Road to Utopia: Finnish Communities in Canada and the United States up to ‘Karelian Fever’

• Published in: Journal of Finnish Studies
• Main Author: Saramo, Samira
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Illinois Press 2011
• Subjects: Canada; karelia*; karelian
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5406/28315081.15.1.2.04; https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jfs/article-pdf/15/1-2/19/1609014/19saramo.pdf

Abstract Saramo's article “Road to Utopia” provides an overview of the main characteristics and developments of Finnish communities in Canada and the United States until the time of the Karelian Fever—the migration of North American Finnish immigrants to Soviet Karelia. With the use of the available secondary source material on the Finnish North American population, the article bridges Finnish experiences from Finland to North America, and for some, ultimately, to Stalin's Russia. By tracing the rise of socialism (and communism) among many North American Finns, and by examining factions within the Finnish diaspora, Saramo points to the key factors in individual decisions to emigrate to Karelia and contextualizes the Finnish community development that occurred there.