Neoliberalisation in a Nordic State: From Cartel Polity towards a Corporate Polity in Finland

Abstract

In this paper, we present an outline of state transformation in the context of a Nordic welfare state. We use Finland as an example of the transformation process in which a welfare state form we call a cartel polity is shifting towards a corporate polity, a particular adjustment of the competition state. We conceptualise the corporate polity as a spatio-temporal fix under construction. The corporate polity is both an on-going process to build a corporation-inspired management model for the Finnish state and a novel state ethos that is underpinned by constant concern about the state's international competitiveness in front of ‘nature-like’ market forces, transnational investors and highly skilled labour. We propose that the imaginary of a corporate polity is endorsed by a discursive practice that constructs a ceaseless crisis condition in the Finnish state, through repetitive and mundane activities related to state governance. Through the empirical analysis, we single out four dimensions of the corporate polity: fiscal-managerial, digital, capacity-oriented and territorial. Finally, we provide brief reflections on the potential state transformations in the future.

Keywords:

• neoliberalisation
• state
• Nordic
• Finland
• spatio-temporal fix
• cartel polity
• corporate polity

Notes on contributors

Toni Ahlqvist is a Senior Researcher at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Academy of Finland. His research focuses on socio-spatial transformations induced by science, technology and innovation policies, and political economy of national and regional innovation systems.

Sami Moisio is a Professor of Geography at the University of Oulu. His current research focuses on state spatial transformation. His work has been published in journals such as Political Geography, Geopolitics and Cooperation and Conflict. He is a co-editor of the book International Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Palgrave Macmillan).

Notes

Toni Ahlqvist wishes to thank the Academy of Finland (grant SA 132628) for the financial support.

1. The same argument was also used for the transformation of Finnish universities from state offices to legal persons.

2. The Finnish word quite commonly used, in this case as well, is tahtotila. The literal meaning of the word is rather interesting from our perspective: it can be translated as ‘desire space’ or ‘space of the will’. The literal translation aptly grasps an interesting feature of neoliberalisation, namely the rhetorical manipulation of human desires and wants (see Peet 2007). This is undoubtedly one reason why neoliberalisation is, with surprising ease, viewed as an apolitical process, as a kind of ‘natural force of our times’.

3. The notion of professional leadership according to business standards has already gained a foothold in the Finnish state. For example, when the board of the Finnish National Broadcasting Company (YLE), which is coordinated under the Finnish Parliament, changed its CEO in 2010, the main argument used to legitimise the move was ‘professional leadership’. The new CEO came from Nokia Siemens Networks Ltd.

4. In 2009, Sitra published a report on the sources of ‘Finnish vitality’ (Nurmio and Turkki 2009) – or the reasons for/underlying ‘Finland's vitality’.

5. The current situation may be prone to change. For example, the status transformation of the Finnish universities from state offices towards ‘legal persons’, quasi-autonomous corporate-imitating bodies, was realised through an authoritarian, programmatic and rapid transformation process initiated by the Ministry of Education.