ECMI Minorities Blog: Indigenous Inequalities in Egalitarian Societies : The Case of the Sámi People in Norway and Sweden

Abstract

Many Indigenous peoples live in firmly unequal societies and face substantial material disparities towards the ethnic majority populations. Yet, inequalities between ethnic groups are usually multidimensional and go beyond material status. But are they also present when economic inequality is absent? That is, what kind of inequalities do Indigenous peoples face in societies conventionally considered egalitarian? This blog post reports on new research about the situation of the Sámi people in Norway and Sweden. It indeed supports the proposition that the Sámi are on a material par with their non-Indigenous compatriots. Nonetheless, they are more likely to experience discrimination, and these experiences are strongly linked to how proficient Sámi are in their Indigenous languages and how frequently they use them. This shows that the Sámi face inequalities especially in the dimension of cultural status. Finally, the post points out potential further inequalities in the case of the Sámi that research has yet to address.