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Reviews
| From a Few to All: Long-Term Development of Water and Environmental Services in Finland. Ed. by Petri S. Juuti and Tapio S. Katko. Kangasala, Finland: KehräMedia Inc., 2004. 175 pp., tables, maps, illus., notes. $40 pb (ISBN 951-98151-2-0).
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This collection of essays selected, and in most cases written, by historian Petri S. Juuti and engineer Tapio S. Katko effectively demonstrates that moving quickly from a rural agrarian society to an urbanized high tech one did not exempt Finland from experiencing the usual woes of industrialization, including undrinkable water and inadequate waste disposal systems. My mental image of Finland had always been one of a land characterized by sparkling blue lakes so pristine that sauna enthusiasts could leap into the water without hesitation as they dashed from the bathhouse to the end of the pier. That is, after all, the quintessential Finnish experience: the steaming hot sauna followed by the plunge into the lake. Discovering that some Finnish lakes experienced pollution sufficiently severe to render them unsafe for swimming was almost as rude a mental shock as the sauna can be physically. As a third-generation Finnish-American, I no doubt had an idealized vision of the land of my ancestors. After reading From a Few to All, however, it occurred to me those late-19th-century open-ditch sewers in Tampere and other Finnish cities may have been one reason my grandparents left.
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Of course, what they found when they arrived in Upper Michigan was not noticeably better. Although Timo Myllyntaus reminds readers in the foreword that in many ways Finland's industrial and environmental history is unique, the importance of this book actually lies in its universality. The truth is, water and sewerage systems were comparatively primitive to nonexistent in many industrialized countries, including the United States, well into the mid-20th century. Cities similar in size and development to Tampere struggled with the same problems of water supply and waste disposal and, indeed, continue to struggle with them today. Developing nations in particular confront the same questions with which 19th-century Finnish planners and engineers dealt—surface water versus groundwater, public versus private systems, local versus regional. For example, the authors note that "privatization" is often touted today as the optimal solution, no matter what the situation, as though it is a fresh idea. From a Few to All reminds readers privatization of public utilities has been considered many times in the past. In 1865 the city of Tampere evaluated a proposal for a privately owned water system, found the terms unfavorable, and rejected the plan in favor of a municipally owned utility. In other parts of Europe, different choices were made, and, as Juuti and Katko note in explicating path-dependency theory, the choices made 150 years ago continue to shape decisions made today.
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| The book is divided into three parts. The first section provides an overall historical context and theoretical grounding for the case studies to follow. Specific examples from several cities and from the pulp and paper industry come next with, finally, a concluding essay that attempts to link practicing history with conducting futures research. The divisions in the book do not quite match up with the way the individual chapters read. The case study of the pulp and paper industry would seem to have been a better fit with part 1 than with part 3. The concluding two essays in the book are intriguing, but at the same time it feels like, once again, a historian is trying to sell professionals in other disciplines on the idea that the study of history can have a utilitarian function. Still, this book is well worth reading. The case studies are interesting as are the discussions of the "hidden" public works systems of cities that can easily be invisible to political and social historians. The extensive use of graphs, maps, and other illustrations accompanying the case studies are, in general, clear and easy to follow. In one or two cases, a better quality original could have been used, but that is a minor flaw, as is an occasional awkward phrase reflecting the authors thinking in Finnish rather than English. |
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