Alberdi and the role of immigration to Finland

Juan Bautista Alberdi was one of the greatest social thinkers that Latin America produced in the nineteenth century.  If we look at the Argentina and South America right after these countries gained independence from Spain from the 1820s, they faced a daunting task: How to build new nations from scratch.

Countries in the region were huge in size with little infrastructure and small populations. In the early nineteenth century, Argentina’s population was a mere 400,000 while Uruguay and Paraguay had an estimated 40,000 and 100,000, respectively. Even countries such as Brazil had underwhelming populations: in 1800 it was estimated to be 3.35 million versus 300,000 in 1700. In the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada (Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela), population estimates for 1750 show that there lived 350,000 Peninsulares (native Spaniards) compared with 600,000 native Americans in 1650.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards in greater numbers from the sixteenth century, the indigenous population was estimated in the Americas to be between 80 million and 100 million, according to some estimates.

Looking at Argentina from the mid-nineteenth century, Alberdi understood that the country would never realize its potential with a small population. According to him, Argentina would never become a developed and prosperous nation as long as it had a population of one million (by 1869 it had grown to 1.527 million) in a country that could comfortably house 50 million people.

While immigration played a more prominent role in forging the populations of countries such as Argentina as opposed to Colombia, it radically changed the demographic make up. By 1914, Argentina’s population had grown to 5.527 million, or 30.3% of the population (49.4% in Buenos Aires!) thanks to immigration.

Look at these percentages and compare it with Finland’s 2.7% foreign population. Some Finns are already sounding the alarms bells because of such a single-digit percentage!

Apart from the demographic impact, European immigration changed the country socially, politically and economically. It had an adverse impact on the country’s Amerindian population. The good news, however, is that such a high percentage of immigrants did not end up at each others throats as was the case in the former Yugoslavia.

Alberdi and Finland

As Finnish policy makers and politicians plan how many immigrants Finland must have to maintain our standard of living and social welfare state, they should read statesmen such as Alberdi, study Finnish and general immigration history to grasp what immigration means instead of falling into the defensive and fearing what it implies to our country.

Alberdi’s greatest work was Bases, which looked at the different constitutions in the region and which ones Argentina should not imitate. His main argument was that those constitutions that placed limits on immigration and nationality were examples that Argentina should not imitate. Taking into account the nationalism and highly exclusive nature of Finland’s constitution of 1919 up to 1999, Alberdi would have surely criticized it because it discouraged immigration on all levels and made citizenship exclusive.

The big question: If Finnish society and history have reinforced nationalism as a nation-building process by excluding others, how is Finland going to be receptive to new members of society?

The above question, in my opinion, is the biggest unanswered challenge facing Finland. We are not ready and too few understand what immigration is and how our society could benefit and correct some of the challenges it imposes.

A good pessimistic example comes from a recent seminar I attended with Finnsh-language teachers who work with refugees and immigrants. After scraping through the “we-believe-Finland-will-win-with-newcomers” phase of our conversation, one of the teachers said in a defensive tone: “We don’t have to change even if more immigrants come to Finland.”

What this statement reveals is not only ignorance what immigration implies but a deep fear that some Finns have. They believe that all they have to do is to bring labor immigrants and continue with their lives as if nothing has happened. Finns don’t have to change because immigrants will be assimilated into our culture.

One could ask how prevalent this feeling is among our policy makers, politicians and population. If that is what the majority feels, immigration will fail miserably in this country.

The saddest fact is that we do not understand why it even failed before it began. on a bigger scale.

Immigration debate in Finland and Europe: Turning the lights off

The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted
to learn from the crow.
William Blake (1757-1827)

I remember a long time ago reading an editorial by the Buenos Aires Herald on how the military coup of 1976 was able to shut off lights in Argentina and keep the country in an information blackout. It argued that since outdated infrastructure such as telephones and telecommunications were in a wretched state, it was easy for the junta leaders to literally turn off the lights and spoon feed information to its citizens anyway it wished.

Even though cell phones and IT infrastructure are today the best in the world, some of us in western countries such as Finland continue to live in our self-imposed information bubble about people from other cultures. We hate this group because they do this and we don’t like that group because they have different customs than ours.

What is paradoxical about these “champions of our western way of life” is that they would, if given the opportunity, be the first to impose the very autocratic measures that they claim to be fighting against. They would not waste any time in limiting civil liberties such as religious freedom and even freedom of speech by over-exaggerating and overkilling their cases.

The kind of world they wish to impose on Europe is the one that had caused so much bloodshed in the past century.

Europe, as well as other parts of the world, know first-hand what racial and ethnic strife can bring. Hopefully some understand better in other parts of the world that wise tales about other ethnic groups to suit myopic “racial theories” can only lead to disaster.

Thanks to the Internet and the free flow of information, however, their attempts to shut off the information lights of Europe will be an impossible task.

Giving Migrant Tales a new look

I am very happy how these modest blog has grown from relative obscurity to a platform where almost everyone can put in his/Her views on immigrant issues in Finland.

I have been thinking for quite some time on how the blog could better serve the immigrant community, interested Finns and advancing the cause of understanding between different cultures.

One matter that I would like to propose is having interviews of real people that decide on immigration policy in Finland as well as look at concrete flaws in the law, or when one is applying for a residence permit in this country. What would be the most successful way of surviving in Finland if you are an immigrant?

Guest writers would be invited to give their views on a specific aspect of immigration.

What would you like to see more or less of in Migrant Tales?

The role of Finnish langauge in discrimination

I was speaking today with a woman from an African country who had been in Finland for five years and had never held a job. She said that she had tried to find work as a cleaner but, surprisingly, she said that she could not because her Finnish wasn’t good enough.

We had a short chat about her studies and the difficulties of finding work in Finland. This took place in Finnish.

In my opinion, her Finnish was good enough to work as a cleaner. Why, then, wasn’t a black woman from Africa employed as a cleaner in eastern Finland?

I am convinced that since language plays a special role in this country historically and culturally (mother tongue is even tabulated in the census), it is used in the same context as skin color in the United States.

This may reflect that some Finns feel less bothered by skin color than by non-native Finnish. But if you have the wrong skin color (not white) and do not speak Finnish as a near-native, then you get hit by a double discrimination whammy in Finland.

Hence, when a Finnish employer says that you do not speak Finnish well enough, he or she may be saying that you are an outsider and we do not employ these kinds of people.

If language plays such an important role in the perception some Finns have of non-native Finns, then it suggests that they will never be accepted as an equal in the Nordic sense by our society.

Addressing the issue of language discrimination in Finland may shed light on a totally hitherto-unknown culprit.

An immigrant call to change and Finnish society

Some wrongfully accuse those of speaking up for cultural diversity in Finland of “whining” and being “ungrateful.” Apart from exercising one’s democratic right of free speech, bigger steps have to be taken by minorities in this country to drive home their message of greater equality and fair treatment.

If we wait for change it will never happen in our lifetimes.

In my opinion, the situation of immigrants in Finland is tragic and shameful. On the one hand, you have people who want to eagerly take part in this society but cannot due to a number of imagined and real factors such as language, while Finnish authorities simultaneously spend a lot of funds and good will on integrating these persons to our society.

The integration program, although well-intentioned, lacks one very important component in order for it to be successful: Immigrants’ input. The program is the majority’s view on how newcomers should integrate into our society.

On many occasions I have mentioned that we do not need any magic trick to integrate immigrants and refugees. Those very values that makeup our society would be enough. However, the problem is that these legal benchmarks enshrined in the Constitution and Non-Discrimination Act do not apply to minorities who don’t speak Finnish or Swedish as natives.

Real integration does not only mean job opportunities but, most importantly, a willingness by society to accept these people. Today unemployment among immigrants is officially 2-3 higher than the national level and by looking at the silence and lack of leadership of Finnish politicians, the closed view of institutions such as the police and the constant attacks by hardline “Finland for Finns” proponents, it is clear what a significant part of the population thinks.

We are still at such a diaper stage in the immigrant debate that some of our politicians and policy-makers do not even grasp why immigration is important for this country but prefer instead to stick their heads in the sand and hide behind nationalism.

Change will not come from the majority because there is a definite lack of leadership in this area. If this is so, we must spearhead change and make our voices heard and take part more vociferously than ever in the ongoing one-sided debate on immigrants in Finland. We must lobby politicians and use all the opportunities and channels offered by democratic society to make our voices heard.

That time has come now.

The immigration debate in Finland is far from “normal”

When debating discrimination of immigrants and refugees in Finland, one can scent two matters in the air: hostile suspicion mixed with a dose of patronizing.

The tragic events of the Sello Mall killings on the last day of December show how some of our political leaders view immigrants. As soon as a psychopath is on the lose and it happens to be an immigrant or former refugee, it is an opportunity to reinforce our stereotypes, fears and hostility toward others.

Whenever a Finn goes on the rampage and kills indiscriminately innocent bystanders  as we have tragically seen before, we don’t jump up and demand how people from a certain region of Finland should be placed under scrutiny.

Accusing immigrants and refugees of being freeloaders, lazy and a menace to our Finnish way of life is not only unfair but a cover used by some to hide the real challenges facing our society. It is tantamount to brushing our country’s real problems under the rug and using immigrants as scapegoats.

Immigration will, however, reveal many pleasant and unpleasant things about who we are.

Take for instance high unemployment. Immigrant critics and populist parties such as the True Finns argue that it is the immigrants’ fault because they are lazy and so challenged professionally that they cannot do even menial jobs.

High unemployment in Finland reveals a wider problem of labor markets that need a serious overhauling. How is it possible that after strong years of growth, Finland’s unemployment rate continued to be around 8%?

The suspicion that some Finns have of immigrants and refugees reveals another fact: Their fear of competition and laziness to deal with those   challenges that threaten our way of life and future living standards.

Foreign journalists and Finnish interpretations of history

If one wants to do an interesting study into the role of the state and the media, one could look at the cold war years of Finland.

An article written by Max Jakobson, Substance and Appearance: Finland, is one example of how the governments viewed foreign journalists.  He writes: “As a result, Finland is forever at the mercy of the itinerant columnist who after lunch and cocktails in Helsinki is ready to pronounce himself upon the fate of the Finnish people.”

Notice that he uses the word “columnist” not “journalist.”

When the article was written in 1980, there was little to no criticism even by the Finnish media on our special relations with the former Soviet Union. Even though it is a great matter that Finland retained its independence despite two wars with the Soviet Union, Jakobson asks a key question in the article whether Finlandization forced the country to give up any essential national interests in order to have good relations with Moscow.

He writes: “Here it is important to distinguish between substance and appearance, between abstract principle and political reality and to make the distinction in terms of the Finnish experience. One again it is necessary to take the account of the legacy of the war.”

One of the biggest flaws in the article is that it aims to be THE only opinion on how we should interpret Helsinki-Moscow relations. Nobody, except for a few wise men such as Jakobson, were able to speak publicly about Finnish-Soviet relations. The former diplomat does not mention a word about the censorship and self-censorship that existed on this front even though he stresses how “Western” we are.

What does Jakobson’s article tell us today? It shows, I believe, a country that has seen foreigners with suspicion. Even though there are valid factors that have fueled this suspicion, it has been reinforced over and over by our history. Apart from having few foreigners in the country, the Restricting Act of 1939 also made made foreign investment virtually impossible.

Like the government, which must have reaped a lot of political benefits from our special relation with Moscow, Finland enjoyed and grew accustomed to being a geopolitical recluse.

Language rights in 1862, independence from Russia in 1917, civil war, Winter and Continuation War and Cold War tell us of a continuing story that has fueled suspicion of outsiders. So, for a foreign journalist to come to Finland and, “after lunch and cocktails,” to write about our special relation with the Soviet Union naturally hits a very nationalistic nerve.

The impact of the previous century on the present one explains why some of us continue to see immigrants as a threat.

Those reticent one-sided views or ourselves and the outside world we learned in the previous century may turn out to be a threat to our future because opening up is still a painful process.

The Sello Mall killings in Finland reveal a lot about our views of outsiders

The tragic events that occurred at the Sello Mall on December 31 in the suburb of Leppavaara located next door to Helsinki do not only shed light on a deranged man but continue to feed some of our highly polarized feelings on immigration and refugee policy.

An article by Kristiina Markkanen in the English-language Helsingin Sanomat highlights some of these questions. In my opinion, the knee-jerk reaction of some Finns and the complacent silence of some politicians on the killings show that we still have a very long way to go before our society can relate to immigrants/refugees in a near-normal fashion.

Even though such a harrowing event must be condemned vociferously by all members of society, it should not serve as a platform to ostracize immigrants and refugees living in Finland.

If we go deeper into the context of the tragic killings, what questions do they bring about how Finnish society views immigrants and refugees?

(1) Immigrants/refugees are still such a new phenomenon in Finland that we have trouble relating to these people in a normal societal fashion;

(2) Immigrants/refugees have little to no say in Finland and politicians/policy-makers treat them as charity. They hold minuscule political, economic and demographic weight in society.

What is most incredulous in the one-sided immigrant debate after the Sello Mall killings is that some Finns, with the tacit wanted or unwanted silent approval of some politicians, can generalize freely without almost any opposition to include all immigrants and refugees.

The truth is that the shock that the Sello Mall killings caused on Finns was equally felt by all members of our society.

Finland’s challenge in the new decade

The new decade will either make or break Finland. If we are not successful at attracting labor immigrants to our country to plug the ever-growing number of pensioners leaving the labor market during the 2010s, the first one to feel the impact will be the economy.

Due to the recession and age-old taboos of Finnish nationalism, some Finns would rather stick their heads in the sand than face the demographic challenges ahead. According to Statistics Finland,Finland´s population is graying rapidly. As more people retire from the workforce the more strains it will place on public finances and our society.

How many? The number of pensioners will rise from the present 17% (905,000 persons who are older than 65 years) to 27% by 2040 and 29% (1.79 million) by 2060. Better medicare will fuel this trend. Persons over 85 years in Finland will rise from 2% (108,000) to 7% (463,000).

Any sensible person understands that for a country to have a successful and dynamic immigration policy a general acceptance by society is paramount. Does Finland have a favorable attitude towards immigrants?  The jury is still out on this question since Finland’s foreign population is still too small to make any clear assessment. However, if we look at immigrant unemployment figures, which are about two times higher than the national average, Finland does not appear very immigrant-friendly.

One of the matters that we will have overcome as a nation if we want to attract new inhabitants is offer opportunities to attain the Finnish dream.The same matters that makes us want to live here must rub off on those who may choose to move here.

Despite our successful welfare society founded on liberal democratic values, the weight of our history continues to muddy our view of the outside world and of outsiders. It has made us liberal in our perceptions of society but also extremely conservative because we have always felt that we are in danger of being devoured by a foreign power.

Knowledge of our history is vital but more important is how we see the future.

Migrant Tales says thank you!

With year-end rapidly approaching and giving way to the new year, I would like to thank all those thousands of  bloggers who have visited Migrant Tales recently and shared their thoughts with us. Thanks you!

One of the posts that has stirred a lot of debate is Are you a victim of racism in Finland, which has close to 9,000 hits and about 1,000 comments. Other popular posts that some bloggers enjoyed were The Destroying Angel mushroom, Finnish “culture and personality” and Is there racism in Finland?

I wish everyone lots of success in 2010!

The sub-arctic is truly a fascinating place…