Practices of Living Well Among Youth in an Arctic Region

Abstract

Global challenges related to health, climate, the economy and political tensions have affected many, including those living in remote areas. We explore how youth live and appreciate life in the Arctic region of Norway. We facilitated four dialogue café sessions where participants talked about the everyday lives of young people. Based on these conversations in this chapter, we ask: What future prospects are present for youth in the Arctic? And What transformations are needed for them to live well in this region? This dialogic approach develops site-ontological knowledge to use when educating teachers and develop schools that promote youth’s wellbeing and growth. We use the term ‘(re)orientation practices’, along with Anthias’ concept of translocational positionality, to expand the debate on prospect identity and belonging from a focus on culture, nation, ethnicity or place of upbringing to intersections of social positions and social divisions in complex practices. Three themes emerged through analyses: youth’s reasons for choosing to live in this region; to live sustainably and well in this area; and the tension between the southern and northern parts of the country. The students’ conversations revealed negotiations on translocational positionality, and how tensions are scaled by a central-periphery dichotomy, diverse reasonings and socially-biased semantics.