Is Finnish Corporatism Reconfiguring, and Is It Good for Gender Equality?

Abstract

The Nordic model of employment relations, characterised by centralised collective bargaining and strong collaboration between social partners and the state, has often been linked to positive gender equality outcomes. Although the Nordic model has maintained stability even in the economic crisis of 2008, the Finnish labour market was faced with neoliberal pressures for change, liberalisation and decentralisation and a belief in the necessity of internal devaluation to restore national competitiveness. This chapter focuses on recent developments within the Finnish corporatist system and whether these changes have implications for gender equality. We argue that Finnish corporatism has not always been positive for gender equality: centralised collective bargaining has not been able to tackle the gender pay gap, and labour market organisations have watered-down state gender equality policies. We analyse and evaluate recent events and reconfigurations in Finnish corporatism using four case examples from our previous research.