Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The Civil Society Grows and Goes International 2.1. The early birds The first Finnish societal activities focusing on the Southern African countries occurred in the 1960s, when growing radicalism appeared among the Finnish youth. Many of the NGOs and informal groupings were set up on the pattern of examples from abroad. Reflecting their family backgrounds, students represented liberal or conservative tendencies in their activities. Democratisation of education brought pressures against traditionally authoritarian and conservative university structures and the bourgeois hegemony in the flow of information.14 First, these pressures led to the setting up of the student press at the beginning of the 1960s. YlioppiIaslehti (The Student Paper) of Helsinki got a new editor-in-chief Arvo Salo15, and a cultural and political discussion began on its pages the likes of which had never been seen there before. Ylioppilaslehti was joined by its Swedish language counterpart Studentbladet. Soon the discussion included Finland's relationship with the outside world and criticism and demands concerning Finland's position in the international community. Swedish speaking students16 were first in setting up a short-lived independent peace movement Kampanjen for nukledr nedrustning (Campaign against Nuclear Weapons) was founded in January 1963. It published a book written by Johan von Bonsdorff, Claes Feiring and Par Stenbdck17, auguring a new era in Finnish student politics. 14 Educational possibilities increased in Finland with the introduction of the unitary comprehensive school system at the end of the 1960s which replaced the former two-tier primary and secondary schools. More young people were also admitted to study at tertiary institutions after completing the matriculation examination. In 1960 there were 25,042 students studying at universities and other tertiary institutions (including universities of technology) out of Finland's population of 4.4 million. By 1974 the number of students had increased to 66,690 (out of the total Finnish population of 4.6 million). Suomen tilastoflinen vuosikiria (Finland's statistical yearbook), 1973 and 1974. 15. A writer, later a Social Democratic MP and a Minister of Culture. 16. Erik Pakarinen, Lars D. Eriksson, Carl Arne Hartman, Henrik Westman. 17. Front mot ktnvapen (Front against Nuclear Weapons), 1963. The Civil Society Grows and Goes International 2.1.1. The Committee of 10018 Soon after both student papers began their new line of approach, another student peace organisation was founded on 6 August 1963 in Helsinki. It was called the Committee of 100, to correspond to the direct action peace movement in Britain, which was supported by Bertrand Russell. In fact, the Finnish version was more like the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CND, with some moderation and leaning towards peace research and other means to enhance credibility. The Finnish Committee of 100 never restricted itself to opposing nuclear weapons, which Finland did not have and did not imagine that it would get, but engaged itself straightaway in Third World questions. The logic was that injustice anywhere is a threat to world peace. Led by leftist students,19 the Committee soon spread to all the university towns. In its heyday 1964-70, it had only a couple of thousand members in Helsinki and a few hundred more in other (university) towns, but its influence on its generation was significant.20 One must bear in mind, that in spite of the increasing number of university students, they were still a minority amongst the Finnish youth. And the majority of the students were, after all, comfortable with their conservative views. Moreover, in spite of some efforts, this movement could never establish links with working-class people and trade unions, only with their political parties. The closest organisation to the Committee of 100 was the Finnish Students' United Nations Association (UNSA), actually established at a meeting originally called to establish the former. Many of the activists served both organisations at the same time, or alternated in leading positions. The atmosphere during the early 1960s in Finland can be described as one that broke the ice of a long intellectually stagnant period. After the election of Urho Kekkonen to the presidency of the Republic in 1956, the political hegemony began slowly to shift from conservative, partly far-right forces. These forces, however, still dominated political, scientific and cultural discussion in the press, on radio and television, and in publications. An example of the pre18. The following account and analysis is based on the reminiscences and archives of Dr Pekka Peltola, who served as the first secretary of the Committee of 100, and later on in the 1960s as its chairman and the editor of Ydin. He now serves the Ministry of Labour. A history of the Committee of 100 has been written by Kristiina Hallman: Tottdisinko? Vaasa 1983. 19. Persons involved included Kalevi and Helena Suomela, Pekka and Kati Peltola, Ilkka and Vappu Taipale, Pentti Halme, Jaakko Blomberg, Erkki Tuomioja, 1.-C. Bjorklund, Otso Appelqvist, Pentti Jarvinen, Johan von Bonsdorff, Marja Kurennierni, Johannes Pakaslahti and Paavo Lipponen, to mention just a few. 20. Almost all the persons mentioned have later served as MPs (Kati Peltola, Ilkka Taipale, Erkki Tuomioja, I.-C. Bjorklund, Paavo Lipponen, who is now the Prime Minister of Finland), civil servants (Vappu Taipale former minister, now Director General of a central social institution STAKES; Jaakko Blomberg ,Under Secretary of State leading the political department of the Foreign Ministry; Pakaslahti, former Secretary General of the World Peace Council, now researcher for the European Commission); and in other influential positions. Pekka Peltola and lina Soiri vailing information culture is the story of the press conference of a representative of the National Liberation Front of Vietnam, Nguyen van Dong, in Helsinki at the end of October 1965. Despite having sent reporters to the occasion, the main Finnish newspapers did not report Dong's visit or his message, which was that the 'viet cong' did not insist on the departure of US-troops from Vietnam as a precondition to negotiations to end the conflict. "We are not interested", commented e.g. Helsingin Sanomat, when asked. Through a radio interview, done by Paavo Lipponen, the news spread, however, around the world through Stockholms-Tidningen, The Guardian and the press in continental Europe. Still, the Finnish press kept up their silence, commenting the news only through their correspondents abroad and headlining it: "the newsworthiness of Dong's statement is refuted by Washington". 21 Students opposed all this censorship. It was against the interests of their families as well as their own. Despite its radical demands (unilateral disarmament, for one), the Committee of 100 was never far from the holders of political power. Non-aligned, quality- conscious analysis and some moderation in action paved the way to contacts. The obvious sympathy shown by President Kekkonen-who desperately needed popular support for his foreign policy-certainly helped, too. The activists and their periodical Ydin (Nucleus), the mouthpiece of the Committee of 100, probably constituted the strongest progressive influence in the minds of students during the years 1963-1968. Established by Ilkka Taipale in 1966, the periodical started to write about Southern Africa from its very first issue onwards. It also started to publish series of analyses produced by the Committee of 100. In 1967, development aid was discussed, and the policies of successive Finnish governments criticised. Finland has taken part in international development aid for about six years. Our input, however, is still infinitesimally small both absolutely (FIM 13.4 million) and relatively (0.04 per cent of GNP). Most worrying is, however, that the leaders of foreign policies seem not to have any insight on why we take part in development work. They also lack any vision about developing countries, not to speak of having a plan for action. Fundamentally, the problem of developing countries is both political and economic.22 In the statement, a more active policy on Vietnam and against White power in Southern Africa was demanded. A volunteer workers' programme for developing countries was proposed; the Peace Corps of the USA and the Swedish Volunteer Services were mentioned as examples. It was demanded that volunteer 21. Pekka Peltola: Mitti meille kerrotaan (What we are told). Ylioppilaslehti, 5 November 1965. 22. "Kehitysmaat ja kehitysapu/Sadankomitean puhnvuoro" (Developing Countries and Development Aid/Standpoint of the Committee of 100), by Ilkka Taipale et al. Ydin 4/1967. The Civil Society Grows and Goes International service in the developing countries should be created as an alternative to the compulsory military service. 23 At the time, solidarity with poor countries was not a popular theme. Not even many young people were in favour of it in 1967-68. According to a poll, among 15-40 year olds 23 per cent were in favour of increasing Finland's minuscule development aid effort, 32 per cent did not know and 45 per cent were against. There was no difference between right and left.24 In 1965, the campaign to stop the war in Vietnam was initiated by the Committee of 100. The first demonstration on 16 March 1965, with the moderate slogan "USA to the negotiation table 1" only drew 130 placard bearers to the US embassy. There were more police around. The intellectual nature of the movement is evident. One of the most discussed and influential actions at the time was the publication of another collective article by the Committee of 100, discussing liberation wars.25 It produced a wave of comments in the media. A teach-in type discussion at the Old Student House drew an audience of a thousand in the hall designed for 500. The idea of the article was to give all-out support to national liberation struggles; and to differentiate between the methods available to people in developing countries for struggling against oppression and those in, for instance, Finland who desire to support them.