Background and settings of the research

The Arctic region is undergoing a transformation, one more rapid than that any in the other part of the globe. While a number of reasons can be cited for the transformation, the most important is climate change. Accordingly, the thesis set out to examine an extensive range of literature – both academic and non-academic – in order to look for challenges to the older population caused by climate change and its consequences.

However, a review of studies in the area of climate change reveals that most focus on the impacts of climate change on the natural environment, examples being the melt-ing of permafrost and sea ice. Also highlighted are new forms of on- and off-shore human activities (Johnson, 2008; AHDR-I, 2004) and geopolitical tensions (Backus and Strickland, 2008) connected to these developments. Some significant research has been conducted on the effects of the changes in the Arctic on human health (Parkin-son, 2010; Young et al. 2012; Young, and Bjerregaard, 2008; Rautio, 2015). On the one hand, climate change and its consequences are likely to bring new opportunities for the region; on the other, it is likely to result in numerous socio-cultural, economic and environmental challenges for the population. Globalization as well is producing stressors that affect the people in the Arctic.

The transformation of the Arctic noted above affects the region’s entire population – older people included – either directly or indirectly (Kukarenko, 2011; Prior et al.

2013). I discovered that no comprehensive research had been done highlighting ageing and gender in the context of the transformation and thus found it essential and timely to carry out my research in this particular area. In the course of the work, I have drawn upon a number of relevant political documents in which ageing and gender are referred to – albeit sporadically – such as the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR-I, 2004). The AHDR-I (2004) identifies children, women and older persons as the three most vulnerable groups in the Arctic. However, comparatively little substantive re-search has been done on these issues, in particular the situation of older people and the role of gender. Indeed, one can speak of a gap in our knowledge on the consequences of climate change for the older population in the region.

Within this context, the present thesis brings together elements and illustrations from a range of academic disciplines, namely Arctic research with a focus on human rights, ageing research and gender studies. The benefit of an interdisciplinary approach is that it combines components of two or more disciplines in the creation of new knowledge, allowing researchers greater flexibility (Nissani, 1997). Such an approach is important, because it offers the chance to delve into multiple features of a given topic

(Jacobs and Frickel, 2009). For example, researchers in different disciplines can meet at the interfaces and can cross the boundaries of the disciplines involved to form new knowledge (Rijnsoevera and Hesselsc, 2011; National Academies, 2005, p. 16).

In this research, I use the term “vulnerability” to describe feelings of insecurity among older person in the region. Vulnerability of an older population can be described with reference to poverty, lack of access to services, lack of an age-friendly environment or like circumstances. A number of indicators of vulnerability in this sense can be identified in the case of older persons in the Arctic, examples being social isolation, financial insecurity and lack of access to adequate services. Another concept which I draw on is intersectionality, which informs efforts to investigate how social inequalities of class, gender, age, ability and ethnicity shape one another (Collins and Bilge, 2016, pp. 25–30; Collins, 2017, p. 19; Crenshaw, 1991). Kimberle Crenshaw (1989, pp.

149–151) has shown that people’s experiences are ignored when they face inequalities and injustice on several fronts. The present research embraces the importance of an intersectional perspective (Aléx, 2016, p. 1750; Hernández-Avila, 2002; Östlin et al., 2006), as it shows the complexities of culture, age, gender, socio-economic status and place. These factors and their interplay often result in vulnerability, a mechanism which to date has not been examined in the context of the Arctic (Articles 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).

The gap in our knowledge of the connection between climate change, human health and gender is cited by, among others, Natalia Kukarenko (2011), who asserts that cli-mate change, human health and gender have been inadequately explored in research on the Arctic. Another issue to note is that the responses to the threats posed by the chang-es under way in the Arctic have ramifications for gender inequality (Gunnarsson and Svensson, 2017; Ingólfsdóttir, 2016; Lahey et al., 2014; Prior et al. 2013; Artazcoz and Rueda, 2007, pp. 466–467; Kukarenko, 2011 and Parbring, 2009). Ageing and gender issues are infrequently cited in the different reports and publications, such as Gender and Climate change (NCM, 2009), Megatrends (2011) and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA, 2004). The publications only sporadically make specific mention of issues such as women’s lower participation in the labour market, out-migration in the north, climate change, health concerns and other vulnerabilities affecting women, older persons and indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Rapid socio-cultural change is af-fecting the health of the Arctic population (Young et al., 2012), a trend cited in several articles published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health for example.

The volume entitled Health Transitions in Arctic Populations, edited by Young and Bjerregaard (2008), describes changing patterns of health and what can be done to improve the health of Arctic populations in the region’s northern periphery. Although their research addresses the vulnerable situation of the Arctic population in general, it highlights the perspectives of indigenous peoples. While the dimensions of ageing and gender do not receive much attention in the work, the research does take up some considerations relevant to my focus: for example, it highlights the connection between the environment and living conditions in the Arctic and the population’s health and wellbeing (Bjerregaard et al., 2008, pp. 173–191), a significant concern as regards the older population. The book also analyses changes in health status in relation to major

environmental, social, economic, and political changes (Young and Bjerregaard, 2008, pp. 23–38), an important line of inquiry in examining the circumstances of older per-sons in the region.

Other literature, such as the Circumpolar Health Atlas (Young et al., 2012), also focuses on health in the case of older persons and on gender, with explicit reference to the vulnerability of the Arctic population in settings with fragile systems of support (Parkinson, 2010; Jorgenson and Young, 2008). The existing literature and research, or paucity thereof, motivated me to focus on climate change and related changes affecting older people in the Arctic and, furthermore, to examine their situation in relation to the standard set by human rights norms. AHDR-II, endorsed in 2015, makes rather clear reference to the gap in knowledge of the living conditions of older persons as well as the dimension of gender in the north:

The population is aging in many parts of the Arctic, triggering the need to better under-stand the social, cultural, economic and political role this segment of the population does and could play. Qualitative research is needed to investigate both the needs of older people, including their gendered dimensions, and available capacities of regional policy-makers to respond to those needs (AHDR- II, 2015, p. 23).

Recent research (AHDR- II, 2015; Gunnarsson and Svensson, 2017) addresses a number of issues while presenting knowledge gaps regarding the gendered nature and dimensions of a number of issues, such as contemporary cultural practices and expressions, decision making on resources, ageing in the Arctic, food and other (in) securities, and Arctic geopolitics (AHDR-II, 2015, p. 24; Gunnarsson and Svensson, 2017). These studies also make reference, although far less frequently, to experiences of change in the Arctic in relation to indigeneity, geography, age and gender (AHDR-II, 2015, p. 45; Gunnarsson and Svensson, 2017), dimensions which I found relevant for my research.

The striking “silence” in these areas prompted me to undertake the thesis described here, in which I examine the circumstances of the older population from the viewpoint of social justice and explore gender inequality, especially when it occurs along with the other vulnerabilities facing people in old age. As the existing knowledge in this particular context was not organized in any comprehensive manner, I set out to build a knowledge base on ageing and gender research in the Nordic Arctic context. Informed by this background and motivated by the gaps in knowledge noted above, I proceeded to write and publish five scientific articles and chapters in edited volumes. In the arti-cles, I investigate the implications of the ongoing transformation in the Arctic for the region’s older population with particular reference to gender equality and social justice.

My first article, Impact of Climate Change on Elderly People in the Arctic, with Special Focus on the European High North: A Human Rights Perspective (Article 1), focuses on several of the threats to older persons’ human rights posed by climate change. The arti-cle examines the challenges these threats entail for the older population and illustrates that the impact of climate change is not the same on older men and older women.

In the second article, Effects of livelihood transformation on older persons in the Nordic Arctic: a gender-based analysis (Article 2), I evaluate, in the light of human rights, how (in)equality is embedded in the ongoing transformation of livelihoods in the Nordic Arctic. In this context, my analysis invokes the principles of equality set out in General Recommendation 27 of The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimi-nation Against Women (CEDAW).

In the third article, Gender differences of older people in the changing Arctic (Article 3), I describe how gender differences have been taken into account in the Arctic region.

The research also examines the intersectional nature of marginality among older people, pointing out that social contexts and the resulting power relations are intertwined and mutually constructing. With reference to some specific yet entangled themes, I criti-cally analyse how the changes occurring in the region impact older men and women. I bring in and examine a number of themes that contribute to understanding inequalities and producing knowledge on them.

In the fourth article, Challenges to the Human Security of Elderly Sámi in Finnish and Swedish Lapland (Article 4), a co-authored publication, Päivi Naskali and I analyse how the concept of human security is connected with the wellbeing of older Sámi in Finnish and Swedish Lapland. Specifically, using empirical data, we show that the Arc-tic environment, food, economy and health are interconnected and illustrate how they pose different challenges to older Sámi people than to the region’s older population at large. Finally, in my fifth article, Exploring Age-friendly Environments in Rural Settings:

a case study from Finnish Lapland (Article 5, forthcoming), I highlight the features of an age-friendly environment, that is, one which older people prefer as a place to enjoy old age.

The direct and indirect consequences of climate change influence the Arctic in dif-ferent ways that impact the rights of the older population (Article 1). These impacts affect older men and women, poor and marginalized people in a range of ways (Articles 2 and 3). The structural settings of the region impose limitations on the availability of formal work (see Chapters 4 and 5 below). In this context, women suffer the most because of their position in society, which may mean lack of access to the formal job market. Another, related consequence is their lack of voice at different levels, societal as well as family. These disadvantages create inequality and at times result in social in-justices for women in their old age (Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4). The present work provides relevant information and insights into the discussion on the positions of older people in the Nordic Arctic (Articles 4 and 5). Given that these issues have not been properly and sufficiently addressed in the extant literature, the contribution of my study is to address the gap identified above.

My aim is to produce new knowledge by applying principles of equality and social justice in examining the challenges, problems and blind spots which older people in the Nordic Arctic region face. This work shows how the ongoing transformation of the Arctic influences the wellbeing of the region’s older population by addressing is-sues such as human rights, human securities and gender perspectives. The research also points out how these issues are interconnected. At the end of this synthesis, I present

recommendations, formulated in the course of the research for the articles, based on what can be considered a new, more profound understanding of the multifaceted situ-ations facing older people in the Arctic.