Living conditions in the Arctic

This paper introduces a model for conducting research on living conditions among peoples that have experienced rapid social, cultural and economic change in countries where a non-parallel development has occurred. This model was developed by the researchers of SLICA, A Survey of Living Conditions in the Artic; Inuit, Saami and the Indigenous Peoples of Chukotka, which was initiated by Statistics Greenland in 1997. The point of departure for this model is a critique of contemporary living conditions surveys carried out by national statistical bureaus in economically, technologically and culturally segmented areas. The point of view is that these studies erroneously assume that the populations they investigate are homogeneous, and that consensus concerning individual social and economic objectives exists. This usually leads to research designs and indicators of individual well-being that reflect the dominant culture, or the prevalent way of living and thinking in these countries. The focus of this paper is on the research design of SLICA. The implementation of two important methodological challenges is discussed. Namely, (1) how to secure a context-specific concept of well-being which also mirrors the life forms and the priorities of the respondents and (2) how to measure impacts of structural change on individual well-being.