Researcher documents Finland’s growing sticker wars

Political and activist stickers are increasingly common in Finnish cities, where they are often removed or covered with opposing messages. Researcher Teemu Väisänen has spent nearly two years documenting the stickers across Finland, Yle reports.

Väisänen, an archaeologist who lives in Pomarkku in Satakunta and works as a researcher at the University of Eastern Finland, says the back-and-forth has become a visible part of urban life. One person puts up a sticker promoting an ideology, and someone else later removes it or replaces it with a different message.

He sees a link between stickers and older ways of leaving messages in public spaces, such as wall paintings and engravings. Stickers are an inexpensive and often anonymous way to spread ideas, and repeated exposure to a message can make it familiar, he says.

Political and activist stickers are not a new phenomenon, but they have attracted more attention in recent years. Sanni Linnasaari, a doctoral researcher at the University of Turku, says stickers have been used for decades across Europe to promote ideas associated with countercultures. Examples include anti-nuclear stickers from the 1970s and propaganda stickers used during the Nazi period.

Stickers are often clustered on poles, rubbish bins and electrical cabinets. Linnasaari says people may turn to them when they cannot make their voices heard through conventional channels. As more stickers appear, opposition to their messages can grow, prompting people to cover or remove them and fuelling what researchers call sticker wars.

The practice is also a form of activism and can function as covert advertising. Linnasaari says widespread distribution gives a group visibility at little cost. In recent months, stickers from the Sinimusta liike have appeared in more cities, drawing attention from supporters and opponents alike, she says. Stickers are used across the political spectrum to express views publicly, show affiliation and provoke other groups.

Väisänen is watching to see whether campaigning ahead of the next parliamentary election will bring more stickers. He says that messages seen repeatedly on a school or work commute can stay with people.

Not all stickers are political. Sports supporters’ stickers are among the most common, Väisänen says, and religious stickers also appear around Finland. Local sticker cultures vary: he has noticed tourism-related stickers in Rovaniemi and a large number of anti-fascist stickers in Inari. Stickers are unauthorised, but researchers also view them as a way of influencing public life and using urban space.