Rural Generations on the Move. Cultural History of Rural Youth, 1950–2020 (ROOTS)
Main funder
Funder's project number: 351699
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 263 325,00
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 01/09/2019
Project end date: 31/08/2024
Summary
Rural Generations on the Move is funded by the Academy of Finland (2019-2024). The project started at the University of Oulu and continues at the University of Jyväskylä from September 2021 onwards.
The project focuses on one of the most profound, yet overlooked social changes that Finland has encountered during the last century: the drastic transition from a predominantly agrarian society into an urban society. This cross-disciplinary project regenerates methodologies of history, youth studies, and rural studies in order to track the legacy of rural roots from World War II up until the present.
Important cultural and social shifts in the construction of rural youth and rural identity formation will be identified through three generations: 1) contemporary youth (b. 2000–2004), 2) the middle-aged (b. 1970s) and 3) the baby boomers (b. 1945–1955). The study focuses on the life-long meanings that rural roots have had in the life course of different generations. How do the individual interpretations and cultural meanings of rural youth shift over time, from youth to old age and from one generation to another? How is history present in the lives and choices of contemporary rural young people?
Today many Western societies face similar challenges concerning rural areas, as the economic recession has further accelerated regional differences, depopulation and migration after 2008. Young people are an especially vulnerable group in the eye of the turmoil. Generations on the Move contextualizes the current development in a longer historical perspective. A central goal is to advance dialogue between historical research and contemporary studies. The project combines accumulative participatory data and longitudinal study design with oral history sources, autobiographical material and statistical data. As a result, the project contributes to the theoretical and methodological development of both history and rural youth studies.
The project focuses on one of the most profound, yet overlooked social changes that Finland has encountered during the last century: the drastic transition from a predominantly agrarian society into an urban society. This cross-disciplinary project regenerates methodologies of history, youth studies, and rural studies in order to track the legacy of rural roots from World War II up until the present.
Important cultural and social shifts in the construction of rural youth and rural identity formation will be identified through three generations: 1) contemporary youth (b. 2000–2004), 2) the middle-aged (b. 1970s) and 3) the baby boomers (b. 1945–1955). The study focuses on the life-long meanings that rural roots have had in the life course of different generations. How do the individual interpretations and cultural meanings of rural youth shift over time, from youth to old age and from one generation to another? How is history present in the lives and choices of contemporary rural young people?
Today many Western societies face similar challenges concerning rural areas, as the economic recession has further accelerated regional differences, depopulation and migration after 2008. Young people are an especially vulnerable group in the eye of the turmoil. Generations on the Move contextualizes the current development in a longer historical perspective. A central goal is to advance dialogue between historical research and contemporary studies. The project combines accumulative participatory data and longitudinal study design with oral history sources, autobiographical material and statistical data. As a result, the project contributes to the theoretical and methodological development of both history and rural youth studies.
Principal Investigator
Other persons related to this project (JYU)
Primary responsible unit
Web page
https://www.minunmaaseutuni.fi/
Fields of science
Follow-up groups
Profiling area: School of Wellbeing (University of Jyväskylä JYU) JYU.Well
Keywords (YSO)
Free keywords
Rural history, youth studies, childhood studies, Finland, Qualitative longitudinal studies, oral history, memory studies, generations, history of childhood and youth
Related publications and other outputs
- Going against the grain? A longitudinal study of the material-discursive practices of staying among young adults in rural Finland (2024) Ristaniemi, Helena; et al.; A1; OA
- Food Memories : Connecting to Rural Roots through Food in Life Writings by Finnish Women Born in the 1950s (2023) Vanha-Similä, Maria; et al.; A1; OA
- Matkalla lapsuuden historiaan (2023) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; E1; OA
- Under the Radar : Children and Childhoods Missing from Nordic Childhood Studies (2023) Lyså, Ida Marie; et al.; B1; OA
- Lapsuuden ja nuoruuden historian näkökulmia muistitietotutkimukseen (2022) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; et al.; A3; OA; 978-951-858-440-0
- Lapsuuden löytämisestä toimijuuden tutkimukseen : lapsuuden historian kuusi vuosikymmentä (2022) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; A3; OA; 978-951-858-592-6
- Matkaopas lapsuuden historian tutkimukseen : monitieteisiä näkökulmia ja menetelmiä (2022) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; et al.; C2; OA; 978-951-858-592-6
- Monitieteinen lapsuuden historia (2022) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; et al.; A3; OA; 978-951-858-592-6
- Places of Belonging, Places of Detachment : Belonging and Historical Consciousness in Narratives of Rural Finnish Girls (2022) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; et al.; A3; OA; 978-1-5292-1203-7
- Editorial (2021) Vehkalahti, Kaisa; B1; OA
