The curious compatibility of consensus, corporatism, and neoliberalism: The Finnish business community and the retasking of a corporatist welfare state

Abstract

This paper addresses the apparent paradox of simultaneous neoliberal change and welfare-statist, corporatist continuity by presenting an empirical case study of the advent of neoliberal ideas in Finland in the 1970s and 1980s. The paper focuses on the attempts of a free-market think tank EVA and the employers' association STK to advance policies such as economic deregulation, international competitiveness, welfare retrenchment, and active social and labour market policies through the neoliberal retasking of the corporatist Finnish welfare state. EVA and the STK utilised seemingly non-neoliberal means, i.e. an economic policy consensus and tripartite corporatist arrangements, and reformulated their content to better correspond with business interests. Instead of demolition, the outcome has been the redefinition and incremental transformation of the state from a provider of welfare to a promoter of competitiveness, productivity, and employment.

Let’s coordinate! The reinforcement of a ‘liberal bastion’ within European Industrial Federations, 1978-1987

“…Instead they should be considered as one channel among others that helped business circles launch their 'counteroffensive' , and that ultimately favoured the neoliberal turn in European countries in the following decades. In this case, efforts were made by powerful civil servants of the capitalist class from neocorporatist countries, while in other cases similar goals were pursued by business leaders such as the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT) (Cowles, 1995;Van Apeldoorn, 2000) or by economists and think tanks (Slobodian, 2018;Wuokko, 2019). The Interlaken Conferences are therefore revealed to be just one of the multiple aspects of private governance and economic activism at the turn of the 21th century.…”

“…Regarding BIAs' strategies to address the 1970s economic crisis and the social critics, there is evidence that the associations launched diverse counteroffensives to secure their political power and to impose their economic philosophy and related policies (Phillips-Fein, 2009; Pitteloud, 2019; Waterhouse, 2014;Wuokko, 2019). Such defensive strategies seem to have proved successful, since several authors have noted that, despite the important challenges that the 1970s posed to the prevailing neocorporatist/coordinated capitalist systems, business coordination and BIAs' political influence were largely preserved (Katzenstein, 1985;Mach & Oesch, 2003, p. 161;Marx & Reitmayer, 2019, p. 770).…”

The Integration Spectacle

“…Th e beginnings of Finnish welfare neoliberalism lie in the 1970s and 1980s, when the tripartite corporatist negotiation framework (state, employer organizations, and trade unions) was fi rst steered toward realizing neoliberal market reforms. Rather than a rolling back, this was a question of re-tasking the state; its primary function was now to actively ensure the functioning of the markets (Wuokko 2019). Th is development fl ourished during the 1990s recession.…”

Sosiaaliturvan muutos vai jatkuvuus?

“…15 Liike-elämä ja poliittinen oikeisto myön si vät sosiaaliturvan tarpeellisuuden ja hyvin vointipalvelujen kasvun, kun taas poliittinen vasemmisto ja ammattiyhdistysliikkeet hyväksyivät taloudelliset välttämättömyydet. 16 Hyvinvointivaltion kohtaamasta kritiikistä huolimatta julkisten menojen osuus bruttokansantuotteesta kasvoi Suomessa vuosien 1982 ja 1986 välillä 4 prosenttiyksikköä. 17 Jul ki set menot kasvoivat säästämistoiveista huolimatta suurien sosiaalipoliittisten uudistusten, kuten peruskoulu-, terveys-ja päivähoitojärjestelmien luomisen takia.…”

“…16 Hyvinvointivaltion kohtaamasta kritiikistä huolimatta julkisten menojen osuus bruttokansantuotteesta kasvoi Suomessa vuosien 1982 ja 1986 välillä 4 prosenttiyksikköä. 17 Jul ki set menot kasvoivat säästämistoiveista huolimatta suurien sosiaalipoliittisten uudistusten, kuten peruskoulu-, terveys-ja päivähoitojärjestelmien luomisen takia. 18 Öljykriisien taloudelliset vaikutukset heijastuivat Suomessa aina vuoteen 1982 asti, jonka jälkeen alkoi vahva talouskasvu.…”