Gender, mobilities and transformation in Loppa, a rural municipality of Norway’s High North

Abstract

This article demonstrates the persistence of rural and peripheral coastal places in spite of widespread economic change through the lens of gendered mobilities. We focus on Loppa, a mountainous, ferry-dependent and sparsely populated municipality in the County of Finnmark in Norway’s High North. The fishery in Loppa, while the main source of employment for men, has been in decline. Conversely, employment in health, social services and other professional services has remained steady and, in some cases, increased. Women comprise the highest proportion of workers in these sectors. Using quantitative and qualitative data, we show that in and out-migration, as well as in and out-commuting all feature prominently in Loppa’s mobility picture over time. Higher proportions of men out-migrate and out-commute, suggesting that as changes in the fishery have occurred, men are the first to adjust through geographical mobilities. Although women are working in arguably more stable public sector employment, they too must engage in mobilities. We argue that in the absence of the prominent pattern of exodus of men and women over time, the varied mobilities in to and out of Loppa signal its transformation rather than decline with a future not yet known. We demonstrate that transformation is supported by mobilities as well as the the moorings associated with place.

Keywords:

• Gender
• mobilities
• multi-methods
• Norway’s High North
• restructuring

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the inhabitants of Loppa for their time and interest in this project. The authors also thank Frøydis Strand, UiT The Arctic University of Norway who produced Figure 1, Terje Haugen, The Municipality of Loppa, and Berit Land, leader of the Development Committee in Bergsfjord, who provided important information and Paul Pedersen and Sindre Myhr who assisted with aspects of the quantitative analyses. A heartfelt thankyou as well to Marianna Pavlovskaya who provided essential feedback at a critical moment in the revision process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Siri Gerrard’s research interests are in the field of gender, fisheries and fisheries communities as well as gendered mobilities in North Norway. She has worked at various departments at the University of Tromsø since the 1970s and since 2009, as a full professor at The Centre for Women and Gender Research (KVINNFORSK). She has published in books and journals written in Norwegian and English.

Deatra Walsh’s research interests are in the field of gender, mobilities and rural communities, analysed by qualitative and quantitative methods. She has research experience from Canada and Norway. Since 2012 Dr. Walsh has been a part-time post doctor, affiliated to the Centre for Women and Gender Research, UiT the Arctic University of Norway.

Additional information

Funding

The work is supported by The Research Council of Norway (2012) under Grant number 214265 and The Center for Women and Gender Research (KVINNFORSK), UiT The Arctic University of Norway.