National Identities in Finland: The Struggle to Find Oneself

 National Identities in Finland: The Struggle to Find Oneself  

National identity has a complicated definition mixed with different ideas. Traditionally, national identity refers to an individual’s sense of belonging or bond in accordance with their characteristics and how they connect with others. These characteristics may include a shared language, experiences, common ground, beliefs, religion and so on. According to Ollia, she defines national identity as the concept of identity...used in reference to particular social groups, such as minorities, subcultures, tribes and nationalities (1998). She goes on to list three factors of social identity: 1. The individual’s identification with certain other individuals, 2. conceptions of the history and future of one’s group, 3. strategies to maintain and preserve the group’s distinctive characteristics (1998). Many people may take great pride in their national identity, so much that it can shift their perspective of other national identities. Differentiating the two to find what makes them unique and creating distance, referring to them as “others.”  

 Triandafyllidou describes how the term “significant other” links with national identity. “Significant other” are those that pose as a threat to the existence of a nation. The “Significant other” may be a nation that is in conflict with the group because of a territorial or ethnic dispute (Triandafyllidou, 1998).  In accordance with the Finnish Identity, they construct Russia as a threat. The construction of Russia as a threatening national other was used to both oppose and support Finland's alliance with the West, namely, becoming a member of NATO (Nortio, 2022). Finland joined NATO after Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022. Since then, the relationship between Finland and Russia has deteriorated, and Russia feels as if they were betrayed and lost a “comrade” to NATO. In this case, Russia would be Finland’s “significant other.” Finns are afraid of what Russia may do in the future to retaliate: Currently the border between Russia and Finland is shut down until further notice.   

Before diving into Finland’s national identity, we first must understand the history of Finland and how it plays a role. Take into consideration that Finland was under Swedish Rule for almost 700 years. Finland was forced under Swedish sovereignty in accordance with the Swedish traditions such as the pursuit of spreading their Roman Catholic religion. Although they were under Swedish rule, they still had some rights like being part of the Swedish monarchy. Even so, Finland had no institutions of its own. Finnish leaders grew tired of Swedish control and wanted their own government under Russian Protection. The Russian Empress at the time wanted to make Finland a separate state under Russian rule, but this idea failed. Despite this, a Finnish colonel favored the idea and ended up fleeing to Russia anyways as they wanted to detach from Finland (Britannica, 2024). Finland was then under Russia control for over 100 years. Not until Russia was taken over the Bolsheviks in did the Parliament issue a declaration of independence for Finland in 1917 (Britannica, 2024). Even though Finland was under another’s country’s control, they were allowed to and maintained their language and traditions, but to be under another country’s rule or that extended amount of time, there inevitably had to be some influence on Finland’s national identity.   

It is not surprising to say that Swedish culture is still present in Finland. Finns were under Swedish power for almost 700 years, so there had to be some contributions to their society. The two main official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. Even while under Sweden and Russian Rule, Finland was able to preserve their Finnish language. However, before they became the official languages, some problems arose. Finnish books were forbidden unless they served for religious purposes, but other than that Swedish was the main published language. This led a great number of Finns upset people because majority of the population spoke and understood Finnish. The ban of these Finnish text was an attempt to keep class differences or preserve the existing bureaucracy (Britannica, 2024). Swedish was the only language allowed within the Finnish administration. It was suggested that the Swedish language and culture were a vital part of the Swedish heritage in Finland and should not be dismissed in favor of the ‘rustic’ Finnish culture (Herb, 1999). The Finns who were accustomed to the Swedish culture could not simply forget about it and “pick up” another. Swedish influence was present in Finland and people identified themselves to it. It was not until 1902 were Finnish and Swedish both equally deemed as the official languages of Finland.   

Not only can language influence national identity, but so can religion. Majority of the people belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Whereas the minority follow the Orthodox Church of Finland, and even fewer Finns belong to independent protestant churches. Religions were, and possibly still are, deemed unequal in Finland: There is privileged status of the Lutheran and Orthodox churches. The current state affairs for Freedom of Religion have three principles: the right to practice religion, the right to not participate in the practice of religion, and that public authorities have to treat all religions equally (Hjelm, 2013). Currently, the only religions recognized and acknowledged are Lutheran and Orthodox. Yes, fewer Finns practice other religions besides those, but that does not mean that Lutheran and Orthodox they should be deemed most elite and have priority.   

“The spirit is not against religions...but instead the aim is to draw attention to the fact that at the moment the state takes a stand on which god and which conception of god is right, if you will, and I think this may have hazardous consequences” (Hjelm 2013).   

To conclude, recognizing smaller religions and not idolizing one god will make a progressive country. Giving people more of a sense of belonging to their country as they will feel accepted instead of outliers.  

Not everyone that occupies in Finland are all Finnish. There are many other ethnicities that reside within Finland like the Sami people. The nomadic Sami people were the first to settle in what is now Finland but migrated to the north. During the 1990s after the Soviet Union had fallen, immigration rose. People from Russia, Sweden and Estonia were coming to Finland to seek Finnish influence and principles. The increase of immigration did not please everyone in Finland though. In fact, there have been negative attitudes from Finns towards the foreigners. This is because the increase of foreigners has caused many problems to the native population such as employment therefore creating pressure on policy-makers to make policies addressing illegal migration (Koivukangas, 1970). Finns pose these foreigners and immigrants as a threat and competitors. But even so, in 1995, The Finnish government amended the constitution to recognize Sami and other small indigenous people their right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. Finland was able to recognize the rights of an ethnic minority but also deem the foreigners coming to their country as a threat. If they were able to recognize the Sami people and deem them their rights, why can’t they with the foreigners coming in?  

  

  

References 

Herb, G. H. (1999). Nested identities: Nationalism, territory, and scale. Google Books. From https://books.google.com/books/about/Nested_Identities.html?id=ikVCJQIJsNoC  

 

Hjelm, T. (2013). National piety: Religious equality, freedom of religion and national identity in Finnish political discourse. Religion, 44(1), 28–45. From https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721x.2013.857366  

 

Koivukangas, O. (1970, January 1). European immigration and integration : Finland. From https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/41774  

 

Larson, S. Ruth , Sundblad, . Ilmari , Enander, . Henrik , Weibull, . Jörgen , Sandvik, . Gudmund , Henriksson, . Markku Ilmari and Sandelin, . Carl Fredrik (2024, January 30). Finland. Encyclopedia Britannica. From https://www.britannica.com/place/Finland  

 

Nortio, E., Jasinskaja, L. I., Hämäläinen, M., & Pakkasvirta, J. (2022). Fear of the Russian bear? Negotiating Finnish national identity online. Nations & Nationalism, 28(3), 861–876. From https://doi-org.proxy.seattleu.edu/10.1111/nana.12832  

 

Ollila, A. (1998). Perspectives to Finnish identity. Scandinavian Journal of History, 23(3–4), 127–137. From https://doi.org/10.1080/03468759850115918  

 

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the `other.’. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 21(4), 593. From https://doi-org.proxy.seattleu.edu/10.1080/014198798329784