Transnational Political Activities of the Swedish Finn Youth Organization

Abstract

This article looks at the Swedish Finn Youth Organization’s transnational political activities, and how they have developed. In the beginning, the youth organization modelled itself after its mother organization and joined the Finnish Expatriate Parliament (FEP), which made its participation in transnational practices easy. The case study of the Swedish Finn Youth Organization in Stockholm, Sweden, demonstrates that if the younger generation is given an opportunity to establish and govern their own associations, new forms of organization can be expected. The younger generation has distinguished itself from the older generation’s associations by cooperating with other minorities and taking more account of the multicultural nature of the Swedish society. Their transnational political practices have been developed through a more direct approach towards the Finnish government.