Formation of Finland's National Parks as a Political Issue

Abstract

This paper analyses the political discourse of Finnish national parks from a perspective of values and justice. By examining the historical and contemporary political processes for establishing parks, we study the definitions of social justice and values attached to nature. An examination of conservation discourse illustrates how the meaning of national parks has changed. Parks are no longer perceived as threats to economic activity; on the contrary, at present parks are considered to benefit the tourism industry. We also argue that a precondition for a socially sustainable solution to political conflict is the definition of minimum rights accepted by all interest groups. For if nature is nothing if it's not social, it's also unavoidably political. (Castree, 2001 Castree, N. 2001. "Socializing nature: theory, practise, and politics". In Social Nature, Edited by: Castree, N and Braun, B. 1–21. Oxford: Blackwell. [Google Scholar], p. 18)