Impacts of the Nordic Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

In his Arctic Six Fellowship project, Daniel Fjellborg will study the societal effects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions for Indigenous people and minorities in the Nordic countries.
“Being able to exercise your culture belongs to a person’s fundamental human rights”, says Daniel Fjellborg

During the past ten years, Sweden, Norway and Finland have all implemented Truth and Reconciliation Commissions with the aim to investigate historical injustices by the state on its Indigenous people and northern minorities, i.e. Sámi and Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset. Daniel Fjellborg, a post-doctoral researcher in political science at Luleå University of Technology, did himself work as an analyst in the Swedish Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Tornedalians, Kvens and Lantalaiset.

“We know relatively little about the effects of the Nordic Truth and Reconciliation processes. Thus, me and my colleagues will, among other things, study the impacts on social mobilization and educational policies”, says Daniel Fjellborg.

It started in South Africa

The modern pioneer was the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the aftermath of Apartheid in 1995. Many traits of the South African Commission remain in later commissions: They are implemented after civil wars and/or major societal transformations, they are set up for a limited time period, they are often comprised of scholars and civil organisation representatives of the people the commission concerns, and the commissions are assigned what historical injustices they should investigate and find amendment to. However, Nordic history differs substantially from South African, thus, the major inspiration for the Nordic countries has been the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which was implemented in 2008.

Daniel Fjellborg thinks that the project is important since historical injustices still affects both young people and elderly among the minorities and Indigenous people. It is also important for the majority society to better understand what has happened in the past.

“It is a common cultural inheritance for all the Nordic countries, both for the minorities and the majority, that we have this diversity in the north. It’s a token of cultural wealth we should be keen to manage in a productive way. The aim of the commissions is reconciliation. But it is possible that the way in which the commissions have worked have opened old wounds, thus widening the gap between the state and the minorities.”

Impacts of industrialisation

Another important motive for the project is the current industrial transition taking place in the north that will have repercussions for the whole of Europe.

“Many of the historical injustices to the minorities and Indigenous people in the Nordic countries are due to how major industrial projects in the early 20th century were implemented. Avoiding repeating historical mistakes will make our current industrial transition smoother and enable a more just transition.”

The project is interdisciplinary. Daniel Fjellborg will work with scholars within education, history and Indigenous studies, many of whom are current or former Arctic Six Chairs. The empirical material of the project will consist of earlier research in the field, formal documents of the Commissions and media reports. An important source will be interviews.

“Our focus is on the perspective of the minorities and Indigenous people on the Truth and Reconciliation processes. Therefore, we wish to work together with representatives from civil society, such as youth organisations, interest organisations, and cultural associations.”

• Read more about the Arctic Six Fellows.