Finns Encountering the Åland Scoety - Experiences of Exclusion and Inclusion
Keywords:
inclusion, exclusion, Åland, Finns, Finnish language, identity, social boundariesAbstract
As an autonomous province, the Åland Islands have a special status in Finland. The autonomy goes back to events after World War I and Finland's declaration of independence from Russia in 1917. People in Åland were worried about the situation and had plans that would reconnect them with Sweden, the previous motherland of Finland. Finland then offered Åland a self-government in 1920, which was ratified by the League of Nations in 1921. The Act on the Autonomy of Åland came into force in August 1922 (Mattson-Eklund 2000, 320-334). By this legislation , the Swedish language was granted official status in the administration and as the language of education in schools. However, in matters concerning a Finnish-speaking citizen, he/she has the right to use Finnish in court and with other state officials (Act of Åland 1991, chapter 6). Since the Autonomy Act came into force it has been revised and strengthened twice in 1951 and 1991 (Bring 2002, 28-12, 46-54). As Swedish is the only official language in Åland, the situation resembles that in most nation states: one nation, one language, whereas the motherland Finland has two official languages, finnish and Swedish.
