Czy można zaprojektować przyszłość? Polityczno-kulturowe korzenie dwudziestowiecznej transformacji Finlandii

The article undertakes the topic of the unprecedented transformation of Finland in the second half of the 20th century, which resulted in the country’s achieving the leading global position in technological development and the creation of knowledge-based society while simultaneously significantly improving the citizens’ well-being and quality of life. The article aims to describe the combination of internal factors connected with the actions of the Finnish elites which had facilitated this transformation. It utilizes numerous historical sources and applies Immanuel Wallerstein’s concept of world-systems, concentrating in particular on the specificity of the 19th-century nation-building process, the significance of the education and school system, the prospective orientation, and the socially dominant way of perceiving science and knowledge as crucial factors defining the modernization process.