Translated for the first time in English, Finland and Socialism is Alexandra Kollontai’s vivid portrayal of the early years of the socialist movement in Finland. Translated and introduced by Cathy Porter, Kollontai’s writings on Finland are first-hand reportage and political analysis of workers organising against Tsarist autocracy and capitalist oppression. Originally published in 1906, Finland and Socialism was banned the following year and a warrant was issued for Kollontai’s arrest.
Kollontai’s writings give an overview of the early years of socialist history in Finland, in which she played an active role, and provide an almost day-to-day account of the 1905 General Strike, which transformed and democratised the Finnish political landscape. It portrays workers’ solidarity, the formation of the Red Guards, the emergence of new proletarian subjectivities and the bourgeoisie’s betrayal of the democratic political process.
In her lengthy introduction, Porter contextualises Kollontai’s writings on Finland by discussing her style and her translation of Marxist terminology into the political struggle. She also provides valuable details about the background to the initial publication of the Finland and Socialism booklet.
Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952) fought on the front line for workers’ power and women’s liberation. Role model for the “new woman” of the Revolution, the only woman member of the first 1917 Bolshevik government, she was also one of the Revolution’s most popular and brilliant writers, read by millions, author of eight books, and over two hundred articles, essays and pamphlets. Her writings from Finland’s socialist movement have been unpublished until now in English translation. Half-Russian, half-Finnish, bilingual in both languages from birth, she wrote extensively about the country in which she was partly raised, whose culture, politics and way of life were so close to her.
Cathy Porter is the author of Alexandra Kollontai. A Biography (first edition 1980), and translator of Kollontai’s fictional trilogies Love of Worker Bees and A Great Love, and Alexandra Kollontai. Writings from the Struggle (2020). She is also an author of Larisa Reisner, A Biography and translator of Writings of Larisa Reisner, both published by Brill/Historical Materialism Series in 2023. For Rab-Rab Press, Porter translated Reisner’s writings on the Decembrist rising (2024).
Designed by Ott Kagovere, the book is richly illustrated with archival images depicting the early years of workers movements in Finland.
The translation and publication of Finland and Socialism is supported by the Kone Foundation, and the project will continue with the publication of Kollontai’s other writings on Finland, including The Life of the Finnish Workers from 1903.
