• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Elite Migration, Transnational Families, and the Nation State: International Marriages between Finns and Americans across the Atlantic in the Twentieth Century A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Johanna Katariina Leinonen IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Advised by Donna Gabaccia and Erika Lee January 2011 © Johanna Leinonen, 2011 Acknowledgements I have been fortunate to have a wonderful support network of friends, family, and advisers during the years I have spent in Minnesota – a network that spans across the Atlantic, just like my research topic. First, I would like extend my gratitude to those Finns and Americans on both sides of the Atlantic who participated in my research. They generously donated their time and shared their stories of migration, marriage, and family life with me, and for that I am deeply grateful. I am profoundly indebted to my advisers, Donna Gabaccia and Erika Lee. I do not think it is possible to overstate the influence Donna has had not only on my research but also on my professional development more broadly. When I started my studies at the University of Minnesota in 2005, I was unsure of my professional identity: as my dissertation research is transnational, comparative, and interdisciplinary in nature, it did not comfortably fit in any traditional disciplinary silo or geographically limited area of specialization. Donna has truly been a role model for me in her passion for spearheading interdisciplinary research and teaching on international migration at the University of Minnesota. Her door has always been open to me with any questions or concerns I may have. Donna has read literally every word I have written for my research, always sending me her comments amazingly quickly (knowing how busy she is). She has been a mentor, teacher, role model, and a trusted friend. As an adviser, Erika is equally inspiring and challenging. By continuously pushing me to think harder and more critically about my research questions and i arguments, she has made me a better scholar, and for that I am deeply thankful. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Carolyn Liebler, whom I had the fortune to have as a mentor during my year as an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellow at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) in 2008-2009. Her enthusiastic guidance – especially in the quantitative parts of my research – have been crucial for the successful completion of my dissertation. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Lisa Norling, Elaine Tyler May, and Douglas Hartmann, for the continuing support of and interest in my project. I have been fortunate to have such an inspiring and distinguished group of scholars as my dissertation committee. Besides my dissertation committee, I have also benefited from the advice of many other faculty members in the History Department and in other disciplines through coursework. I am grateful to Barbara Welke and Lisa Park for their helpful comments when I presented my research at the Comparative History of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Workshop. I would also like to thank colleagues at other institutions. Suzanne Sinke of the Florida State University and Katharine Donato of Vanderbilt University have been important supporters of my research. In Finland, Professor Emeritus Reino Kero of the University of Turku first got me interested in the historical study of migration, and encouraged me to research postwar Finnish migration to the U.S. He also made me believe that I have ―what it takes‖ to be a researcher. I would also like to thank Professors Outi Tuomi-Nikula and Auvo Kostiainen of the University of Turku for their continuing support. I owe special thanks to Elli Heikkilä, Research Director of the Institute of Migration in Turku, who has always been ii enthusiastic to learn about my research, and who has arranged several publication opportunities in Finland for me. While conducting research at the National Archives in Helsinki, I had the good fortune of meeting Antero Leitzinger, Country Information Researcher at the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS), who was instrumental in providing me information about archival sources pertaining to migrants in Finland, as well as helping me gain access to the archives of the FIS. I have been lucky to have the support of two interdisciplinary research institutes at the University of Minnesota, the MPC and the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC). I would like to thank the staff of the MPC, especially Director Steven Ruggles, for providing me an intellectual environment and a physical space that were optimal for researching and writing my dissertation. My special gratitude goes to Trent Alexander, a former Research Scientist at the MPC, currently Chief at the American Community Survey Office of the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C., for his invaluable guidance when I was learning how to analyze quantitative data using Stata. I would also like to thank Annemarie Steidl of the MPC and the University of Vienna, Austria, for her continuing encouragement and friendship. The IHRC, especially Director Donna Gabaccia and Program Director Haven Hawley, has provided me with numerous employment opportunities and an important support network during my years in Minnesota. I am grateful to have received the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Minnesota for the 2008-2009 academic year. This fellowship, which came at an important moment in my research and writing, allowed me to be housed at the MPC iii and dedicate full attention to the task at hand. Several other organizations and institutions have generously funded my research in the past few years: Konkordia-liitto, E. J. Sariolan Säätiö, the Institute of Migration in Turku, the IHRC (Michael G. Karni Scholarship), the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Turun Suomalainen Yliopistoseura, the League of Finnish American Societies, the American Scandinavian Foundation, the Finlandia Foundation, and the James W. Nelson Graduate Fellowship in Immigration Studies. I could not have gone through the daunting task of finishing my dissertation without the support of my friends. First, I would like to thank my family in Minnesota, Elizabeth Zanoni, Melanie Huska, and Trent Olson (and Eli and Owen). I could not have survived this without their unwavering love and support – whether it came in the form of critical reading of my work, watching silly TV shows, or sharing (numerous) glasses of wine. Kelly Condit- Shrestha has been a good friend and colleague; her smile always lifts me up. I would also like to thank my other friends in Minnesota, who kept me sane during the past few years: Fernando Calderon, Erika Busse, Angela Kim, Mark Magnuson, Isabel Myrgren, Kristin Roubinek, Ellen Arnold, and Minna Rainio. In Finland, Satu Lehto and Kari Auvinen (and Kassu) always welcomed me to their home after my long trips across the Atlantic and fed me with their delicious gluten-free meals and desserts. I am truly thankful for their friendship. Pauliina Grönholm has not only been a close friend but also a wonderful source of information about anything that is going on in Helsinki or in Finland more broadly. I am also sending warm thanks to my other friends in Finland, who are always there for me, despite the long distance. iv Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family. Mom, Pate, Päivi, and Tuomas (and Mölli and Wilhelm) – thank you. My partner of five years, Pascal Gauthier, has been my rock during these years in Minnesota. Living in a transnational relationship ourselves – him located in Toronto and myself in Minnesota (and sometimes in Finland) – many of the challenges that the couples I study have faced hit very close to home. His love and support, even across the distance, has carried me to where I am now. I am deeply thankful to him. I had to go through a difficult time in the middle of my Ph.D. program, as my Dad, Kari, fell ill and passed away. He was always proud of his daughter‘s goal of pursuing a Ph.D. degree in the U.S. He did not see its completion, but I am dedicating my dissertation to his memory. v Dedication To the Memory of Dad, Kari Leinonen (1934-2008) vi Abstract My dissertation explores transatlantic migration in the context of international marriages in the twentieth century, using marriages between Finns and Americans in Finland and the U.S. as a case study. The first part of my dissertation documents and explains changes in migration and marriage patterns between Finland and the U.S. over the course of the 20th century. My research shows that among Finns in the U.S. and Americans in Finland, international marriages have become extremely common. In fact, in both migrant populations marriage and migration are often inextricably intertwined: the main explanation for the high number of international marriages can be found in the mobile lifestyles of students, professionals, and young people traveling. The occurrence of these marriages is thus related to the elite position of Finnish and American migrants today: with their EU and U.S. passports, and relatively privileged socioeconomic and racial status, they can move around the world with relative ease. At the same time, the impact of law cannot be dismissed even in the case of these elite migrants: it provides the framework in which these marriages are contracted. In the second part of my dissertation, I challenge ―methodological individualism‖ (the idea that elite migrants are male professionals who are not bound by familial relationships) by revealing the very important roles that marriage and family play in the migration decisions of elite migrants. I also examine how Finnish migrants in the U.S.

Load more

  319

Copy Link