‘Then we were ready to be radicals!’: school student activism in Finnish upper secondary schools in 1960–1967

Abstract

In the Western countries, Scandinavia and Finland included, the legacy of the student movement of the 1960s has been extensive and established a fixed narrative of a radical movement. This article challenges the elitists and university-centred grand narrative and argues that the student movement was more multifaceted and mobilized young people of various ages and backgrounds. This is done by addressing the international student movement from the perspective of school-aged students in Finnish upper secondary schools, focusing on student activism carried out in schoolsanctioned student associations. Above all, this article aims to distinguish the relatively unknown history of the Scandinavian school student movement.

Between obedience and resistance: transforming the role of pupil councils and pupil organisations in Sweden (1928–1989)

“…The Swedish case, as will be discussed below, was characterised by a long tradition of formal organisation in pupil councils, a structure that was taken over and fundamentally reshaped over time as the councils became the building blocks of a national organisation. In a recent study on the Finnish school student movement, Jouhki (2021) argues that a thing that set Scandinavian countries apart from other countries like the United States and Great Britain was that activism was carried out through existing structures and school-sanctioned activities. This is a stark contrast to studies showing that underground school magazines, influential individuals or short-lived organisations shaped pupil protest.…”