Motherly Love or Practical Work
Nationalism in the Lotta Svärd Local Branches during the 1920s and 1930s
Keywords:
Lotta Svärd, nationalism, ideology, organisation studies, organisationsAbstract
Ethnological research in Finland had an important role in strengthening national identity till the 1960s. Peasant culture, upon which the "White Finland" wanted to be raised, was the most important area of research in ethnology. It has been stated that ethnology has never since been as ideologically important in Finland as it was in the 1930s (Snellman 1997, 27). Examining a patriotic movement at the beginning of the 20th century - the Lotta Svärd Organisation - frorn the viewpoint of the 1990s, will thus connect this study to an interesting part of the history of Finnish ethnology. What is the role of ethnological research when the object of the study is an organisation that aimed not only for material results, but also openly tried to ideologically influence its members and thus the whole society?
