Publications

Intertwined Histories: 150 Years of Finnish-Namibian Relations. Edited by Marjo Kaartinen, Leila Koivunen and Napandulwe Shiweda. University of Turku 2019.

An anthology entitled Intertwined Histories was published in collaboration between the Universities of Turku and Namibia and the Embassy of Finland in Namibia in 2019 to celebrate the 150 years of relations between the two countries. This collection introduces recent research conducted in Finland and Namibia and opens up different perspectives to their relations and interaction.

With the publication of the anthology, an exhibition of some of its topics toured in Namibia. It was organized by the Embassy of Finland in Windhoek.

The publication is openly available at UTUPub, the open repository of the University of Turku. Articles can also be found on this webpage.

Colonial Aspects of Finnish-Namibian Relations, 1870-1990. Cultural Change, Endurance and Resistance (eds. Leila Koivunen, Raita Merivirta)
Finnish Literature Society, Studia Fennica Historica 28, 2024

This edited collection re-examines the long history of Finnish-Namibian relations through the lens of colonialism without colonies as well as anti-colonialism. The book argues that although Finland never acquired colonies, Namibia was once treated in the areas of culture and knowledge formation in a manner now recognised as colonial.

Namibian people’s way of being in the world was transformed when the Finnish Missionary Society started its work in Owambo in 1870 and introduced Christianity and European modes of education, medicine, material culture and social practices. In time, cultural colonialism faded and during the Namibian struggle for independence from South African rule in 1966-1990 Finns took an actively anti-colonial approach.

Written as a collaborative effort of Namibian, Finnish and South African scholars, this book will interest historians and students of cultural and colonial history and colonialism without colonies, as well as general readers interested in Finnish-Namibian relations.

This is an open access publication.

Image: Spelling lesson, photograph by Anni Melander (before 1938). Finnish Heritage Agency, Picture Collections, photographs of the Finnish Missionary Society.