”Kyss mig, jag är en sverigefinne!” Gränsdragningar mellan invandrarskap och minoritetsskap i den sverigefinska etnopolitiska mobiliseringen 1980–2020

Abstract

Unlike immigrants, national minorities are awarded recognition based on their long historical presence in the nation-state. While the political boundary between national minorities and immigrants is governed on state level, minorities’ own agency is significant for constructing and contesting ethnic and political boundaries. This article shows how Sweden-Finns, recognized as a national minority in Sweden since 2000, have contested the immigrant/national minority dichotomy in their transition from stigmatized post-war migranthood to recognized national minority-ness. By asking how boundary-making between migranthood and minority-ness is expressed in Sweden-Finnish ethnopolitical campaigns from the 1980s to the 2010s, we bring attention to how shifts in the socio-political and media technological contexts of these decades have shaped their mobilization. Through an analysis of newspaper articles, campaign material, and interviews, we show how Sweden-Finnish ethnic activists discursively construct identity and draw boundaries of belonging during different time periods.