production and consumption of recreational gambling in the 20th century finland
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Production and consumption of recreational gambling in the 20th century FinlandGAMBLING, POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES - INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE/NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND WELFARESEPTEMBER 22, 2015/HELSINKIMA (SOC.SCI), RESEARCHER RIITTA MATILAINENECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
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Main questions and concepts How have the Finnish gambling cultures changed over the years?
What historical discourses and practices still resonate in the cultural and social meanings attached to gambling in Finland? Can there be talk of Finnish ”gambling dispositifs” in a Foucaultian style? Gambling is regarded as consumption and to some extend as risk-taking (consumers=gamblers) Production is regarded as risk-making (the gambling operators, technology, regulation, legislation)Focus on recreational gambling and not on problem gambling
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Dispositif explained
Matti Peltonen: Foucault worked both on the nondiscursive and the discursive elements of culture and stressed the changing historical relationships that were not constant or preordained
Following the idea that dispositifs can be understood as answers to problems linked to the entirety that is considered gambling in a certain society in a certain time I have formulated three dispositifs:
1) prohibition dispositif
2) common good disposif
3) risk dispositif
These dispositifs and their subcategories have been inspired by Sytze Kingma’s (2002; 2008) analysis of the Dutch gambling regulation; I have added three extra subcategories (ideal typical consumer, class and gender)
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The prohibition dispositif: Lutheranism and the gradual ban on gambling
The role of religion has been considered one of the most important factors behind the perception and practices of gambling. Negative religious attitude towards gambling does not mean that gambling ceases to be practised (Binde)
The Lutheran churches have historically been harsh in their condemnation of gambling due to Protestant work ethic
Most European states operated lotteries as a regular source of revenues in the second half of the 18th century . The first state lottery was arranged in Sweden in 1699. The first ban on the selling of foreign lotteries was given in 1784.
The prohibition of gambling started in Finland in 1889.
The case of Finnish lotteries in goods and their popularity in the 19th and 20th century highlights intersections between gambling discourses and practices, international influences, gender and class.
Eeva-Liisa Lehtonen: Lotteries in goods was an amusement innovation which came to Finland through the gentry and connected the local community to a pan-European gambling culture of the common people. They were one of the few occasions in the Finnish society of the 19th century where people of different strata could meet each other.
During the 20th century, religious and moral terms regarding gambling have lost most of their discursive power
Starting from the 1950s the attitudes of Lutheran churches regarding gambling have become more permissive.
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Table 1. GAMBLING DISPOSITIFS IN FINLAND
Prohibition dispositif Time frame: Until 1920s
Moral meaning: A sin
Destination of returns: Good causes
Rationale for regulation: Dysfunctional for social order
Controlling institutions: Legal norms/the Lutheran church
Ideal typical state: The national state
Ideal typical consumer: Renegade consumer/gambler
Class: Great class distinctions
Gender: A manly prerogative
Inspired by Kingma (2002; 2008)
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The common good dispositif I: the birth of the gambling monopolies Gambling has been regulated in order to achieve social control, to eliminate illegal gambling and criminal involvement in gambling and to generate revenues for the state.However, the motivations for legalizing gambling and regulating it have been more diverse that just fiscal reasons: Finnish “economic nationalism” in the beginning of the 20th century The fear that income earned in Sweden and Finland would benefit foreign states was one of the factors behind founding of national gambling monopolies of money lotteries, horse racing, slot machines and football poolsFounding of gambling monopolies a part of the cultural change in Finland: Both gambling and alcohol were subjected to prohibition laws in the beginning of the 20th century. These were lifted at the same time in the 1920s and 1930s. Kingma (1996): Liberalisation of gambling presupposed a stronger state
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The common good dispositif II: the Finnish welfare state and the emerging consumer societyThe Second World War: state promoted gamblingGambling was defined as good citizenship Finnish state and gambling operators tamed gambling into a modern and normal way of life for both men and women democratizing it at the same processPopularity of lotto beginning in 1971: consumer dreams of common Finns Good consumer-citizens gamble
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Table 2. GAMBLING DISPOSITIFS IN FINLAND Common good dispositif Time frame: 1920s to the 1990s Moral meaning: Every citizen’s duty Destination of returns: The welfare state Rationale for regulation: Collecting revenue for the state and protecting the state from foreign gambling with monopolies
Controlling institutions: Legal norms and social values Ideal typical state: The national welfare state Ideal typical consumer: The consumer-citizen Class: Democratization of gambling Gender: Both men and women allowed and encouraged to gamble Inspired by Kingma (2002; 2008)
Legal norms and social values
The national welfare state
f
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Risk dispositif: Gambling regarded as entertainment and as a problemFrom the 1980s and 1990s onwards:. Gambling is considered both entertainment and an addictionThe intensified commercialization of gambling, the Finnish EU membership in 1995 and the Internet gambling have revolutionized the scene and had a profound effect on the Finnish and Swedish gambling monopolies. Tammi and Cisneros Örnberg: Finland and Sweden have decided to reform and fortify their gambling monopolies by increasing focus on problem gambling. They have incorporated the problem aspect into their business model. Finland: the first universal age limit on all gambling forms and stricter restrictions on gambling advertising. The pressure both from the EU and public discussion has led to an expansion of especially problem gambling research and funding in Finland.
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Table 3. GAMBLING DISPOSITIFS IN FINLAND (inspired by Kingma 2002, 2008)
Prohibition dispositif Common good dispositif Risk dispositifTime frame: Until 1920s 1920s to the 1990s 1990s onwards
Moral meaning: A sin Every citizen’s duty Entertainment/An addiction
Destination of returns: Good causes The welfare state The welfare state/Private returns?
Rationale for regulation: Dysfunctional for social order
Collecting revenue for the state and protecting the state from foreign gambling with monopolies
Part of the risk/consumer society
Controlling institutions: Legal norms /the Lutheran church
Legal norms and social values The EU/Legal norms and values/Scientific research and healthcare
Ideal typical state: The national state The national welfare state The welfare state/The risk society
Ideal typical consumer: Renegade consumer/gambler
The consumer-citizen The consumer-citizen/The addicted consumer
Class: Great class distinctions Democratization of gambling Concern for the young and otherwise vulnerable gamblers
Gender: A manly prerogative Both men and women allowed and encouraged to gamble
Women seen as a special target group
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Conclusions Public, organized and regulated gambling has attained a more visible and central role in gambling pushing aside various forms of private, self-organized and unregulated gamblingIn many places and in many different ways, gambling has been tamed, democratized and fitted into a “modern” and “normal” way of consumerist everyday life for both men and women alike during the 20th century. This process still continues but Internet gambling is revolutionizing the way gambling is regulated and experienced.It is of vital importance to understand gambling as a cultural and social phenomenon that takes place in a certain time and place. Gambling or “gambling dispositifs” vary greatly in different societies and different contexts, depending on the organization, social meanings and moralities of gambling.
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Literature Binde, Per: Gambling Across Cultures: Mapping Worldwide Occurrence and Learning from Ethnographic Comparison. International
Gambling Studies, Vol. 5, 2005
Cassidy, Rebecca; Pisac, Andrea and Loussouarn, Claire (eds): Qualitative Research in Gambling. Exploring the production and consumption of risk. Routledge 2013
Kingma, Sytze: A Sign of the Times. The Political Culture of Gaming in the Netherlands. In Gambling Cultures. Edited by Jan McMillen. 1996
Kingma, Sytze: The liberalization and (re)regulation of Dutch gambling markets: national consequences of the changing European context. Regulation & Governance (2008) 2, 445–458
Matilainen, Riitta: A Question of Money? The Founding of Two Finnish Gambling Monopolies. In Global Gambling. Cultural Perspectives on Gambling Organizations. Edited Sytze F. Kingma. Routledge 2009.
Matilainen, Riitta (in print): Cultural and social meanings of gambling in Finland and Sweden: a historical perspective. In Random Riches. Gambling Past & Present. Edited by Manfred Zollinger. Ashgate.
Reith, Gerda: The Age of Chance. Gambling in Western Culture. Routledge 1999.
Tammi, Tuukka & Cisneros Örnberg, Jenny: Gambling problems as a political framing—Safeguarding the monopolies in Finland and Sweden. Journal of Gambling Issues: Issue 26. 2011
