Wine for Freedom. Alcohol, governmentality and identity in Finland in the 1960s

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.The Finnish alcohol policy underwent a major shift in the end of the 1950s. The strict buyer surveillance policy was given up and the consumption of mild beverages was promoted. The legislative reform of 1968 liberated the selling and serving of alcohol. The amount of alcohol consumed tripled in the fourteen years from 1958 to 1972. This work investigates the changes in alcohol policy and the alcohol culture in the 1960s. The research shows how the logic of governance increasingly operated through the identity construction and the freedom of individuals rather than through the control mechanisms of shame. Consequently, the role of the media as a source of elements of identity construction expanded. Through analysis of various media products, feature films, popular songs and fiction, it is shown how alcohol has acquired new social meanings in the modernising and urbanising society. Drinking has become more common and trivial, alcohol is used both as a social lubricant and as a way of throwing off masks and revealing “one’s true self”, or reaching “the truth”. In the fictive reality portrayals of women drinking heavily became common. The masculine-like intoxication of women challenged masculine supremacy and promoted gender equality. A typical environment for getting drunk was nature in summertime. Both nature and alcohol were used as therapeutic and illuminating in the identity construction of urban young people. In the fictive reality alcohol was not a problem, even though many social problems were illustrated with it. According to the findings of this research, the 1960s of Finland can be characterized as the decade of universality, equality and identity-seeking.ISBN 951-746-551-3. Opponent: prof. Pertti Haapala Kustos: prof. Matti Peltone