Politics in play: the playground movement as a socio-political issue in early twentieth-century Finland

Abstract

This article studies the history of playgrounds in Finland and focuses on the emergence and implementation of the objectives of the international playground movement in the early twentieth century. Specifically, it examines the relations between supervised playgrounds, women’s emancipation, child welfare policies, and political discussion on social class. In doing so, the article illustrates the transnational circulation and implementation of early twentieth century “child-saving” ideas, such as the playground reform. The analysis is done by cross and close reading a wealth of contemporary texts on playgrounds, such as magazines, newspapers, and archival materials. By tracing the interwoven aspects of the playground movement and the history of Finland, especially the significance of the Civil War of 1918, this article argues that supervised playgrounds were utilised in reconciling the socio-political issues of the newly independent state.