Cultural and Social Meanings of Gambling in Finland and Sweden

This chapter focuses on showing how historical discourses and practices of gambling still resonate in the cultural and social meanings attached to gambling in Finland and Sweden. The emphasis is on the comparison between these two countries. The main questions are: what are the (historically) shared cultural and social meanings concerning gambling in Finland and Sweden? What are the differences? How have the gambling cultures changed over the years? Can there be talk of Finnish and Swedish “gambling dispositifs” in a Foucaultian style? ¹