Advertisement

Old Women and Men as Political Actors in Finnish Lapland

  • Päivi NaskaliEmail author
Chapter
First Online:
  • 83 Downloads
Part of the International Perspectives on Aging book series (Int. Perspect. Aging, volume 22)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study how gender and age relate to positions of power in municipal politics and examine the possibilities for and restrictions on old people’s political agency in the intersections of socio-economic status and gender. Politics is understood in a broad sense as including participation in municipal decision making, active involvement in organisations and engaging in voluntary work. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, comprising statistics on the age and gender of board members, chairpersons and managers in 21 municipalities in Finnish Lapland, as well as a case interview of a politically active retired couple. The results indicate that older people in the region actively take part in municipal politics and that older men in particular play an important role in decision making. The analysis of the interview identified the following conditions for active participation: education, participation in working life, economic situation and health. Ageism, resulting from the cult of youth and the politics of austerity, was interpreted as an obstacle to participation.

Keywords

Age Gender Municipal politics Participation Finnish Lapland 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Linda Sainio, Seija Keskitalo-Foley and Richard Foley and the anonymous reviewer for their valuable support during the writing process for improving the manuscript.

References

  1. Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham: Duke University Press Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Byrne, A., Canavan, J., & Millar, M. (2009). Participatory research and the voice-centred relational method of data analysis: Is it worth it? International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2(1), 67–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Calasanti, T. (2004). New directions in feminist gerontology: An introduction. Journal of Aging Studies, 18, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Christensen, A.-D., & Jensen, S. Q. (2012). Doing intersectional analysis: Methodological implications for qualitative research. Nora – Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 20(2), 109–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Elomäki, A. (2007). Kansalaisuuden sukupuolittuneet representaatiot suomalaisessa eduskuntavaalijulisteissa. Naistutkimus–Kvinnoforskning, 20(2), 4–15.Google Scholar
  7. Elomäki, A., & Kantola, J. (2017). Austerity politics and feminist resistance in Finland: From established Women’s organizations to new feminist initiatives. In J. Kantola & E. Lombardo (Eds.), Gender and the economic crisis in Europe, politics, institutions and intersectionality (pp. 231–255). London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  8. Finnish Act on Equality between Women and Men. (1986/1995). http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/2871/74664/F450812666/FIN2871English.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2017.
  9. Gilleard, C., & Higgs, P. (2013). Ageing, corporeality and embodiment: Key issues in modern sociology. New York: Anthem Press.Google Scholar
  10. Haarni, I. (2009). “Pitää lähteä liikkeelle” – aktiivisten eläkeikäisten selityksiä kanslais- ja vapaaehtoistoimintaan osallistumiselle. Sosiaalilääketieteellinen aikakauslehti, 46, 81–94.Google Scholar
  11. Harding, S. (2004). Rethinking standpoint epistemology: What is ‘strong objectivity’? In S. Harding (Ed.), The feminist standpoint theory reader. Intellectual and political controversies (pp. 127–140). London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  12. Hearn, J. (2012). Neglected intersectionalities in studying men: Age(ing), virtuality, transnationality. In M. T. Vivar, H. Herrera Lutz, & L. Supik (Eds.), Debates on a multi-faceted concept in gender studies (pp. 89–104). Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
  13. Helander, V. (1991). “Ei oikeutta maassa saa…” Ikäihmiset poliittisina vaikuttajina. Helsinki: Vanhustyön keskusliitto.Google Scholar
  14. Holladay, S. J., & Coombs, W. T. (2004). The political power of seniors. In J. F. Nussbaum & J. Compland (Eds.), Handbook of communication and aging research (2nd ed., pp. 383–405). Mahwah/London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
  15. Holli, A. M., & Wass, H. (2010). Gender-based voting in the parliamentary elections of 2007 in Finland. European Journal of Political Research, 49, 598–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Holli, A. M., Luhtakallio, E., & Raevaara, E. (2006). Quota trouble: Talking about gender quotas in Finnish local politics. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 8(2), 169–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Holli, A. M., Luhtakallio, E., & Raevaara, E. (2007). Sukupuolten valta/kunta: Politiikka, muutos ja vastarinta suomalaisissa kunnissa. Tampere: Vastapaino.Google Scholar
  18. Hurd, L. (1999). “We’re not old!” older Women’s negotiation of aging and oldness. Journal of Aging Studies, 13(4), 419–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Irni, S. (2010). Ageing apparatuses at work. Transdisciplinary negotiations of sex, age, and materiality. Åbo: Åbo Akademi University Press.Google Scholar
  20. Jauhiainen, A., & Huhtala, S. (2010). Tyttöjen koulutuksen ristiriidat. In J. Kauranne (Ed.), Ajankohtainen Uno Cygnaeus: Uno Cygnaeuksen juhlavuosi 2010 (pp. 193–211). Helsinki: Suomen kouluhistoriallinen seura.Google Scholar
  21. Julkunen, R. (2003). Kuusikymmentä ja työssä. Jyväskylä: SopHi 73.Google Scholar
  22. Jyrkämä, J. (2008). Toimijuus, ikääntyminen ja arkielämä hahmottelua teoreettis-metodologiseksi viitekehykseksi. Gerontologia, 22(4), 190–203.Google Scholar
  23. Jyrkinen, M., & McKie, L. (2012). Gender, age and ageism: Experiences of women mangers in Finland and Scotland. Work, Employment and Society, 26(1), 61–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Kantola, J., & Lombardo, E. (2017). Gender and the politics of the economic crisis in Europe. In J. Kantola & E. Lombardo (Eds.), Gender and the economic crisis in Europe, politics, institutions and intersectionality (pp. 1–25). London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  25. Karkulehto, S., Saresma, T., Harjunen, H., & Kantola, J. (2012). Intersektionaalisuus metodologiana ja performatiivisen intersektionaalisuuden haaste. Naistutkimus – Kvinnoforskning, 25(4), 17–28.Google Scholar
  26. Keskitalo-Foley, S., & Naskali, P. (2016). Tracing gender in political ageing strategies and the press in Finnish Lapland. In P. Naskali, M. Seppänen, & S. Begum (Eds.), Ageing, wellbeing and climate change in the Arctic: An interdisciplinary analysis (pp. 30–48). London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  27. Kuusipalo, J. (2011). Sukupuolittunut poliittinen edustus Suomessa. Tampere: University of Tampere.Google Scholar
  29. Lapin liitto. (2017). http://www.lappi.fi/lapinliitto/195. Accessed 15 Sept 2017.
  30. Lykke, N. (2005). Nya perspektiv på intersektionalitetet. Problem och möjligheter. Kvinnovetenskaplig tidskrift, 2–3, 7–17.Google Scholar
  31. McCall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771–1800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Meriläinen, S., Tienari, J., & Valtonen, A. (2015). Headhunters and the ‘ideal’ executive body. Organization, 22(1), 3–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Naskali, P., & Keskitalo-Foley, S. (2017). Intersectionality in Finnish adult education research. Insights from the Journal Aikuiskasvatus 2010–2016. The European journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (RELA). Published online 22.11.2017, (pp. 1–15).  https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.rela9103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Nieminen, L. (2005). Kiintiöt, kansanvalta ja tasa-arvo. (Quotas, democracy and equality.). Lakimies, 7–8, 1140–1164.Google Scholar
  35. Nikander, P., & Zechner, M. (2006). Ikäetiikka – elämänkulun ääripäät, haavoittuvuus ja eettiset kysymykset. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka, 71(5), 515–526.Google Scholar
  36. Nousiainen, K., Holli, A. M., Kantola, J., Saari, M., & Hart, L. (2013). Theorizing gender equality: Perspectives on power and legitimacy. Social Politics, 20(1), 41–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Nygård, M., & Jakobsson, G. (2013). Political participation of older adults in Scandinavia – The civic voluntarism model revisited? A multi-level analysis of three types of political participation. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 8(1), 65–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Ojala, H., Pietilä, I., & Nikander, P. (2016). Immune to ageism? Men’s perceptions of age-based discrimination in everyday contexts. Journal of Aging Studies, 39, 44–53.Google Scholar
  39. Pearson, R., & Elson, D. (2015). Transcending the impact of the financial crisis in the United Kingdom: Towards plan F – A feminist economic strategy. Feminist Review, 109(Feb), 8–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Pietiläinen, M. (2013). Työ, talous ja tasa-arvo. Helsinki: Statistics of Finland. www.stat.fi/tup/julkaisut/ Accessed 20 Nov 2017.
  41. Pohjola, A. (1997). Naiset paikallishallinnossa. Äänioikeudesta tasa-arvoon? Naistutkimus – Kvinnoforskning, 3, 36–42.Google Scholar
  42. Pulkki, J., & Tynkkynen, L.-K. (2016). ‘All elderly people have important service needs’: A study of discourses on older people in parliamentary discussions in Finland. Ageing and Society, 36(1), 64–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Skeggs, B. (1997). Formations of class and gender. Becoming respectable. London: Sage.Google Scholar
  44. Swanborn, P. (2010). Case study research. What, why, how? Los Angeles: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Tanesini, A. (1999). Feminist Epistemologies. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
  46. Thompson, E. H., Jr., & Langendoerfer, K. B. (2016). Older men’s blueprint for “being a man”. Men and Masculinities, 19(2), 119–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Tilastokeskus, K. (2012). Statistics Finland. Municipal Election. https://www.stat.fi/til/kvaa/2012/kvaa_2012_2013-03-14_fi.pdf. Accessed 30 Mar 2017, Accessed 15 Sept 2017.
  48. Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  49. Walker, A. (1999). Political participation and representation of older people in Europe. In A. Walker & G. Naegele (Eds.), The politics of old age in Europe (pp. 25–42). Buckingham/Philadelphia: Open University Press.Google Scholar
  50. Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research. Design and methods (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.Google Scholar
  51. Ylöstalo, H. (2012). Tasa-arvotyön tasa-arvot. Tampere: Tampere University Press.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Unit for Gender Studies, Faculty of EducationUniversity of LaplandRovaniemiFinland

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options