This chapter ties together discussions of citizenship and social work practice in the context of growing populist and neoliberal political trends in Finland. These political trends are manifested in populistic right-wing movements on the one hand, and the neoliberal dismantling of the welfare state on the other. Both political trends -populism and neoliberalism -tend to separate people into those who are 'deserving' and 'undeserving'. However, the dynamics of globalisation has radically changed nation states, creating a need to redefine the understanding of an emancipatory idea of citizenship connected to human rights, because social rights on their own are no longer able to protect the human condition. These emancipatory approaches face resistance from contemporary populist political movements. This situation is paradoxical, as populist political movements also base their political mandate on an underprivileged group of people, namely those citizens living in fragile life situations within the nation state. Additionally, social work practice has conventionally been restricted by national contexts due to differences in social work traditions, social systems, social problems and cultures. These effects manifest in social work practices, intentionally or unintentionally, through the application of different approaches. Therefore, social work practice must redefine its position in the current political climate, and social policy must pay more attention to social work ethics as a human rights profession.

This study examined the role of welfare services in the participative citizenship of young people under 30 years of age outside the labour market. Thematic content analysis of the government’s white papers regarding participation policies, as well as participatory action research projects in two Finnish towns, were used to identify factors that enable or hinder participation for this group of service users. The paradigm of participation was critically examined with reference to the theoretical framework of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s “dialectic of Enlightenment”, which proposes the parallel existence of the promise and the deception of Enlightenment. The results indicated that user participation holds the potential to promote democratization, consolidation, and qualitative improvements in services, especially by valuing experience-based knowledge and enabling the growing political citizenship of young people. However, the promises of the paradigm of participation can turn toward deception when applied as a managerialistic workfare instrument to control young people’s behaviour and can even deepen marginalization by focusing only on their absence from workforce participation. The ambivalent role of social sciences and social work as agencies of Enlightenment in developing participation technologies is also discussed.

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Forage maize (Zea mays L.) yield and nutritional quality fluctuate markedly in Northern Europe due to weather conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Southern Finland (Helsinki, 2018–2020) and in Central Finland (Maaninka, Kuopio, 2019–2020) to study the effect of harvest time and use of mulch film, in order to optimize the dry matter (DM) yield and quality. Treatments included oxo-biodegradable mulch film and no mulch, and three harvest times (the latter only in Helsinki). Mulch film increased DM yield on average by 2.3 Mg ha-1 in Helsinki and by 3.8 Mg ha-1 in Maaninka. Mulch film had a minor effect on the quality, and overall, the quality improved, although DM yield accumulation had already ceased. Nevertheless, the starch contents fluctuated and remained mostly below the target rate – 300 g kg-1 DM – especially in Central Finland. The results indicate that mulch film improves forage maize yield, but a late harvest is still required to improve forage quality. However, climate conditions still restrict starch accumulation to ears in Northern European climate conditions, especially in the important milk production area in Central Finland.