechanisms that social life involves. I advance that the partial cultural inclusion of the Vepsian elders within the Vepsian revival movement is at least twofold. It partly regards the scopes and modes of intervention of the revival efforts and the financial support of the regional and federal authorities. On the one hand, the relational qualities of Vepsian heritage language and traditional knowledge are only partly comprised within the scopes of the revival movement which mostly focuses on the promo-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 tion of the written mode of Vepsian and on documenting traditions. On the other hand, the revival movement and village life is continually challenged by political and economic constraints. There is a disjointed political and financial intervention which particularly affects those regions where Vepsian language and traditional knowledge are better preserved, i.e., the Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts. Promoting a minority language in Russia has often matched evolutionary metaphors of language. This has meant privileging literacy over orality at the expenses of the relational value intrinsic to spoken language. The elderly come into contact with the researchers mostly during the scientific expeditions conducted 220 Laura Siragusa around the Vepsian territory. Their heritage language and cultural knowledge is well-documented during those expeditions and later analysed at the Academy of Sciences and/or University. This analysis is often structural and it guarantees the production of scientific material, textbooks, and newspapers, such as Kodima (V. Fatherland). Yet speaking Vepsian enables its language bearers to relate spontaneously to the surrounding world, to engage with its human and non-human inhabitants, and to let emotions arise in attunement to events and people. And it is specifically this relational aspect of Vepsian that is not included in the revival efforts. To put it more bluntly, it is not the language per its morpho-syntactic structures and lexical wealth which is excluded from the revival efforts but rather its oral relationality and bodily experience. By accentuating this partial exclusion, I do not want to discard the achievements attained by the activists, rather I aim to emphasize what can still be done in relation to the contemporary ecology of Vepsian language, comprising the elderly and their knowledge. In this section, I briefly discuss the method I use to engage with Veps and by doing so, I tie in with the argument of my paper, i.e., on the importance of giving value to engagement and attunement with people and life through the spoken word. Many elderly feel detached from the revival movement. They tend not to be active participants in the promotion of their heritage language, aside for some cultural events, such as festivals and gatherings at the Dom Kultury (R. House of Culture) in their village. Some claim that the researchers tend to visit their villages only in the summer for short periods of time and do not share the difficulties that the villagers face during the harshest months of the year. Baba Ira (pseudonym) made clear reference to this during my visit to Kurba, a Vepsian village in the Leningrad Oblast’, in the summer of 2011. She said, ‘I know you like it here in the village. You have been to Kurba only in the summer. But there are about 200 people in total in my village. I have counted them. In the summer there are more, since children come to rest. And this is good. But for us who stay here the whole year round it is very difficult. There is nothing to do, apart from warming up the house continuously. And there is nobody to talk to either.’2 Clearly, research methods vary from discipline to discipline. They also differ from country to country, often depending on the methodological tradition existing in the institution where one receives his or her education (Arzyutov, 2012; Arzyutov and Kan, 2013). As an anthropologist, I received training in Aberdeen, and my research methods have matched those adopted within the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 British Anthropological tradition (see, for example, Evans-Pritchard 1962 and Malinowski 1922). Within this tradition it is understood that fieldwork, ethnography, and anthropology are different entities (Ingold, 2008). As opposed to ethnography and anthropology which comprise the analysis and writing of the data, fieldwork is when data gathering occurs. I have endured extended fieldwork where I employed participant observation and engaged in semi-structured and open-ended interviews and discussions and visited the archives. In my investigation, I let data manifest itself spontaneously. I also appreciated that my presence as a female academic from Italy with an interest in Vepsian language influenced Towards a broader inclusion 221 the material I gathered. Conducting fieldwork among and with Veps has been both an experience of relations and attunement in which the so-called data has been forged by all the agents and forces in place. Thanks to extended fieldwork, I could engage in a number of activities together with the locals and conduct participant observation. I spent a full year with Veps between 2009 and 2010. I returned to the field site in the summer of 2011 to continue the discussion begun the previous years and also to double-check my findings. My Russian and Vepsian spoken skills improved considerably during my work. Admittedly, I can cover more domains when speaking Russian, given that I obtained my undergraduate degree in Slavonic languages. I was able to accom- plish the goals set at the beginning of the research (and more) by being flexible and open and letting events shape the research process and results. This is particularly important for language investigation, since language use and discussions about language occur very often once the researcher is present (Olson and Ado- nyeva, 2012), as demonstrated by the code-switching practice employed by Baba Gal’ya in the presence of different researchers with different language skills.3 Through my work with Veps, I began to appreciate the numerous and unexpected ways in which fieldwork changes and takes shape. Indeed, fieldwork was a learning process (Blommaert and Dong, 2010) in which I and those with whom I worked learned from and about one another. I learned routinized behaviour with which I was not familiar by taking part and being involved in several events and daily activities. By observing how people interacted between themselves, I began to understand their shared system of values, outlooks, and language use. I could only come near an understanding of specific practices through close observation, work and communication, and knowledge in context (Sayer, 1984) and my first-hand and bodily experience. This understanding entails unveiling subconscious practices and/or discrepancies and tensions between actual practices and ways of talking about them. The strengths of prolonged fieldwork are, for example, that I could closely observe tensions between the focus on literacy as a prestigious tool to engage with the authorities and a multi-ethnic society and traditional knowledge and oral use of the language among Vepsian elderly villagers. Participating to their daily routines enabled me to observe how Veps engage with those practices and what roles language cover. We often went to the forest together and took walks around the villages. Walking around a place has been addressed as an important method in social studies elsewhere (Wylie, 2005), since it enables the walkers to recollect memories, engage spontaneously with the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 environment, and not to focus on the presence of the researcher. When walking around the forest in Nemzha, Baba Lara (pseudonym) demonstrated to have a specific way to interact with it. And later I understood that such an approach to the forest was generally shared among Veps. Indeed, we greeted the dead in the local cemetery before entering the forest. We then greeted the forest for letting us in. As she was greeting the forest, or forest spirit (V. Mecanižand), she touched the trees. Veps demonstrated to believe that bodily engagement emphasizes meaning when speaking (see also Hanks, 1996, p. 249) and that physical engagement can carry a message itself (see also Bateson, 1972). When we were collecting 222 Laura Siragusa berries, Baba Lara also admonished me for not speaking Vepsian to the mosqui- toes which were attacking us from everywhere. Speaking Vepsian to the animals (and insects) prevents aggression and establishes a more friendly relationship with them. We also participated in the cultural events which were organised in those villages. At home, we cooked, administered house chores, and warmed up and used the kül’bet’ (V. Sauna) together. Here language had also to be used carefully and swearing or using abusive language was not accepted. With regard to representing Veps without bounding them as a static ethnic group and/or othering them, I often employ anecdotes in my written work which provide a description of the context where language and discussions around language use took place. This proves beneficial as it matches the approach to those studies, according to which language practices emerge in context (Hymes 1979). This approach to academic writing lines up with the literature on non-representational theory and its exploration in presenting people and their practices (Anderson and Smith, 2001; Horton and Kraftl, 2006; Pyyry, 2013; Seigworth, 2000), understanding that they arise there where the data is created together. Therefore, by employing anecdotes, I aim to contextualize speech events, avoiding bounded and more static representations of people, language practices, and metaphors. The presentation of Baba Gal’ya at the beginning of this paper enabled me to open a discussion on heritage language, traditional knowledge, engagement and attunement with the world and ways of promoting minority language in dissonance with the rural language ecology. With this short presentation, I do not want to discredit the positive aspects of any locally- and temporally-located methodological traditions. Instead, building on their strengths, I show how long-term fieldwork can enable the researcher to enter the network of relations among Vepsian villagers and the surrounding environment, concurrently sustaining language use.

Heritage language and traditional knowledge Central to my argument on the partial inclusion/exclusion of elderly Veps in the revival movement are the concepts of heritage language and traditional knowledge. My choice to employ these terms stems from a close observation of Vep- sian language use among the elderly villagers as a means to feel at one with the environment (on the topic, see also Ingold 1994), its human and non-human creatures (Ochs, 2000; Vinokurova, 2006). For Veps, engaging in Vepsian speech

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 acts brings about a sense of unity which overcomes spatial boundaries. Indeed, the elderly villagers have proven to employ the oral mode of Vepsian not only to communicate, i.e., to send and receive a message (the so-called conative function in Jakobson, 1960) but also to coalesce with the land in which they dwell as well as to let emotions and feelings emerge spontaneously. I claim that investing predominantly in a written form and neglecting rural economy has challenged this unity not only with the world but also with oneself. The concepts of heritage language and traditional knowledge go hand in hand. Heritage language can be translated as icˇemoi kel’ in Vepsian which literally Towards a broader inclusion 223 means one’s own language. Icˇemoi kel’ is synonymous with the Russian phrase rodnoy yazyk, where rodnoy finds its root in the word rod (R. Family, kin, clan). Other Russian words share this root such as rodstvennik (R. Relative, kinsman), narod (R. People, nation, folk), and priroda (R. Nature) (Paxson, 2005, 59). In this sense, the phrase heritage language is intended to emphasize Vepsian traditional epistemologies and perception of their mother tongue, which they believe is used to relate to and experience integrity with the people and the land in which they dwell. It also accentuates continuity between the knowledge retained by the elderly and the youth, encompassing the word heritage as a dynamic phenomenon (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998). This argumentation can be extended to the concept of traditional knowledge. In this paper, the latter refers to a set of oral skills (‘know how’) which enable Veps to effectively engage with the world in which they live (e.g., negotiations with the spirits to obtain help, information, protection; engagement with the non-human animals to maintain their and one’s own wellbeing and engagement with other humans to retain social balance). The oral mode of Vepsian heritage language acts as a joining force in a world which manifests itself as a network of multiple actors. The Latourian actor-network theory (Latour, 1987) perfectly applies to this ontology of language, in that speaking Vepsian results from an engagement with the multiple forces interwoven in social life, and, in fact, it often stands for the engagement itself (Ingold 2011, pp. 65–66). In the Vepsian traditional settlements, Veps use language as a means to reach out to the other actors of the network but also as a means to experience integrity, understanding, and respect. Exemplar is the relationship with the animals and spirits (V. Hengid). Vepsian villagers tend to believe that both wild and tame animals speak Vepsian and as such can understand human speech and act consequently as well as convey information (Vinokurova, 2006). It is not surprising that the name of the bear has long been a taboo among Veps. They used to refer to him as käpš, sur’ oc, mecižand, or bukacˇ (V. paw, big forehead, master of the forest, or beech) in order not to be understood (notes from the Vepsian film, Živatad vepsläižiden elos, Animals in the life of Veps). Besides, Veps tend to believe that the animals can carry information about the future and pay careful attention to what they say. Baba Liuba (pseudonym) told me how her son once inquired the cuckoo on the length of his life. The cuckoo did not reply, which indicates that the person will not live longer than a year. Unfortunately, so it was. Spoken language also allows Veps to connect to the spirits. Most spirits have a male (ižand) and female (emäg) aspect. The Vepsian word ižand means the head

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 of the house, the host, and it is found in many of the names of the spirits and souls with which Veps interact. Mecaižand, for example, is the spirit of the forest, and it literally means the head, soul of the forest. Other spirits include vedenižand (V. Soul of the water), pertinižand (V. Soul of the house and land where the house is built), kül’betižand (V. Soul of the sauna), etc. Veps maintain good terms with the spirits which they believe inhabit their land. In order not to upset the hengid, Veps often claim that they need to keep their land well looked after, refrain from swearing, and keep their houses tidy and clean. I was often advised not to curse in the kül’bet’ (V. Sauna), and to always thank the spirits when leaving the forest. 224 Laura Siragusa I was also suggested not to say that I would be quick (V. Hotkas) in attending some activities as the speed and outcome of my actions did not depend on me but on the host of the environment in which I found myself. Some Vepsian villagers, called tedai (literally, ‘the one who knows the way’) have learned ways to negotiate with the spirits from their predecessors. They perform Vepsian zagovory (R. Charms, enchantments) in order to get through to the spirits. Their requests often regard finding lost cattle, deciding where to build a house, settling disputes, etc. (Vinokurova 2006; my own field notes).4 Baba Nina (pseudonym) from Jaro- slavichi, a Vepsian village in the Leningrad Oblast’, explained how men were particularly gifted in finding lost animals there. These verbal practices between Veps, animals, and spirits allow the villagers to also establish a relation with the broader environment which extends to the lakes, rivers, and forests. What’s more, Vepsian villagers appear to particularly appreciate that emotions (as collectively-shared behaviours) and feelings (as physical sensations) can arise together with the acts of speaking.5 In other words, physical involvement together with speech practices enables the speaker to feel at one with oneself and with the environment. In Pondala, a Vepsian village in the Vologda Oblast’, Baba Faina (pseudonym) who is perfectly bi-lingual in Vepsian and Rus- sian admitted feeling closer to her own feelings and what she wanted to express when speaking her own heritage language. In Kurba, Baba Lara (pseudonym) admitted that speaking Vepsian originated warm feelings in her and that she felt stronger towards objects, food, events, people with whom she was engaging at the time of speech. As MacLure (2012, p. 1000) succinctly denoted, ‘Speech affects other bodies, registering not only in the brain and the ears, but in the heartbeat and the skin, in the sensations that we learn, later, to label surprise, boredom, shame, or interest.’

Inclusion-exclusion: ideologies and economy The revival movement cannot be discerned by the complexity of social life and the revival efforts are often restricted by the economic constrains which govern life in the villages. The director of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and His- tory at the Academy of Sciences in Petrozavodsk, Irma Mullonen, explained how the activists have managed to attain great results thanks to their revival efforts. Yet she admitted that a long path was still ahead of them. She referred to the economic situation which shadows the rural territory where Veps live. Indeed,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 this territory receives little investment which hinders the development and sustainability of Vepsian traditional knowledge and heritage language. Admit- tedly, such negligence dominates the political practices in the Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts. Instead, Veps represent a korennoy narod (R. Indigenous peoples) of the Republic of Karelia and are included in the cultural and economic regional budget. In 1990, the Karelian government approved a ‘program to update and develop the schools between 1991 and 1995’ (Strogal’shchikova, 2004, p. 41). In 1991, it passed the Non-Russian District Council Act to ensure the use of the Karelian and Vepsian languages in the administration and educational spheres. Towards a broader inclusion 225 In 1994, a law on education for the indigenous peoples of the Republic of Karelia was also passed (Strogal’shchikova, 2004, p. 44). In 1997, the word malochislennyy (R. minority, literally small-numbered) was added to the title of the law, which had previously only referred to the indigenous peoples. Thus this could also be applied to the Vepsian villages of the Leningrad Oblast’. In 2000, Vepsian also obtained the status of national language (alongside Karelian), while Russian remained the official state language, according to the Languages in the Republic of Karelia Act. Yet services such as shops, schools, and pharmacies are shut down in those villages with less than 1,000 inhabitants, as some villagers explained. The school in Kurba where Vepsian was taught as a compulsory subject was closed in 2009. Most children now go to school by bus in Vinnitsy, the local administrative and cultural hub. Others live in the local boarding school, visiting their families only during the holidays. This way they distance themselves from epistemologies and ontologies of village life. The economic constraints in which Veps find themselves also extend to gender dynamics, as I will next show.

Economy and the matrioshka syndrome Tyotya Natasha (pseudonym) is a Russian friend in her early forties who lives in Petrozavodsk. She once remarked how women outnumber men in this northern region. In fact, this has been observed by Strogal’shchikova (2008), who conducts research in this territory. Tyotya Natasha denominated this social condition as the matrioshka syndrome. This phrase depicts those families in which women outnumber men and often consist of a single babushka (R. Grandmother), a single mother, and the child. She explained that World War II, followed by Stalin’s terror, the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and men’s premature death have led to the formation of this social picture. This is what I could also observe around many Vepsian villages. While men are employed in the quarries of Rybreka and Drugaya Reka in the Republic of Kare- lia, and, as a consequence, those villages present a more varied-gendered arena; the Vepsian villages of the Leningrad Oblast’ are mostly inhabited by women. Here the men are often blamed for heavy drinking habits and not being capable to support their families. However, many women do not grunt about their men or the situation which they have created for themselves. They seem to appreciate that the economy of the country rules the destiny of these men, as most of them do not earn more than 8,000 roubles a month (ca. € 185). In Nemzha, Baba

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Gal’ya explained, ‘they [the men dwelling in the village] were all deported away when I was young. My father was taken away. He might have been richer than the other men. I do not know the reasons why they took him away. But he was not the only one to share such a destiny.’ Men either disappeared or were deprived of any job. Many of them could not learn the skills and business from their fathers who had gone missing. A Vepsian man with whom I had a discussion on a bus from Shoksha to Petrozavodsk admitted that his father knew how to cut rocks. He said, ‘He could tell you exactly where it was good to cut the rock only by looking at what curves the rock took. But, I personally do not know. I never learned.’ 226 Laura Siragusa It often seems that the skills Vepsian men used to nurture, live on, and pass to their sons had vanished along with them. It can be argued that the men were left with no jobs and/or social role in the villages; whereas the women continued to be socially relevant. They had jobs in the local services, schools, and shops. They had learned how to live independently and how to work the land in the absence of their companions. Besides, they had the responsibility to bring up the children. Quite often men had to reinvent a place for themselves in the villages. And at present, this social pressure is more important to them than revitalizing Vepsian language or investing their energy in promoting traditional knowledge which many feel not belonging to their family history anymore. As one Vepsian man said to his friend while standing up to get off from a bus in Vinnitsy and reading a board sign out loud, ‘Armas!’ (V. Love)! Oh well, that was a long time ago! No more armas nowadays.’ And this could have referred to both the act of loving itself as a symbol of youth and to speaking Vepsian instead of Russian.

Conclusion This paper does not address consequences of global warming as an integral part of its discussion which is, instead, addressed in other papers of the edited volume. Rather, it focuses on what it means to be living in a northern territory of the Rus- sian Federation for the elderly representatives of a minority group. More specifically, it addresses the use of their heritage language as a way to engage with the world as well as a profitable means to language revival movements. Partial inclusion/exclusion of Vepsian elderly villagers within the Vepsian revival movement is mostly linked to the political and economic situation in the rural territory in which Veps live and to ways of promoting a minority language. These two aspects are complexly intertwined. Promoting a language has often meant creating a written form for educational and publishing purposes. Such an approach to the revival of a minority language often lines up with evolutionary ideologies which view orality as a step behind literacy in the hierarchy of a language. And it could be argued that the majority of revival movements worldwide have followed this course of action, with a few exceptions, such as the Master-Apprentice program (Hinton 2001). Indeed, the morpho-syntactic structure of Vepsian heritage language has been incorporated in the creation of the new standard language and its promotion. Despite the numerous benefits

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 provided by such a course of action, what has gone missing is the relationality of Vepsian spoken language, its use in rural contexts. This comprises an engagement with human and non-human beings in the traditional rural territory where Veps live and an attunement with the world which enables Veps to feel more strongly about people, life events, and life in general. Elderly Veps experience language as a means to transfer information and messages but also more deeply as a way of living which allows them to spontaneously respond to life. The spoken form of their heritage language enables the language bearers to impromptu engage with life events, sharing common metaphors and values (Sapir 1933). Not involving Towards a broader inclusion 227 the elderly more actively in the movement presents a number of hiccups, from the social exclusion of these villagers to the risk of segregating their knowledge to a museum culture, losing its main strength, its engaging power with the environment where it first developed. Besides, Vepsian ways of living in a rural territory help them respect its ecology, how to use its resources for both supporting and engaging with one’s community, as well as engaging with communities living in more distant territories.

Notes * This work was supported by the Estonian Research Mobility Scheme grant (ERMOS120), by the ERC Advanced Grant (Arctic Domus project, 295458), by the Estonian Min- istry of Education and Research (IUT34–32), and by the European Regional Develop- ment Fund (Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory). 1 In this chapter, I translated most excerpts from Russian. If otherwise, I will state it. 2 Muehlmann (2007: 19) makes a similar claim on the mistrust that the locals might bear towards linguists (and biologists) often perceived as ‘data collectors.’ 3 I will not investigate code-switching practices in more depth, as it is not the purpose of this paper. Yet I may mention that code-switching often varies depending on the generation of the speakers and the ideologies which influence one’s ways of speaking. Overall, the middle-generation Veps appear to be influenced by the political ideologies attached to their heritage language. Hence they tend to apply a purer version of Vepsian (i.e., avoiding so-called Russian loanwords). 4 This information can also be found in the phonogram archives at the Institute of Linguistics, History and Literature of the Academy of Sciences in Petrozavodsk. 5 On the topic see also Briggs 1970.

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Mona Anita Kiil

Introduction This chapter takes its point of departure from a conventional outpatient clinic for mental health in Northern Troms, where annually four hundred patients from four different municipalities in the region are treated. Complementary to conventional mental health care, various traditional healing practices are available to people in these municipalities. The practices are a part of a long-standing local knowledge tradition consisting of traditional healers and networks of care which aim to prevent, soothe or treat illness and crisis. One such practice, which will be highlighted in this chapter, is locally called reading. Concurrently, these patients are receptive to using a variety of alternative treatments1 that are increasingly made available to them. There are naturally various problems at hand related to this relationship, but the main purpose of this chapter is to explore the meeting between traditional healing and alternative treatment and includes a discussion of how the patients’ use of alternative treatment plays a role in the rupture of the repertoire within the traditional healing practices. Furthermore, the chapter aims to embrace “home” as a useful analytical construct – as a means of encapsulating, linking and transcending traditional classifications of home. The structure of this chapter is as follows: I will review briefly the relevant literature in this field, followed by a presentation of the empirical background, methodology and theoretical approach for this study before employing passages from the story of two particular participants in my ethnographic study, Anna and Linda. Their stories have been chosen to represent the material as their attitudes and experiences reflect the other participants’ stories and addresses the generational distinction that emerged. Finally, by conceptualizations of home and Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 hybridity, I will discuss themes made relevant in the stories of Anna and Linda. Northern Troms is an area little canvassed in terms of research, and in order to find relevant research it is therefore necessary to look into areas with a similar population. Amongst other themes, there has recently been research which exemplifies the continuity and change within the Sami world-view, in relationship to the use of traditional healing (Miller, 2007; Sexton and Sørlie, 2008; Myrvoll, 2010), the use of traditional healing as part of strategies in pursuing “the good life” (Myrvoll, 2010), the use of complementary and alternative treatment 232 Mona Anita Kiil in Norway (Hanssen et al., 2005), how traditional health practices can be related to trust (Kiil, 2012), how Sami people manage health and therapeutic relations (Bongo, 2012), how traditional health practices can be embodied (Kiil and Sala- monsen, 2013) and traditional healing as part of an on-going identity negotiation (Kiil, 2015).

The healing landscapes of Northern Troms To understand the context of these patients, namely the frames in which they operationalize their choices for health and illness, one needs to look into the history of the region. Northern Troms is a meeting point between three cultures – Sami Kven and Norwegian – and historically has been considered a cultural melting pot. Within these cultural relationships, particularly concerning that of Sami Norwegian, there have been many shifts and changes. Traditional healing consists of several age-old practices like cupping, herbal medicine and bloodletting (Mathisen, 2000; Myrvoll, 2010). These practices have a long-standing position throughout Northern Norway, specifically in areas with a large Sami population (Mathisen, 1989). Traditional healing is firmly rooted and has played a vital part in managing health and illness long before Western medicine was made available in these communities (Myrvoll, 2010). As of today, after free access to public health care for everybody, the traditional healers are still sought after but now as a complementary practice, often used for conditions as diverse as anxiety and cancer. According to the readers in this study, there has been a turn in the practice towards a stronger emphasis on mental health problems. Among people in the region, it is quite common to hear that one sees the doctor to get diagnosed and the reader to be cured (Kiil, 2015). The concept reading stems from the actual action of the traditional healer; by possess- ing the necessary abilities and knowledge to read, the healer quietly voices out secret formulas (often related to the Bible) “onto” someone in order for healing to happen. Readers often use natural elements when doing reading: water, stones, soil or/and a knife. It is a type of prayer used for a local and specific problem. Traditional healing goes on quietly, it is not advertised in a commercial way and the healer does not require payment. Readers and users of traditional healing can be said to be like two sides of a coin, they cannot be separated. It is the use of the healers that keeps the tradition alive, and which makes the popular health sector (Kleinman, 1980) a user controlled sector. It also makes the healers and

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 their users embedded in the same understanding and world-view. Through mostly tacit knowledge, they share the conceptions of who the healer is and why she or he became a healer. There is a firm belief that some people may create great damage if they have access to this kind of knowledge, which makes it important to protect the practice in several ways. Traditional healing practices like reading are often solidly represented in areas where Laestadianism is emblematic and will be common independently of the cultural belonging or ethnicity. Laestadian history and tradition has therefore a central place in understanding this region (Kristian- sen, 2005; Myrvoll, 2010), though I will not elaborate further on this. A room with a view 233 It is worth noting that in recent times the coastal region of Northern Troms experienced the assimilation policies of the Norwegian state in the after-math of World War II. Whereas the inland-areas of Northern Troms experienced Sami revitalization from the early 1960s (Mathiesen, 1990), the coastal communities of Nordreisa (where the study clinic is situated) and Skjervøy have not had any wave of revitalization, as can be observed in the neighbouring municipalities of Kåfjord and partly Kvænangen.

Methodological and ethical considerations This chapter is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Northern Troms between April 2011 and November 2012 among twelve patients who used the outpatient mental health care clinic for Northern Troms situated in the municipality of Nordreisa. The material mainly consists of in-depth interviews and participant observation. The first meeting with the participants usually took place at the clinic. In total, 17 interviews were conducted, in addition to a number of ethnographic interviews (Spradley, 1979). The participants were between the ages of 22–74 years and included both men and women. They were sampled on the basis of their interest in participating in the project and not by any specific diagnostic criteria or cultural identification. The original invitation to the participants’ was for them to tell how they as patients in this cultural context coped with their mental illness and how they related to both the clinic as well as the traditional healers they were using. The interviews had an open-ended yet, at times, semi-structured character. In the case of the latter, an interview guide was used to direct the conversation to relevant topics regarding the patients’ experiences. Such an approach created an informal setting for the conversation and encouraged the participants’ own stories to be highlighted. The overall aim with the fieldwork in general, and the interviews in particular, was to develop a relationship of trust between the participants and me and through this obtain relevant data (Spradley, 1980; Järvinen, 2005; Holliday, 2007). A Dictaphone was used whenever the participant felt comfortable with it and the setting allowed it. In those cases data was transcribed verbatim afterwards. Regardless of the use of a Dictaphone, handwritten notes were taken throughout the fieldwork, usually during and always after interviews. As an ethnographer, one often gathers most of one’s data through participant observation and many casual, friendly conversations conducted in the context of a

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 relationship with participants with whom one has, through an on-going presence, established relations of rapport and respect sufficient for a genuine “meeting of minds”. Such relations enable a mutual exploration of the meanings the participants apply to their social and cultural world. Anthropological research basically consists of human beings working with other human beings in order to gain an understanding into their ways of thinking; it is built on the relationships that comprise the learning process. There is no way that this research can be carried out in a completely objective manner; indeed, it is by getting to know people sub- jectively, in a personal way, that one best learns what one needs to know (Okely 234 Mona Anita Kiil and Callaway, 1992; Hendry, 1993). It is necessary, therefore, to adopt a reflexive attitude to one’s experience to examine how one is absorbing the local behavior and how one’s prior experience might influence the findings (Davies, 2008). In addition to the participants’ homes, we met and interacted in other arenas, such as the local café, a small shopping-centre and via visits to family, friends and healers. Even though an ethnographic fieldwork usually is filled with interviews, especially unstructured ones that allow new ideas to emerge, other sources of inspiration and knowledge – such as newspapers, documentaries and fiction were also used to develop a broader context to my findings. However, while such tools are useful, intensive participation in a society’s workings – from the daily serving of food to special rites of passage – is the real heart of the anthropological encounter. It is the everyday activities that make a difference in comprehending people’s lives (Okely and Callaway, 1992; Hendry, 1993). This fieldwork, as is the case with most ethnographic fieldwork, had a reciprocal element. In order to make the participants comfortable, I also had to make a contribution; in this case, by acknowledging an interest and an open-mindedness in terms of spirituality. By sharing parts of my own, somewhat unknown story, the boundary between the participants’ and myself was less visible. Telling them about traditional healers in my family (something I was not aware of when commencing the project) and stories related to spirituality were an aspect of how I placed myself in the landscape (Johansen, 1981; Smith, 1999), and which said something about my position in the field. Allowing myself to empathise and be introspective is in my experience the strength of using qualitative methods. I aimed to be patient, to build a relationship of trust and let the participants share parts of their stories at their own pace. I believe that my availability to the participants in both time and flexibility helped the material come together. In some cases, this resulted in quite a bit of coffee consumption, discussion of everyday events and then only later on receiving a phone call with essential parts of the participants’ life-stories. When recalling traumatic memories, I could at times feel slightly helpless, but unlike Robben (1996, p. 75) who states, “Ethnographers can do nothing to lessen the pain that ensues from reliving their traumas”, my impression was that my time and presence did somehow make a difference for the participants. Regard- less, it is crucial to bear in mind that doing fieldwork among people with painful past experiences is ethically challenging and requires a large amount of sensitivity to negotiate how one conducts the research. The study received approval by the

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Regional Ethical Committee. All names have been given pseudonyms, certain events, places and personal identifying factors have also been altered to secure the participants’ identities. The descriptions and quotes used in this chapter have also been read and approved by “Anna”, “Linda” and the healer in Anna’s story.

Understanding the hybrid home In a previous book chapter based on the same fieldwork (Kiil, 2015), I concluded that an on-going negotiation tactic is employed by these patients in their use of A room with a view 235 traditional healing with its spiritual and care components and the clinic with its pharmaceutical and psychotherapeutic components. The patients’ construction of home as an analytical concept was achieved by selective discourse. The notion of home creates a somewhat longitudinal approach to the material as a whole; it gives resonance to the fieldwork, the participants’ stories in particular, and an opportunity to develop new understandings within the same scope; thus home will be part of this chapter as well. However, I would like to address other perspectives of home, more precisely home not merely as a sense of belonging to the community but also how individuals position themselves in light of, or in spite, of home. This approach can say something about continuity within the traditional healing practices of Northern Troms, as well as potential rupture of the repertoire. As of today, an understanding of hybridity is taken as part and parcel of post-colonial, globalized identities. In Northern Troms, hybridity is in many ways the essence of the communities here as they are founded and rooted in the in-between state of ethnic and cultural belonging, historically as well as presently. In the following, the attempt is to portray Home as a journey, navigating between the traditional and the alternative and perhaps towards something like a room of one’s own. Passages from Anna’s and Linda’s stories have been chosen to represent this part of the material from the fieldwork in Northern Troms. Within both their stories, there are also stories from their family members and healers. Anna’s more contextual story establishes some of the background also for Linda’s story. Through Anna we can portray a foundation for understanding the field and also to track ruptures. Where Anna, who could have been Linda’s grandmother, demonstrates rupture through lived experience, Linda represents a generation that lives in these ruptures. The difference is Anna’s more confident relationship to traditional healing, while Linda is ambivalent and ambiguous in the matter. Lin- da’s story also brings out contradictions that gives evidence of her need to present as modern and independent, alternative more than traditional. Nevertheless, no matter how hard she tries to “escape” from her “home”, she keeps returning to it.

Anna’s story Anna, a woman in her sixties, has suffered from depression and an anxiety-disorder for the last thirty-five years. She has received treatment at the local conventional

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 outpatient clinic for a number of years, with some periods without treatment and at other times with more frequent treatment. When Anna and I met at the clinic, she was focused on telling about her illness experiences within the conventional mental health care. When telling her story in her home, Anna focuses on the traditional healing practices in the region, on behalf of the community as much as herself. Through her story, she ushers in memories and experiences with Northern Troms as a backdrop. “I am sorry”, she says the first time I visit her at home, “my house is stuck in the 1980s”. 236 Mona Anita Kiil Anna’s comment and my on-going impression of her home is such that I see her home as Anna’s way to keep her children with her. Anna had been a young mother, and all her three children had left home two decades ago. Still, her house bears witness to them everywhere I look. Framed drawings, Christmas-decorations made out of toilet-paper rolls, painted stones and their old bicycles at the entrance. Now there is only Anna, her husband and the memories left. Anna’s husband has struggled with alcoholism for years; he never gets violent or loud according to Anna, but it is “a wound in our life”, as she so poetically phrases it. Anna pets her cat as she makes coffee and boils eggs. I have brought along freshly baked bread and smoked salmon, and so we have lunch together as we start our conversation this day. A pair of Sami winter-shoes (skaller) that hang on the side of a mirror in the corridor are the only visible sign of Anna’s Sami heritage. The heritage is a topic she does not mind talking about, even though she does find it troublesome due to the bullying she experienced as a child:

I was always more a Norwegian than a Sami and still they bullied me at school. And then again, many of us were raised up in Laestadian homes. We were all cut from the same root. The ones bullying were just like me, a bit of this and that, so it was difficult to understand as a child, it still is.

Anna smiles gently, as she continues:

We knew houses where reading would take place, and some of these places were the homes of those bullying me. Even if they were not Sami which I don’t really know if they were, we were still part of the same tradition. Any- one from here, my age at least, has witnessed these things. Reading. There is nothing strange about it.

Charlatans and angels in disguise Anna’s warmth and her loving relationship to her family is clearly a motivation for her extended use of traditional healers, as well as alternative practitioners. She is careful to mention all the goodness she feels she has received over the years from, in particular one healer and later on from his son, who was this healer’s successor. Still, Anna is critical about several healers she has come across and

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 believes that people from Northern Norway can be more exposed and vulnerable to what she refers to as charlatans than people elsewhere.

There was this traveling healer that was coming to Nordreisa. Actually, I should tell you that the night before this meeting I got this creepy feeling. It was announced in the local newspaper, and one could come to the hotel here to meet this healer. I went with my younger sister, we were both struggling with mental problems that were quite severe at that time. Still to this day I do not know what really went on in that hotel-room. I have no A room with a view 237 words . . . it was a surreal experience, and really, very uncomfortable. After- wards he asked for payment, quite much actually, but he made sure to say that we should only give if we could afford it and that he was a man of God. When we walked out from the hotel, it felt like my feet would tremble . . . it was as if he had taken something from me, out of me. It was truly horrible, you have no idea. A real charlatan, that is who he was. I felt really ill for a long time after this.

Anna speaks continuously under her breath, as if her words are being highlighted, one by one. It is obvious to me that this was a traumatic encounter for her, on several levels, and when seen together with other parts of her story, a manifestation of a life with great challenges. Anna continues:

As if they think we will bite into anything, no matter what. Just because we are open-minded, spiritual people we can be taken for fools. I am not saying that only the local readers have skills, no, but you only need your intuition to know if a healer is good or bad. That is something you just feel, if they have the knowledge or not. And if you are in crisis, or struggling with mental problems, it is that knowledge you need in the healer, and the warmth that only comes with genuine knowledge.

Nevertheless, Anna’s attitude to other types of healing was quite liberal, and when I try to grasp if there is a distinction in the way she relates to these different categories of healers, she states:

I believe that there are many things and many different healers that can help when you are in need of something. I have tried many things over the years, homeopathy, I have good experiences with acupuncture. Cupping works, I have done it a lot, and reading of course always help. We are blessed with really good readers here, that’s for sure.

In our conversations, Anna would often return to the local knowledge and the importance of being anchored in the local healing tradition. When I asked her if she could tell me what she associated with “local knowledge”, she answered as I can now conclude, as most of the participants did (Kiil, 2015):

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 It is about people that you know, know something.

This also implies that Anna herself has an adequate knowledge, to assess and in order to validate the level of skills, but not to practice; practice is exclusively for the “chosen ones” – readers. The evaluation of skills is not only arrived by intuition but through experiences shared among people in this region, these are exchanges that take place through the informal networks of care. Anna’s narrative shows that people’s use of traditional healers is consistently pragmatic, both as a practice and as a part of a belief-system. Furthermore, it seems as if being 238 Mona Anita Kiil anchored in the traditional healing practice has made many people more conscious of boundaries in terms of what is “good treatment”, according to traditional schemes. Among the participants, there was discomfort about spiritual healing being converted to an object in the commercial market. Both the payment and the modern way of self-advertising one’s abilities seemed problematic to some. How- ever, if “modern” healers demand payment, the issue can become quite complex, especially if the healer in question is considered to be particularly competent. In those cases, the payment might be worthwhile. As Anna said:

If they are good, I do not mind paying.

I ask Anna if she can explain how a good healer feels for her; and after a short break where she takes her time to think and take a sip of coffee, she states:

The feeling of floating,and being at peace . . . a good healer is like being at home, the one that calms my inner storm, so to speak. A good healer is like an angel, well-in disguise, she smiles gently. You need to be looked after and cared for somehow, not to get more anx- ious than you already are.

Anna would telephone traditional healers from time to time, usually on behalf of her husband or sister, sometimes on behalf of herself. On one occasion I witness Anna talking with a reader over the telephone after an incident with her sister, who at the time was admitted to the regional hospital. During this conversation, Anna changed her whole being from the state of emotional turmoil and despair she was in, to calmness and acceptance of the on-going situation. Some days after she will be going to a nearby place for a consultation with a therapist she has told me about previously, and I am invited to go with her and observe the session. This is an alternative practitioner who performs a healing-technique. The consulting room is tranquil with white walls, lilac curtains, some candles and a discreet scent of rosemary. The session consists of a conversation, following a meditative healing session where the therapist uses different techniques to explore what she refers to as Anna’s spiritual health. Afterwards I recognized in Anna the same calmness I had witnessed when she spoke with the reader over

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 the phone. When the session is over, the healer tells me about her own journey towards being a healer:

There have been traditional healers in my family, perhaps not healers that have been known in the community here . . . more like those that serve close family-members and friends, and the occasional neighbor I guess. As a child, I suffered from a chronic illness, and my father used to read on me. My father passed away when I was eleven. It was very sudden and unexpected, A room with a view 239 and according to my mother he wanted me to be his successor. Obviously, he never got the chance to pass it on to me.

When I ask her how she sees herself compared to the local readers, she answers:

Maybe because of my father, and his destiny, that is why I feel I have been searching for something all my life, something larger than life, in a way . . . when I was introduced to the healing I do now, it all made sense to me. I believe my father is proud of me, even if I am not a reader from the old tradition, I feel that I somehow bring along the same principles, the profound respect for people, for nature. These things we grow up with here. You know, it is not like I compare myself to the local readers, it is not a competition between us at all. We do different things, we have different knowledge, and yet we aim for the same. To help people. For some the religious part of reading can be quite important, and what I do is perhaps experienced as more “spiritual” than religious.

Linda, one of the youngest participants in the study, seemingly had a quite different take on the issues made relevant through Anna’s story.

Linda’s story Linda enters the consultation room at the clinic with energy and persistence. A woman in her early twenties, who has lived in Northern Troms most of her life, with the exception of a two-year stay in a small town in the south of Nor- way. Linda moved back a year ago and started treatment at the clinic again; her first visit to the clinic had been at the age of thirteen. Linda describes herself as someone who has always struggled with anxiety and has felt slightly paranoid. She says she was mixing with the wrong people and that her teenage years were rather rebellious. When the topic of cultural belonging is brought up, Linda starts to tremble her fingers and is apparently uncomfortable with the topic.

We are not really Sámi or Kven here in Nordreisa, most people here are just plain Norwegian. I don’t know. It’s complicated and at the same time it doesn’t really matter, not to me anyway. I am who I am, neither this nor that. Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016

Something in the air Linda says she has no personal experience with traditional healing, but through our meetings she reveals that she knows that her mother has called readers on her behalf.

My mother has been worrying a lot for me, ever since the time she saw that I had cut myself . . . she was like extra worried, you know. I guess she thought 240 Mona Anita Kiil I could commit suicide, like any time. My father told me she was in contact with a reader on my behalf, and for her own good too, I guess. Later on my mother told me as well. She said she wanted prayers for me, and to comfort herself, and that she had done this many times. Quickly into our conversation, Linda states that she is more “into” the alternative than “into” using traditional healing: I am a kind of alternative or spiritual person, you know. When I grew up, we used to do quite a lot of spiritism, and we did get in contact with spirits, there is no doubt about that. There were many signs of the spirit world, and I have had many supernatural experiences, I believe those things are common here, more so than in other places.

Linda smiles, and raises her hands:

Who knows, maybe we have a different way to think here . . . about such things . . . maybe there is something special here, something in the air, she laughs.

Linda seems to have a need to dwell on this, and so I let her. She continues:

Behind my grandparent’s house, there is this old farmhouse, it has not been used for a long time. I have seen my dead grandfather at this place, he was suddenly in front of me when I was fetching some stuff I had stored there while I was living in the south. The sight of him was not frightening, it sort of calmed me- and his presence was like saying “No need to be afraid of anything”. Things are not what they seem. Well, he did calm me, but I am still struggling with myself though. I want to be more than just from here, you know, I liked that about living in the south. Then again, I didn’t feel spiritual in the same way at that time. It was different there, I was different there. Maybe I was running away from myself, from my roots. My mother likes to tell me that I should never run away from my inner world no matter how ill I should get, and I guess she is right, even though I did not want to admit it before. But I did feel different . . . you know here there are these memories and all these places that are so special.

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 I ask Linda to elaborate on places she connects to this spirituality, and her instant reply is:

The cemetery. Anyone from here, especially adults know that there are certain things going on at the cemetery. Ask anyone.

Linda looks at me as if I am about to have a great secret revealed. I, on the other hand, am being reminded of another participant who said exactly the same A room with a view 241 thing. I am about to investigate further in this when Linda suddenly names a valley in the area which she says is haunted:

The valley is special. Come to think of it, it is more special than the cemetery. It is one of those places where you just know there is lot of energy. And the spirit of a noaidi2 who lived some hundred years ago, is said to be present there.

Navigating knowledge Anna’s and Linda’s stories draw a picture of a landscape in which people are navigators between past and present, time and space, culture and identity, health, illness and healing. A landscape where traditional healing, according to my understanding, is considered as both a pragmatic tool to promote health and wellbeing in everyday life, as well as representing a spiritual anchor in many peoples’ lives. Whereas Anna – as most of the older participants – focuses more on the health qualities of traditional healing, Linda – as most of the other younger participants – is much more concerned with the supernatural aspects surrounding the practices, and this is a choice which corresponds with her self-proclaimed alternative image. This distinction can be of a generational character but in some cases also point to individual preferences. These stories are testimonies of how cultural belonging in some way or the other always seems to make a difference, in this context, despite it being hidden or under-communicated, it appears and is made relevant. Furthermore, the stories also give insight to the position traditional healing has had, and still has, among people in this region, and thus gives us an idea of how the tradition is changing along with the increasing variety of available alternative treatments. Above all, their stories say something about how they relate to home, also as movement. The journey of our lives is not between fixed positions, and there is no itinerary affording routes back again. Yet while it may be true that “the destiny of our journeys” is not circular, still home represents both “the place from which we set out and to which we return, at least in spirit” (Hobsbawm, 1991, p. 65). Can the local knowledge, represented through the traditional healing practices, be such a home? According to Geertz (1983), we deepen our understanding of human societies through the intimacies of local knowledge. Perhaps it is from this point of view that the competence of other types of healers is being navigated? Could it be that the complemen-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 tary use of traditional healers has laid the foundation both for the open interest shown towards alternative treatment, as well as having provided users with cultural schemes for evaluating and navigating alternative treatment? Considering that, based on experiences drawn from the informal networks of care, a certain competence in therapeutic relations is present. In that case, similar schemes for navigating within clinical encounters in the conventional mental health care are likely to be present. Such schemes can thus reflect an understanding of home, as well as the therapeutic landscape of Northern Troms (Kiil, 2015). 242 Mona Anita Kiil The location of spirituality The stories of Anna and Linda witness a landscape where spirituality is experienced through both the traditional healing practices and the alternative treatments. The spirituality found in traditional healing seems connected to home, as a physical place, as it is situated and connected to the region and certain places. The spiritual aspect of alternative treatment, on the other hand, seems connected to home, as something more transcendent. Where alternative treatment seems to verify a global presence, traditional healing (re)produces local knowledge and identity. If these are spheres with specific values attached to them, could we understand this as how one navigates within the various landscapes corresponding with certain identity markers? Linda does not merely express a desire to distance herself geographically from Northern Troms but also from the identity of the place. Compared to their parents’ generation, the younger people, as shown through Linda, can also have a greater need to be part of an outside, global world. Perhaps a paradox in our digital times of social media, but the closer one gets to “the world”, the farther away from the centre one experiences to be, such as living in the periphery as Northern Troms factually is.

A room of one’s own Virginia Woolf’s (1929) understanding of a room of one’s own stems from a feminist point of view: to find space as a woman, both practically and metaphorically, in order to write and create – which was a tall order taking into consideration the restrictions of both the academic and social limitations of her time (Ryall, 2011). In contrast, for Linda, a room of one’s own points to Linda’s desire for a “room” of her own, and unlike gender it deals with age through a generational lens, in particular the younger generations’ need to define their own Home; or, in the words of Woolf (1929), “Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” A room of one’s own can also be the possibility and the recognition of struggling with mental illness, yet being capable of finding your own space, placed in a “healing” landscape. Even if Linda remarks the need to not be from Northern Troms, Northern Troms is continuously in her story, in the spiritual places as well as in the awareness of her mothers’ contact with readers on her behalf. So if not entirely a room of her own, Linda, like Anna, has at least a room with a view. The therapeutic

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 landscape is found both “within” and “outside”; it can be seen from different angles. Schwartz (1975, p. 130) used the phrase “migrants of identity” to describe the continual search by American youth for an identity that they found “accept- able and authentic”. Individual identity was always and everywhere dynamic, Schwartz suggested, always something “problematic”, something calling for a resolution that was never wholly acquired, because it was through the search that the individual per se came to be defined. However, what he felt was particular to the search of contemporary Americans was the location of that search in time as well as space; individuals increasingly used time as an anchor for their identity, A room with a view 243 as a means of bounding and expressing their membership of groups, so that cultural difference became synonymous with generational difference (Rapport and Dawson, 1998). So perhaps this continuous practice is merely a quest for a room of one’s own, where cultural belonging and traditions are not necessarily being negotiated, yet played out by themselves within their own framework.

The unhomely home Part of the force of Bhabha’s (1994) “unhomely” is a recognition of people’s hybrid, inauthentic natures. The very idea of authenticity – even when thought to be used for very positive ends – has the consequence of freezing other peoples in time and space, into a mythic past of homogeneous community, where, to remain authentic and thus appreciated, they cannot leave (Phillips, 1993). This makes practices like traditional healing representations of something archaic and static, distancing it from a central, superior present (Fabian, 1983. Ardener, 1985). Following such a philosophy, traditional healing practices naturally would be incompatible, not to say impossible, to combine with alternative treatment, but through Anna’s and Linda’s stories we have seen that this is not the case. Their experiences, however, shown for example through Anna’s conscious “treatment-shopping” (Salamonsen, 2013), bear witness of a dynamic community where the traditional aspect is more of a generator than a hinder. Then again, is not all cultural activity essentially hybrid? A product of diffusion and assimilation, meaning there has never been such a thing as an “authentic type” or a pure system, for people are always exchanging, changing, processing, incor- porating elements of culture (Boas, 1886. Parkin, 1987. Overing, 1998). Hybrid- ity is thus one of the natural conditions of human existence; we have in a sense always been “displaced” or “unhomely” (Rapport and Overing, 2007). To live culturally is an on-going, ever-shifting activity, as opposed to placing and reifying culture as museum objects. Traditional knowledge such as the healing practices are, regardless of their deep roots, vital and dynamic, constantly changing and adapting, as manifested through the ruptures of repertoire. Perhaps it is part and parcel of an appreciation of the way that individuals live in movement, transition and transgression that can conceptualize home to be similarly paradoxical and transgressive. It may appear, according to Chambers (1994, p. 246), and as Heidegger pronounced, that homelessness is becoming the destiny of the world, but it may be rather that homelessness is a recognition that we possess another

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 sense of being-in-the-world. Among the participants, this seemed rather effort- lessly interwoven into their everyday life. Much has changed in the social and cultural conditions of local practice, both earlier and in modern times, but basic knowledge appears to continue. Will the globalized youth as represented by Linda, eventually let go of the reading tradition, or will it vanish with the readers themselves as the duty of being a reader can be too much of a burden in a modern life? As long as there are readers available, it seems unlikely that people will stop consulting them. Being at home and being homeless, are not, as such, matters of movement, of physical space or of the 244 Mona Anita Kiil fluidity of socio-cultural times and places. One is athome when one inhabits a cognitive environment in which one can undertake the routines of daily life and through which one finds one’s identity best mediated and homeless when such a cognitive environment is eschewed (Hannerz, 2004).

Conclusion Through this chapter we have witnessed that rupture of the traditional healing practices has the element of an increasing combination with alternative treatment, how these various practices intertwine and how they simultaneously refer to both different and similar spheres and world-views among people in the region. In regards to the choice of healer, it seems as if the competence of the healer somewhat overrules the boundary between traditional healing and alternative treatment, yet the distinction between traditional healing and new alternative treatment is still valid for most people. Hybridity reflects the ambiguity of home, of the always present potential of being homeless, and yet home is found within traditional healing as a testimony and dynamic expression of local knowledge. The distinction, and the combination, of authenticity and hybridity give continuity to the traditional healing practices. As they are users of conventional clinical treatment, traditional healing and also alternative treatments, these patients are experienced navigators between different cultural and medical systems. In contexts, like Northern Troms, it is crucial to be aware of changes in socio-cultural practices and phenomenon such as traditional healing and thereby considering the experiences the patient brings into the conventional consulting room. Western society of today is very extrovert, very much concerned with the newest objects, the newest piece of information, the latest opportunity for status and self-promotion. Local knowledge such as reading can counterpoise these “modern” and “outside” values, and this is perhaps what represents the continuity of the practice. Similar to what Linda’s mother was making relevant, Nuss- baum (2002) states: “Do not despise your inner world”. In the case of Northern Troms, the value of an inner world seems to be lifted up independently of how one navigates in-between generation, culture and traditional healing versus alternative or conventional treatment. The desire to identify one’s own path to salvation, to personalize healing as opposed to experiencing it through the lens

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 of community or culture refers to Home not merely as solid but also as movement. In this sense, home may not have a room of one’s own but at least a room with a view.

Acknowledgements My heartfelt thanks to the participants who so generously shared their stories with me and the outpatient clinic for mental health in Northern Troms for enabling A room with a view 245 the fieldwork. Thanks to the Norwegian Research Council for financially supporting my PhD project, Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health in Northern Troms.

Notes 1 In this chapter, the concept alternative treatment will be used to describe treatments other than conventional treatment and the traditional healing practices known in Northern Troms such as reading; thus alternative treatment here may be complementary or even conventional in another context, such as Chinese medicine in China. 2 A Sami shaman.

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Päivi Naskali, Marjaana Seppänen, Shahnaj Begum

In the unique natural environment of the Arctic, climate change influences people’s lives in many ways. The impact of changed weather conditions can threaten human health, with particular risks for elderly people living in remote communities. The changing climate is most acutely felt in the everyday lives of those who live close to nature, working in agriculture, forestry or reindeer herding. The Arctic is a region where people’s lives – past and present – are tightly interwoven with the environment and changes in it. Between the ageing of its population and the migration of young people to the south, the Arctic has a significant proportion of older populations. Mindful of this trend, this book has focused on the situation of older people in the region with the aim of increasing knowledge about how their wellbeing and agency are constructed and affected by what is a rapidly changing living environment. As the research in the book emphasises, old people are not a uniform group. It is important to note the diversity of the older population in terms of gender, lifestyle, life histories and other significant considerations. Yet our findings show that certain factors seem to be important for the majority of today’s elderly people: they consider health, social relationships, economic resources, activity and participation to be important components of their wellbeing. Other, less-studied aspects of wellbeing are also identified in this volume: the living environment and everyday aesthetics prove to be of great importance in shaping the quality of everyday life. The living environment is especially important for elderly people in remote villages and small ethnic communities. These people experience first-hand the impacts of a changing environment and the effects of the changes on the society

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 in which they live. Their voices should be heard and their participation and inclusion should be supported. Among other elements, the research presented in this volume emphasises the importance of traditional knowledge. This knowledge can be used to enhance the wellbeing of the elderly as such, but it can also contribute to sustainable development of the region as a whole. However, elderly people have seldom been heard, and often their opinions are overlooked; ageist views – explicit as well as implicit – tend to silence their voices. It is remarkable how nature in the North, especially forests, provides inspiration to people in different aspects of their lives. For example, as the research in this volume shows, forests may form a basis for nutrition and traditional healing Conclusion 249 practices. In particular, nature in the Arctic has a special importance in offering a healthy and good life for Nordic and Russian minorities. Where it severs people’s connection to nature or natural resources, climate change will thus affect their wellbeing dramatically. Climate change and changes in the natural and social environment also impact social relationships in many respects. To date only a few studies have addressed the consequences of this for gender relations; yet it is indisputable that gender roles have changed, as have the discourses related to ageing. For example, Sami culture has had to adapt to the new economic and cultural situation, which has changed the status of elderly women as the transmitters of tradition, especially the minority’s language and cultural identity. Life in the Arctic is a struggle in which freedom and safety both feature prominently. At its best, the natural environment offers freedom for individual growth and wellbeing. Safety and a feeling of security can be offered by other people in the community in the form of informal social interaction and social support, as well as opportunities for voluntary work, which will have a growing importance in the future. The delivery of formal services in remote areas involving long distances poses many challenges, and any shortcomings will affect older people in particular. The living conditions create a need for solutions different than those in densely populated areas, making client-centred care especially important. While it is true that older people’s need for support increases with age, the studies in this book have opted to highlight the agency of older adults. Older people should not be seen only as dependent or only as agents; both positions often occur in the same person. From the viewpoint of agency, the research in this volume sees older people as important actors in society: they make decisions about moving, and they act as volunteers or members of anti-ageist movements. In Sami communities, for example, older persons are important participants in reindeer herding, where they not only carry out concrete tasks but also support the local language and strengthen the indigenous identity of younger generations. The discussions in this book put forward conclusions about how to proceed in supporting the wellbeing and health of older people in the Arctic. If we are to defend the interests of older people and emphasise the principles of human rights, attitudes and politics must change. The hidden agendas of society, such as ageism, should not be accepted or quietly ignored. Differences among the group collectively known as “elderly people” must be taken into account, and the people’s own voices must be heard. More critical research and discussion are

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 needed to inform and enable good decisions in both local and national politics. One important concern that merits further study is how discourses in documents and media shape our understanding of phenomena or motivate actions which do not favour the position of older people. For example, in recent years, ageing has featured prominently in many discourses solely as an economic threat. The questions connected to climate change and the position of people – the elderly in particular – embrace a wide spectrum of perspectives. Addressing such issues requires multidisciplinary research settings ensuring that gender equality, health and ethnicity, among other factors, will be taken into account in policy making when formulating national and local strategies and plans. This page intentionally left blank Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Contributors

Marit Aure is currently holding a part-time position as Senior Researcher at Northern Research Institute (Norut), Tromsø, and is a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Women’s and Gender Research at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway. Aure has a PhD in planning and community studies. Her interests and recent publications focus on national and international migration, mobility studies, high-skilled and skilled migrants integration in the labour market and society, border studies and place and community studies. The construction of gender, age, class and ethnicity are important aspects in her research.

Shahnaj Begum is working as a researcher (doctoral candidate) at the Unit for Gender Studies in the Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland, Finland. Her research focuses on Northern elderly wellbeing (including Sami elderly) and gender issues in the context of Arctic change. She has coordinated two projects, both of which were funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers ‘The Arctic change and elderly exclusion: a gender-based perspective’, and ‘A gender based approach to livelihood change in the Nordic Arctic’. She has presented at many international conferences and workshops and recently published scientific articles concerning her dissertation.

Anastasia Emelyanova holds degrees in health sciences and social work. She is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Arctic Medicine, University of Oulu (Fin- land). Main research interests include the Arctic demography, population ageing, social policy, human health and wellbeing and international relations. Her PhD thesis, ‘Cross-regional analysis of population aging in the Arctic countries’, will be

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 defended in 2015. Anastasia has been involved in teaching, administrative work and scientific collaboration with the Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Uni- versity of Lapland, International Institute on Aging, as well as with the IIASA. She has presented at more than 30 international workshops and published 15 scientific papers.

Rune Flikke is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo, Norway. He has extensive research experience from African Independent Churches in Durban, South Africa, and recently finished a four-year research project on vaccination in Malawi. In addition to a recent and growing 252 Contributors engagement with resource management and nature conservation in the circumpolar region, he is currently working on issues of wellbeing, nature conservation, alien species and conceptions of changing landscapes in South Africa.

Ilkka Haapola (PhD) is a Senior Researcher in Palmenia Centre for Continu- ing Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has broad experience in empirical social research, targeted on unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. Recently, Haapola has focused on ageing research, particularly a longitudinal and cohort analysis of ageing. His research interests include quality of life, person- environment relations and the use of social and health services in later life.

Joan Harbison (PhD, RSW) is an Adjunct Professor at Dalhousie University School of Social Work, Canada. Her research and publications address issues of ageing from a critical perspective with reference to service delivery to older people, their rights and their mistreatment. Professor Harbison leads an interdisciplinary research team including members from the fields of social work, sociology and law. For the past three years, she has participated in the ‘Arctic change and elderly exclusion: a gender-based perspective’ project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Eija Jumisko (PhD) is a registered nurse, nurse teacher and Head of Degree Pro- grams in Nursing and Elderly Care at Lapland University of Applied Sciences in Rovaniemi, Finland. She has worked as a nurse, teacher and researcher for several years, in Finland as well as Sweden. She is especially interested in research that focuses on the perspectives and experiences of people with illness or disability and those of their close relatives.

Antti Karisto is Professor of Social Gerontology at the Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Finland. Recently, he has studied baby boomers, retirement migration and lifestyles of the elderly. He has also written exten- sively on health and wellbeing, social policy, urban topics and everyday life (see: www. blogs.helsinki.fi/akaristo/).

Seija Keskitalo-Foley (PhD) is University Lecturer in Sociology of Education and Docent in Feminist Sociology of Education, University of Lapland, Finland. Keskitalo-Foley’s research interests include: gender, power and agency in culture,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 society and policy, feminist education and society research and critical perspectives on educational policy.

Mona Anita Kiil is a research fellow at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. She holds a master’s degree in social anthropology and is currently completing her PhD in health science. Kiil’s research interests include dynamics of belonging, post-coloniality, indigenous people, modernity, religion, gender, mental health, traditional medicine and embodiment. Her chapter contribution ‘A room with a view: navigating continuity and rupture within the traditional healing repertoire Contributors 253 of Northern Troms’ is part of her PhD project ‘Cultural perspectives on mental health in Northern Norway’.

Trine Kvitberg is a doctoral candidate in Health Science at the Department of Community Medicine, the Arctic University of Norway. She holds a master’s degree in social anthropology, a master’s degree in public health, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Her research interests include medical anthropology, minority and indigenous health, human rights, personal biographies and anthropology of the senses, food and body.

Marianne Liliequist is Professor of Ethnology at the Department of Culture and Media Studies, Umeå University, Sweden. Her research has mainly focused on socialisation, age, gender and ethnicity. Her thesis was ‘The children of the settlers: childrearing among settlers in the parishes of Frostviken, Vilhelmina and Tärna 1850–1920’. In connection with the project Ageing and Living Conditions (sponsored by the Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research at Umeå University), she has published the article ‘Elderly Sami—symbols of Sami identity: the role of the elderly in the Sami community’ (2010) and, with co-writer Lena Karlsson, ‘Elderly Sami as the “Other”: discourses on the elderly care of the Sami, 1850–1930’ (2011).

Sindre Myhr is an economist with a focus on migration patterns, motives and impacts. He works as a researcher at Northern Research Institute (Norut), Tromsø, while working on a PhD at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The topic of the PhD is contemporary and historical migration in Scandinavia and its economic outcomes.

Päivi Naskali is Professor of Gender Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland, and Dean of the Faculty of Education. She has supervised approximately 200 master’s theses and nine doctoral theses. She is Head of the Finnish University Network of Gender Studies, has worked actively in the National Doctoral School in Gender Studies and edited the Journal of Women’s Studies. Her research interests include gender and ageing in the times of neoliberalism, educational gender politics and feminist pedagogy and philosophy. She has lately been leading a research project, ‘The Arctic change and elderly exclusion: a gender-based perspective’.

Arja Rautio (MD, PhD, ERT) works in the field of circumpolar health and well-

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 being. She is leading graduate programs and research projects at the Thule Insti- tute, Finland and the Thematic Network of Health and Well-Being in the Arctic at the University of the Arctic. Her research focuses on environmental health, social exclusion and indigenous health and wellbeing. Rautio has published about 90 scientific articles and is the leader of the research project ‘Arctic health risks: impacts on health in the Arctic and Europe (2009–2014)’. She is a member of National Board of Polar Research and Board of Arctic Affairs in Finland.

Barbara Schumann (MPH, PhD) is a researcher in the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå Centre for Global Health Research and 254 Contributors Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research, Umeå University, Sweden. She has a background in epidemiology and public health and is deputy theme leader of Theme V (Climate change and health) within the research group Climate Change and Global Health. She is studying the role of climatic factors for health in Sweden using historical and modern population data. Other research projects investigate health impacts of climate in low- and middle-income countries and communities’ vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Her special interest is to identify factors that contribute to vulnerability to climate, as well as societal conditions at different stages of the demographic transition.

Marjaana Seppänen (PhD) is Professor of Social Work at the University of Hel- sinki, Finland. Her background is in social sciences and, during the last decades, she has studied different issues connected with ageing. Her teaching and current research work deals with social gerontology with a special focus on wellbeing and exclusion of elderly people in different social and physical environments. Recent research publications focus on questions connected with wellbeing and social relations of older adults, gerontological social work and older residents as members of local communities in segregated neighbourhoods.

Laura Siragusa obtained her PhD in anthropology at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) in 2012. During her doctoral studies, she was able to demonstrate the benefits of and tensions within the revival of Vepsian language. Her dissertation was entitled ‘Vepsian language: speaking and writing heritage language in villages and cities’. Between 2013 and 2015, she was employed as an ERMOS Research Fellow in social anthropology at the University of Tartu, Estonia. At present she is a team member of the Arctic Domus project at the University of Aberdeen, where she problematizes the linguistic nature of human-animal verbal and non-verbal interaction.

Tarja Tapio holds a PhD in social gerontology, sociology. Her research interest is ageing in local communities and indigenous groups in North Scandinavia, particularly in Tornedalen and Sápmi, and how the traditional ways of life infuse with the everyday lives of the oldest generations today. She completed her PhD in the doctoral program “Ageing, Wellbeing and Technology” at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2010. She also spent a short period as a visiting researcher at the University of Stirling in Scotland, 2008, and has also served as a lecturer,

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 giving several keynote lectures at various universities across Northern Europe. She currently works at the Health and Social Work Services office in Tornio, Finland, near her family.

Elina Vaara (MSc) is a PhD student in social policy at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and has a background in statistics. The focus of her PhD research is on domains of wellbeing, ageing and life course trajectories in longitudinal studies. Recently, she has been interested in nonrandom dropout in wellbeing and ageing research and has been working as a freelance statistician. Index

Aapua 198, 203 – 4, 207 – 8 Animals in the life of Veps 223 Aapuan mettät 204 Arctic: economy in 121 – 3; education Active Ageing 2012 55 of peoples in 121 – 3; empowerment activity and participation 139 – 41 of peoples in 122 – 3; geographical Administration on Aging 56 overview 110; health of peoples in adult children 79 – 81 120 – 1; impact of climate change on age 11 – 12, 21, 31, 33, 63 110; impact of climate change on age discrimination 21, 22, 32 elderly 114 – 16; life expectancy in aged people: as gender neutral 37 – 9; 116 – 18; livelihoods in 118 – 20; moving subject positions of 39; use of term in motives in or to 77; older persons’ ageing strategies of municipalities 37. gender-based positioning in 116 – 23; See also elderly people; older people population of 110; socio-economic, AgeForum 59 environmental and cultural ageing: in Aapua 198; creative strategies changes 155 for successful 159 – 61; Finnish policy Arctic Circle 197 – 8 on 36; gendered character of 30 – 1; Arctic Climate Impact Assessment invisible gender in studies 31 – 3; (ACIA) 93, 97, 114, 115, 120 political correctness and 37; as social Arctic Council 124 construction 30; as social process Arctic Human Development Report 33; values that guide policies in the (AHDR) 114 municipalities of Lapland 36 Association for Old Age and Neighbor Age Institute 57 Service 57 ageism: ageist constructions of older Association of Care Giving Relatives and people 12 – 14; nonacceptence of 249; Friends 57 older people’s internalization of 15; Association of Danish Senior Citizens 60 using human rights to defeat 14 – 23; as Association of Finnish Local and Regional woman’s issue 32 – 3 Authorities 164 agency 23 – 4, 249 athletic culture 57 Age Platform Europe 16 Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 age policy 37 babushka 225 age strategy 37 babushki 213 Age UK 16 Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) 124 Aging Network 56 Barents Euro-Arctic Region 117 Alaska 63, 110 beech 223 Alaska Natives 117, 120, 121 berry sellers 186 American Association of Retired Persons big forehead 223 (AARP) 16, 56 biological age 31 animal rights 41 blubber 188 animals and spirits 223 buka 223 256 Index Canada 51, 53, 55, 110, 117, 122 153 – 6; elderly Sami as transmitters of Canadian Arctic indigenous groups 120 traditional knowledge outside reindeer Canadian Centre for Elder Law Studies 54 herding society 157 – 9; for successful Canadian Institute of Health Research 54 ageing in Sami society 159 – 61 Canadian Longitudinal Study on critical discourse analysis, 35 Ageing 54 crowberries 186 Care Giver Support Program 56 cultural activities 139 Central Union for the Welfare of the cultural identity 24 – 5, 115 Aged 57 Charter for Interaction Between Volunteer DaneAge Association 60 Denmark and the Public Sector 59 Danish Ministry of Social Affairs 59 – 60 Christian organizations 57 Danish Ministry of Social Welfare 60 chronological age 11 – 12, 21, 31, 70 dementia 39 Citizen Forum 57 Denmark 54, 59 – 60, 64, 110, 183 Civic Ventures 56 dependency 15 civil rights 21, 23 de underjordiska 154 Civil Society Policy Advisory Board 57 discourse of concern 41 clan 223 discrimination: age discrimination 21, client-centered homecare 164 – 77 22, 32; of Sami 148, 158; against climate change: adaptation of Lapland women 32 to 103 – 6; global warming trends 97; discursive perspective approach 35 impact of heat, cold and extreme events Disease Prevention Program 56 on morbidity and mortality 100 – 1; Dom Kultury 220 impact on Arctic 110; impact on Greenland 182 – 3; impact on human economic resources 139 – 41 health 100, 115; impact on Lapland economic threat discourse 40 – 1 96 – 103; impact on living conditions The Economist 13 of indigenous people 99; impacts on an education 78 – 9, 82, 121 – 3 ageing population 104 – 6; infectious elder abuse 20 – 1 diseases and 101 – 3; socio-cultural and elder law 19 – 21 economic impacts 115 – 16 Elderly Helping Elderly 60 collective memory 199 elderly people: celebrating 41 – 2; defining Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 70, 93 – 4; homecare in Finland for 2010 55 164 – 77; impact of climate change on comparative need 23 human health 100; infectious diseases continuity: ethnicity and 172; heritage 102 – 3; in reindeer herding families 156; language and 223; moving motives and research on Sami 149. See also aged patterns of elderly people and 72; role people; older people of forests in 203 – 4; of Sami identity elder rights 20 – 2 160 – 1; traditional healing practices and elder rights movement 22 7, 231 – 47; volunteering and 49; of way emag 223 of life and culture 36, 44 Empetium nigrum 186 Convention on the Elimination of all Empowering Widowed, Divorced

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 forms of Discrimination Against and Lonely Older People through Women (CEDAW) 17 Volunteering and Peer Support 58 Convention on the Rights of Persons with enchantments 224 Disabilities 18 ethnic compensation 199 conventions 16 – 18 ethnicity 199 co-operative inquiry 197, 199 ethnographic interviews 184 – 93 Corporation for National and Community Europe 16 Service 56 European Centre for Disease Prevention creative strategies: being active in and Control (ECDC) 105 reindeer herding 156 – 7; elderly Sami European Convention on Human as transmitters of traditional knowledge Rights 21 Index 257 European Union (EU) 38 geographical location 30 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue Geriatric Council of Iceland 51 2008 55 Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Experience Corps 56 People 16 – 18, 22 expressed need/demand 23 global warming 97 extreme weather events 100 – 1, 121 grandmother 225 Grandmothers Day 55 family 223 Greenland 110, 188; critical events Fatherland 220 in 182 – 4; ethnographic interviews felt need 23 184 – 93; impact of climate change female aspect 223 on 182 – 3; industrialization of 183; feminist research: trends in ageing studies migration of young people in 116; 33 – 4; types of ageing studies 32 percentage of older people 120; role Fennoscandia 115 of local foods in 182 – 93; volunteering Festival Elupuu 217 in 63 Finland 93, 95, 110; homecare 164 – 77; Greenlanders 117, 121 life expectancy of peoples in Arctic group holidays 57 116 – 17; population densities of 116; public discussions on the elderly 30; handicrafts 119 Sami population in 148; suicide rates head of the house 223 103; Tornedalen 197; volunteering in health 139 – 41, 142 51, 53 – 4, 57 – 8, 64 healthcare 14, 71, 95 – 6 Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing 58 HelpAge International 12, 16 Finnish Lapland: ageing strategies of helpless subject positions 43 municipalities in 36 – 40; celebrating hengid 223 the elderly 41 – 3; discourse of concern heritage language 215, 222 – 4 41; elderly people as economic threat heroic elderly women 34 and burden 40 – 1; helpless and heroic heroic subject positions 43 subject positions 43; individual home 235 – 41, 243 – 4 resources discourse 36 – 7; newspaper homecare: ageism and 14; of Arctic people articles 41 – 3; normalizing discourse 24; carer encounters 168 – 71; elderly 37 – 9; population of 35; research homecare recipients’ experiences of questions, methodology and data 35 – 6; 164 – 77; as familiar part of daily life role of women 122; subject positions 168 – 9; opportunities of receiving help 39 – 40; suicide rates 103 172 – 3, 174; participation in planning Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and and decision making 171 – 2; supportive Health 36, 38 care settings 173 flensing bits 188 the host 223 folk 223 hotkas 224 food-borne diseases 102, 120 House of Culture 220 forests 203 – 8, 221, 248 – 9 human health 100 forest spirit 221 human rights: discourse of concern 41; Foster Grandparents Program 56 elder law and 19 – 21; elder rights

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 freedom 207 – 8 movement 22; limitations of using empirical data to support 14 – 15; need gender: in ageing studies 31 – 3; moving for representation of authentic voices in patterns and motives in Norway 78 – 9; 18 – 19; new international convention older persons’ gender-based positioning for 15 – 18; using to defeat ageism 14 – 23 in Arctic 116 – 23; representations of 31; as social construction 30, 112; Iceland 51, 54, 60, 110 volunteering and 63 icˇemoi kel’ 223 gender equality 36 – 40 IkäEhyt project (Supporting Elderly gender inequality 123 People’s Wellbeing and Coping) 165 gendering practices 33 imported foods 120 258 Index Inari 37 kul’bet’ 222, 223 inclusion-exclusion: ideologies and kul’betižand 223 economy 224 – 6; ideologies and research kul’turno 216 practices 219 – 24 Kven culture 232 indigenization 215 indigenous peoples 93, 95, 99, 104, 110, Laestadianism 232 114, 224. See also Sami Lahti 136 individual resources discourse 36 – 7 ‘Land of the Greenlanders’ 182 infectious diseases 101 – 3, 105, 115 language ecology 217 Institute of Bioregulation and language ideologies 216 Gerontology 54 Lapin Kansa (LK) 35 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Lapland: adaptation to climate change Change (IPCC) 93, 97, 103 103 – 6; ecosystem changes 98 – 9; inter-municipal migration 77, 86 environmental change 96; extreme International Association of Gerontology weather events 97 – 8, 100 – 1; and Geriatrics (IAGG) 16, 18 geographical overview 94; historical International Association of Homes and and modern context 94 – 6; impact Services for the Ageing (AHSA) 16 of climate change on 93, 96 – 103; International Covenant of Civil and impact of weather variability 99 – 103; Political Rights 17 infectious diseases 101 – 3, 105; mental International Covenant on Economic, health 103; morbidity and mortality Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) rates 100 – 1; permafrost thawing and 17, 38 erosion 98; population of 93, 95; International Day of Older Persons 54 precipitation patterns 97; snow cover International Family Day 54 – 5 period 97; suicide rates 103; vulnerable International Federation on Ageing (IFA) subgroups in 105; warming trends 97. 16, 18 See also Finnish Lapland International Labour Organization Latourian actor-network theory 223 (ILO) 38 Leadership Council of Aging International Longevity Centre (ILC) 16 Organizations 56 International Network for the Prevention Leningrad Oblast’ 213, 215, 217 of Elder Abuse (INPEA) 16 life-course approaches 71 international treaties 17 life expectancy 11, 38, 116 – 18 intersectional analysis 160 life-style migration 71 intersectional research frame 33 – 4 living environment and everyday aesthetics intra-municipal moving 74 139 – 41, 142 Inuit 117, 120, 182 local foods 182 – 93 ižand 223 local knowledge 241 Lutheran Church 57 kaffimik 187 kalaalimerngit 182, 194 Madrid International Plan of Action on Kalaallit 182 Aging MIPAA 17, 49, 54, 56, 57, 59 Kalaallit Nunaat 182 male aspect 223

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 kapš 223 master of the forest 223 Kemi 38 matrioshka syndrome 225 – 6 Keminmaa 37 mattak 188 kin 223 Meänkieli 197, 199, 201 – 2, 207 kinsman 223 meän mettät 204 Kodima 220 Mecanižand 221 kolkhoz 217 mecižand 223 korenizatsiya 215 memory 192 korennoy narod 224 men: age discrimination against 32; külä 215 ageing bodies and 32; distance between Index 259 adult children and parents 79, 81, New Horizons for Seniors Program and 84 – 5; domains of life for wellbeing Volunteering and Positive Images of of 138; education in Arctic 121 – 3; Ageing 55 empowerment in Arctic 122 – 3; newspapers 31, 35 gender issues and 30, 33; as gender Non-Russian District Council Act 224 neutral 38; health in Arctic 120 – 1; normalizing discourse 37 – 9 impact of climate change on 110 – 13; normative need 23 – 4 life expectancy in Arctic 116 – 18; North America 117, 158 livelihoods in Arctic 118 – 20; matrioshka Northern Troms: Anna’s story 235 – 9, syndrome 225 – 6; mobility rate 78 – 9; 241 – 2; healing landscapes of 232 – 3; pensions 32, 123; retirement for 42 – 3; Linda’s story 239 – 42; methodological volunteering and 63 and ethical considerations of study mental health 103, 121 on 233 – 4; room of one’s own 242 – 3; mental health care 24 spirituality and 242; traditional healing migration: frequencies among women in 231 – 47; understanding the hybrid and men 78; inter-municipal 77, 86; home 234 – 5; unhomely home 243 – 4 life-style migration 71; motives for North West Territories (NWT) 117 74 – 5, 82; out-migration 70, 77, 116; Norway 93, 94, 95, 110; life expectancy of patterns of middle-aged and elderly peoples in Arctic 116 – 17; population people 69 – 70, 85; return migration 70; densities of 116; Sami population in 148 theories 71 – 2; from urban to rural areas Norway, moving patterns among 76; of young people 72, 116 middle-aged and elderly people: aging, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 164 settlement, population and migration in Mobilizing Elderly 60 69 – 70; in Arctic north 77; changes in morbidity rates 100 – 1 past twenty years 77 – 8; discussion 84 – 6; mortality rates 100 – 1, 120 – 1 distance and centrality 76 – 7; distance mosquito-borne diseases 105 between adult children and parents multiculturalism 37 – 8 79 – 81; employment motives 74 – 5, multiple jeopardy 199 77; explaining geographical patterns municipal ageing strategies 36 – 40 81 – 4; family motives 75, 84; gender and education 78 – 9; geographical narod 223 distribution 76 – 7; health motives 76; nation 223 moving patterns and motives 74 – 84; national campaigns 56 registry data 72 – 3; research methods National Civil Society Strategy 59 72 – 4; survey data 73 – 4; theoretical National Council on Aging 56 approaches 71 – 2 National Federation of Senior Norway, volunteering in 51, 53 – 4, 59, 64 Citizens 60 Norwegian culture 232 National Fund 60 Norwegian Life course, Ageing and National Institute on Ageing 54 Generation study (NorLAG) 72, 82 National Knowledge and Development Norwegian National Insurance Scheme 78 Centre of Volunteering 60 National Resource Center for Engaging OASIS 56

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Volunteers 56 old age 11, 43 National Seniors Day 55 older people: in Arctic regions 23 – 5, 110; National Volunteering Agency 59 authentic voices of 18 – 19; as burden on Native Americans 158 society 12, 13 – 14, 30, 40 – 1; domains nature 203 – 8, 223 of life for wellbeing of 136 – 8, 143; needs 23 – 4 gender-based positioning in Arctic neri 182 116 – 23; as work able 12 – 13. See also nerisassat 182 aged people; elderly people nerivoq 182 old people 37. See also aged people; elderly nerrivik 182 people 260 Index old person policy and strategy 37 rupture, traditional healing practices and organic pollutants 96 7, 231 – 47 Organisation for Economic Co-operation Russia 53, 56 – 7, 110, 115, 117, 148 and Development (OECD) 38 Russian language 215 out-migration 70, 77, 116 Sami: ageing strategies of municipalities pain: hearing voice of 192 – 3; social 37; creative strategies applied by elderly hierarchy and 190 – 2; theories of 190 147 – 63; cultural identity of 36, 95, parents 79 – 81 158, 160; discrimination of 148, 158; Partners in Care 56 elderly as transmitters of traditional paw 223 knowledge 153 – 5; elderly women pensions 12 – 13, 32, 123 149 – 50, 249; ethno-political movement people 223 148 – 9; gender inequality for 123; permafrost thawing 98, 115 historical background 148 – 9; impact person-centered care 24, 164 of climate change on 93; intersectional pertinižand 223 perspective 150 – 1; life expectancy in pesticides 96 Arctic 117; livelihoods 148; narrative physical fitness 139, 142 analysis perspective 150; postcolonial political correctness 37 perspective 152; research on elderly pollution 96 149; resource perspective 151 – 2; role of Prime Minister’s Volunteer Award 55 elderly Sami in Sweden 147 – 63; struggle priroda 223 for decolonization 158 – 9; traditional problem-oriented interdisciplinary healing 231 – 3; winter-shoes 236 research movement 35 Sàpmi 154 professionalization 63 sauna 222, 223 seafood 182 – 3, 188 – 9 qualitative approaches 71 sebr 217 secondary homes 73, 85 racism 148 self-directed teams 56 readers 232 self-sufficiency 123 reading: ageing strategies of municipalities Senior Citizens’ Construction Fund 60 in Lapland 36 – 40; analytical 203; Senior Companions Program 56 of the body 193; of ‘critical events’ Senior Corps 56 194; newspaper articles 40 – 3; role in skaller 236 traditional healing practices 7, 231 – 2, social care 14 236 – 7, 239, 243, 244 social relations 139 – 41, 142 Red Cross 60 social suffering 181 reindeer herders 95, 98 – 9, 115, 119, Society for People with Disabilities 57 147 – 9, 153 – 7 socio-cultural identity 95 relative 223 Sodankylä 37 – 8 religion 138 Soul of the house and land where the house is Report of the National Seniors built 223 Council on Volunteering among Soul of the sauna 223

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Seniors 55 Soul of the water 223 Republic of Karelia 215, 217, 224 spirit of the forest 223 Reserve Grandparent Scheme 60 spirituality 242 Retired and Senior Volunteer Program stereotypes 12, 19, 21, 31, 39 56, 64 stigma 158 retirement 42 – 3 storytelling 182, 197, 201 – 2 return migration 70 STR-Tornionlaaksolaiset 200 rodent-borne diseases 102 structural violence 181 rodstvennik 223 subaltern experiences 182 Rovaniemi 36, 38, 39 subject positions 36, 39 – 40, 43 Index 261 successful aging 151 – 2 Väylä 203 suicide rates 103 vector-borne diseases 102, 115, 120 supernatural beings 154 vedenižand 223 supportive care settings 173 Veps 215 – 19 sur’ oc 223 Vepsian elders: concerns among 214 – 15; Svenska Tornedalingars Riksförbund – inclusion-exclusion of 219 – 26 Tornionlaaksolaiset 200 Vepsian language 215 – 19, 222 – 4 Sweden 110; distance between adult Vepsian revival movement: background children and parents 82; health of 215 – 19; heritage language 215, 222 – 4; peoples in Arctic 120; Lapland 93, inclusion-exclusion of elders 219 – 26; 94, 95; life expectancy of peoples in matrioshka syndrome 225 – 6; traditional Arctic 116 – 17; population densities knowledge 215, 222 – 4 of 116; role of elderly Sami in 147 – 63; Vologda Oblast’ 215 Tornedalen 197; volunteering in 51, volunteering: in Canada 55, 63; challenges 53 – 4, 58 – 9, 64 across arctic countries 62 – 4; comparing national activities 61 – 4; in Denmark Tanzania 12 59 – 60, 63 – 4; in Finland 57 – 8, 63 – 4; tedai 224 funding 64; in Iceland 60; in Norway Thank a Volunteer campaign 60 59, 64; policy pointers 64 – 6; public Tornedalen: analysis of study on 202 – 3; bodies responsible for 51 – 4; public data collection process and methods of recognition of older volunteers 65; study on 200 – 2; discussion of study on recruitment 65; regulatory framework 208 – 10; findings of study on 203 – 8; 65; research framework and definitions geographical and historical overview 49 – 51; in Russia 56 – 7, 63; statistics, 197 – 8; research process of study on information and data 61 – 2; supporting 199 – 203; theoretical background of the research 66; supportive programs study on 198 – 9 in Arctic countries 54 – 60; in Sweden Tornelanders 24 58 – 9, 63 – 4; training 65 – 6; in United Tornio 38 States 56, 63 – 4 tourism 119 Volunteering 2011 55 traditional healing: conventional mental Volunteering Council and the Sports health care and 24; local knowledge Confederation of Denmark 60 and 241; in Northern Troms 231 – 47; Volunteer Visitor schemes 60 practices of 232; spirituality and 242 voluntourism 57 traditional knowledge 215, 222 – 4, 248 tradition transmitters 153 – 5, 249 water-borne diseases 102, 121 Tree of life 217 Week for the Care of the Elderly and International Volunteer Day 55 “Umeå 85 + study” 151 wellbeing: aspects of 3; characteristics unemployment 60 of 133 – 5; dimensions of subjective UNESCO 215 wellbeing 138 – 44; freedom and 14; unhomely home 243 – 4 geographical closeness to help and Union for Senior Services 57 82; impact of climate change on

Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016 Union of Pensioners of Russia 57 106, 113 – 14, 121; importance of United Kingdom 16 various domains of life for 136 – 8, United Nations Convention on the Rights 143; individuals’ responsibility for 13; of Older People 16 responsibility of aged people 39 – 40; United Nations (UN) 17 – 18 statistical analysis 136; volunteering and United States 16, 51, 53, 56, 63 – 4, 110 55, 58, 65 Uusi Rovaniemi (UR) 35 whale meat 188 – 9 women: age discrimination against 32; välejä 207 ageing bodies and 32; in ageing studies values 36 32 – 3; distance between adult children 262 Index and parents 79, 81, 84 – 5; domains of elderly Sami 147 – 63, 249; social of life for wellbeing of 137 – 8; needs of 23 – 4; as transmitters education in Arctic 121 – 3; elderly of traditional knowledge 154 – 5; Sami 149 – 50; empowerment in Arctic volunteering and 63 122 – 3; ethnographic interview in women’s rights 17 Greenland 184 – 93; gender issues and workforce 12 – 13, 21, 32 30, 33; as gender neutral 38; health World Bank 51 in Arctic 120 – 1; impact of climate World Health Organization (WHO) 18, change on 110 – 13; life expectancy 38, 51, 70, 114 in Arctic 116 – 18; livelihoods in Arctic 118 – 20; matrioshka syndrome yazyk 223 225 – 6; mobility rate 78 – 9; negative stereotypes of 32 – 3; pensions 13, zagovory 224 32, 123; retirement for 42 – 3; role Živatad vepslaižiden elos 223 Downloaded by [New York University] at 12:54 28 August 2016