Core Citizens, Imagined Nation: Historical Security Practices of the Majority and Strategies of the Minorities in Finland; An Introduction to the Issue

Raluca Bianca Roman is presently Research Fellow in the “Roma Interbellum” European Research Council project within the School of History at the University of St. Andrews. Her current postdoctoral research centers on the development and growth of Roma political mobilization and civic emancipation during the interwar period in Romania and Finland. Her doctoral work was an ethnographic study of the experience of Pentecostal belonging and religious mobilization among the Finnish Kaale (Finnish Roma), with an emphasis on the relationship between religious change, social engagement, and the development of a Roma-led religious humanitarianism. She has published widely on issues of Roma mobilization, identity, religion, and migration. She has also participated in several international projects concerning Roma mobilization in Europe.

Peter Stadius holds a PhD in history and has been, since 2014, Professor in Nordic Studies and Research Director at the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of Helsinki. His research focuses on images of the Nordic region, regionalism, and Nordic cooperation. He is currently also working on Nordic minorities in a post-colonial framework. He is the leader of the Nordic University Hub ReNEW (Reimagining Norden in an Evolving World) funded by Nordforsk for the period between 2018 and 2023.

Eija Stark is a docent of folklore studies at the University of Helsinki. She is the author of works on the culture of poverty, proverbs, and narratives of changing class society in Finland. She has a particular interest in European nationalism, the role of hegemonic narratives, and the marginalized groups in the makings of the nation. Her recent work deals with folk economics and consumer revolution expressed from below.