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With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the creation of the Barents region saw the light in 1993. This is part of the development towards a more globalized and regionalized word. The Barents region consists of the northern part of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, more exactly the counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark (Norway), Västerbotten and Norrbotten (Sweden), Uleåborg and Lappland (Finland), the autonomous republics of Karelia and Komi and the oblast of Arkhangelsk.

The aim of the network The Modernisation Process in the Barents Region is to compare different aspects of the modernisation process in the Barents region. The political framework is the period from the parallel rise of democracy and communism after the First World War in the Nordic countries and Russia respectively, to the parallel expansion of the European Union and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, which include the re-emergence of Russia. The main focus will be on the period covering the latter half of the 19th century until the year 2000, but earlier periods will also be taken into consideration in order to give a historical depth to the comparison.

One aim of the European Community is to integrate the former Soviet Republics into a common Europe. With this in mind, the Division of Social Sciences (DSS) at Luleå University of Technology, has identified the Barents region as an important area for research in the field of social sciences. Such research has been carried out for several years within a large international research network with DSS as a contributor. The object of this research has been the forest sector in the whole of Russia which also includes the regions of Murmansk, Karelia and Arkhangelsk. Scientific exchange with Russia has also taken place within other fields of social sciences and humanities through, i.e., international cooperation between the universities in the circumpolar areas of North America, Russia and the Nordic countries.

Within the network we are going to concentrate our work on three specific research areas which are well suited to international and interregional comparison and which have relevance for the whole of the time period of the study. They will be treated on three conferences. The first conference is The use and abuse of history which will be held in Luleå 29-30 October 2004. The aim of the conference is to investigate different aspects of the use of history for political, economical and social reasons. More information about the conference is to be find under the label Activities. The second conference is named The industrialisation process. It will be held in Arkhangelsk in September 2005. The third conference, named The regional identity, will be held in Petrozavodsk in September 2006.

There is a strong need for a co-operation in the field of history in the Barents region for research on the modernisation process of the 20th century. The region has many features of development in common, for example:

• the peripheral localisation
• the sparse population and large area
• the many ethnic minorities
• the delayed start of industrialisation followed by a rapid industrialisation process
• the immigration of large groups of the nation’s majority people in the area
• the radicalisation of the work force and polarisation between radical and traditional groups
• the kind of “polar romanticism” which a lot of modernising actors held regarding the northern dimension of each nation state
• the post-modern efforts to strengthen the higher education
• the revitalisation process which many of the national minorities went through during the last part of the 20th century

All these features are in common, but there are of course also big differences. The most striking one is the political difference between east and west, which, during the cold war, divided this area in a Nordic common and a Russian common. This did of course also influence the way historical research was carried out and written. The aim of the network is to let the historical researchers and students in the Barents region come together to let these traditions meet each other in a new era of open minds.

The difference between the political and economic systems in the Scandinavian countries and Russia has led to big differences in the current standard of living between east and west during the 20th century. It has also underlined the previous historical differences in values and ways of thinking, which makes it relevant to consider the Barents region as a heterogeneous region building. In order to throw light on these differences the industrial and identity themes will fit in very well.

On a scientific level the network activities aims to make the researchers and students more familiar with the different traditions of historical research and historiography, the problems considering the evaluation of sources etc. in the Barents region. In comparing the three areas of research different aspects of historical development which across national boundaries will be investigated. They will be contrasted against events ad processes which are more greatly affected by competition between nation states. Also, common inter-regional and global factors will naturally come to light which, hopefully, will give a greater understanding and explanation of the historical development in the Barents region. By breaking down national development to a regional level, it becomes possible to analyze the creation of both formal and informal regions

The North Calotte and the Barents region are examples of regions formalised from above. One example of an informal region are the so called Pomor trade or the annual move of the reindeer herding Sámi people across nation boundaries. A similar kind of informal region, based on a common language and culture, can be defined based upon the widespread settlement of Finnish speaking people in the whole of the Barents region. In this case, the region is more to be defined out of common features of language, culture and mentality and also different ethnic strategies within each nation region.

Even religion could be regarded as an informal region, for example the Laestadian movement which is spread over a vast area in Sweden, Finland and Norway, but also, to some extent, the Orthodox Church, which in earlier periods gave cultural influences to the border areas between the Nordic countries and Russia. A region close to the Barents region, which influences it in many ways, is the Baltic sea region. This affinity makes it interesting to make comparisons between the two regions.

The new knowledge produced within the network is supposed to generate new joint comparative research projects in the field of history in the Barents region. The network also aims to take advantage of each others’ research across the nation boundaries. It also aims to stimulate to scientific exchange on a personal level involving both senior researchers and students. One synergy effect of pooling resources will also be the possibility of producing a textbook in history about the Barents region for students at comprehensive schools and universities, an aim for which Luleå University of Technology has received both interest and support from the County of Norrbotten. The lack of a common writing on history across the nation boundaries articulates both a general shortage of a comprehensive regional view on history in each nation and a shortage of a synthetic writing on history of the Barents region.

The historical departments mentioned above have identified the Barents region as an important area of research in the fields of the humanities and social sciences. Such research has been carried out over several years within different international research networks, for example the NordForsk financed networks Stat, religion, etnicitet and Nordiskt forskarutbildningsnätverk i samisk historia (both of them are now ended) and the circumpolar network Circumpolar Change. In those networks different constellations of universities in the Barents region have participated.

In the network the aim is to involve most of the department of history in the Barents region in one network. The network is considered as a kind of umbrella organisation for the purpose of pooling common resources. The aim is to let senior researchers and post graduate students in the Barents region come together to exchange research results and also theoretical and methodological experiences. This will strengthen the co-operation between institutions and individual researchers in the area.

The initiative to the creation of such a network was taken on a planning meeting about historical research in the Barents region, held at the university of Luleå in November 7-8 2002. The participants were historians from the departments of the universities of Umeå, Luleå, Tromsö, Oulu, Helsinki, Arkhangelsk and Petrozavodsk as well as from the Institute of Alexander in Helsinki. With the economic aid from NordForsk a video conference was held between participants from the universities of Luleå, Umeå, Oulu, Arkhanglesk and Petrozavodsk in April 24 2003. In January 1 2004 the network The Modernisation Process in the Barents Region was established. I will last until December 31 2006.

The structure of gender in the departments of history is by tradition male dominated, even if changes have taken place during the last years. Anyway, it takes time to change structural patterns. When we created the network we tried to compose the network in order to stimulate the participation of women and it seems that in some institutions it is quite equal, while in other institutions more has to be done. The object is to stimulate women to take part to the same extent as men.