Navigating post-prison life. Social positioning and agency in unstable circumstances

People that are released from prison experience 'life outside' as unpredictable and insecure. They are faced with stigmatization, poverty and feelings of alienation from the 'world outside.' Based on ethnographic research in the field of post-prison life, this paper asks how formerly incarcerated men act and position themselves within and around uncertain circumstances that characterize post-prison life. The paper introduces the concept of 'social navigation' as an epistemological tool for approaching post-prison life ethnographically. In doing so, it shows the potential of the concept of social navigation in understanding actor's social positioning and agency within unstable sociocultural landscapes and within a disrupted sociocultural order.

Exploring Memory, Heritage, and Tradition through the Museum Exhibition "Ingrians – The Forgotten Finns"

This article explores notions of memory, heritage, and tradition and their respective domains vis-à-vis a reading of the museum exhibition Ingrians – The Forgotten Finns held at the National Museum of Finland in 2020. Ingrian Finns are a Finnish-speaking historical minority of Russia and the Soviet Union. This article's contributions are threefold. First, it produces new knowledge on contemporary memory culture surrounding Ingrian Finns' history, thus opening perspectives on memory issues relating to minority groups in general. Second, it provides knowledge on contemporary phenomena related to past presencing as both localised and globalized processes. Third, it provides knowledge on the ideologies and epistemologies associated with past presencing, and it promotes a dialog between research fields that center around on concepts of memory, heritage, and tradition.

Developing EU Heritage Diplomacy: Notions of Cultural Diplomacy, Cultural Heritage, and Intercultural Dialogue among EU Officials and European Heritage Practitioners

The European Commission has recently identified cultural heritage as a focus area for EU cultural diplomacy. The article explores EU cultural diplomacy that deals with cultural heritage and develops the concept of heritage diplomacy based on a critical discourse analysis of interviews with EU officials and heritage practitioners working at sites awarded with the European Heritage Label. What do these actors mean by cultural diplomacy and how do they understand the role and potential of cultural heritage for it and with what effects? The analysis indicates that heritage diplomacy means different things for EU officials and heritage practitioners. Their discourses on the uses of cultural heritage for diplomacy constructs certain understandings of cultural heritage and heritage diplomacy, and the power relations between these understandings.