Research project This PhD project investigates processes of transforming municipal operations through dialogue between the Sámi population and municipal civil servants and politicians. The project is a critical assemblage analysis that is carried out in parts of the Sámi language administrative area on the Swedish side of Sábmie.
The implementation of language policy is a process of many stages and a diversity of actors influence language policy processes and practices in different ways. The aim of this project is to analyse processes and conditions of transformations that are fuelled by dialogue between diverse actors. Conversations with local actors, participation in various arenas for dialogue, the minutes of a the arenas for dialogue, and photographs of public sites, serve as data in this critical assemblage analysis study.
The possibility for minoritized Peoples to influence and participate in administrative and political processes is a key element of minority rights. Municipalities in Sweden are obliged to be in dialogue with national minorities since the Minorities Act entered into force in 2010. This obligation led to the arenas for dialogue wherein I participate during this critical assemblage study, which aims to investigate processes of transforming municipal operations in the Sámi language administrative area. A diversity of interlocutors shared experiences and understandings of the conditions wherein transformative processes take place. These processes are in this PhD project regarded as part of the cultural endurance of an Indigenous People.
The project connects with UN Sustainable Development Goal nr. 10 (Reduce inequality within and among countries) and nr. 11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable).
