The “Pioneer Men”: Making of Finnish Settler Identity in Southern Africa Pre-1914

Abstract

This chapter approaches the origins of Finnish settler identity formation from the specific perspectives of ethnicity and migration, and is motivated by an attempt to highlight Finnish history within the framework and forming a part of the development of European and global colonialism. The research is also informed by scholarly discussions relating to Finnish national history and questions of Finnish identity. We maintain that Finns formed a defined group of settlers that has been a neglected social variable in the study of colonial identities in general and in colonial Southern Africa in particular. The case study of Finnish settler identity discussed here diverges from the existing literature on colonialism in the sense that the conventional image of Finland does not fit well with the traditional image of European Great Power colonialism in Africa. But a closer examination reveals that even European countries that never had overseas colonies were involved in the colonial world: Finns migrated to the colonial world and produced images of colonial “others”.