This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Pakkasvirta, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

From Pulp to Fiction?

Fray Bentos Pulp Investment Conflict through the Finnish Media

Renvall Institute for Area and Cultural Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland, jussi.pakkasvirta{at}helsinki.fi

The pulp mill conflict between Argentina and Uruguay is a topical environmental local—global dispute including various time—space levels (local—regional—national—global). It is also a politico-economic battle among business, civil society and governments in the two South American countries. This article highlights the widely analysed Argentine and Uruguayan perspectives, but it also brings to the fore the Finnish case (of mass media, the global Finnish paper industry, Finnish NGOs and the government). The article seeks to come to an understanding of the characteristics of the conflict as portrayed by the media in Finland and, critically, to examine the effects of the stereotypical Finnish image — `iconic model' — on Argentina and Uruguay. The article is a study of the discussions in the Finnish mass media, mainly in Helsingin Sanomat (HS), the key national newspaper, and in the television coverage of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. The analysis shows that the Finnish media, too, have created stereotypes that harden attitudes and make conflict resolution more difficult. What is virtually absent in the Finnish media is a democratic multicultural learning culture that fosters and itself is fostered through a more transnational and interdisciplinary perspective. The global and national media have an increasingly important task in such situations of cultural conflict resolution, situations which are also attached to the recent discussions of corporate social responsibility.

Key Words: Argentina • environmental conflicts • Finland • Latin American politics • media • paper industry • pulp mills • Uruguay

Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 43, No. 4, 421-446 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0010836708096883


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?