Kolme kriisiä ja kansalliset rahapelit : Yhteiskunnallisten murroskausien vaikutus suomalaisen rahapelijärjestelmän muotoutumiseen

The study analyzes the historical formation of the Finnish gambling system with particular focus on non-economic factors related to the legalization of gambling. The development of the gambling system is examined from the perspective of three periods which turn out to be critical turning points in society. Firstly, the start of football pools during the year of the Winter War, 1940, and the subsequent Continuation War, and the “years of danger” at the end of the decade, when the agent networks of Finnish gambling corporations Veikkaustoimisto and Raha-automaattiyhdistys became organizations that monitored the moods and behaviors of citizens, in addition to their other functions. The second period was the rapid preparatory process of the lottery (Lotto) in 1970, a year of turbulent internal and foreign policy, and the subsequent period of strong social consensus development, when playing the lottery became a regular hobby of broad sections of the population. The third period of change was the recession of the 1990s. In the spirit of the liberalization of the financial markets of the previous decade, the range of gambling offered was expanded at that time toward the casino gambling ideal and gambling profits began to be used as a support of the austerity policies during the recession. 
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\nThe research showed that in addition to economic factors, one motive for the legalization of gambling was the nature of gambling, which relieves societal pressures and preserves the prevailing system; gambling was used to calm down the turmoil caused by the aforementioned crises. This applies especially to the first two periods of change, in which the activities of the extreme left were a key part of the societal unrest. From a theoretical perspective, gambling as a phenomenon that relieves societal pressures is examined in the study using Edward Devereux’s view, in particular, of gambling as a safety valve of a capitalist society. Gambling as a phenomenon that preserves the prevailing system is explored in greater depth using the system justification theory of social psychology. 
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\nA second key research finding is also revealed from the perspective of preserving social order. Behind the scenes, during all three periods of social change the people who have significantly influenced the legalization of gambling or the directing of the use of gambling profits have been male-dominated elite groups that were seeking power; for its part, legalized gambling has been related to the legitimization of their goals and dominance in its own way. Another way of sustaining a dominant position has been propaganda; as a result, Finnish people have been taught to believe that gambling with Finnish gambling systems is a part of becoming a respectable citizen and a sacrifice for the survival of the country. In the 1940s the cadre of men consisted of comrades in arms acting in the spirit of the Winter War; in the 1970s they were fellow veterans united by a spirit of comradery and the ideals of a new direction in foreign policy, “Kekkonen’s men”; and in the 1990s they were the officials and ministers of the Ministry of Finance, sons of war veterans, who admired militarist traditions and violent means of solving problems. The study takes a deeper look at these man unions, who perceived themselves as saviors of society from the threatening power of chaos using the theory of hegemonic masculinity, which explores the ideological construction of male supremacy in Western societies.
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\nOne of the results posited in the study is an interpretation according to which the strengthening of the gambling monopoly in 2017, which deviates from the European-wide development, can be partly explained by the historical formation and growth of the Finnish system through crises that threatened national existence and a social order based on traditional values. Historically, gambling and the organizations that have implemented it have been closely linked with the power networks that have significant influence on its legalization, defend the social order, and regulate conflict, as well as with their efforts to affect the mood and behavior of citizens. 
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\nThe study makes use of a variety of source material and a way of reading sources that is characteristic of modern historical research, in which interpretation and the researcher’s personal insight rise to complement the ideals of investigating the origin of sources and the factors that influence their emergence. Using diverse source material, gambling is contextualized as broadly as possible as part of the political and economic environment of each period under study.

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