Summer 2000

Serfs and toffs and national popular culture by Kari Kallioniemi
The general attempt to (re)define Britain's place in the world post Empire and energetic debate surrounding its identity seem to gather little or not interest at all outside "the sacred island". The cultural position of Finland also seems to suffer from that kind of syndrome. The country is recognised by its Nokia-hype, but also caught up in the trap of ancient stereotypes.

Polar Jazz: European jazz redefined by Chris Parker
If more evidence were needed in support of the increasingly prevalent idea that the centre of gravity of jazz, courtesy of bands like the Italian Instabile Orchestra, the vibrantly multicultural musical melting pot of Paris and the extraordinarily fertile Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish scenes, has shifted Europewards in recent years, Polar Jazz provided it in spadesful.

A brush with death by Tuomas Nevanlinna
"I had agreed to meet Death at the Assembly Rooms in the centre of Helsinki. Seldom has an interview made me feel so nervous beforehand. Luckily, this gave me a good reason to cancel an appointment with my dentist. (Although of course I know that in the end I shall have to go there myself.)"

Third way to globalisation by Keijo Rahkonen
Ever since Anthony Giddens wrote an article called “After the left’s paralysis” which was published in the New Statesman in May 1998, debate about the ‘third way’ has become an international phenomenon.

* The Council of the Isles: Nordic Inspirations by Simon Partridge

* Women by the side of the dying - a feminine presence in the face of death by Terhi Utriainen

* Nine routes to cities of culture in Europe
by Antony Thorncroft