Aini Linjakumpu is Lecturer of Politics in the Department of Social Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland and Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo is a researcher at the University of Lapland, Finland.

• Chapter 1 Introduction, Aini Linjakumpu, Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo; Chapter 2 History as a Project of Progress? The North as a Focus of Attention, Marja Tuominen; Chapter 3 'Chapters' of Progress '” The Case of a Village Idiot, Pälvi Rantala; Chapter 4 Progress and Emotions in Lapland, Aini Linjakumpu; Chapter 5 Remembering and Forgetting the Second World War in Finland: The Politics of Memory in Online Discussions, Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo; Chapter 6 Narratives of Progress in the Politics of Urho Kekkonen and the Agrarian League, Petri Koikkalainen; Chapter 7 Northern Universities and the Changing Status of Minorities, Lars Elenius; Chapter 8 Slow Activism: Art in Progress in the North, Mirja Hiltunen; Chapter 9 From Emotional Memory to Active Awareness: Counter-Memory and Resistance in Torne Valley Finnish Literature, Riitta Kontio; Chapter 10 Women Behind the Camera in the Early Twentieth Century at the Arctic Circle: A Step Towards Independence, Mervi Autti; Chapter 11 Concluding Remarks, Aini Linjakumpu, Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo;

'Progress or Perish offers a freshening blow from the North to the analysis of social change. It reveals the social construction of progress through detailed study of micro-histories, arts and common experiences hitherto often written off in existing literature. It is a worthy contribution to those intrigued by the Northern communities, be they sociologists, geographers, cultural historians or lay observers of political life.' Samu Pehkonen, University of Tampere, Finland