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Finntopia: What We Can Learn From the World's Happiest Country
The 2020 World Happiness Report ranked Finland, for the third year running, as the world’s happiest country.
The "Nordic Model" has long been touted as the aspiration for social and public policy in Europe and North America, but what is it about Finland that makes the country so successful and seemingly such a great place to live?
Is it simply the level of government spending on health, education and welfare? Is it that Finland has one of the lowest rates of social inequality and childhood poverty, and highest levels of literacy and education?
Finland clearly has problems of its own – for example, a high level of gun ownership and high rates of suicide – which can make Finns sceptical of their ranking, but its consistently high performance across a range of well-being indicators does raise fascinating questions.
In the quest for the best of all possible societies, Danny Dorling and Annika Koljonen explore what we might learn from Finnish success.
The "Nordic Model" has long been touted as the aspiration for social and public policy in Europe and North America, but what is it about Finland that makes the country so successful and seemingly such a great place to live?
Is it simply the level of government spending on health, education and welfare? Is it that Finland has one of the lowest rates of social inequality and childhood poverty, and highest levels of literacy and education?
Finland clearly has problems of its own – for example, a high level of gun ownership and high rates of suicide – which can make Finns sceptical of their ranking, but its consistently high performance across a range of well-being indicators does raise fascinating questions.
In the quest for the best of all possible societies, Danny Dorling and Annika Koljonen explore what we might learn from Finnish success.
- GenresNonfictionGeography
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
17 people are currently reading
358 people want to read
About the author
Danny Dorling
66 books98 followersDanny Dorling is a British social geographer researching inequality and human geography. He is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography of the School of Geography and the Environment of the University of Oxford.
Danny Dorling has lived all his life in England. To try to counter his myopic world view, in 2006, Danny started working with a group of researchers on a project to remap the world (www.worldmapper.org).
He has published with many colleagues more than a dozen books on issues related to social inequalities in Britain and several hundred journal papers. Much of this work is available open access and will be added to this website soon.
His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education and poverty. Danny was employed as a play-worker in children’s summer play-schemes. He learnt the ethos of pre-school education where the underlying rationale was that playing is learning for living. He tries not to forget this. He is an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences, Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers and a patron of Roadpeace, the national charity for road crash victims.
Danny Dorling has lived all his life in England. To try to counter his myopic world view, in 2006, Danny started working with a group of researchers on a project to remap the world (www.worldmapper.org).
He has published with many colleagues more than a dozen books on issues related to social inequalities in Britain and several hundred journal papers. Much of this work is available open access and will be added to this website soon.
His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education and poverty. Danny was employed as a play-worker in children’s summer play-schemes. He learnt the ethos of pre-school education where the underlying rationale was that playing is learning for living. He tries not to forget this. He is an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences, Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers and a patron of Roadpeace, the national charity for road crash victims.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 8, 2020
That’s really all you need to know about why Finland is the greatest country.
Need more? Here are some random highlights:
- Russian troll factories can expect to be exposed by Finnish journalists protected by Finnish courts.
- In an equitable country with well-run public services, tax avoidance is rightly seen as no different from shop-lifting.
- The petition to change legislation to prevent clear-cutting received significantly more than the 50,000 signatures required to proceed to parliament
- Finland went from being one of the least developed European countries to eventually becoming one of the most stable and most admired. This change was only possible because the Finnish state invested in its people.
- Finland’s overhaul of its formerly elitist educational structure demonstrates that nationwide reforms to some of society’s most important institutions are possible.
- Finland is now the sole EU country where homelessness is both very low and falling.
But ask them if they are a utopia: No, we have a long way to go. For a peaceful gender equality country they have a startling domestic abuse problem.
“A mere 209 convictions were made for rape in 2017, despite some 50,000 women reporting having experienced sexual violence in that year.”
Nearly as bad as Germany’s 1200 rapes in one night with only two convictions: https://youtu.be/hl04r1OjRQs
Here are the general rape stats, yes the US is worse: https://worldpopulationreview.com/cou...
The highest levels of equality can only be maintained through constant vigilance.
- Finntopia
April 17, 2021
Finland was until very recently poor and had been historically a country of extreme poverty for centuries. It is quite remarkable to see what a people and their politicians have achieved by caring for each other and being clever.
Finland ranks at or near the top in air quality, education, happiness, honest government, opportunities for children, safety, trust in the police, and in many other categories, all of which are listed at the end of this book.
If you're interested in how Finland did this, read this book. It's a lot to do with equality and people feeling cared for and their contributions to society being valued by other people.
Finland ranks at or near the top in air quality, education, happiness, honest government, opportunities for children, safety, trust in the police, and in many other categories, all of which are listed at the end of this book.
If you're interested in how Finland did this, read this book. It's a lot to do with equality and people feeling cared for and their contributions to society being valued by other people.
May 8, 2024
"If you want the American Dream, go to Finland" (Ed Miliband, 2012, quoted on p.136)
A great deal is said about Finland and the hope that it offers for social democrats (who often wrongly identify it as being part of Scandinavia). Finland, is to many the promise of an earthly utopia, an ideal social system. Finland has everything that you would want in a country - high levels of social mobility, low crime rates, strong indicators of social stability, routinely scoring #1 in global happiness indexes, and social services that are the envy of the globe.
Whilst Danny Dorling is clearly in awe of all of these things, he is clear - Finland is not a utopia. Finland has high suicide rates, a poor record on LBGTQ+ rights, a horrible record on its treatment of migrants, and dismaying statistics on domestic violence. However, rather than publish another book about how a foreign fad lifestyle can enhance your experience (see Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life / The Little Book of Lykke / Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living) Dorling instead offers a levelheaded political economy and sociology of Finland, and what it can offer to its presumably Anglophile readers.
Finland started out as a small, poor, and pretty insignificant country globally. Acting as a buffer state between Russia and Sweden in the 1700s, and eventually being dominated by Russia in the 19th century up until the 1917 Revolution, Finland's history of being colonised lead it to look largely inwards, pursuing its own interests whilst larger states sought to dominate it. In 1919, Finland became a republic, and despite supporting the Whites and eventually the Nazis, it oriented itself towards diplomatic relations with the West and the Soviet Union in 1944 onwards.
From the 1950s onwards, Finland sought economic growth through social democratic means, taming the control of foreign investments and enacting financial repression to promote investment in business and limiting household debt to mortgages. During the 1960s, Dorling suggests as a result of the global shift to the left, Finland focused it's spending and policy towards education and expanding welfare. Wage bargaining with trade unions and left of centre social democratic governments lead to a more harmonious social system which grew steadily - a balance maintained until the 1990s when rightists governments enacted more neoliberal policies in response to economic downturn (such as relaxed FDI regulation, and looser credit controls), argues Dorling (57).
Whilst the rightward shift in policy in Finland did occur, it is important to point out that the period of austerity and economic depression did not completely dismantle the welfare state, as pension payments were increased and trade union membership and pressure were, and still remain much stronger in Finland than comparable European states (for example union participation is more than double the UK's). It is for this reason that Finland still has much of its welfare state, despite a less restrictive attitude towards the global market when compared to previous decades.
If all of this gives you the view that Finland is a close approximation to a Rawlsian social democracy, that's because it's the view that the author clearly wants to get across. This is reflected in the fact that equality is very high at birth, and wanes with age, until one reaches retirement - and this is something Finns are grateful for - so much for a cradle to grave state! Dorling's mass of facts and history are clearly slanted towards the positive, but the reader doesn't feel that they're being deceived - the facts are pretty overwhelming, and the slightly editorialised narrative that I've seen Dorling give in talks is toned down here. There is little speculation, and most of the perceived failures are highlighted, even if Dorling wants policymakers to learn from this wonderful country.
However, whilst Dorling has piqued my interest in Finland, I can't help but point out here a few problems. Firstly, Dorling doesn't explain how these policies could be made politically palatable elsewhere. Dorling explains that the views and policies in Finland are "to the left" of mainstream 'left' parties in the UK and US, but with the glowing reputation of Finland, why isn't there even discussion of making these things feasible elsewhere? Is Finland simply seen as an outlier, much in the same way that other Nordic countries are (seeThe Nordic Model of Social Democracy)?
Also, whilst Dorling is quick to raise the power and social agreement of the state welfare institutions, the level of struggle behind the creation and maintenance these institutions is not really spelled out. The history of class conflict, war, and famine which undoubtedly shaped the Finnish psyche, and took these policies from bright ideas to practice, seems glossed over somewhat. Dorling seems to simply state that Finns 'learned lessons' of history, which isn't all that persuasive to me.
Similarly, the fragility of the social democratic order wasn't spelled out in a particularly strong way. The current coalition (ruled by the SDP, headed by one of the youngest female leaders) is quite fragile, and took only 17.7% of the vote, and was challenged by two parties to the right of them. Whilst I haven't read anything yet that would indicate that the rival parties want to destroy the Nordic system, the experience of the 1990s should demonstrate the frailty of it, especially in the post-lockdown era. How could such a system be maintained in the face of pressure from right and left?
A great deal is said about Finland and the hope that it offers for social democrats (who often wrongly identify it as being part of Scandinavia). Finland, is to many the promise of an earthly utopia, an ideal social system. Finland has everything that you would want in a country - high levels of social mobility, low crime rates, strong indicators of social stability, routinely scoring #1 in global happiness indexes, and social services that are the envy of the globe.
Whilst Danny Dorling is clearly in awe of all of these things, he is clear - Finland is not a utopia. Finland has high suicide rates, a poor record on LBGTQ+ rights, a horrible record on its treatment of migrants, and dismaying statistics on domestic violence. However, rather than publish another book about how a foreign fad lifestyle can enhance your experience (see Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life / The Little Book of Lykke / Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living) Dorling instead offers a levelheaded political economy and sociology of Finland, and what it can offer to its presumably Anglophile readers.
Finland started out as a small, poor, and pretty insignificant country globally. Acting as a buffer state between Russia and Sweden in the 1700s, and eventually being dominated by Russia in the 19th century up until the 1917 Revolution, Finland's history of being colonised lead it to look largely inwards, pursuing its own interests whilst larger states sought to dominate it. In 1919, Finland became a republic, and despite supporting the Whites and eventually the Nazis, it oriented itself towards diplomatic relations with the West and the Soviet Union in 1944 onwards.
From the 1950s onwards, Finland sought economic growth through social democratic means, taming the control of foreign investments and enacting financial repression to promote investment in business and limiting household debt to mortgages. During the 1960s, Dorling suggests as a result of the global shift to the left, Finland focused it's spending and policy towards education and expanding welfare. Wage bargaining with trade unions and left of centre social democratic governments lead to a more harmonious social system which grew steadily - a balance maintained until the 1990s when rightists governments enacted more neoliberal policies in response to economic downturn (such as relaxed FDI regulation, and looser credit controls), argues Dorling (57).
Whilst the rightward shift in policy in Finland did occur, it is important to point out that the period of austerity and economic depression did not completely dismantle the welfare state, as pension payments were increased and trade union membership and pressure were, and still remain much stronger in Finland than comparable European states (for example union participation is more than double the UK's). It is for this reason that Finland still has much of its welfare state, despite a less restrictive attitude towards the global market when compared to previous decades.
If all of this gives you the view that Finland is a close approximation to a Rawlsian social democracy, that's because it's the view that the author clearly wants to get across. This is reflected in the fact that equality is very high at birth, and wanes with age, until one reaches retirement - and this is something Finns are grateful for - so much for a cradle to grave state! Dorling's mass of facts and history are clearly slanted towards the positive, but the reader doesn't feel that they're being deceived - the facts are pretty overwhelming, and the slightly editorialised narrative that I've seen Dorling give in talks is toned down here. There is little speculation, and most of the perceived failures are highlighted, even if Dorling wants policymakers to learn from this wonderful country.
However, whilst Dorling has piqued my interest in Finland, I can't help but point out here a few problems. Firstly, Dorling doesn't explain how these policies could be made politically palatable elsewhere. Dorling explains that the views and policies in Finland are "to the left" of mainstream 'left' parties in the UK and US, but with the glowing reputation of Finland, why isn't there even discussion of making these things feasible elsewhere? Is Finland simply seen as an outlier, much in the same way that other Nordic countries are (seeThe Nordic Model of Social Democracy)?
Also, whilst Dorling is quick to raise the power and social agreement of the state welfare institutions, the level of struggle behind the creation and maintenance these institutions is not really spelled out. The history of class conflict, war, and famine which undoubtedly shaped the Finnish psyche, and took these policies from bright ideas to practice, seems glossed over somewhat. Dorling seems to simply state that Finns 'learned lessons' of history, which isn't all that persuasive to me.
Similarly, the fragility of the social democratic order wasn't spelled out in a particularly strong way. The current coalition (ruled by the SDP, headed by one of the youngest female leaders) is quite fragile, and took only 17.7% of the vote, and was challenged by two parties to the right of them. Whilst I haven't read anything yet that would indicate that the rival parties want to destroy the Nordic system, the experience of the 1990s should demonstrate the frailty of it, especially in the post-lockdown era. How could such a system be maintained in the face of pressure from right and left?
November 7, 2020
Time and time again this book will tell you how Finland isn’t a utopia…but it does present it as the next best thing, Finntopia. Since being happy is apparently something measurable these days, so much so there’s a research institute dedicated to doing just that, it has become apparent that Finns are very happy, they’ve ranked the happiest country in the world for three years in a row.
Why are they so happy? And how did the country that has no natural resources and no special favorable historical or geographical assists get to be so freaking happy? Well, this book will tell you all about it. And I mean all about it, in great detail, with tons of data and charts to back it up. It’s like a textbook manual on how to govern to get to the happy place. And it is most impressive, really.
From centuries of poverty and oppression, by its Scandinavian and later Slavic neighbors to an at the very least questionably smart protectorate by Deutschland, which resulted in Finns being on the wrong side of WWII for most of WWII, from a devastating famine and internecine warring to (in a relatively short time) comfort, prosperity and record setting oodles of joy. Good going, Finns. It seems that at every turn, however tough it got, the diligent steadfast conscientious Finns just rolled up their sleeves and got things done and, moreover, learned their lesson and improved. Like being the first country In Europe to grant women the right to vote after finally getting from under some not all heavy oppression…great social lesson. Or like being the only country to pay off their post WWII reparations totally and on time…great economic lesson.
And from there on Finns just took off, instituting great social programs and services one after another to ensure their society will grow up to become free, educated, prosperous, equal, and yes, happy. They’ve accomplished this by setting up an excellently robust welfare system that supports their citizens cradle to grave, financed by taxes. So in fact, it’s the sort of thing a proud Trump voting American would frown upon and deride as a nanny state, but the thing is…it works strikingly well, or at least it does for Finns.
And I’m mentioning Americans, because they book provides a great deal of comparisons, which are at best unflattering and at worst depressing. But also, therein lies the book’s major detractor, it’s inexplicable and kind of immature determination to compare itself to UK and US. So it isn’t just enough for the authors to say…hey, our country is awesome, check it out, they have to rub the readers from US and UK’s faces in it. And frankly, UK manages to acquit itself ok on some levels, but US just doesn’t even come close. I mean, it’s a huge and wealthy country, but it rates abysmally low globally on any quality of life index. Where Finland excels, in their social support structures, free education, gender equality, wage equality, trust in police, trust in government, fair elections, etc…US fails abysmally. It isn’t just unfair, it’s kind of like…a really low hanging fruit.
And yes, I understand why the authors may have chosen the juxtaposition, after all US is pretty much the opposite of Finland in so many ways and yet US is a major global power and Finland is small and in comparison globally inconsequential, but still…the on page imaginary rivalry just seems ridiculous. It’s like going on Jeopardy to compete against Justin Bieber. I mean, I love Biebs, he’s a very amusing boy, but he’s yet to say something grammatically correct, cohesive and original and his songs have all the creative complexity of a street sign, so I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a fair game. So just because he’s hugely famous and very wealthy, doesn’t mean he necessarily represents certain valued qualities. Ok, that was my metaphor, think it worked.
Anyway, Finland, you’re great, you’ve made great strides and you’ve come so far, you have a terrific amount of women in power (another profoundly unAMerican thing), you’re experimenting with Universal Basic Income (bold move), you’re setting a very ambitious environmental goal and seems like you’ll hit them too…you’re a great country, don’t go comparing yourself to place that can’t even manage a proper election (let alone a proper democracy) anymore. If you’re going to compare, play fair and go up against the rest of Scandinavia, since that’s where the best quality of life. In the world is concentrated. Go pick on someone your own size, literally (and metaphorically).
And the other thing is, for all of Finland’s greatness, there’s plenty of small print, some of it quite bizarre, so while the summary of each chapter is loaded with praise, you got to read the actual chapters judicially to get into the puzzling minutiae. For a society obsessed with equality, one that was so early to grant women right to vote and usher them into positions of power…there are massive rates of violence against women and staggeringly antiquated laws for dealing with rape. For a steadily aging society that’s has low birth rates and is heavily reliant upon tax to fund their social programs, therefore desperate for laborers, they are quite unwelcoming to immigrants and terribly racist toward those of different skin color. For an extremely well educated society, where girls traditionally perform more impressively in schools, it is mostly males that go into technology and science professions. Very peculiar social paradoxes I found to be very interesting.
Yet, things in Finland are mostly good. And dedicated to improving. Sure, nationalism rears its ugly rear the more immigrants come in, much like it does in every other place, but Finns have such a well balanced diverse government (again, positively unAmerican) that it’s very likely they shall avert any sort of crisis on that…or many other scales for that matter.
Finland isn’t utopia, it isn’t for everyone and certainly not for anyone obsessed with money above all other things and then there’s that weather. It isn’t the only country to completely create and/or revamp itself since WWII into a success story by most standards, there’s Singapore in Asia and Israel in Middle East. But Finland has remade itself so smartly and comprehensively with such great progressive values and terrific people first policies that it’s just…kind of awesome. An epic accomplishment, all things considered. I knew the basics and was glad to learn more about it, though this was too much of a comparison driven textbookish sort of thing to make it a great read, it was definitely informative and very educational, start to Finnish (sorry, just had to do it). Makes you really think about social politics. Recommended. For thinkers. Thanks Netgalley.
Why are they so happy? And how did the country that has no natural resources and no special favorable historical or geographical assists get to be so freaking happy? Well, this book will tell you all about it. And I mean all about it, in great detail, with tons of data and charts to back it up. It’s like a textbook manual on how to govern to get to the happy place. And it is most impressive, really.
From centuries of poverty and oppression, by its Scandinavian and later Slavic neighbors to an at the very least questionably smart protectorate by Deutschland, which resulted in Finns being on the wrong side of WWII for most of WWII, from a devastating famine and internecine warring to (in a relatively short time) comfort, prosperity and record setting oodles of joy. Good going, Finns. It seems that at every turn, however tough it got, the diligent steadfast conscientious Finns just rolled up their sleeves and got things done and, moreover, learned their lesson and improved. Like being the first country In Europe to grant women the right to vote after finally getting from under some not all heavy oppression…great social lesson. Or like being the only country to pay off their post WWII reparations totally and on time…great economic lesson.
And from there on Finns just took off, instituting great social programs and services one after another to ensure their society will grow up to become free, educated, prosperous, equal, and yes, happy. They’ve accomplished this by setting up an excellently robust welfare system that supports their citizens cradle to grave, financed by taxes. So in fact, it’s the sort of thing a proud Trump voting American would frown upon and deride as a nanny state, but the thing is…it works strikingly well, or at least it does for Finns.
And I’m mentioning Americans, because they book provides a great deal of comparisons, which are at best unflattering and at worst depressing. But also, therein lies the book’s major detractor, it’s inexplicable and kind of immature determination to compare itself to UK and US. So it isn’t just enough for the authors to say…hey, our country is awesome, check it out, they have to rub the readers from US and UK’s faces in it. And frankly, UK manages to acquit itself ok on some levels, but US just doesn’t even come close. I mean, it’s a huge and wealthy country, but it rates abysmally low globally on any quality of life index. Where Finland excels, in their social support structures, free education, gender equality, wage equality, trust in police, trust in government, fair elections, etc…US fails abysmally. It isn’t just unfair, it’s kind of like…a really low hanging fruit.
And yes, I understand why the authors may have chosen the juxtaposition, after all US is pretty much the opposite of Finland in so many ways and yet US is a major global power and Finland is small and in comparison globally inconsequential, but still…the on page imaginary rivalry just seems ridiculous. It’s like going on Jeopardy to compete against Justin Bieber. I mean, I love Biebs, he’s a very amusing boy, but he’s yet to say something grammatically correct, cohesive and original and his songs have all the creative complexity of a street sign, so I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a fair game. So just because he’s hugely famous and very wealthy, doesn’t mean he necessarily represents certain valued qualities. Ok, that was my metaphor, think it worked.
Anyway, Finland, you’re great, you’ve made great strides and you’ve come so far, you have a terrific amount of women in power (another profoundly unAMerican thing), you’re experimenting with Universal Basic Income (bold move), you’re setting a very ambitious environmental goal and seems like you’ll hit them too…you’re a great country, don’t go comparing yourself to place that can’t even manage a proper election (let alone a proper democracy) anymore. If you’re going to compare, play fair and go up against the rest of Scandinavia, since that’s where the best quality of life. In the world is concentrated. Go pick on someone your own size, literally (and metaphorically).
And the other thing is, for all of Finland’s greatness, there’s plenty of small print, some of it quite bizarre, so while the summary of each chapter is loaded with praise, you got to read the actual chapters judicially to get into the puzzling minutiae. For a society obsessed with equality, one that was so early to grant women right to vote and usher them into positions of power…there are massive rates of violence against women and staggeringly antiquated laws for dealing with rape. For a steadily aging society that’s has low birth rates and is heavily reliant upon tax to fund their social programs, therefore desperate for laborers, they are quite unwelcoming to immigrants and terribly racist toward those of different skin color. For an extremely well educated society, where girls traditionally perform more impressively in schools, it is mostly males that go into technology and science professions. Very peculiar social paradoxes I found to be very interesting.
Yet, things in Finland are mostly good. And dedicated to improving. Sure, nationalism rears its ugly rear the more immigrants come in, much like it does in every other place, but Finns have such a well balanced diverse government (again, positively unAmerican) that it’s very likely they shall avert any sort of crisis on that…or many other scales for that matter.
Finland isn’t utopia, it isn’t for everyone and certainly not for anyone obsessed with money above all other things and then there’s that weather. It isn’t the only country to completely create and/or revamp itself since WWII into a success story by most standards, there’s Singapore in Asia and Israel in Middle East. But Finland has remade itself so smartly and comprehensively with such great progressive values and terrific people first policies that it’s just…kind of awesome. An epic accomplishment, all things considered. I knew the basics and was glad to learn more about it, though this was too much of a comparison driven textbookish sort of thing to make it a great read, it was definitely informative and very educational, start to Finnish (sorry, just had to do it). Makes you really think about social politics. Recommended. For thinkers. Thanks Netgalley.
September 25, 2020
Scandinavia has long been the stuff of legends… and I’m not talking about elves and trolls. Westerners across the political spectrum, from Bernie Sanders to neo-Nazis, regularly commend these Northern European countries for their meteoric rise in indices of economic growth, income equality, low crime and overall happiness, among other measurables. Though, funnily enough, many free-market conservatives try to make out socialist-adjacent Scandinavia to be some sort of giant Communist gulag. The new book with the half-tongue-in-cheek title Finntopia: What We Can Learn from the World’s Happiest Country, by Danny Dorling and Annika Koljonen, explores these myriad claims in depth by focusing on the country of Finland.
Up until the 1950s, Finland had had a tough lot. As the book explains, ““At different points in the past 500 years, Finland was a colony of Sweden, dominated by Germany, and controlled by both Denmark and Russia.” Most Finns languished in rural poverty and a famine in the 1860s had killed off a tenth of the population. Even after having gained independence in 1917, the country was immediately subjected to a short, but brutal, civil war that killed forty thousand working-age men. Likewise, Finland suffered a lot during WWII, when it lost a substantial portion of its landmass and one of its largest cities to a Soviet invasion, and was subsequently occupied by Nazi Germany.
However, Finland managed to engineer a stunning turnaround, post-WWII. More amazingly, as the book points out, is that Finland didn’t have the advantages of oil (Norway) or holdover wealth from an imperial era (Sweden, Denmark). Ironically, Finland’s failed revolution of 1917 and WWII helped to set the path for social change. Much of the Finnish elite were either killed, imprisoned for war crimes or were cowed into submissiveness by the two conflicts. This paved way for the emergence of, “a significant class of peasant proprietors, or talonpojat.” To this day, ““Hundreds of thousands of Finns are forest owners who depend on the forestry sector.” This would help Finland to complete a transition from feudalism to social democracy,
Starting in the 1950s, leftwing ruling coalitions enacted sweeping reforms in worker’s rights, welfare, housing and many other issues. Perhaps most significant was the education overhaul of the 1950s, during which time, “Finnish government funding and control of grammar schools was increased, and the pedagogical approach gradually changed from formal teacher-centred education focused on moral development (behaviour and conformity) to a focus on cognitive development based on new evidence emerging from educational research.” The book details the many steps that Finnish society has taken to prioritize childhood development. This starts from birth, when each newborn receives a 64-item care package from the government, in a wooden box that can double as a crib! From the age of 3, toddlers are entitled to free or heavily subsidized daycare. Interestingly, Finland doesn’t mandate schooling until a child turns 7. Once a child reaches that lucky number, he’s treated to low class sizes, egalitarian (as opposed to economically or intellectually segregated) classrooms and schools, a 15-minute recess every hour, free lunch and classes taught by teachers who all have at least a graduate degree. The latter was supported by, as imposed upon, the teachers’ union. These reforms have led to the rise of one of the most educated groups of people in the world and a workforce well equipped to thrive in the STEM and service sectors.
Finland has also been at the forefront of labor rights. The government has encouraged unionization; for decades, the vast majority of the workforce has been unionized. This has resulted in some wonderful accomplished, like the high quality of schoolteachers mentioned in the last paragraph, and the incidents, “In the late 1960s, in which tripartite agreements were reached among the government, trade unions, and employers from the public and private sector and agricultural producers. This policy aimed to tie wage increases to greater macroeconomic objectives... Wage growth restricted only for two to three years in this period [1960s to 1980] to retain the benefits of the devaluation for profitability. Harmonious labour relations, rising wages, more stable employment and broad national support for these income settlements were all dependent on rising external competitiveness.” Small wonder that Finnish workers have had access to a steady income, one of the world’s most generous paid parental leave policies and some of the highest flexibility in terms of choosing work schedules, among other things. Contrary to arguments made laissez-faire pundits in the West, the Finnish economy has skyrocketed since enacting this environment of worker empowerment. The tripartite agreements created a healthy balance of power between employers and employees and empowered workers to work unhampered by discontent, which increased their productivity.
At the heart of these reforms has been a national ethos of solidarity. Finns have long been cognizant of the long-term harm produced by inequality and extreme individualism. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, “A huge proportion of Finns, 79%, say they are ‘happy to pay their taxes”. An astonishing 96%, when asked, agree that ‘it’s important to collect tax to maintain the welfare state.’” The Finnish parliament has likewise operated based on the principle of cohesion; it has always depended upon coalition-building in order to run, as there are many popular parties in Finland that prevent dominance by any single one. As a result, the social welfare structure has survived largely intact after two spells of conservative (by Nordic standards) rule over the past three decades.
Scandinavia’s success hasn’t been contingent upon cultural homogeneity, small populations and geography, as many alt-right admirers like to argue when extolling the virtues of establishing their “white ethno-state”. As the book points out, the Swedes and Danes were constantly subjugating each other and the other Nordic nation for centuries. Finland fought a bloody civil war right after its independence, in 1917. In terms of maintaining “purity of nationality”, the Nordic states score much higher on stability and happiness indices than Western countries like the US and UK, despite having populations with much higher refugee ratios. Due to rapidly aging populations, Scandinavia actually benefits economically from influxes of working-age people from abroad. The geography argument is particularly silly. Finland’s neighbor Russia also has vast wilderness and extreme winters, but has been much more chaotic and impoverished for decades. In terms of population size, there are many countries with smaller populations than Finland/Denmark/Norway (each has about 5.5M people) that are poor and chaotic, even some with abundant natural resources or ports, such as Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti.
Finntopia does a good job of exploring the historical and political forces that have driven Finland’s ascendence to a Top-5 ranking in most significant rankings of quality of life, such as student performance, homelessness, trust in government and the media, gender equality, air quality, etc. The list is so extensive, that the book devotes a whole section to it at the end! However, the book isn’t pure propaganda. Dorling and Koljonen also criticize some negative trends, such as the rise of the far-right Finns Party (currently the largest opposition party), relatively tiny increases in some measures of gender and income inequality, rates of violence against African migrants, alcoholism, gambling and the youth unemployment rate. They repeatedly and helpfully make pains to emphasize that Finland’s success has been mostly the result of long-term strategy, not luck or innate superiority. Each chapter is written in a way that’s accessible to both academics and casual readers. Visual learners will also be pleased by the book’s many charts and maps, as well as some quaint artwork from decades past. I wish that the book had gone more into the nuts and bolts of Finland’s debate around environmental policy. It only mentioned the controversy around nuclear power in passing and barely brought up solar, wind and hydro utilization and potential, though it did a better job of covering plans to lower pollution, over-logging and carbon emissions. As a whole, Finntopia will allow readers to empathize with and take policy inspiration from the thin country sandwiched between Sweden and Russia, and might even compel them to touch down in Helsinki Airport, the top-rated airport in the world!
Up until the 1950s, Finland had had a tough lot. As the book explains, ““At different points in the past 500 years, Finland was a colony of Sweden, dominated by Germany, and controlled by both Denmark and Russia.” Most Finns languished in rural poverty and a famine in the 1860s had killed off a tenth of the population. Even after having gained independence in 1917, the country was immediately subjected to a short, but brutal, civil war that killed forty thousand working-age men. Likewise, Finland suffered a lot during WWII, when it lost a substantial portion of its landmass and one of its largest cities to a Soviet invasion, and was subsequently occupied by Nazi Germany.
However, Finland managed to engineer a stunning turnaround, post-WWII. More amazingly, as the book points out, is that Finland didn’t have the advantages of oil (Norway) or holdover wealth from an imperial era (Sweden, Denmark). Ironically, Finland’s failed revolution of 1917 and WWII helped to set the path for social change. Much of the Finnish elite were either killed, imprisoned for war crimes or were cowed into submissiveness by the two conflicts. This paved way for the emergence of, “a significant class of peasant proprietors, or talonpojat.” To this day, ““Hundreds of thousands of Finns are forest owners who depend on the forestry sector.” This would help Finland to complete a transition from feudalism to social democracy,
Starting in the 1950s, leftwing ruling coalitions enacted sweeping reforms in worker’s rights, welfare, housing and many other issues. Perhaps most significant was the education overhaul of the 1950s, during which time, “Finnish government funding and control of grammar schools was increased, and the pedagogical approach gradually changed from formal teacher-centred education focused on moral development (behaviour and conformity) to a focus on cognitive development based on new evidence emerging from educational research.” The book details the many steps that Finnish society has taken to prioritize childhood development. This starts from birth, when each newborn receives a 64-item care package from the government, in a wooden box that can double as a crib! From the age of 3, toddlers are entitled to free or heavily subsidized daycare. Interestingly, Finland doesn’t mandate schooling until a child turns 7. Once a child reaches that lucky number, he’s treated to low class sizes, egalitarian (as opposed to economically or intellectually segregated) classrooms and schools, a 15-minute recess every hour, free lunch and classes taught by teachers who all have at least a graduate degree. The latter was supported by, as imposed upon, the teachers’ union. These reforms have led to the rise of one of the most educated groups of people in the world and a workforce well equipped to thrive in the STEM and service sectors.
Finland has also been at the forefront of labor rights. The government has encouraged unionization; for decades, the vast majority of the workforce has been unionized. This has resulted in some wonderful accomplished, like the high quality of schoolteachers mentioned in the last paragraph, and the incidents, “In the late 1960s, in which tripartite agreements were reached among the government, trade unions, and employers from the public and private sector and agricultural producers. This policy aimed to tie wage increases to greater macroeconomic objectives... Wage growth restricted only for two to three years in this period [1960s to 1980] to retain the benefits of the devaluation for profitability. Harmonious labour relations, rising wages, more stable employment and broad national support for these income settlements were all dependent on rising external competitiveness.” Small wonder that Finnish workers have had access to a steady income, one of the world’s most generous paid parental leave policies and some of the highest flexibility in terms of choosing work schedules, among other things. Contrary to arguments made laissez-faire pundits in the West, the Finnish economy has skyrocketed since enacting this environment of worker empowerment. The tripartite agreements created a healthy balance of power between employers and employees and empowered workers to work unhampered by discontent, which increased their productivity.
At the heart of these reforms has been a national ethos of solidarity. Finns have long been cognizant of the long-term harm produced by inequality and extreme individualism. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, “A huge proportion of Finns, 79%, say they are ‘happy to pay their taxes”. An astonishing 96%, when asked, agree that ‘it’s important to collect tax to maintain the welfare state.’” The Finnish parliament has likewise operated based on the principle of cohesion; it has always depended upon coalition-building in order to run, as there are many popular parties in Finland that prevent dominance by any single one. As a result, the social welfare structure has survived largely intact after two spells of conservative (by Nordic standards) rule over the past three decades.
Scandinavia’s success hasn’t been contingent upon cultural homogeneity, small populations and geography, as many alt-right admirers like to argue when extolling the virtues of establishing their “white ethno-state”. As the book points out, the Swedes and Danes were constantly subjugating each other and the other Nordic nation for centuries. Finland fought a bloody civil war right after its independence, in 1917. In terms of maintaining “purity of nationality”, the Nordic states score much higher on stability and happiness indices than Western countries like the US and UK, despite having populations with much higher refugee ratios. Due to rapidly aging populations, Scandinavia actually benefits economically from influxes of working-age people from abroad. The geography argument is particularly silly. Finland’s neighbor Russia also has vast wilderness and extreme winters, but has been much more chaotic and impoverished for decades. In terms of population size, there are many countries with smaller populations than Finland/Denmark/Norway (each has about 5.5M people) that are poor and chaotic, even some with abundant natural resources or ports, such as Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti.
Finntopia does a good job of exploring the historical and political forces that have driven Finland’s ascendence to a Top-5 ranking in most significant rankings of quality of life, such as student performance, homelessness, trust in government and the media, gender equality, air quality, etc. The list is so extensive, that the book devotes a whole section to it at the end! However, the book isn’t pure propaganda. Dorling and Koljonen also criticize some negative trends, such as the rise of the far-right Finns Party (currently the largest opposition party), relatively tiny increases in some measures of gender and income inequality, rates of violence against African migrants, alcoholism, gambling and the youth unemployment rate. They repeatedly and helpfully make pains to emphasize that Finland’s success has been mostly the result of long-term strategy, not luck or innate superiority. Each chapter is written in a way that’s accessible to both academics and casual readers. Visual learners will also be pleased by the book’s many charts and maps, as well as some quaint artwork from decades past. I wish that the book had gone more into the nuts and bolts of Finland’s debate around environmental policy. It only mentioned the controversy around nuclear power in passing and barely brought up solar, wind and hydro utilization and potential, though it did a better job of covering plans to lower pollution, over-logging and carbon emissions. As a whole, Finntopia will allow readers to empathize with and take policy inspiration from the thin country sandwiched between Sweden and Russia, and might even compel them to touch down in Helsinki Airport, the top-rated airport in the world!
October 23, 2022
This book is all about Finland, one of the most successful examples of social democracy. Finland consistently ranks near the top in happiness, educational outcomes, healthcare outcomes, trust in government, trust in media, the list goes on and on. They've done this through some of the most generous welfare policies in the world. The book covers all of this with statistics and charts galore.
The section on education was the most interesting because of the unorthodox nature of the Finnish system. Private schools have almost entirely disappeared. School is free for almost everyone. There is little emphasis on standardized testing. Students are given ample time to play, with 15 minutes of recess for every 45 minutes of class. Teachers are given a significant degree of independence to teach the curriculum how they choose. The process of measuring teacher performance includes self-evaluation and continued learning. Even with this approach, there is a high level of uniformity in quality across schools, much higher than in most developed countries.
I appreciate the extensive facts and figures, but the authors spend hardly any time discussing how it came to be this way. How were these policy victories won? Is there anything about Finnish history or culture specifically that made this possible? They state that political rhetoric in Finland often emphasizes the universal nature of policies rather than rich vs. poor, etc. And that the Finns value compromise. But I'm left wanting a deeper analysis.
For example, Finnish wages are decided through negotiations between unions, employers, and government. They say that this helps get buy-in from workers for government policy. But they don't expand on this further. What are the implications for political organizing within this social corporatist system? Are Finnish unions happy with this arrangement? Why did this occur and not nationalization or suppression of unions?
Overall, I learned a lot from the book but it didn't deliver exactly what I wanted. I would love to see similar policies (and much more) implemented around the world. The important question is how we get there.
The section on education was the most interesting because of the unorthodox nature of the Finnish system. Private schools have almost entirely disappeared. School is free for almost everyone. There is little emphasis on standardized testing. Students are given ample time to play, with 15 minutes of recess for every 45 minutes of class. Teachers are given a significant degree of independence to teach the curriculum how they choose. The process of measuring teacher performance includes self-evaluation and continued learning. Even with this approach, there is a high level of uniformity in quality across schools, much higher than in most developed countries.
I appreciate the extensive facts and figures, but the authors spend hardly any time discussing how it came to be this way. How were these policy victories won? Is there anything about Finnish history or culture specifically that made this possible? They state that political rhetoric in Finland often emphasizes the universal nature of policies rather than rich vs. poor, etc. And that the Finns value compromise. But I'm left wanting a deeper analysis.
For example, Finnish wages are decided through negotiations between unions, employers, and government. They say that this helps get buy-in from workers for government policy. But they don't expand on this further. What are the implications for political organizing within this social corporatist system? Are Finnish unions happy with this arrangement? Why did this occur and not nationalization or suppression of unions?
Overall, I learned a lot from the book but it didn't deliver exactly what I wanted. I would love to see similar policies (and much more) implemented around the world. The important question is how we get there.
November 26, 2020
I saw this book on display during one of my visits to the library. Then, I was reading Names for The Sea, an account of lives in Iceland by Sarah Moss who spent a year in Iceland. The cover of the book was so pretty and it was brand new, so without hesitation, I took it.
And I was captivated!
The title of the book has a tongue in cheek rhyme to utopia but the book reminds the reader time and time again that Finland is not an utopia and even the citizens are aware that it is still far from it.
The book begins with the geographical and history of Finland, which seeks to provide the context for policies that took place thereafter which leads to Finland to where it is today. Like how Finland was being deserted by almost all of its allies in the Winter war against Soviet Union which in turned drive home a really strong message that Finland needs to care for the needs of its people because if not who?
The book discusses much of Finland being a pragmatic welfare state that cares deeply alot about its people and the environment like how the need for immigrants was crucial in maintaining good standards of living for the people. And of course as an educator, the chapter on education spoke to me much. I particularly like the reason for providing free meals to all children aged 16 and below - to develop an equitable education system so that one does not feel that one is more superior than the other just because one can afford a meal.
Of course, being one of my first non fiction of a nordic country, I must say the policies have been rather enlightening and I have spent a few nights sharing with my husband on my reads. And the use of statistics have definitely better grapple the impact of the policies that are in place
And I was captivated!
The title of the book has a tongue in cheek rhyme to utopia but the book reminds the reader time and time again that Finland is not an utopia and even the citizens are aware that it is still far from it.
The book begins with the geographical and history of Finland, which seeks to provide the context for policies that took place thereafter which leads to Finland to where it is today. Like how Finland was being deserted by almost all of its allies in the Winter war against Soviet Union which in turned drive home a really strong message that Finland needs to care for the needs of its people because if not who?
The book discusses much of Finland being a pragmatic welfare state that cares deeply alot about its people and the environment like how the need for immigrants was crucial in maintaining good standards of living for the people. And of course as an educator, the chapter on education spoke to me much. I particularly like the reason for providing free meals to all children aged 16 and below - to develop an equitable education system so that one does not feel that one is more superior than the other just because one can afford a meal.
Of course, being one of my first non fiction of a nordic country, I must say the policies have been rather enlightening and I have spent a few nights sharing with my husband on my reads. And the use of statistics have definitely better grapple the impact of the policies that are in place
October 21, 2021
Nonfiction. Finland. Statistics.
Written in 2019 - early pre-pandemic 2020, this book takes a look at why Finland is the happiest country in the world for multiple years running. It looks at statistics, history, culture, health, nature, education and more, breaking down each element to build up the whole. At the same time, it keeps things real and examines where Finland lacks or still needs work.
The book was published in the UK and a lot of comparisons between the two are brought up. One contributor to the book is a Finn.
I have lived in Finland for over 10 years and appreciate the content and value in this book. A great read and reminder why life is so great here.
Written in 2019 - early pre-pandemic 2020, this book takes a look at why Finland is the happiest country in the world for multiple years running. It looks at statistics, history, culture, health, nature, education and more, breaking down each element to build up the whole. At the same time, it keeps things real and examines where Finland lacks or still needs work.
The book was published in the UK and a lot of comparisons between the two are brought up. One contributor to the book is a Finn.
I have lived in Finland for over 10 years and appreciate the content and value in this book. A great read and reminder why life is so great here.
December 27, 2020
Despite the title and jacket copy, this more of a light textbook on Finnish society than a journalistic exploration. Which is not a bad thing, just expect more (interesting) summaries of current statistics and social science than interviews or word portraits of Finnish life. I appreciate the academic approach, especially since it means I won’t have to go look any of this stuff up myself in the near future.
January 8, 2026
I think this book would do better to give clear references on how they are substantiating some studies and events — like for example, the part about Finns studying at University is like Oxford and Harvard, and going deeper into where certain subjective phrases are coming from. Overall informative read! Learned about the region and the world and what people value. This is like a survey course on Finland
February 7, 2022
Excellent starter on how the population gets to be "happy". The overriding driver seems to be "equality", in as many aspects of life as possible. The book is an interesting, and statistics-heavy, discussion on how Finland reached this point; how it looks to better itself; and how other countries can learn from the policies that have led Finland to where it is now.
December 26, 2022
There is a consistent narrative that Finland is one of the perfect Nordic countries where everyone is happy, educational standards are high and equality rules. Whilst highlighting much that is positive about Finland this book does not claim that Finland is a utopia, it does face challenges around class and immigration in particular.
July 12, 2022
Statistic heavy but nonetheless an interesting read about why Finland has been deemed the happiest country to live in the world for several years running.
October 12, 2022
A fascinating book about an interesting country.
May 18, 2021
Recommended by Matt Downie.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews