Virtual Ethnic Communities as Political Actors – The Case of Sami People

Abstract

The role of virtual communities in the sphere of politics is constantly growing. One of the most influential on the decision making process are Internet groups based on shared ethnic identity that in their perception is under threat. The article analyses how Sami being an indige-nous divided between four different countries people use Internet in order to preserve their ethnic and cultural her-itage, to save and distribute their languages and to form a joint basis for lobbing political authorities in Nordic countries and Russia. By combining online and offline political activity Sami managed to find their own unique place in modern world serving as an inspirational exam-ple for other indigenous people.

Keywords

• social network
• Sami
• websites
• virtual ethnic community
• indigenous people
• Internet