University of Helsinki
The first CEREN seminar of 2016 was organized 21st January together with the research area of Cultural and Social Diversities and Intergroup Relations within the Doctoral Program in Social Sciences. The invited international guest speaker Borja Martinovic is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science (Ercomer) at Utrecht University. Ercomer also organizes a Master’s Degree Programme in Migration, Ethnic Relations and Multiculturalism.
Martinovic started her presentation by talking about the theory of social representation and in specific research establishing the importance of social representation of history for current intergroup relations. Her own research focus is on historical claims of territorial ownership. Intergroup relations often revolve around the question of “who owns the country”. The question of ownership and entitlements is relevant also in more peaceful immigrant receiving societies. Martinovic pointed out that even if there is no legal ownership to be claimed, there may be a strong idea of collective psychological ownership. Historical narratives can be used to claim ownership and affect present day intergroup relations. Autochthony meaning entitlement for firstcomers, is a concept that Martinovic has adopted in her research. She has been working with case studies in Australia, USA, Transsylvania and the Chilean and Bolivian border area where she has researched different types of historical ownership claims. One conclusion she has made is that the way we interpret intergroup history guides our attitudes towards out-groups in the present.
Borja Martinovic’s visit to Helsinki has been important in many ways, also for the ERI programme. In the future, there will be closer cooperation as both teacher and student mobility between Helsinki and Utrecht will be developed.
Written by Anna Storgårds, coordinator of the ERI-programme