Helena Ristaniemi

Helena Ristaniemi works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Giellagas Institute, University of Oulu, in the Frontiers of Arctic and Global Resilience (FRONT) Profi7 -program and is part of the FIRE research collective at the Faculty of Education and Psychology. In her transdisciplinary dissertation, she explored historical consciousness and belonging of the girls from the Sámi Homeland of Finland through new materialist theories. Her current work focuses on Sámi youth and youth activism. She is especially interested in how Sámi youth build cultural and social strength through activism, resistance, and everyday life choices. She is intrigued by affect theories, feminist Indigenous theories, and Arctic youth research.

She is a member of the executive team of The Finnish Network for Girlhood Studies and a founding member of the Gender in Youth Studies Network.