Outer Borders, Inner Boundaries in Finland. The Reconstructed Russian Border and the Changing Geography of Memory

Jocelyn Parot (1)

1 Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris

In the aftermath of the Cold War, Finland has been involved in a geopolitical transition from the Soviet sphere of influence towards the core of the European integration process. The Finnish-Russian border has consequently transformed: primarily a segment of the Iron Curtain, it has thereafter turned into an external border, a frontier, of the European Union. As a result, a whole set of EU policies have been implemented, with the aim of converting this line of exclusion into an area of cross border cooperation. Due to the intensifying cross-border flows, the stress is often put on ongoing identity hybridization. Nonetheless, the impact of EU public policies should not be overestimated, nor should the national dimension of cross-bordering be omitted 1. Instead of relying on the hegemony of geopolitics, this paper will focus on the consequences of border's restructuring in regard to national memories and historiographies.

Mots clés: Borders of Finland; european integration of the ex-soviet territories; cross border cooperation; identity hybridization

Domaines: Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Histoire

Jocelyn Parot. Outer Borders, Inner Boundaries in Finland. The Reconstructed Russian Border and the Changing Geography of Memory. Borders of the European Union : Strategies of Crossing and Resistance, 2007. ⟨halshs-01170405⟩