National populism and gendered vigilantism: The case of the Soldiers of Odin in Finland

Abstract

IntroductionThis article explores a particular gendered manifestation of anti-migration politics and activism following the rise in numbers of asylum seekers entering the EU by focusing on a Finnish right-wing street patrolling organization called the Soldiers of Odin (SOO), founded in October 2015. The group has been organizing street patrols meant to protect Finnish women from different forms of public gender-based violence by migrants. The appearance of SOO reflects the way debates around migration to Finland have been increasingly polarized with "advocates of tolerance" and "immigration critics" clashing in TV shows and Internet forums, but also in the streets through demonstrations and counter-demonstrations.Based on a discursive analysis of publically available sources written by and about the SOO in Finland, we offer a gendered reading of anti-immigrant sentiments and reactions. We argue that these were not just triggered by an ongoing fear of loss of economic privileges under neoliberal and austerity politics (Mäkinen, 2016), but also by anxieties from the diminishing status of white heterosexual masculinities. Concurrently, we identify four recurring themes that appear in the SOO's self-presentation which are used by members to portray themselves as part of a legitimate social movement: protective masculinity, militarized masculinity, supplement of the state, and indigenous masculinity. One concept that is of particular relevance for explaining the overall logic of these different themes is that of "white border guard masculinities", developed by Suvi Keskinen. White border-guards are characterized by "a fixation on borders, border-control, cultural boundary work and exclusions that are treated as necessities in the changing setting" (2013: 227).By focusing on the practice of street patrolling which is organized as a response to sexual harassment, we seek to add another perspective to the growing literature in feminist security studies on everyday peace and urban conflict in contemporary Europe (Björkdahl and Buckley-Zistel, 2016). We find that street patrolling is a practice of vigilantism that is justified by using representations of the cityspace as a place of friction between locals and newcomers; and of the street as a locus for projecting and enacting gendered and racial/ethnic identities. As such, we develop the concept of gendered vigilantism by exploring the way practices and discourses about sexual harassment, particularly street harassment, reinscribe geographical boundaries between Europeans and asylum seekers. We conclude This is the accepted manuscript of the article, which has been published in Cooperation and Conflict. First

“The State Cannot Protect Us”

“…Some of these groups may embrace violence and (para)militarism openly. Th is is the case, for example, of the Soldiers of Odin, who emerged in Finland in 2016 to support and create a "culture of security" against immigrants perceived as criminal (Aharoni and Féron 2020). Th en, the group spread transnationally (Kotonen 2019).…”

Are ‘core’ feminist critiques of securitization theory racist? A reply to Alison Howell and Melanie Richter-Montpetit

“…As a consequence, a richness of critical analysis of gender and (in)security – in some cases, race and racialized insecurity – has been produced. For example – and resonating with your call for studying the racialization of gender insecurity in right-wing discourse – a recent study by Aharoni and Féron (2019) uses the concept of a ‘feminist security dilemma’ to analyse right-wing ‘gendered vigilantism’ in Finland. A Western-centric bias/blindness is still possible, of course: there might still be silent security dilemmas in the West that go unnoticed by feminist security studies.…”

Populism in Estonia and Slovakia: Performances, Transgressions, and Communicative Styles

“…Alluding to Kazakh roots of Kõlvart, he added: "The capital city is in the hands of migrants" 34 . In the public space like-minded youth organization -'Blue Awakening', 'Sovereign Movement Smart and Healthy Estonia' and some others -had been particularly visible in organizing torch rallies 35 on Independence Day 36 , along with anti-immigration "street patrols as a performative act of white militarized masculinity" 37 . Torch parades, popular with youth organizations before the 1920s and 30s and closely associated with the Nazi symbols, are however perceived as metaphors "of light and freedom" 38 among EKRE's sympathizers.…”