To Call or Not to Call It Terrorism: Public Debate on Ideologically-motivated Acts of Violence in Finland, 1991–2015

Abstract

This article looks at how domestic acts of ideologically-motivated violence have been treated in Finnish public discussion with a particular focus on how the word "terrorism" has and has not been used to characterize such incidents. The work demonstrates that Finnish public debate has, with certain notable exceptions, primarily avoided labelling any violent attacks in the country as terrorism. This reluctance stems from Finnish traditions of crisis management, counterterrorism, and politics. Furthermore, the propensity to use the term "terrorism" cannot be explained by such characteristics of the attack itself as the number of casualties or whether it was perpetrated by ingroup or outgroup members. Rather than "what has happened," the question of calling or not calling an act terrorism comes down to the question of "what needs to be done." The article contributes to academic debate by investigating a surprisingly under-researched aspect of how the term terrorism is used in public discussion while also shedding new light on the debate in Finland, a country seldom touched upon by research of terrorism and political violence.

How and Why Education Counters Ideological Extremism in Finland

“…However, as Casanova (2009) also points out, the threat of violence is never associated with one's 'own' tradition that in the European context has been Christian. Likewise, Miah (2017) has claimed that this idea and notion of othering is central also in discourses of terrorism where the root causes and actions related to terrorism are being distanced from the European self-understanding and blamed on someone else (see also Malkki and Sallamaa 2018).…”

“…As we have concluded earlier, there are many issues related to ethics and power in the drafting of national strategies for preventing extremisms and radicalization. For example, regarding the Finnish National Action Plan (Ministry of the Interior 2016), it is noteworthy that despite the fact that Finland has experienced several violent attacks from the 1990s onwards, including school shootings (see Malkki and Sallamaa 2018), the publication timeline (first version published in 2012) of this plan coincides with an increased media attention on terrorism and extremist ideologies as well as with the growing intake of refugees and asylum seekers in Finland. Accordingly, majority of the threats mentioned in the document relate to jihadism, and issues related to illegal immigration are also emphasized.…”

“…The most recent attack took place on 12 December 2018 in a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, and lead to the death of several people. Although these acts depict only a narrow image of the situation (Malkki and Sallamaa 2018), they have had a notable influence on the feeling of citizens' safety across Europe (Europol 2018). These events have also created a situation in which terrorism is increasingly portrayed as a threat that has its origins in religious ideologies culminating to the rhetorics of Jihadism (Malkki and Sallamaa 2018), and where the role of religious convictions as motivators for violent attacks is easily either over-or underestimated.…”

“…Although these acts depict only a narrow image of the situation (Malkki and Sallamaa 2018), they have had a notable influence on the feeling of citizens' safety across Europe (Europol 2018). These events have also created a situation in which terrorism is increasingly portrayed as a threat that has its origins in religious ideologies culminating to the rhetorics of Jihadism (Malkki and Sallamaa 2018), and where the role of religious convictions as motivators for violent attacks is easily either over-or underestimated. Alongside these developments the popularity of neo-nationalist right-wing parties has increased across Europe (Eger and Valdez 2014).…”

“…For example, Finland, throughout its history, has only had one case (in 2017) in which a terrorist attack has been claimed to be carried out in the name of the Islamic terrorist group of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). However, Finland has experienced various other forms of terrorism and violence, including two school shootings in 2007 and 2008, which were not founded on religious or nationalist ideologies (e.g., Malkki and Sallamaa 2018). This illustrates that although a global-level phenomenon, various forms of violent extremisms and the intertwined ideological polarizations also need to be examined and discussed in their local contexts.…”