Assistant director.
Professor in Sámi studies and digital humanities.
Deputy director of the research infrastructure Huminfra.
Co-editor for the journal JAF: A Global Quarterly.
I have a Ph.D. in Sami Studies (2008) with the thesis Revoicing Sámi narratives. North Sámi storytelling at the turn of the 20th century (Sámi Dutkan, Umeå University).
I conduct research within the focus area of digital practices. My research interests are cultural forms of expression, storytelling and narrative (from oral to digital) as well as critical studies in minority and indigenous research. Ethical and methodological perspectives on digital research, for instance the consequences of digitalisation and AI for our societies and in research, are other topical issues in my research.
I am deputy director of the research infrastructure Huminfra. and co-editor for the Journal JAF: A Global Quarterly.
- “Data Is the New Oil” (DINO): Digital transformation – negotiating societal benefits and personal integrity” (MAW 2023-2026).
Data and the digital transformation of society are expected to transform our era as much as oil did in the 19th century. The result is supposed to be new innovations and services, sustainable business models, climate improvements and safer, more equal societies.
This transition is based on access to data on the lives and habits of individuals, e.g. in the form of welfare and health data, societal infrastructure, economic transactions and social media.
On the one hand, the prerequisite is that these data must be made available, shared, coordinated and processed by various actors in areas such as trade and industry, security and welfare for the development of new services and optimization of resources. On the other hand, people are concerned about their privacy, both in relation to data collection about them in general, and as regards their online activities.
This conflict lies at the very heart of the project, in which the researchers intend to study the tension arising between individual privacy and the digitization process driven by businesses as well as the UN, the EU, the Swedish government and others. What motives do people have for participating in, or trying to avoid being part of, a data-driven future?
- The language of place-making. A mixed-method analysis of the linguistic landscapes (FORMAS, 2019-2022)
The project focuses on linguistic landscapes (languages on signs etc.) in Norrland. The purpose is to investigate how languages as they materialize in our environment contribute to creating public spaces. With the help of qualitative and quantitative methods, we describe and analyze which languages are visible and which are not, and relate these results to demographic, socio-economic and spatial characteristics in different places. This will enable us to understand how urban and rural environments are created with the help of majority, indigenous and minority languages.
- iAccept: Soft surveillance – between acceptance and resistance (The Foundation Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg's Memorial Fund, 2018-2021)
Within this project, I investigate how surveillance is perceived by the public and various practices linked to monitoring.
- The Societal Dimensions of Sámi Research (The Research Council of Norway, 2018-2020)
This project is funded by the Research Council of Norway and is based at Tromsø University. It examines the social conditions that framed the production of academic knowledge during different periods. The research group is interdisciplinary and focuses on research and societal relations in the Nordic countries from the Lappology time to the present.
Within the framework of this project, I study contemporary conditions for Sami research in today's society with particular focus on the digital media landscape, on the one hand, and the development of the field of indigenous research on the other.
- DISLIFE Liveable disabilities: Life courses and opportunity structures across time (ERC, 2017-2018)
My research examines the use of social media and its role for people with disabilities, eg. for activism, self-representation and negotiation of authority.
- Production and mediation of indigenous knowledge: oral and mediated strategies for expressing Sámi identities (FORMAS 2013-2016).
In this project, I have investigated the role of the internet and digital technology for the production and communication of knowledge. Thanks to the internet, the opportunities for indigenous peoples to communicate and express their culture have increased significantly. Many stories get a spread far beyond what was previously possible. Digital tools for producing and reproducing folkloric genres provide increased opportunities for the creation of new traditions and new interpretations.
I teach at undergraduate, advanced and postgraduate level in ethnology, Sámi studies/minority studies and digital humanities, for instance on the topics of cultural heritage issues, ethics, qualitative methods, digital ethnography and other digital research practices.
A national infrastructure which will facilitate accessibility to digital resources and expertise in Sweden