Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s

The student activism of the 1970s was strongly linked to the university administrative reforms in Finland. Especially after the radical faction of Finnish leftist students turned to pro-Soviet orthodox communism, the debunking of the professoriate’s “bourgeoise power” became one of the main goals o...

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Main Author: Jukka Kortti
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: Umeå University 2022-09-01
Series:Nordic Journal of Educational History
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ub.umu.se/index.php/njedh/article/view/238
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author Jukka Kortti
author_facet Jukka Kortti
author_sort Jukka Kortti
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description The student activism of the 1970s was strongly linked to the university administrative reforms in Finland. Especially after the radical faction of Finnish leftist students turned to pro-Soviet orthodox communism, the debunking of the professoriate’s “bourgeoise power” became one of the main goals of the vocal student movement. In this article, I analyse how the old professoriate was challenged and how they responded to this challenge. The conclusion drawn by this article is that Finnish university professors managed to resist the radical reforms and the pressure from the radical student movement in 1970s because their elite positions were not derived exclusively from one field, academia; rather, they also participated in other sets of elite practices, namely politics. Moreover, the close relationship between the state and academia was also manifested in the activities of students, who were historically also part of the Finnish elite. The starting point of this article is a case study of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki.
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spelling doaj.art-8c90de0dde7e47e78254548b2ed7dd522022-12-22T03:49:19ZdanUmeå UniversityNordic Journal of Educational History2001-77662001-90762022-09-019110.36368/njedh.v9i1.238Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970sJukka Kortti0University of Helsinki The student activism of the 1970s was strongly linked to the university administrative reforms in Finland. Especially after the radical faction of Finnish leftist students turned to pro-Soviet orthodox communism, the debunking of the professoriate’s “bourgeoise power” became one of the main goals of the vocal student movement. In this article, I analyse how the old professoriate was challenged and how they responded to this challenge. The conclusion drawn by this article is that Finnish university professors managed to resist the radical reforms and the pressure from the radical student movement in 1970s because their elite positions were not derived exclusively from one field, academia; rather, they also participated in other sets of elite practices, namely politics. Moreover, the close relationship between the state and academia was also manifested in the activities of students, who were historically also part of the Finnish elite. The starting point of this article is a case study of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki. https://journals.ub.umu.se/index.php/njedh/article/view/238educational reformhigher educationelite studiesstudent movementFinland
spellingShingle Jukka Kortti
Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
Nordic Journal of Educational History
educational reform
higher education
elite studies
student movement
Finland
title Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
title_full Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
title_fullStr Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
title_full_unstemmed Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
title_short Intersecting Power Fields Steeped in Tradition: The Radical Left and Administrating Higher Education in Finland during the 1970s
title_sort intersecting power fields steeped in tradition the radical left and administrating higher education in finland during the 1970s
topic educational reform
higher education
elite studies
student movement
Finland
url https://journals.ub.umu.se/index.php/njedh/article/view/238
work_keys_str_mv AT jukkakortti intersectingpowerfieldssteepedintraditiontheradicalleftandadministratinghighereducationinfinlandduringthe1970s