Sivistyksestä sivilisaatioon. Kulttuurikäsitys J. V. Snellmanin historiallisessa ajattelussa

From Bildung to Civilisation. Conception of Culture in J. V. Snellman’s Historical Thinking The research explores Johan Vilhelm Snellman’s (1806–1881) conception of culture in the context of his historical thinking. Snellman was a Finnish, Swedish-speaking journalist, teacher and thinker, who held a central position in the Finnish national discourse during the nineteenth century. He has been considered as one of the leading theorists of a Finnish nation, writing widely about the themes such as the advancement of the national education, Finnish language and culture. Snellman is already a widely studied person in Finnish intellectual history, often characterised as a follower of G. W. F. Hegel’s philosophical system. My own research introduces a new kind of approach on Snellman’s texts, emphasising the conceptual level of his thought. With this approach, my aim is to broaden the Finnish research tradition on conceptual history. I consider my study as a cultural history of concepts, belonging also to the field of intellectual history. My focus is on one hand on the close reading of Snellman’s texts and on the other hand on contextualising his texts to the European intellectual tradition of the time. A key concept of Snellman’s theoretical thinking is his concept of bildning, which can be considered as a Swedish counterpart of the German concept of Bildung. The Swedish word incorporated all the main elements of the German concept. It could mean education or the so-called high culture, but most fundamentally it was about the self-formation of the individual. This is also the context in which Snellman’s concept of bildning has often been interpreted. In the study, I use the concept of bildning as a starting point of my research but I broaden my focus on the cognate concepts such as culture (kultur), spirit (anda) and civilisation. The purpose of my study is thus to illustrate how Snellman used and modified these concepts and from these observations to draw a conclusion about the nature of his conception of culture. Snellman was an early Finnish philosopher of history but also interested in the practice of the writing of history. He did not write any historical presentations himself but followed the publications in the field of history and introduced European historical writing to the Finnish, Swedish-speaking reading audience in his newspapers. The primary source material consists of different types of Snellman’s texts, including philosophical writings, lecture material, newspaper articles and private letters. I’m reading Snellman’s texts in the context of other texts produced both by his Finnish predecessors and contemporaries and by Swedish, German and French writers. Snellman’s principal philosophical works, Versuch einer spekulativen Entwicklung der Idee der Persönlichkeit (1841) and Läran om staten (1842), were both written abroad. Both of the works were contributions to contemporary debates on the international level, especially in Germany and Sweden. During the 1840s and 1850s Snellman had two newspapers of his own, Saima and Litteraturblad, which were directed towards the Swedish-speaking educated class. Both of the newspapers were very popular and their circulations were among the largest of their day in Finland. The topics of his articles and reviews covered literature, poetry, philosophy and education as well as issues concerning the economic, industrial and technical development in Finland. In his newspapers Snellman not only brought forth his own ideas but also spread the knowledge of European events and ideas to his readers. He followed very carefully the cultural and political situation in Western Europe. He also followed European magazines and newspapers and was well acquainted with German, French and also English literature – and of course Swedish literature to with which he had the closest ties. In his newspapers Snellman wrote countless number of literary reviews and critics, introducing his readers to European literature. The study consists of three main chapters in which I explore my research question in three different, yet overlapping contexts. In the first of these chapters, I analyse Snellman’n theoretical thinking and his concepts of bildning, kultur, anda and civilisation in the context of earlier cultural discourse in Finland as well as the tradition of German idealistic philosophy and neo-humanism. With the Finnish cultural discourse I refer to the early cultural discussion in Finland, which emerged after the year 1809, when Finland became an autonomous entity of its own as a Grand Duchy of Russia. Scholars of the Academy of Turku opened a discussion on the themes such as the state of national consciousness, the need for national education and the development of the Finnish language as a national language of Finland. Many of these academics were also Snellman’s teachers in the early years of his academic career and Snellman clearly formulated his own ideas in the footsteps of these Finnish predecessors. In his theoretical thinking Snellman was a collectivist; according to him an individual should always be understood in connection with the society, its values and manners, as well as to the traditions of a culture where an individual belongs to. In his philosophy of the human spirit Snellman was in many ways a Hegelian but his notion of education or ‘bildning’ includes also elements that connect him with the wider tradition of German intellectual history, namely the neo-humanist tradition and, at least to some extent, to the terminology of J. G. Herder or J. G. Fichte, for example. In this chapter, I also explore Snellman’s theory of history. In his historical thinking Snellman was an idealist, believing in the historical development of the human spirit (Geist in German language). One can characterise his theory of history by stating that it is a mixture of a Hegelian triumph of the spirit and Herderian emphasis on humanity (Humanität) and the relative nature of ‘Bildung’. For Snellman, the process of ‘bildning’ or ‘Bildung’ is being realised in historical development through the actions of human beings. Snellman believed in the historical development of the human civilization. Still Snellman himself considered that he had abandoned Hegel’s idea about the process of world history. Snellman – rightly or wrongly – criticised Hegel of emphasising the universal end of history (the realisation of the freedom of spirit) at the expense of the historical plurality and the freedom of each historical era. Snellman accused Hegel of neglecting the value and independency of different historical cultures and periods by imposing the abstract norm, the fulfilment of the freedom of spirit, as the ultimate goal of history. The historicist in Snellman believed in the individuality of each historical period; each historical era or culture had values, traditions and modes of thought of its own. This historicist in Snellman could not accept the talk about one measure or the end of history. On the other hand Snellman was also a universalist. He believed that mankind had a common task and that task was the development of ‘Bildung’, freedom or humanity. The second main chapter consists of two parts. In the first part, I explore the Finnish nationalistic discourse from the cultural point of view by analysing the notions such as a nation, national spirit or national language and showing how Snellman formulated his own ideas in a dialogic situation, participating in the Finnish discourse but also reacting to international discussions on the themes of the nation and nationality. For Snellman nationality was to a great extent the collective knowledge and customs or practices of the nation. Snellman stated that nationality is to be considered as a form of ‘bildning’. This could be seen not simply as affection for the fatherland but also for the mental identity of the nation, its ways of thinking, its practices, national language, customs and laws, the history of the nation. The simplest definition of nationality that Snellman gives is that nationality is the social life of the people. In the second part of the chapter I exam Snellman’s historical thinking and his understanding about historical development, interaction between different nations and cultures in the course of history, as well as the question of historical change; how do cultures or civilisations develop and who are the creators of culture? Snellman did not believe in one dominating culture but understood the course of history as a dialogue between different cultures. On the other hand, his views are very Eurocentric – here he follows the ideas of Hegel or for example the French historian François Guizot – for Snellman Europe represented the virtue of pluralism; in Europe one could see the diversity of cultures which, on the other hand, were fundamentally based on a common Christian tradition. In the third main chapter, my focus is on the writing of history, more precisely on Snellman’s ideas on the nature of history as a science and on the proper way of writing historical presentations. Snellman wrote critics on the works of history and introduced his readers to the writing of history especially in France, Sweden and German-speaking area – in some extend also in Britain. Snellman’s collectivistic view becomes evident also in his reviews on historical writing. For Snellman history was not about the actions of the states and their heads, nor about the records of ruling families and battles fought. He repeatedly stressed that history is a discipline that seeks to provide a total view of a phenomenon. A historian should not only collect information on historical events, since this information touches only the surface of a certain epoch or civilisation; he has to understand an epoch as totality. This required an understanding about the major contours in history, connections between civilisations and an awareness of significant turning points in historical development. In addition, it required a holistic understanding about a certain culture or historical era, including also the so-called inner life of a specific nation, a common people and their ways of life. Snellman wrote explicitly about ‘cultural history’ in his texts, referring to this kind of broad understanding of a society. In historical writing Snellman found this kind of broader view from the works of the French historians such as François Guizot and Jules Michelet. In all of these chapters, I elaborate the conceptual dimension of Snellman’s historical thinking. In my study I argue that Snellman not only adopted the German concepts of Bildung or Kultur in his own thinking but also developed the Swedish concepts in a way that include personal and innovative aspects. Snellman’s concept of bildning is not only a translation from ‘Bildung’ but he uses the Swedish concept in a versatile way that includes both the moral aspect of human development and social dimension of a human life. Along with ‘bildning’ Snellman used also the terms ‘kultur’ and ‘civilisation’ when referring to the totality of a certain nation or historical era, including both the so-called high culture (arts, science, religion) and the modes of thought as well as ways of life of the people as a whole. Unlike many of his Finnish contemporaries, Snellman did not use civilisation as a negative concept, lacking the moral essence of German term ‘Bildung’ or ‘Kultur’. Instead, for Snellman civilisation was a neutral term and here he comes close to the French tradition of using the term. In the study I argue that Snellman’s conception of culture in fact includes a synthesis of the German tradition of ‘Bildung’ and the French tradition of ‘civilisation’.

Projektien markkinoinnin ja myynnin kehittäminen rakennusalan pk-yrityksessä Venäjän markkinoilla

Tämä diplomityö keskittyy kehittämään työssä käsiteltävän Venäjällä toimivan rakennusalan urakoitsijan projektien markkinointia ja myyntiä. Työssä paneudutaan projektimarkkinoinnin kautta yrityksen markkinointiin ja myyntiin. Käsittelyn aiheena ovat myös proaktiivinen markkinointi ja Venäjän rakennusmarkkinoiden aiheuttamat erityispiirteet. Tutkimuksesta selvisi, että yrityksellä on erityisesti ollut vaikeuksia saada ison luokan projekteja. Usein tähän on ollut syynä kilpailijoiden parempi taloudellinen kilpailukyky. Muutama projekti on myös keskeytynyt tai peruuntunut. Onnistuneiden tarjouskilpailuiden taustalla taas ovat olleet referenssikäynnit, hyvät suhteet asiakkaaseen ja laadukas suorittaminen. Projektimarkkinoinnin kirjallisuuden ja yrityksessä suoritettujen teemahaastattelujen pohjalta yritykselle kehitettiin ennakoivaa markkinointia painottava kokonaisvaltainen markkinointi- ja myyntiprosessi. Tärkeimpiä kohtia prosessissa ovat proaktiivinen projektien etsintä ja projektin valmistelu. Projekteja etsitään osallistumalla teollisuuden alan konferensseihin sekä ottamalla itse yhteyttä asiakkaaseen ja eri toimijoihin. Potentiaaliset projektit seulotaan suuremmasta joukosta ennalta määrättyjen kriteereiden avulla. Projekteihin pyritään aktiivisesti vaikuttamaan ennen tarjouskilpailua, jolloin myös järjestetään referenssikäyntejä. Neuvotteluissa sovelletaan kilpailutilanteen mukaan joustavaa kustannusperusteista hinnoittelua. Suoritetun urakan jälkeen asiakasyrityksen investointisuunnitelmia tutkitaan ja tarpeen vaatiessa pyritään säilyttämään yhteys nukkuvan suhteen aikana. Tällöin järjestetään asiakkaan kanssa seminaareja sekä epävirallisia ta-pahtumia. Yrityksen markkinointia ja myyntiä hankaloittavat Venäjän rakennusmarkkinoiden erityispiirteet. Epävarmuudesta aiheutuvat riskit pitää huomioida katteessa, mutta usein Venäjän erityisolosuhteet tulee vain hyväksyä, koska niihin on vaikea vaikuttaa.

Venäjän imperiumin paluu

Venäläiset ovat eurooppalainen sivistyskansa, joka on vaikuttanut merkittävällä tavalla maailman kohtaloihin. Kommunismin kukistuttua ja Neuvostoliiton hajottua venäläiset joutuivat hämmennyksen tilaan. Kansakunnan uusi nousu alkoi maantieteellisestä, sivistykselliseltä ja historialliselta pohjalta. Länsimaille oli yllätys, ettei Venäjä seurannut läntisiä demokraattisia esikuvia, vaan lähti luomaan uutta yhteiskuntaa omaa tietään kulkien. Valtion johtoon astuivat turvallisuusmiehet, jotka määrittelivät Venäjän kehitysstrategiat ja poliittiset tavoitteet. Heidän mukaansa Venäjän federaatio on imperiumi, eikä se alistu muiden johdettavaksi. Venäjä ei hyväksy Yhdysvaltojen johtamaa yksinapaista maailmaa. Venäjän pyrkimyksenä on kohota yhdeksi tärkeäksi maailmanpolitiikan keskukseksi ja haastaa muiden vaikuttajien kuten EU:n, Kiinan, Japanin ja Intian kanssa Yhdysvaltojen johtoasema. Tavoitteeseen pääseminen edellyttää yhteiskunnan voimavarojen keskittämistä. Vuodesta 1996 lähtien poliittinen valta on keskitetty tiukasti presidentille ja hänen johtamalleen hallintokoneistolle. Vladimir Putinin johdolla yhteiskunta vakautettiin autoritaariseen tyyliin. Vuosina 2008–2012 muodollisena, joskin vaaleilla valittuna, presidenttinä oli Putinin luottomies Dmitri Medvedev. Tuolloin todellisena Venäjän johtajana toimi pääministeri Putin. Medvedevin nelivuotiskauden päätyttyä Putin jatkaa valtion johdossa presidenttinä. Taloudelliset edellytykset harjoitetulle politiikalle ovat Venäjällä itsellään. Maa on maailman ainoa suurvalta, joka on riippumaton ulkomaisista energia- ja raaka-ainelähteistä, ja vuodesta 2002 vuoden 2008 lopulle jatkunut energian ja raaka-aineiden hintojen nousu on tukenut Venäjän talouskehitystä. Lisääntyneillä tuloilla on voitu monipuolisesti kehittää yhteiskuntaa, ja väestön enemmistö on tyytyväinen harjoitettuun politiikkaan. Venäjä selvisi nopeasti vuonna 2009 maailmaa kuristaneesta taloudellisesta kriisistä ja pääsi jälleen kasvu-uralla. Suurena ongelmana on vientiteollisuuden yksipuolinen painottuminen energia- ja raaka-ainesektoreille, jolloin talous on hyvin riippuvainen maailmantalouden kehityksestä. Suurten valtion omistamien yhtiöiden hallitsema elinkeinoelämä ei myöskään ole omiaan edistämään yrittäjyyttä, joka on kaiken innovatiivisuuden perusedellytys. Valtiojohtoinen autoritaarisuus ei ole tyydyttänyt kaikkia, mutta vanhaan venäläiseen tyyliin protestit on tukahdutettu, ja ulkomaisille arvostelijoille venäläiset ovat kertoneet kehittävänsä venäläistä, ”ohjattua” demokratiaa. Imperiumille erittäin tärkeän instrumentin muodostavat vahvat asevoimat, ja valtiojohtoinen autoritaarinen talouselämä antaa mahdollisuudet niiden kehittämiselle. Asevoimien kehityksen esteenä ei ole niinkään talous, vaan teknologinen ja innovatiivinen jälkeenjääneisyys. Vuonna 2003 käynnistetty asevoimien reformi on lähtenyt liikkeelle ja sen tuloksia oli havaittavissa elokuussa 2008 käydyssä Venäjän ja Georgian välisessä sodassa, joka päättyi Venäjän aseille voitokkaasti. Tuolloin kuitenkin todettiin asevoimien tekninen ja taktinen jälkeenjääneisyys, mikä johti asevoimien ja niitä tukevan teollisuuden uudistamiseen tähtäävien uudelleenjärjestelyiden kiirehtimiseen ja kehittämiseen.

Päijäthämäläisten yritysten tieto- ja osaamistarpeet Venäjän liiketoiminnassa

Russia is a developing and growing economy which gives great potential for Finnish companies to practice diverse business. However, the unique characteristics of Russia set some challenges for companies which have to be managed with either own know-how or by exploiting external knowledge-intensive business services. Constant developing of company’s know-how and knowledge is part of a successful internationalization and knowledge has a magnificent role in company’s internationalization process. Organizations’ needs for knowledge inputs were researched through a holistic case study where method-triangulation was used. Through a case study the demand for knowledge inputs could be examined on general level, but also, under-stood profoundly and comprehensively. The data was collected through qualitative interviews and quantitative survey. The results show that the companies consider the knowledge-intensive business services in Russian business important. However, the degree of utilization was fairly varying and firm-specific. According to the results, the strongest demand for knowledge inputs is in the field of operational knowledge. The need for external support in Russian business was remarkably lower in companies that currently do Russian business compared to the companies on planning level.

International Advanced Water Technologies Centre, IAWTC/LADEC and LUT 2013 : Questionnaire Responses from Russian Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants

In this report, information is published concerning Russian water and wastewater treatment plants. The information is based on a questionnaire sent to 70 water and wastewater treatment plants in 2012-2013. The questionnaire was prepared by the International Advanced Water Technologies Centre (IAWTC) and Lahti Development Company (LADEC). The questions dealt with an assessment of the present state, the need for changes, renovation, investments, and how to improve the efficiency of the operation by training and investments. A significant need to renew the old pipelines, constructions, and processes was clearly evident. The aggregated answers can be utilized in Russia as internal benchmarking in order to arrange training and plant visits, which were requested in many of the answers. Sharing this open report with the respondents can aid networking and awareness of HELCOM requirements which relate to waste water treatment plants discharging their waste water directly or indirectly into the Baltic Sea. The aim of this report is to provide information for Finnish small and medium size companies (SMEs) as regards possible water related exportation to different parts of Russia.

La coté de Finnlande dépuis Wÿbourgh iusqu'a Helsingfors

Liittyy teokseen Memoirs of Russia from the year 1727 to the year 1744 / Cristof Hermann Manstein ; second edition, London 1773

The Russian Empire in Europe, Asia and America

Kartta kuuluu A. E. Nordenskiöldin kokoelmaan

Vegetation of Lishkmokh mire in Vodlozersky National Park, eastern Karelian republic, Russia

Tiivistelmä: Karjalan tasavallan Vodlajärven kansallispuistossa sijaitsevan Lishkansuon kasvillisuus

Development of Rouble Exchange Rate in Russia

This 45th volume deals with the development of the Russian rouble, which suffered a severe depreciation crisis in 1998. In the aftermath of this event, a strong investment boom started in Russia. The new devalued rouble exchange rate gave price competitiveness to local industry. In addition to that, increasing export prices of Russian oil and natural gas deliveries have contributed to economic growth lately. Amid this boom period, inflationary pressure has remained high. Price increases have been higher than in the EU, Russia’s main trading partner. However, rouble/euro exchange rate has remained nominally rather stable in the current decade. This means, that rouble appreciates against euro in real terms, which is weakening Russia’s international competitiveness.

Regulation of Electricity Transmission and Distribution in Russia

The regulation of electricity transmission and distribution business is an essential issue for any electricity market; it is widely introduced in developed electricity markets of Great Britain, Scandinavian countries and United States of America and other. Those markets which were liberalized recently also need well planned regulation model to be chosen and implemented. In open electricity markets the sectors of electricity distribution and transmission remain monopolies, so called "natural monopolies", as introducing the competition into these sectors in most cases appears to be inefficient. Thatis why regulation becomes very important as its main tasks are: to set reasonable tariffs for customers, to ensure non-discriminating process of electricity transmission and distribution, at the same time to provide distribution companies with incentives to operate efficiently and the owners of the companies with reasonable profits as well; the problem of power quality should be solved at the same time. It should be mentioned also, that there is no incentive scheme which will be suitable for any conditions, that is why it is essential to study differentregulation models in order to form the best one for concrete situation. The aim of this Master's Thesis is to give an overview over theregulation of electricity transmission and distribution in Russia. First, the general information about theory of regulation of natural monopolies will be described; the situation in Russian network business and the importance of regulation process for it will be discussed next. Then there is a detailed description ofexisting regulatory system and the process of tariff calculation with an example. And finally, in the work there is a brief analysis of problems of present scheme of regulation, an attempt to predict the following development of regulationin Russia and the perspectives and risks connected to regulation which could face the companies that try to enter Russian electricity market (such as FORTUM OY).

Development of Rouble Exchange Rate in Russia

NORDIn julkaisu 45 käsittelee ruplan kehitystä. Vuonna 1998 rupla kärsi rajusta rahanarvon alenemisesta, minkä jälkiseuraksena investointi alkoi Venäjällä kasvaa. Uusi devalvoitu ruplan vaihtokurssi toi hintakilpailykykyä paikalliselle teollisuudelle. Tämän lisäksi Venäjän öljyn vientihintojen nousu ja maakaasujakelu ovat edesauttaneet taloudellista kasvua viime aikoina. Tämän noususuhdanteen vallitessa inflaatiopaine on pysynyt korkealla. Hinnannousut ovat olleet korkeampia kuinEU:ssa, Venäjän pääkauppakumppanilla. Kuitenkin, ruplan/euron vaihtokurssit ovat pysyneet nimellisesti melko vakaina tällä vuosikymmenellä. Tämä tarkoittaa, että todellisuudessa rupla vahvistuu euroa vastaan, mikä heikentää Venäjän kansainvälistä kilpailykykyä.

Distribution systems of the food sector in Russia: the perspective of Finnish food industry

Finnish food producers' trade with Russia has experienced profound changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Simultaneously, the distribution systems of foodstuffs have changed remarkably. This study sheds some light into these changes and analyses the current situation in distribution systems of foodstuffs in Russia. In addition, the study discusses the possibilities of Finnish food producers to get more of their products to the shelves of Russian food retail stores. Before the 1998 financial crisis, the import of foreign foodstuffs was booming in Russia due to the overvalued rouble. As a result of the financial crisis, food import collapsed. The export of Finnish foodstuffs to Russia has been slowly recovering during the past few years, but in the most important product categories the pre-crisis levels have so far not been reached and maybe will not be reached. In certain product categories the growth has been only marginal. It seems that starting localproduction will become increasingly important in the future. This is further encouraged by the fact that Russian consumers favour domestic food products. Russian consumers are very price conscious and demand quality in food products. The perceived price-quality ratio is an important criterion in the purchase decision.The majority of foodstuff retail is still conducted via unorganised forms of trade (e.g. kiosks and marketplaces) but modern retail chains are developing at a fast pace in Russia. They are also expected to dominate the retail trade in foodstuffs over the unorganised forms of trade in the future. This will change the distribution systems as well. The retail chains are trying to shorten the distribution chain, similarly to what has been seen in the Western countries. This together with the strengthening of retail chains is likely to shrink the role of wholesalers, as the chains increasingly want to work directly with the producers. Many large retail chains are acquiring or have already acquired a distribution centre or centres in order to boost efficiency and control the flow of products. The strengthening of the retail chains also gives them power in negotiations, which the producers and distributors have to adjust to. For example store entry fees and retail chains' own private label products pose challenges to the food producers. In the food production sector the competition is fierce, as large Russianand foreign producers want to ensure their piece of the market. The largest producers utilise their size: they invest in big marketing campaigns and are willing to pay high entry fees to retail chains in order to secure a place on the store shelves and to build a strong brand in Russia. This complicates the situation from the viewpoint of small producers. Currently, the most popular type of distribution system among the interviewed Finnish food producers is based on a network of local distributors. There is, however, a strong consensus on the importanceof starting local production in order to be a serious actor in Russia in the future. Factors that hinder the starting of local production include the lack of local infrastructure and qualified staff, and the low risk tolerance of Finnish firms. Major barriers for entry in Russia are the actions of authorities, fierce competition, fragmented market and Finnish producers' heavy production costs. The suggested strategies for increasing the market share include focusing geographically or segment-wise, introducing new products, starting local production, andcooperation between Finnish producers. Smallness was one reason why Finnish producers had to cut down their operations in Russia due to the 1998 crisis. Smaller producers had fewer resources to tolerate losses during the period of crisis. Smallness is reflected also on trade negotiations with retail chains and distributors. It makes it harder to cope with the store entry fees and to differentiatefrom the mass of products propped up by expensive advertising. Finally, it makes it harder for Finnish producers to start or expand local production, as it is more difficult for a small producer to get financing and to tolerate the increased risks. Compensating for the smallness might become the crucial factor determining the future success of Finnish food producers in the Russian market.