TULLUT JÄÄDÄKSEEN! Kansallisen turvallisuuden tulo osaksi Suomen turvallisuuskäsitysten kenttää vuosina 2001–2022

Kimmo Kuukasjärvi

Research output: Book/ReportDoctoral thesisMonograph

Abstract

There are many kinds of security. As an experience, security can appear immediately in the everyday life of people and organizations, while on the other hand, security can be experienced as a conceptually distant and more abstract part of life. Security is characterized by the ability to be experience-based, definition-dependent and temporally local. In Finland, we are used to seeing and hearing in the texts and speeches produced by the authorities and entities representing the state, among other things, the concepts of internal security, comprehensive security, and foreign and security policy, which are used to discuss matters related to Finland's security. In this study, these different security concepts are interpreted to form so to speak the field of Finnish security concepts.

In 2019 Civilian Intelligence Act and Act on Military Intelligence or as they are more widely known, intelligence laws, came into force in Finland. In conjunction with the process of enacting intelligence laws, national security and its interests emerged as the security basis to be protected and secured. It is worth noting that in the time before the intelligence laws, the concept of national security has not been used in a similar way in connection with legislation. The entry into force of the intelligence laws constituted a kind of turning point, during which national security established itself as part of the security concepts in use in Finland, especially as mediated by legislation. This turning point and the "emergence" of national security in connection with the enactment of intelligence laws act as inspirations for this study, while also pointing to a research gap that has not been approached before.

From a research point of view, the turning point raises questions and makes one to ponder and study how national security is defined in relation to other concepts of security in Finland, what the development of the concept of national security has been like, and how national security can ultimately be interpreted as joining different concepts of security in Finland. In this dissertation research, the described research interest here is embraced by approaching national security with the theoretical starting points of power and securitization theory.

In the study, national security is understood as a socially constructed construction based on the scientific theoretical starting points of social constructionism. In the study, the starting points of the theory of power and securitization were applied in such a way that securitization was interpreted as taking place as a broad social construction in time through security speech produced by several different actors and entities and other speech practices and acts that touch Finnish security, instead of intentional securitization as indirect more collective securitization. Securitization is interpreted as functioning as a kind of indirect means of power, which manifests itself as mediated by a set of different discourses and speech practices, through which the national security is seen to become securitized as part of the field of Finnish security concepts. Used research methods formed a methodical triangulation where critical discourse analysis was applied as the main research method of the study, which was supported by analysis of power and critical reading.

The research task of the study is to examine the entry of national security into the field of Finnish security concepts in the period between 2001 and 2022. The research task was approached with the help of five research questions and multi-perspective research material. With the help of these research questions, the study researched how national security compares in relation to other concepts of security in use in Finland, how and in what way national security has appeared in Finnish legislation and in two of Finland's most widely distributed media (Yleisradio and Ilta-Sanomat), how the security discourses appearing in the speaking practice and acts of the Finnish security and intelligence service (SUPO) have changed and what kind of securing discourses and the meanings that specify them were presented in the process of en- acting intelligence laws.

The research material consists of official publications dealing with Finnish security, such as reports and strategies, Finnish legislation, media content published by Yleisradio and Ilta-Sanomat (news articles), annual reports and books of the Finnish security and intelligence service, as well as the preliminary documents of the process of enacting intelligence laws.

The empirical analysis of the study is carried out in the direction of the set re- search questions in five different parts. In each part of the analysis, a certain delimitation of the research material is examined.

The first part of the analysis examine Finnish legislation and the discursive definition and structure of national security in various laws. As some observations, it could be stated that national security touches several "dimensions" of security in Finnish legislation and that the appearance of national security in legislation has clearly increased in the time after the intelligence laws. Regarding the security perspective of the study, it could be stated that legislation acts as a functional actor in the securitization of national security.

The second part of the analysis examine official documents dealing with Finnish security. As a part of the observation, it could be stated that national security is not currently defined in official publications dealing with Finnish security, but on the other hand, when comparing different concepts of security, it could be stated that there are many similarities in their definitions and contents. As a summary of the second part, a material-based interpretation is created of how the reference frame- work of national security, conveyed by various official publications, is formed in Finland. Regarding the securitization perspective, official publications can be considered to play a role in the securitization of national security as a functional actor, because they can be interpreted as having constructed and created descriptions of, above all, the threat landscape of national security and their effects on national security.

In the third part of the analysis, the presentation of national security in the media is examined, with the aim of investigating the discursive use of national security in the media discussion focused on Finnish security and in the related speech practices and acts. As part of the findings, it can be stated that the perception of national security during the review period is strongly connected with issues and contents that have been presented and/or discussed in legislative work at given time. On the other hand, the media material shows how the role of the Finnish security and intelligence service as an ensurer and creator of national security is a supporting agency during the review period of the study. In the analysis of the media material, it is found that the meanings of national security were condensed and emphasized in connection with the process of enacting intelligence laws in the period between 2017 and 2019, after this the usage of national security in the media is mainly related to such sets of issues that are related to the expansion of the scope of national security in Finnish legislation. In the direction of the securitization perspective of the research, it can be stated that the media has contributed to the securitization of national security as a functional actor, because it can be interpreted as having created and strengthened the significance of the perception of national security as conveyed by the news con- tent it produces.

The fourth part of the analysis examine the annual reports and books of the Finn- ish security and intelligence service. The aim of the part is to study and reveal the security concepts in the speech practice and acts of the Finnish security and intelligence service, and their change and development. As a result of the fourth part of the analysis it can be said that during the review period, the speech practice of the Finnish security and intelligence service can be divided into three consecutive periods. During these periods there has been a clear change in the use of different security discourses. The years 2001–2013 constitute the first era during which the security police used several different security discourses when describing Finland's security. Years 2014–2018 form the second era, when the security discourses used by the Finnish security and intelligence service were mainly Finland's security, state security and national security. Years 2019–2022 form the third era, when the Finnish security and intelligence service used only the security discourses of Finland's security and national security. Regarding the third era, it is worth noting that of the two, the quantitative use of national security was significantly larger and more emphatic. In the change and development of the security discourses appearing in the speech practice of the Finnish security and intelligence service, there has been a consistent increase in the use of the concept of national security. Regarding the security aspect, it can be stated that the Finnish security and intelligence service, mediated by the development of their own speech practice and acts, can be considered a significant functional actor of the securitization of national security during the study's review period.

The fifth part of the analysis study the preliminary works (documents) of the law on the process of enacting intelligence laws. The aim of the part is to make visible the discourses and the defining factors that could be interpreted to be the most relevant and influential factors in the construction of national security in the limited time-spatial space when enacting intelligence laws. In this part, three thematic securitization discourses are identified, which are the discourse of the changing security and operating environment, the discourse of serious threats and the necessity of combating them, and the discourse of protecting special national interests. In the analysis, these discourses are interpreted as functioning as broad and significant sets of meanings, which justified the rise of national security as an important independent field of security in the context of legislative work. The identified discourses are interpreted to have created and shaped the significance of the perception of national security in connection with the process of enacting intelligence laws, while at the same time securitizing national security.

In the summary of the empirical analysis, the findings of the different parts of the analysis are brought together and an overall view of the securitization of national security is formed as part of the field of Finnish security perceptions during the re- view period as presented by the research material. The main observation is that the process of enacting intelligence laws, the securitization discourses and the spatiotemporal moment/space of the entry into force of the intelligence laws have acted as the main securitizing actors and securitization moment in the securitization of national security, i.e. national security becoming part of the field of Finnish security concepts. Legislation, the speech practice and acts of the Finnish security and intelligence service, the speech practice and acts of official publications dealing with Finnish security, and the speech practice and acts of the media are interpreted as functional actors promoting securitization, which, mediated by their own speech practices and acts, have influenced the significance and establishment of national security as an independent concept of security in Finland.

In the overall picture of the study, it can be stated that national security has established its place in the field of Finnish security concepts during the study period. The increase in the frequency and use of the concept of national security in the presentations of various speakers leads to the conclusion that the effectiveness of national security in the future is not decreasing, but rather the opposite – the future of national security appears to be expanding more and more.
Original languageFinnish
Place of PublicationTampere
PublisherTampere University
ISBN (Electronic) 978-952-03-3096-5
ISBN (Print)978-952-03-3095-8
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Publication typeG4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph)

Publication series

NameTampere University Dissertations - Tampereen yliopiston väitöskirjat
Volume879
ISSN (Print)2489-9860
ISSN (Electronic)2490-0028

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