Peripheral Partners? : he Finnish Region Kainuu and its Soviet Neighbour Karelia

This article looks at the Finnish region Kainuu and its neighbour Karelia during the 1970s, when a large mining complex was built in Kostomuksha by Finnish construction companies. This project is an example of cross-border cooperation between Finland and the Soviet Union, but it also shows how two peripheral regions could combine their interests in order to create job opportunities. The article argues that while in fact transnational cooperation thrived after the fall of the Soviet Union it was, in the long run, not able to eliminate weaknesses of the periphery. However, it seems shortsighted to characterize these regions as internal peripheries as sources show that the centres were interested and tried to strengthen local interests. This leads to the conclusion that definitions of centre and periphery alone may be too one-dimensional to analyse the situation fully.This article looks at the Finnish region Kainuu and its neighbour Karelia during the 1970s, when a large mining complex was built in Kostomuksha by Finnish construction companies. This project is an example of cross-border cooperation between Finland and the Soviet Union, but it also shows how two peripheral regions could combine their interests in order to create job opportunities. The article argues that while in fact transnational cooperation thrived after the fall of the Soviet Union it was, in the long run, not able to eliminate weaknesses of the periphery. However, it seems shortsighted to characterize these regions as internal peripheries as sources show that the centres were interested and tried to strengthen local interests. This leads to the conclusion that definitions of centre and periphery alone may be too one-dimensional to analyse the situation fully