[Bilimsel Haber] Final Call: Indigenous Identity in Demographical Sources

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*Final Call: Indigenous Identity in Demographical Sources*
*Location:* 	Sweden
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=Sweden>

	

	

	

Final Call For Papers

International Workshop:
Indigenous Identity in Demographical Sources
September 29 – 30, 2006.
Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Indigenous identity in demography is the main theme of an international
workshop held at and organised by the Centre for Populations Studies and
the Centre for Sami Research, Umeå University, September 29 – 30, 2006.

Submission deadline
Extended until 2 june 2006.

The study of ethnicity in demography has been under debate for a long
time both within subjects such as sociology, history, demography and
anthropology as well as in society as a whole. In censuses or parish
records ethnic markers show great differences between nations, regions
and parishes and over time.

Colonization, political and cultural processes have excluded or devalued
representations of indigenous people in official statistics. When we as
researchers want to study indigenous populations we are depending on the
highly variable way in which states or territories enumerate, categorize
and differentiate indigenous people. One of the intentions with this
workshop is to discuss the statistical construct of “the indigenous
people”. We welcome theoretical approaches on how to handle differences
between genealogical or cultural markers, groups and individuals and
subjective and objective opinions of ethnic identity. How have different
social and institutional systems defined indigenous groups, in terms of
inclusion and exclusion? What were the reasons for these decisions and
how is this mirrored in the demographic sources?

It is also needed to move beyond simplistic models of ‘which people’
arrived first or second, as is often discussed in circumpolar areas, in
the press and in some academic work. Instead, we encourage contributors
to discuss how a set of ethno demographic tools can be developed which
can be used to categorize how households build themselves within complex
ethnic and economic environments. Along with how these factors can be
read into statistical data. To what extent can historical identity
markers also mark social status and profession? How reliable are the
data and how do we control the reliability? The workshop committee
welcomes qualitative and quantitative approaches based on historical as
well as contemporary material.

The Centre for Sami Research and the Centre for Population Studies at
Umeå University, Sweden invites scholars in the field to submit a 200
word abstract and Curriculum Vitae before June 2, 2006. The committee
encourages participants to cover for travel expenses while the
organisers will pay for accommodation.

Abstracts/CV and any enquiries should be sent electronically to Per
Axelsson at: per.axelsson at cesam.umu.se

Workshop website: http://www.ddb.umu.se/cbs/conferences.htm

Workshop Committee:
Anders Brändström, Peter Sköld and Per Axelsson, Umeå University,Sweden
and Gunnar Thorvaldsen, University of Tromsø, Norway

	Per Axelsson
Centre for Sami Research/Centre for Population Studies, Umeå University,
Sweden
Phone +46 90 786 7195
Fax +46 90 786 7852

Visit the website at http://www.ddb.umu/cbs/conferences.htm