Momentos de la clase flexible

Before discussing the term ‘intellectuals’ and ‘intelligentsia’ in the Finnish context of the 1950s, it might be recalled that focusing attention on the political affiliations of the cultural, and later the industrial elite, is no accident. As claimed in the Introduction, social elites are more sensitive towards political and social transitions than ordinary people. This, Allardt’s observation is in accordance with Aron’s statement. Aron notes that elites react more passionately to political developments as their members have higher social ambitions than other classes^^. For that reason, the political and cultural advances which occurred in Finland during the 1950s appear to be more transparent in the examples of the cultural and industrial elites.

Although the concept of an elite with the process of circulation and adaptation has already been discussed, it is worth keeping in mind that the circulation within the elite in particular is a crucial factor within Finnish society due to the small number people involved in it. This means that the boundary between the mission of a ‘clerk’ (an intellectual) and the political passion of a ‘layman’, as analysed by Julien Benda, might indeed be virtually blended in Finland, as members of the cultural elite often entered the government, and vice versa.

As the term cultural elite which is used in this study is wide in its concept, it begs the question who is embodied in it and it is essential to justify it as such. In the Finnish context, two terms which defined the members of the cultural milieu have been used: sivistyneisto and alymysto. The first difficulty is already evidenced by the unclear distinction between these two terms. The second difficulty appears to be in defining their specific role within Finnish society. If, inspired by Joseph Schumpeter, one consults a dictionary, the result looks similar: no lucid distinction. The term sivistyneisto comprises all educated people and alymysto includes the intelligentsia and intellectuals^^.

Furthermore, it will hardly be productive to adopt Mannheim’s and Schumpeter’s concept and look for homogeneity in the cultural milieu to determine them as a social class. The members analysed had different social backgrounds, especially if one compares the younger and older generation. The latter often had its origins in the countryside. In contrast, the younger generation had often been bom in the 98

Aron 1957:218.

^ Such explanations are given by the Finnish-English General Dictionarv (Alanne:1982). Suuri sivistvs- sanakiria (Valpola: 2000) does not mention these terms.

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towns. Furthermore, the reference to their social origins also varied, as some of them came from well-established families. However, the members o f the sivistyneisto or alymysto are in the English translation called the ‘educated class’; a class which is intertwined with education. This might be pointed out as the only common feature.

The members of the analysed cultural elite held a university degree and further took a post whether at the University o f Helsinki or in the Academy o f Finland. In this respect, a slight difference can be observed from the above-mentioned criterion that not all intellectuals have to be holders of a university degree. From this perspective, the cultural elite more resembled the definition of the intelligentsia whose members usually complete their studies and remain working in the academic world.

However, that the distinction between the alymysto and sivistyneisto is not completely apparent might be demonstrated in how the Finnish cultural milieu characterise themselves. There is a tendency in the works of Risto Alapuro, a leading Finnish sociologist, to use the word alymysto to refer to the members o f the university circles. Matti Klinge and Laura Kolbe, who have carried out historical research on the position of university circles within Finnish society, disagree with such a narrow concept. They both call the university circles sivistyneisto or sivistyksellinen eliitti (cultural elite)^®®.

What all three agree on is that the educated class, taking the English translation as a neutral term, has a close relationship with the State, which appears to be crucial in the Finnish context. As has often been recognised, the members o f the cultural elite had a close, even symbiotic relationship with the state govemment^^\ In other words, a professor is a civil servant (virkamies) like any other state employee and academic staff are thus employed by the State

Moreover, the educated class, who held posts in academic circles, have various social involvements, whether connected with their career or outside it. Most members of the cultural elite were politically engaged and expressed their opinions on political developments in Finland. They were, in many cases, influential regarding public

Matti Klinge argues that it is not possible to speak o f intellectuals or intelligentsia in the European sense in Finland, as this would mean a relatively independent group of people who criticise the state bureaucracy. Nor can we talk about ‘coffee-house intellectual-bohemians’ in the Finnish context (Matti Klinge, 8.12. 1999, Helsinki).

SevSnen 1997:36. During the 1920s and 1930s, many academics held posts in the government. During the war, they were active in national defence work and military service. Some o f them even worked for the propaganda and information services.

Sevânen 1997:59. 102

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opinion. For some of them, the university was even a political platform which was supposed to educate young people to understand the post-war political reorientation. Although some of the representatives of the cultural elite seemed to stand apart from political development, they were the ones who remained behind the scenes. Political involvement was by many regarded as a national responsibility during the post-war period when Finnish society had to try to understand its past.

In connection with this, it might be interesting to mention the observation of one o f the participants in the Fulbright exchange programme, which has been running in Finland since the beginning of the 1950s. He pointed out that “many o f the university professors in Finland are persons with active and time consuming interests in fields outside their teaching, and they are prominent members of society”^®^.

This reflection shows that the definition of the cultural milieu in Finland is based on its role and position within the State, in which its members are actively engaged; it might even be said that they are part o f the State establishment. The political involvement of the educated class, whose members very rarely happen to be in opposition to the State officials, as they de facto create them, is in sharp contrast to the apolitical role of an intellectual as defined by Julian Benda and the definition of intelligentsia as characterised by Seton-Watson. Therefore, it would seem that reference to a ‘cultural elite’ embodied into the non-goveming elite best recognises its character.