From ideas to final mandate An analysis of the process of formulating the Norwegian TRC mandate and the idea

Abstract

Abstract

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC) have increasingly become a tool for non-transitional stable democratic states to deal with injustice committed in the past, however often with lingering consequences. This was the case when in 2018 a TRC was established by the Norwegian Parliament to investigate the Norwegianization policy and injustice against the Sámi and Kven/Norwegian Finnish peoples. In 2017 the Norwegian Parliaments Presidium invited the Sámi Parliament and three Kven/Norwegian Finn organisations to consult on formulating the mandate for a Norwegian commission to investigate the Norwegianization and injustice against the Sámi and Kven/Norwegian Finns in Norway. It is the documents produced by these actors during this period, as well as the final mandate itself, which are at the centre of this thesis. Research on TRC’s tend to focus on the TRC processes and outcomes, and less attention has been put towards TRC mandates, both what they contain and who makes them. Thus, this thesis will first examine the mandate with an emphasis on how the final mandate defines the term reconciliation. Furthermore, this thesis will examine the documents produced during the mandate formulation process through document analysis, and an analysis of ideas and ideological content, and asks: to what degree can the idea systems concerning reconciliation presented by the Sámi Parliament, NKF and KLF during the mandate formulation process be found final mandate? And in what ways did these three institutions/organisations have idea systems and goals that were similar or dissimilar? The aim of this thesis is to identify the different ideas at play during the mandate formulation process, with a focus on reconciliation, and assessing to what degree these ideas can be traced in the final mandate. Additionally, relevant theoretical perspectives concerning reconciliation will be utilised to inform the discussions of the idea systems found.