Is there such a thing as a common identity for the Barents region? Well, after exploring the region myself for 5 days by the coastal steamer Hurtigruten and 12 days by car, I can at least conclude with one thing. The Barents identity certainly has to include a lot of driving. Mobility has always been of cruicial importance for people in this area, even before the term ”Barents region” itself was constructed: Pomor trade along the Russian and Norwegian coastline. Sami reindeer herding, stretching from Norway through Sweden and Finland to Russia. Fisheries along the coast and rivers. The people of this region have always been migrant workers, following their herd of either fish or reindeer through the changing seasons and settling down wherever the resources were found.
But as time went by, fishing boats grew bigger and processing industries were moved to other and more profitable places. Without a reliable source of income people were forced to move. Today the discovery of new resources such as gas and oil in the Barents sea give new hope to the people in the region and politicians dream of a prosperous future and a wealth new workers. The taxi driver we met in Hammerfest, home of ”Snøhvit” (Snow White) – the first offshore development in the Barents Sea, was somewhat more reserved: ”Well, at first we expected a lot of new people. But the people who come to work at the platform are merely commuters. They move back when their job is over.”
The main issue for the Barents region may be this: How can one adapt the Barents identity of mobility into a will to stay? Or does the future of the Barents region include a comeback of the migrant workers from the old days?
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