Abstract

In this paper I attempt to analyze the development of the Swedish speaking minority in Finland in relation to the development of Swedish speaking and bilingual voluntary associations (and to some extent institutions and organizations). A starting point and basic assumption of the essay is that the collective, Swedish speaking minority identity in Finland is a social construction that can be analyzed as a social movement. A consequence of this basic assumption is that like all socially constructed minority identities, also the collective, Swedish speaking minority identity in Finland needs to be maintained, in order to survive. Voluntary associations and organizations are among the most important constructers and maintainers of collective identities in the modern society and have played a significant role in the construction of the collective identity of the Swedish speaking Finns.

A historical perspective on the registration activity of voluntary associations in a society can provide a picture of the development of the society. In a similar way a historical study of the development of registrations (absolute and proportional) of voluntary associations in a minority language, or as bilingual can provide a picture of the state of the development of the language based minority.

Today the Swedish speaking Finns as a social movement with reference to the development of associations are in a phase of reorganisation where they have to adjust to the changed societal circumstances. The antagonistic relationship that existed between Swedish and Finnish speakers at the time of nation building no longer exists and has led to increasing bilingualism among Swedish speakers. The trend within voluntary associations is an increased proportional amount of bilingual, specialised organisations and a proportional decrease of Swedish speaking associations.