2024

Mikko Lagerspetz

The Finnish national association of sociologists, founded in 1940, is called The Westermarck Society. With its roughly 700 members, it is one of the largest scientific societies in Finland. It is also large in international comparison. Since 1964, it publishes the journal Sosiologia, and since 1968, it organises an annual national conference of Finnish sociologists (Sociologists’ Days), which rotates between different universities in Finland. Earlier this year, a volume on the association’s history was published (in Finnish, with chapter summaries in Swedish and in English). Based on that volume, the present article discusses the development of Finnish sociology and The Westermarck Society during its first decades.