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Arctic Yearbook 2013
New Possibilities for the Northern Peripheral Regions in the Post-Cold War Era
conflict between the Lappish communists and conservatives. It is possible to say that the political
conflicts between left and right were even stronger in northern Finland than in the other parts of
Finland. The internal conflicts in northern Finland complicated co-operation efforts related to the
political and economical interests of northern Finland as a whole. From today‘s point of view, it is
just strange that a global conflict between eastern grand narrative (socialism) and western grand
narrative (capitalism) divided the people – often relatives – into two political groups also in northern
Finland (See Koivumaa, 2008: 59–62).
The Western-centric conquering process includes also aspects of colonialism. This has been a
problem especially for the Sami people and their culture. From the point of view of European
modernization the cultures – and even the people – in the European ―periphery‖ seemed to be less
developed than cultures – and people – in Central Europe. The ―modern‖ attitude towards the
Lappish people has even been racist (Isaksson, 2001). From the point of view of modernization,
Sámi culture and livelihood – as cultures and livelihoods in the colonized developing countries –
seems to be less developed than cultures and livelihood that represent the state – or world – centre.
As in the other parts of the world the political structure that is composed by a centre and a
periphery creates problems especially for the peripheries (see e.g. Koivumaa, 2008: 47–66).
Part of the conquering process of the northern states has been the exploitation of the natural
resources in the northern frontier regions. Before industrialization, the kings and tsar were interested
in fish, furs and minerals in the north. The most common tool for acquiring the natural resources
was taxation. Following the industrial revolution the modern states have used, for example, northern
minerals, timber and hydroelectricity to support the continuous economic growth of their national
economies. The problem for the peripheries has been that the value added by producing has shifted
from the northern frontier regions to the
capitals and other centres of the states. Also
the labour borne in the frontiers has moved
to the governmental or industrial centres
developed for the economic and
governmental goals of the modern state. The
northern frontier regions all over the Arctic
are suffering due to their peripheral position
in the modern economical and geopolitical
state system. The centre is interested in
defining the role and the status of the
frontiers in the post-Cold War international
system in both Europe and North America.
As Heather Nicol writes, this continuation of
colonial processes has become embedded
within the structure of post-Cold War
security debates within Canada (see Nicol in
this volume).
Figure 2
The Northern Finnish Frontier Region