The next seminar of the The Finnish Death Studies Association will be held on Monday 15 February! The presentation will be held by Dr. Samira Saramo, Kone Foundation Senior Researcher, Migration Institute of Finland.

TITLE

Death, Grief, and Socialism in Early-Twentieth-Century Finnish Migrant Communities

ABSTRACT

Danger of death and injury were a constant presence in early-twentieth-century working-class migrant life in Canada and the United States. This presentation turns to the experiences of Finnish migrants to examine ways that death was integrated into everyday life. Three case studies are at the center of analysis: the Italian Hall Tragedy of 1913 (Calumet, Michigan), the Hollinger Gold Mine Disaster of 1928 (Timmins, Ontario), and the deaths of lumber union organizers Viljo Rosvall and Janne Voutilainen in 1929 (Thunder Bay District, Ontario). By focusing on the death, grief, and mourning at the core of these events and on the days immediately following the tragedies, I demonstrate that death and loss were central to Finnish migrant workers’ everyday encounters with community and class-consciousness. I analyze newspaper coverage of these deaths in order to investigate the strategies of the Finnish language socialist press and leadership to emphasize the deadly power of the capitalist socioeconomic structure, but also seek the everyday spaces, feelings, and relationships caught among labour tensions.

The presention will be held on Zoom. You can join the session from the link below:
Topic: SKTS Saramo presentation

Time: Feb 15, 2021 06:00 PM Helsinki

Join Zoom Meeting https://utu.zoom.us/j/62922060430

Meeting ID: 629 2206 0430

Passcode: SKTS

Welcome!