Narratives on ageing in the neighbouring country - An oral history study of first-generation Swedish Finns

Abstract

This paper intended to combine two strands of study: ageing and migration. The aim of the study was to examine, how do individuals belonging to the first-generation of Swedish Finns experience the changes that have taken place in their lives, after having migrated from Finland to Sweden as labour migrants in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The study was based on seven oral history interviews conducted with elderly first-generation Swedish Finns, residing in the city of Gothenburg. Informed by the social constructionist approach, the collected interview data was analysed using thematic narrative analysis. The research questions were as follows: How do the narratives portray the changes that have taken place in the lives of the participants during their long stay in Sweden? How do the participants construct their narrated-selves in relation to their migration experience? How do the narratives reflect the social and political contexts of their time?

The subsequent findings indicate that the participants have experienced extensive changes in their everyday lives during their 50-year long stay in Sweden. These changes have affected their feeling of belonging both in Sweden and Finland, as well as impacted their understandings of the notion of ‘home’. What is more, the findings highlighted the significant role the existence of an ethnic community had in the lives of the participants and how this surrounding community had influenced their acculturation processes. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that the individual participants constructed their self-descriptions strongly on their ethnicity, aside which they simultaneously created linkages between their ethnic identity and positively charged attributes, such as diligence and determination. All in all, the narratives produced by the participants were strongly grounded on micro-level decision-making, largely leaving out reflections connected to macro-level structures and their influence on the lives of the individual participants.