Enrique Tessieri is a journalist and sociologist who writes and researches immigration topics like Finnish immigration to Argentina. Tessieri has lectured on South American history at Turku University as well as written books and articles on immigration. He was a researcher at the Migration Institute of Turku and had worked as a foreign correspondent in Finland, Spain, Italy, Argentina and Colombia for the Financial Times, Buenos Aires Herald, BBC, Bridge News and others. Presently employed at Otava Folk High School, he is also the editor at Migrant Tales – one of the foremost blogs in Finland on immigration related issues.
Enjoy the interview!
TH: Hi Enrique! Can you tell us more about yourself?
Enrique: I am a sociologist who worked as a journalist for about 20 years as a foreign correspondent for newspapers like BridgeNews and the Financial Times in countries like Finland, Spain, Italy, Argentina and Colombia.
One of my favourite topics is cultural diversity and immigration, which I have researched as well.
TH: Why did you initially choose to live in Finland?
Enrique: I chose to live in Finland because of my Finnish roots. Even if I moved to Finland permanently in 1978, every ten years I move abroad to work. I do this because it is a good way to gain experience and new ideas.
TH: What do you see as your “place” in Finland when you were staying here?
Enrique: My “place” in Finland is to work for a successful culturally and ethnically diverse society that abides by Nordic values like social equality.
Finland is a very racialized country. We have to change this. Immigration and cultural diversity are positive, not negative, matters.
Too many Finns, I suspect, see cultural diversity as a threat. This is unfortunate and costly. We lose out on opportunities.
TH: What was the most important and meaningful event or experience that happened in Finland?
Enrique: The most important and meaningful event was when I discovered that Finland didn’t consider me to be a Finn despite the fact that my mother is Finnish.
Even if we have Finnish citizenship, we are not considered “real” Finns by some institutions like the police service, which label us as “persons with foreign background.”
What is “a person with foreign background” anyway? Is that a place, a country, or what?
TH: What was the happiest moment in your life in Finland?
Enrique: The happiest moments of my life in Finland were when I visited my grandparents in the country every year.
Rural Mikkeli was very different from hot and smoggy Los Angeles. It was those unforgettable summers that brought me back to live in Finland.
TH: Can you tell us what are the top 3 challenges you or foreigners you know have faced in Finland?
Enrique: The top-three challenges that foreigners face in Finland is to challenge discrimination and prejudice.
We should strive to build a society where difference is seen as a good matter. We need to teach future generations of Finns that cultural diversity is a good matter and that there is no such thing as a “prototype Finn.”
Finns come in many ethnic and cultural backgrounds these days. The three challenges here are therefore:
(1) Building a society that it true to our Nordic ideals;
(2) Challenging racism; and
(3) Discrimination.
TH: Do you think there are solutions or better alternatives to how we think about these three challenges?
Enrique: Finland is a modern society that has built a successful welfare state that is on the defensive these days.
We have the tools and the knowledge as a society to build a successful culturally diverse society where people are treated equally irrespective of their background.
TH: We know that you started a website for migrants, “Migrant Tales”. What was the story and motivation behind this website?
Enrique: The first story published in Migrant Tales was in May 2007.
The blog has been important in dialoging and meeting people who are also involved in promoting cultural diversity.
Migrant Tales’ reason for being is simple: We are a blog community that debates some of the salient issues facing immigrants and minorities in Finland and elsewhere.
It aims to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians, and public.
