My doctoral dissertation, Lapuan liike ja kyyditykset ( ‘The Lapua Movement and the violence and abductions’ 1985), investigated, on the basis of archive sources, historical events in the Lapua Movement (a radical nationalist, anti-communist movement) between 1929 and 1930, the number of abductions, the people who organised them and their connections with one another. There was no need for hidden archives, as the information was largely available in public archives, once the knowledge they contained was combined.

In the mid-1980s, the question of human beings’ tendency to act against their own interests and see reality in the light of their previous experiences seemed best answered by psychoanalysis. As a toolbox, I formulated a synthesis of the literature of the day, Dimension of Change in Psychohistory (1989). In the book, my critical focus is mainly French post-structural, constructivist and postmodern theories which, in my opinion, made people simply the sum of their present relationships and neglected natural limitations to flexibility and the weight of accumulated experience.

Because I had completed my PhD in Finnish history, a constantly accumulating and changing area of application for a ‘biosocial synthesis’ needed to be found from within that discipline. The trilogy Suomalainen ahdistus. Huoli sielun pelastuksesta (‘Finnish angst. Concern about the salvation of the soul’ 1992), Valkoisen äidin pojat. Siveellisyys ja sen varjot kansallisessa projektissa (‘True sons of the white mother. Morality and its shadow side in the nationalist project’ 1999) and Sisällissodan psykohistoria (‘A psychohistory of the Finnish Civil War’ 2009), which untangles the history of the Finnish notion of angst, does not compare Finland to other countries, nor does it describe the national character.

Miehen kunnia. Modernin miehen taistelu häpeää vastaan (‘Honour of a man. Modern man's battle against shame’ 1994) was the fourth part of the trilogy, a work written in two years from male biographical material combined with analysis of popular culture and newspaper articles, with recession-gripped Finland setting the scene. The central proposition transcends the specifics of the time: a man’s honour is in danger of collapsing into shame if he cannot cope. Shame extends to masculinity and is not limited to performance at work or other external things.

When I was writing a book on working life, I first began to properly read the international literature on economic history, and the following ten years of teaching, collaboration with Marku Kuisma led to my lecturing on the long history of capitalism from early capitalism until the present global system.

My long-term themes of individualisation and the social peace created by the rise of the middle class are connected with my present topic, the decline of the Western middle class, and individual adaptive strategies in the face of this change. They can vary from ever harder competition to political protests and the formation of coalitions, from depression to retreating to alternative playing fields.

Over the years, Professor Juha Siltala has made over 60 international academic appearances. In addition, since 1987 he has given lectures on different themes at the university and elsewhere.