Suomi "the Land of a Thousand Lakes": a short descriptive account of the Grand Duchy of Finland

Inneh. bl. a. en engelsk öfvers af Runebergs "Vårt land".

The introduction of Mormonism to Finnish society, 1840-1900

This study examines the place of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon church) in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland between the years 1840 and 1900. Attention is put on both the internal workings of the movement and the reactions of society. Theoretical insight is gained through the concepts of social construction and religious economies. Mormon image formation in Finland began by 1840 through newspaper reports on activities abroad and through essays on the faith’s history and doctrine. Mormons are mentioned almost 3,500 times in Finnish newspapers between 1840 and 1900, and at least twelve unique book titles sold in the country were explicitly devoted to discussing Mormonism. Most of the publicity was derived from foreign sources. Discourse analysis of this textual corpus shows a hegemonic discourse that combined themes such as fraud, deception, and theocracy in explaining the Mormon movement. Accompanied by plural marriage, these themes contributed to the construction of a strongly negative image of Mormonism already before the first missionaries arrived in 1875. In a society with a stringently regulated religious economy, this image contributed to a high level of resistance by civil authorities and Lutheran clergy. Twenty-five Mormon missionaries worked in Finland between 1875 and 1900, with a concentrated effort taking place between 1875 and 1889. At least 78 persons converted, mostly in the coastal areas among the Swedish-speaking minority population. Nine percent emigrated to Utah, 36% were excommunicated, others fell into oblivion, while still others clung to their new faith. The work was led from Sweden, with no stable church organization emerging among the isolated pockets of converts. Mormonism’s presence was thus characterized by private or small-group religiosity rather than a vibrant movement. The lack of religious community, conversation, and secondary socialization eventually caused the nineteenth-century manifestation of Finnish Mormonism to die out. Only one group of converts was perpetuated past World War II, after which large-scale proselytizing began.

Future of Internet News Portals after the Case of Delfi

The thesis analyzes liability of Internet news portals for third-party defamatory comments. After the case of Delfi AS v. Estonia, decided by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on 16 June 2015, a portal can be held liable for user-generated unlawful comments. The thesis aims at exploring consequences of the case of Delfi for Internet news portals’ business model. The model is described as a mixture of two modes of information production: traditional industrial information economy and new networked information economy. Additionally, the model has a generative comment environment. I name this model “the Delfian model”. The thesis analyzes three possible strategies which portals will likely apply in the nearest future. I will discuss these strategies from two perspectives: first, how each strategy can affect the Delfian model and, second, how changes in the model can, in their turn, affect freedom of expression. The thesis is based on the analysis of case law, legal, and law and economics literature. I follow the law and technology approach in the vein of ideas developed by Lawrence Lessig, Yochai Benkler and Jonathan Zittrain. The Delfian model is researched as an example of a local battle between industrial and networked information economy modes. The thesis concludes that this local battle is lost because the Delfian model has to be replaced with a new walled-garden model. Such a change can seriously endanger freedom of expression.

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’.

Elämä työläisnaisten hyväksi. Fiina Pietikäisen yhteiskunnallinen toimijuus 1900–1930. Tutkimus työväenliikkeen sukupuolisidonnaisista käytännöistä

Tutkimuksessa perehdytään työväenliikkeessä vaikuttaneen naisaktiivi Fiina Pietikäisen (1870–1956) toimijuuden myötä työväenliikkeen sukupuolisidonnaisiin käytäntöihin vuosina 1900–1930. Tutkimus edustaa kollektiivista elämänkertatutkimusta. Tässä tutkimuksessa on keskeisesti esillä kysymys Fiina Pietikäisen ja työväenliikkeen suhteesta. Aikakauden työväenliike ei hyväksynyt individualistista toimintaa, vaan edellytti yksittäiseltä aktiivilta kurinalaisuutta ja sitoutuneisuutta yhteisesti sovittuihin pyrintöihin. Toisaalta työväenliike tarjosi niin työläismiehille kuin -naisillekin aivan uudenlaisia mahdollisuuksia vaikuttaa suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa. Työläisnaiset saattoivat miesten tavoin vaikuttaa poliittisissa ja ammatillisissa järjestöissä, joskin monet naiset keskittyivät vapaaehtoisesti vain puolueen naisjärjestöjen toimintaan. Tutkimus osoittaa, että Fiina Pietikäinen oli pragmaattinen naisaktiivi, joka monien muiden työväenliikkeen naisaktiivien tavoin otti tehtäväkseen työläisnaisten ja -lasten elinolosuhteiden kehittämisen. Edes poikkeusolosuhteet kuten vuoden 1905 suurlakko tai vuoden 1918 sisällissota eivät muuttaneet työväenliikkeen sukupuolisidonnaista toimijuuskulttuuria. Työväenliikkeen naisaktiivit keskittyivät vapaaehtoisesti ruokahuoltoon ja perhepolitiikkaan jättäen muut yhteiskunnalliset kysymykset miestoimijoiden vastuulle. Useimmista työväenliikkeen naisaktiiveista poiketen Fiina Pietikäinen toimi myös miesvaltaisessa ammattiyhdistysliikkeessä niin paikallis- kuin liittotasolla. Pietikäinen otti tehtäväkseen varsinkin helsinkiläisten silittäjien ja erityisesti kylvettäjien ammatillisen edunvalvonnan. Kyseiset naispuoliset ammatinharjoittajat olivat erittäin heikosti järjestäytyneitä, joten Pietikäisen ammatillinen edunvalvonta perustui pitkälti yhteiskunnallisesti otollisten tilanteiden hyödyntämiseen ja työväenliikkeen kollektiivin tukeen. Fiina Pietikäinen kannatti monien muiden naisaktiivien tavoin naisten erillistoimijuutta niin poliittisessa kuin ammatillisessa työväenliikkeessä. Hän sitoutui työväenliikkeen arvoihin ja käytäntöihin, muttei kokenut työväenliikettä tasa-arvoiseksi kollektiiviksi. Hän uskoi naisten voivan parhaiten kehittää omaa asemaansa erillistoimijuuden kautta. Poliittisen työväenliikkeen saralla naiset vaikuttivatkin aina työväenliikkeen hajoamiseen asti pitkälti omissa järjestöissään. Ammatilliseen edunvalvontaan naisten erillistoimijuus ei vakiintunut, koska ammattiyhdistysliikkeen miesaktiivit eivät kokeneet naistyöläisten aseman kehittämisen edellyttävän segregaatiota liikkeen sisällä. Käytännössä monet ammattiosastot olivat kuitenkin joko mies- tai naisammattiosastoja, koska aikakauden Suomessa sukupuoli määräsi hyvin voimakkaasti sen, mitä ammattia yksilö saattoi harjoittaa.

”Päihdeäidit” hyvinvointivaltion huomassa : kurinpitoa ja suostuttelua

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

The grand voyage : the experience, the narrated experience and the experience economy : an analysis of ocean cruisers' travel blogs

Lectio praecursoria, Åbo Akademi University 7 June 2013.