ABSTRACT
Resilience, understood as a combination of critical infrastructure protection, vital societal functions, and societal security, has become increasingly central in the Finnish comprehensive security model, as indicated by various policy documents produced by different branches of the government. Previous research has interpreted the international turn to resilience as an indication of contemporary ideological trends, and analysed the features of resilience genealogically through its origins in the natural sciences. This chapter argues that the analysis of resilience-driven security strategies and technologies needs to pay more attention to the impact of local political history and (state) culture to the practical implementation of such strategies. In order to understand the substance and nuances of the emerging resilience doctrine in Finland, it is not sufficient to focus on international context and the emerging perception of the increasingly complex “threat environment”. A longitudinal perspective is required, which we provide by genealogically tracing a strong continuity between Finland’s Cold War conceptions of total/spiritual defence and the recent (re-)emergence of the calls to enhance societal resilience.
