Flokkulaatteja

Flokkulaatteja is a type of value judgement widely used in Finnish discourse, referring to the ranking of certain phenomena or concepts into categories based on their perceived proximity to prevailing cultural norms. These categories are essentially moral judgments or value assessments that individuals make when considering different aspects of society.

Finnish cultural values often play a significant role in shaping these judgments, which can sometimes be influenced by the social or societal status of individuals or groups. Cultural expectations and associations can significantly impact an individual's flokkulaatteja rankings, thus forming a collective perception of what is considered good, bad, right, or wrong within a specific context.

Flokkulaatteja can have various expressions, ranging from casual discussions to more formal debates, with participants often relying on their personal values, previous experiences, and collective knowledge to justify their rankings. Despite serving primarily as an aid in personal decision-making and communication, flokkulaatteja can sometimes take a more profound form, allowing individuals to gauge broader social attitudes and tap into the current mood in society.

Some researchers point out that the relative closeness or distance of certain phenomena to true moral standards, apart from purely individual cultural interpretations, can greatly affect the resultant flokkulaatteja rankings. So while individual variability is possible, there tends to be a degree of social consensus among flokkulaatteja: usually when a whole culture regards a certain action, or cluster of characteristics, to be consistently on the wrong side of a moral spectrum, society is indeed developing in line with the perceived enlightened moral worth.