Transnational everyday life in the twin-city Tornio-Haparanda

This article concentrates on everyday life in the twin-city of Tornio-Haparanda, which is situated in the cross-border region of the Tornio River Valley between Finland and Sweden. The Tornio River Valley was divided after the Finnish War of 1809 and, until then, people spoke the same language and shared the same culture and religion. Today, the Tornio River Valley area is a frontier district where the political - or national - boundaries do not coincide with the cultural and linguistic boundaries. The multiethnic border zone of the Tornio River Valley is vital area for the hybridisation of cultures as well as for the study of power relations and everyday activities. The towns have many forms of co-operation in different sectors. In my ongoing research I am more interested in the everyday transnationalism which is experienced by the town dwellers