Ålanders Knowing Finnish: A Necessity or a Threat to Autonomy? The Ålandic Language Debate of 1968

Abstract

Abstract The autonomy created for Åland in 1920 along with the linguistic and cultural guarantees stipulated in the 1921 Åland Agreement established Åland as a monolingual Swedish-speaking province within otherwise bilingual Finland. In particular, the Ålandic municipalities could themselves decide whether Finnish was to be taught in their primary schools. One hundred years later, Åland is still monolingually Swedish-speaking. The Finnish language, however, has been a hotly debated topic on Åland over the years. This article examines the status of the Swedish and Finnish languages that was established by the Autonomy Act and the Åland Agreement and explores the degree to which the Finnish language was present in Ålandic society during the first decades of the autonomy. The arguments and ideas presented in one particular political dispute that took place in 1968 between the speaker of the legislative assembly, Thorvald “Thusse” Eriksson, and the premier of the provincial government, Martin Isaksson, are then analyzed in more detail. The debate was precipitated by, among other things, an upcoming reform of the school system that called attention to the question of whether Finnish were to be taught in Ålandic schools. Eriksson and Isaksson disagreed on what attitude Åland should have toward Finland, Finnish speakers, and the Finnish language and on whether Finnicization was a threat to Åland. Eriksson saw any intrusion of the Finnish language as a threat to Åland's autonomy, while Isaksson believed Ålanders had to know some Finnish to be competitive on the job market. The overall aim of the article is to broaden our understanding of how ideas and perceptions related to language and autonomy have developed over time on Åland and to put them in a broader perspective through the use of the concept of societal cultures.