Definition of Self in the World of Mobility : Multicultural Identity of Finnish Youth

Abstract

This study contributes to the further understanding of the self-conceptualization of young Finnish people with multicultural backgrounds by analyzing their life stories. While all the participants in this study positioned themselves as a multicultural individual, their life stories demonstrated different ways to ‘become’ multicultural while living mobile lives and interacting with diverse people. This finding supports the social constructionist view of identity; identity is constructed through interactions with the people they engage with in their lives. My analysis proposes two key contributing factors to the participants’ self-conceptualization as a multicultural individual: 1) a link between their identities and linguistic self-confidence and 2) a sense of belonging to mobile people. First, it became apparent that for the participants in this study, who are multilingual, their level of confidence in different languages affects their motivation to participate in the community, which could be a barrier to maintaining some aspects of their cultural identity; speaking multiple languages was an important part of their multiculturality, which makes them desire to connect with new people through their use of language. Second, the participants tended to position themselves in multicultural settings, using the term “international community”, where they find people with whom they can share similar experiences in moving between languages and spaces. This finding indicates that young Finnish people who grew up in multicultural backgrounds feel a greater sense of belonging to a peer group with whom they could share similar mobility experiences, rather than to a community related to nationality or a common mother tongue. The self-positioning of people who have lived mobile lives is based on invisible factors such as their past experiences, which is an important theme that will require further investigation in the future. The participants’ life stories also demonstrated potential challenges faced by young Finns with multicultural roots. Such challenges indicated dominant discourses in Finnish society, including Othering and racialized “Finnishness”, as well as inadequate openness to inclusivity and a need for developing a global mindset. Among the participants in this study, those who did not conform to the traditional physical image of Finns shared their experiences of racism and othering in the interviews. This implies a traditional and limited definition of“Finnishness”, which results in the marginalization of multicultural youth in Finnish society who do not fit into such definitions. Shedding light on the voices of such multicultural individuals and exploring the realities they face will continue to be necessary to achieve a society in which multicultural individuals in similar circumstances can feel included.