Finntopia: Illusions and Incoherences

Abstract

The article discusses the recent treatment of Finland by the US Left, criticises this from a Finnish point of view, and engages in a discussion on treating existing countries in utopian terms and the need to analyse countries as evolving through power struggle rather than "models".

Envisioning a "real utopia" through dystopian lenses.

“…There might be many reasons for this oversight but one of the them could be the need to sustain the hope for the "capitalism with a human face", proud of the effectiveness of its distributive and redistributing mechanisms, yet still unquestionably grounded in the principles of the constant competition and accumulation. However comforting, such a vision can be also seen as deeply regressive and supressing social and political imagination (Eskelinen & Lakkala, 2022). Although the advantages of comparative studies are colossal, their usability in envisioning policy changes, has its limitations.…”

“…The core points of doubt are threefold. First, an existing country cannot be seen in utopian terms (Eskelinen & Lakkala 2022), especially when "utopia" is constructed mostly through negation. Second, because it rather uncritically recalls a simplified and mythologised vision of the social processes behind the construction of the current state of affair.…”