REPRESENTATIONS OF A PROBLEMATIC REGION

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REPRESENTATIONS OF A PROBLEMATICREGION

• - The Construction of
• National
• and Regional identities

Madeleine Eriksson PhD student Umeå
University Sweden
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THE SWEDISH SELF-IMAGENon-nationalistic Equal
Modern

• Institutional/Cultural
• racism

Internal spatial others
Socio- economic differences
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THE AREA OF STUDY - NORRLAND
NORRLAND
Area 60 of Sweden Population 1,2 million
MUNICIPALITIES
COUNTIES
Source Statistic Sweden 2005
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THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT(Re)presentations of
Norrland

• Unknown - fiction
• Internal colony 1600s
• Swedens West Indies - Rich on natural resources
• Civilize the indigenous population (The Sámi
  People)
• Swedens Irish question - Industry close-downs
  Rural restructuring
• Unemployment - Out-migration 1950s
• Natural population decrease - PROBLEMATIC

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VERY Briefly theoretical points of departure

• Identity formation is a representational process
• All identities are constructed through the
  representations of the other
• All representations are political

Said E 1966 Massey D 1994 McDowell L 1999 Van
Dijk 2006 Gregory D 1995 etc. etc.
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VERY POLITICAL

• People in Stockholm are more intelligent than
  country bumpkins
• (Statement made by a Member of Parliament in
  1998)
• The statement made by Anna Kinberg Batra
  (Member of Parliament) in 1998 was nothing to
  apologize for people in Stockholm are more
  intelligent than people in Norrland.
• (Editorial, Dagens Nyheter 2006)

POPULAR STEREOTYPES
Pistvakt 1996, TV-series, SVT
NorrlandsGuld 2003, TV-commercial
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THE ANALYSIS REPRESENTATIONS OF NORRLAND IN A
SWEDISH LEADING DAILY NEWSPAPER

• 98 articles 2000-2005
• Topics, labeling, grammatical agency
• (some) RESULTS
• A region in need of financial support
• Depopulation
• Establishment in Stockholm vs. Norrland
• Municipalities and towns rarely specified
• Demanding but passive
• An Unattractive space

Dagens Nyheter Independent Liberal
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THE MAKING OF REGIONAL IDENTITIES

• Stockholm Norrland
• Urban Rural
• Modern - Traditional
• Norrland fights back/resists
• We in the North are bothered by the debate
  concerning regions that draw on the reserves and
  regions that build up the reserves. It is not
  correct that Stockholm is contributing to the
  welfare in Norrland.
• (Article by leading politicians from the
  counties in Norrland)
• And reproduces the representations
• () we arrange the biggest protest march anyone
  ever seen we gather outside the place of power
  (The Parliament in Stockholm)
• (Lars Törnman politician, Kiruna Partiet (a
  local political party from Norrbotten)

http//www.varmland.coop/visit/swe
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SPATIAL INTERNAL OTHER

• They are not as ordinary Swedes up there
• (Article reflecting on a specific case of
  sickness benefit)
• Lifestyle/Cultural differences
• Dependent on subsidies
• But it is not only they ?the Norrlanders? who
  are paying. As many Stockholmers state they are
  also financing the traditional Norrlanders
  lifestyle.
• Traditional, Narrow-minded
• The fact that young men in Norrland cling to
  their home is maybe
• worst for themselves () difficult to find a
  woman and settle down.

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The traditional lifestyle implies working
class and traditional gender roles (among men)

• The girls ?in Norrland? on the other hand, have
  adopted middleclass ideals. They have expansive
  plans and are using their education to prepare
  themselves ?to move?.
• It is also where ?in Västerbotten, Norrbotten
  and
• Västernorrland? the shortage of female citizens
  is the greatest.
• racism (narrow minded)
• Our very own rednecks ? Norrlanders? dont
  hesitate () the worst thing that could happen is
  that they will be forbidden to hunt on their own
  land. (article concerning the distribution of
  land between Sámis and the Norrlanders (ethnic
  Swedes))

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TRICKS OF METONYMICAL MAGIC

• Problematic region problematic population
• Specific traits of parts of Norrland/Stockholm
  become one with the entire region
• Any person belonging to the population in
  Norrland/Stockholm becomes one with that entire
  population.
• Cultural terms and lifestyle differences
• (Pred A 2000)

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THE DISCOURSE OF INTERNAL ORIENTALISM

• Represent a subordinate section of the state to
  produce a national identity with desirably
  characteristics
• (Hechter J 1975 Jansson D 2005)
• Internal spatial others Italy - the South (Moe
  N 1998), USA the South (Jansson D 2005), The
  Celts Great Britain (Hechter J 1975)
• (Re)produces inequalities and hierarchies of
  places and people