Timber and Herring: Modernisation and Mobility in Finnish Lapland and the Western Islands of Scotland, 1770-1970
Year: 2001
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Timber and herring: Modernisation and Mobility in Finnish Lapland and the Western Islands of Scotland, 1770Scotland, -1970 The present study is historical and comparative by nature.The research problem consists of two domains.The first one deals with the consequences of the proceeding modernisation process in the two peripheral areas of Finnish Lapland and the Western Islands of Scotland.Indicators such as economic development, population development, changes in political and religious atmosphere and spread of public education have been discussed to show that although the modernisation process has proceeded differently in each of these areas, both have remained economically backward and culturally distinct when compared to the rest of the country.This has been interpreted to reflect an institutionalised cultural division of labour, as Michael Hechter's (1975) concept of internal colonialism suggests.Because increasing labour mobility and particularly seasonal mobility is one of the most pronounced consequences of the modernisation process in both areas, it has been chosen to be studied as the second domain of the study: By studying seasonal mobility, an attempt to grasp the individual experience of a structural change has been made.In Scotland, the East Coast herring industry offered seasonal work for the Islanders between 1850-1939 and in Finland, the developing forest industry for the lumberjacks and road builders from the beginning of the century until the 1960's.By analysing documents and life histories written by the mobile individuals themes such as what the mobile way of life is like and how the individuals were affected by it have been discussed.To conclude, it is argued that although the modernisation process has produced peripherality on the institutional level in the two areas under study, it has produced also modernity on the individual level.This is due to the various modernising elements that belong to the mobile way of life, such as working in well-organised large job sites and meeting fellow-workers originating from various places.As a result, the simultaneous existence of the modern and traditional on individual and structural levels has become characteristic in both areas.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Riitta Kumpulainen
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Shetland Islands Council
OpenAlex ID: W2108459828