Syrjäseutujen liian helppo elämä?

Hyvinvointivaltio Veikko Huovisen satiireissa

Abstract

In the discursive frame of the competition state the welfare state era is freely associated with lavish government
expenditure, inefficiency, and outdated state structures. In its prime, however, the welfare state
in Finland was seen as a radical and expansive modernization project. Regarding the principle of territorial
equality, which is thought to have benefited especially the eastern and northern rural areas, an interesting
phenomenon is the satirical critique of the welfare state by a prominent northern writer, Veikko Huovinen.
In my interpretation Huovinen’s satirical short prose of the 1960s and 1970s questioned the hegemonic
discourses on class relations and state territoriality, particularly by targeting their cultural and political
underpinnings. Under specific scrutiny in my analysis are the polarization and scaling of state space.