Leftist- and Euro-nationalism?
PERSPECTIVE
Alexander Stubb
|
Esko Seppänen
|
|
|
By Kaius Niemi
As external conditions change it is surprising to see how swiftly seemingly deep-seated ideological traditions can transform.
As capital flees abroad, jobs move to China, and the EU works on a constitution and develops a common defence, the political left has started to invoke national issues. These are now being used to criticise the elite that seeks to promote greater internationalisation.
The setup seems convoluted. After all, the left has long been an advocate of internationalism. The conservative-bourgeoisie of Finland, for its part, was in the vanguard of national themes.
Things have gone so far that conservative MEP Alexander Stubb has spoken of "leftist nationalism".
This is an expression that has hardly ever been used in Finland.
The term used by the Euro-parliamentarian can naturally be shrugged off as rhetoric, but on the other hand, it undeniably touches something about the ongoing realignment of the front lines of politics. By nationalism, does Stubb mean a critical view of the EU and NATO?
Let us examine the attitudes that two leftist politicians with a critical view of the EU have toward security policy, which is the holiest of issues from the point of view of national policy.
MEP Esko Seppänen (Left) can easily be seen in the nationalist light, because he has been in Brussels specifically as an advocate of national defence.
But what about MP Jaakko Laakso (Left), the critical deputy chairman of the Defence Committee? At the President’s reception on Independence Day he wore cuff links of the Finnish Defence Forces, bearing the lion on the Finnish coat of arms. For a former member of the hard-line minority faction of the Finnish Communist Party it was a symbolically significant stand to take.
However, the label of "leftist nationalism" does not fit Seppänen or Laakso very well.
Instead of fiery national feelings, both are motivated primarily by their opposition to NATO. An aversion toward NATO and the EU’s defence structures is what gets them to see the Finnish Defence Forces in a more positive light than before.
The same goes for the leftist criticism of development toward a European federation. Opposition to "the power of money", "neo-liberalism, and "the dismantling of regulation" is an ideological driving force of today’s left - not any real national sentiment, which the term "nationalism" might suggest at first glance.
In this respect a rural Centre Party member with a critical attitude toward the EU would be more of a "nationalist" than an urban leftist.
Oh, those were the days, when it was easy for people to pigeon-hole each other!
Those on the political right used to wave the national flag with the blue cross and read books by J.L. Runeberg.
"Culture radicals" affiliated with the minority Communists might say in an interview with a women’s magazine that "Mother Russia" is the woman that they most admire. No more. Now it is the political right that uses the concept of nationalism to attack the left. On the other hand, Esko Seppänen has denounced Parliamentary Speaker and former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen (SDP) as a "Euro-nationalist".
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 5.11.2004
KAIUS NIEMI / Helsingin Sanomat
kaius.niemi@hs.fi
|
| 9.11.2004 - THIS WEEK |
 Leftist- and Euro-nationalism? |
|
