Class or no class? A contemporary archaeological approach to a working-class neighbourhood in northern Finland

This paper focuses on the contemporary archaeology of a former working-class neighbourhood in Oulu, Finland, and traces the changes that took place in the lifestyle of the community in the 40-year postwar era from 1947 to 1987. We examine specifically how the sometimes-conflicting material processes of the welfare state and capitalism manifest in the materials, and in the lives of working-class Finns at the time. It is important to put class experience as a focal point of contemporary archaeological research, and trace political histories and their concrete influence in peoples’ everyday lives. Archaeology can reveal the disconnect between the everyday and the larger systemic processes.