The first four articles in this issue form a themed section based on a selection of papers presented at the workshop titled “Expectations and Uncertainties: Liminal Experiences in the Baltic Sea Region in the Early 1990s”, held at Tampere University on 23 November 2023. The first article, by Ville Yliaska, examines how ordinary Finns recounted the economic crisis of the early 1990s, analysing letters from citizens addressed to cabinet ministers. By studying these letters alongside parliamentary group minutes and National Economic Council records, Yliaska reveals the emotional and temporal vocabulary used by the writers to navigate their way through Finland's deepest post-war recession. Hasan Akintug examines Åland’s place in the Nordic and European arenas during the early-1990s transition. During the Cold War, Åland’s role in the Nordic Council gave it symbolic parity with the Nordic states and space for limited paradiplomacy. But the post-Cold War realignment – especially Sweden and Finland joining the EU – raised doubts about the future of Nordic cooperation. Using a constructivist lens, Akintug shows how Ålandic representatives interpreted these shifts in Nordic Council debates, advocating continued Nordic collaboration and promoting the “Åland example” as a model of peaceful conflict resolution. In turn, Aapo Roselius examines how a neo-patriotic memory regime centred on the Second World War emerged in Finland at the beginning of the 1990s. His focus is on the repatriation of missing Finnish soldiers, and on the recovery and commemoration of abandoned war graves in the former region of Finnish Karelia. The section concludes with an article by Kati Katajisto and Matti La Mela concerning the 1994 Finnish parliamentary debate on EU membership. Using William Reddy’s concept of “emotional regime,” they show how both supporters and opponents used emotionally charged arguments that cast the EU in terms of threats, fears, and hopes – shaping interpretations of the past and influencing views of the present and future. Katajisto and La Mela argue that the debates reflected an attempt to transition from an emotional regime characterised by secrecy and emotional control and shaped by historical ties to the Soviet Union (Russia), towards a foreign policy emphasising transparency and pluralism.

In addition to the thematic section, this issue also features two other research articles. Topi Juga analyses how Finnish MPs perceived representation in oral history interviews (1991–1995) concerning the EU accession decision. He argues that party discipline, electoral pressures and regional divides — as highlighted by the analysis of the EU referendum — particularly shaped MPs' recollections, emphasising the importance of representational perceptions. Hannele Kuitunen discusses the post-WWII redevelopment of Amuri, a wooden workers' district in Tampere, Finland. Kuitunen demonstrates how urban renewal provided a platform for collaboration between various stakeholders, enabling the implementation of local governance and citizens' perspectives. This issue concludes with contributions from Maika Absetz, who writes about the 2025 World Economic History Congress (WEHC), one of the field's major international events, and Tuija Parvikko, who reviews the latest book by Timo S. Stewart on the political cartographies of Palestine and Israel. As Parvikko points out, Stewart’s book convincingly demonstrates that maps are neither politically neutral nor impartial representations of the world. Instead, they encapsulate the political reality and worldview of the period in which they were created. This year's WEHC focused on sustainability, a theme reflected in the content of numerous panels and keynote lectures (e.g. by Professor Mar Rubio-Varas). In the style of the finest academic travelogue, Absetz vividly describes the various manifestations and practicalities of a large-scale conference held in Lund this year.