Browsing by Subject "valtiotieteet"
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2021)The focus of this thesis is the study of the Knowledge Society discourse and policies of international development organisations (the UN, AU, IADB, ITU, UNESCO) and two national governments (South Africa and Finland). The research question is “Why and how the policies of national and international organizations have promoted and developed Knowledge Society policies generally and for development in the Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular?” The data for the thesis traces its origins to the author being immersed for 15 years in Knowledge Society policy implementation and study, in and across five regions (Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and Africa). This thesis involves an introductory essay, four articles and one book chapter. The author’s framework in this study blends earlier research on the historical progression of scholarly thought on Knowledge Society discourse and policies with public discourse on the content and new directions of what defines Knowledge Society policy. The author has engaged in participant observation and many rounds of analysis, iteration, reflection, and interpretation as it pertains to the subject matter. Since 2015, she has carried out further data collection, analysis and interpretation for purposes of theory building . The data collected, analysed and interpreted in this study thus pertain to the history and evolution of Information and Knowledge Society and its manifestation in national policies of governments and the development policies of international development organisations globally, and more specifically in the context of Africa. Following the methodology of Gioia, Corley and Hamilton (2013), the author categorized her foregoing data on Knowledge Society discourse and policies into 21 first-order codes or policy themes. The identified themes are each contextually embedded in the time of their publication. Some of the policy themes in the essay and publications have remained the same from 2000 to 2015. Other policy themes, like gender and local economy, have only appeared on the agenda more recently. The three developmental ‘waves’, ‘phases’ or ‘dimensions’ of Knowledge Society are: An efficiency-and economically oriented wave starting as discourse in the 1970s, an information and communication technology wave starting in the 1980s and globalization and development wave starting in the 1990s. Within each of these waves and across them, Knowledge Society has either contributed to development of national economies and societies in the Global North (such as those of Europe or the United States) or in the Global South (such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa). Calls for further research include the study of the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on development in selected countries in the Global North and the Global South.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2006)Verkkari 2006 (8)
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2021)The aim of this doctoral thesis is to examine how the four biggest parties in Finland define their opinion on welfare, citizenship, children, young people, and the elderly in their parliamentary election programs. The dissertation brings about new information concerning how the political parties define welfare and citizenship among their parliamentary election programs. In addition, the thesis sheds light on how welfare, citizenship and the different age groups are being politicised in the context of parliamentary elections. The material of the thesis consists of the programs written for parliamentary elections by the four biggest parties in Finland between 1991—2019. These four parties have gained the most votes in the parliamentary elections during the 2010s (Finnish parliamentary elections in 2011, 2015 and 2019): The Centre Party, The Finns Party, The National Coalition Party and The Social Democratic Party of Finland. The research method used in this thesis is critical discourse analysis. The dissertation focuses on three questions: 1. How do the political parties define welfare responsibility within the debate on social policy in Finland? 2. How are the needs and abilities of the citizens being described in the framework of the welfare state debate? 3. What are the roles of children, young people and the elderly, and what kind of policy making is being pursued with them? The study shows that the parties clearly place the responsibility of people’s welfare in Finland on the state and on public welfare services. All four parties strongly underscore the notion of public welfare services being citizens’ universal rights in Finland. They also stress the role of the government in what comes to ensuring the welfare of its citizens. This is evident in both the discourse on welfare state citizenship and in how the different age groups are discussed. On the one hand, children and the elderly are being defined as passive targets of public welfare services, measures and protection, but on the other hand also as active agents, although only within the sector of public services in a very time-limited scale. Young people were mostly defined through worries and risks in the parliamentary election programs. It seems that separate, self-evident discursive practises have evolved within the parliamentary election programs, through which it is possible to talk about welfare and citizenship: the discourse takes place mainly in the framework of public welfare services. The programs’ talk about welfare and citizenship is narrow: the discussion stems from the points of view of the public welfare service system and the economy.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2016)The everyday life and bonds of the spousal care of the elderly There are almost 24 000 Finns over the age of 65 who have made an agreement with the welfare state to be compensated for taking care of their family member in need. This agreement – typically concerning spousal care taking place at the mutual home of the spouses – is part of the current “public care” of the elderly in which the Finnish welfare state partners up with families. The public sector, the private sector and the third sector are all looking for their role and modes of collaboration in the network of care. Services supporting the elderly living at home are developed at the same time as the possibilities for institutional care are diminishing. The theoretical approach of the study draws on “figurational sociology” by Norbert Elias. In this study it means studying the ways in which people, human bonds and material objects form a figuration of care in which each element is interdependent of other elements and the whole. The aim of the research is to analyse the interrelated bonds in a way that opens up both their process of formation, and the experience of individuals as a part of the whole figuration of care. The study examines how the everyday life of the care of the elderly is formed, how the nature and bonds of care transform over different phases of care, and how various attachments and disruptions organize the figuration of everyday life. The research materials consist of qualitative interviews, ethnographic observation and a self-filled diary of the caregivers’ week, including their reflections of different days, significant relationships in the network of care and their personal notes. In all, it includes 21 interviews with 11 persons taking care of their spouse (between the ages of 67 and 83 years old) and with three persons in need of care. The empirical data was produced between April 2013 and February 2014. The research results depict a thick description of the everyday life of the spousal care. In addition to verbal analysis of the significant bonds of care, four different phases of care are presented visually placing the spouse caring and the spouse been cared for in the same visual frame (in the home in which the care takes place). The visual presentation illuminates the processes, practices and organising factors of the everyday life of care over time and space. The state of the bondedness can be described as porous, straining, heavy and sticky, depending on the intensity of needs of the spouse been cared for. The most important element of the figuration of care is “the demanding body” referring to the transformation of the spouse been cared for, from an actor to a “needy” body constantly demanding something from the caregiver, material surroundings and devices that gradually take over the whole space and life. The most significant material ties are formed to the home in which the care takes place, the assisting devices and medications. The ways in which humans are intertwined with material devices are examined through the metaphors of stick, walker, wheelchair and bed. The most central human bonds in the figurations of care are the one between the spouses and the one between them and the professionals involved. These central bonds are the most consequential in the formation of the figuration of care. The care of the spouse is physically and emotionally sticky full-time nursing that sometimes feels like being a prisoner. However, the caregivers are different and their characteristics make an impact on the way in which the figuration of care evolves. Taking care for one’s spouse who is gradually getting frail, is depicted as a process of loss and letting go of the personally significant contents of life, including the spouse her- or himself. Elias discusses this as a broken valency, one that tears apart a part of oneself. Discretion, empathy and respect toward the elderly by their family members, the public officials and the nursing staff would ease the caregivers’ burden. The study speaks for the benefits of the dynamic and holistic perspective of Elias’s figurational sociology in studying care. It enables to understand human interdependencies and needs as a part of a larger figuration of bonds, both human and material. By adding the material aspect in studying the human figuration of care, the study builds a fuller picture of the everyday realities of elderly care than work merely focusing on people. Keywords: aging, elderly care, family care, figurational sociology, human bonds, interdependency, material sociology, visualisation and welfare services
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2013)In both Russia and Finland, at the turn of the 21st century, there was a considerable amount of concern about too low domestic fertility. This concern was not, however, expressed in the same way in these two countries. The differences in participants and in the emphasis of the discussion were remarkable. In this doctoral thesis we study the relationship between gender and citizenship in Russian and Finnish fertility rhetorics. The study shows that Russian and Finnish demographic policies can be an island of nationalism in a globalizing world and that from a demographic point of view, traditional national state citizenship is still going strong. The study is based on the contents analysis and the rhetoric analysis of Russian and Finnish population policy documents. Fertility rhetorics in Russia and Finland are contrasted with respect to the contents of fertility concern, underlying values and the subjects of fertility policy as well as gender. The study consists of five articles and a summary. In three articles, I take a look at Russian fertility discourse, in one of them at the Finnish one and in one at both. The study answers the question what is written about when the topic is fertility. What is the role of fertility in demographic policy and what means of persuasion are used in fertility rhetorics? I try to clarify what kind of relationship between the citizens and the state the rhetoric implies and how this relationship is determined on the basis of gender. The ways in which Russian and Finnish rhetorics dealt with fertility differed from each other a great deal. In Russia the focus was on explaining the reasons for low fertility and solutions to it were sought in policy. In Finland, the focus was on such solutions that could mitigate the negative impacts of low birth rates. The way in which low fertility is conceptualized would seem to have an impact on the direction taken in the implements of policies. In Russia they were building a policy whose aim was to boost fertility by stressing the importance of traditional family values, mental and spiritual values and citizens ́ duty to reproduce. In Finland, demographic policy was redefined so that it would not be as obliging as it was in past. The aim of Finnish demographic policy was to make the population structure younger and to balance the public economy. A higher fertility was aimed at but without clearpronatalistic emphasis. Instead of stressing citizens ́ duty to reproduce, the right to reproduce was emphasized. The underlying values of Finnish demographic policy were fairness, equality and a positive view of children. Gender differences were stressed in Russia in the 21st century and thus the subject of demographic policy was the woman. Men were not viewed as reproductive citizens. In Finland, the reproductive rhetoric was almost gender-neutral and its demographic subject was the productive worker and the taxpayer. In Finland men have gradually started to be documented as reproductive citizens.
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(2008)Tarkastelen tässä tutkimuksessa yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedon saamaa julkisuutta päivälehdistössä väitöskirjoista tehtyjen uutisten pohjalta. Perusaineistoni on Helsingin yliopiston valtiotieteellisessä tiedekunnassa julkaistuista väitöskirjoista tehdyt Helsingin Sanomien lehtijutut. Tehtyjen juttujen avulla pyrin tarkastelemaan luokiteltavassa muodossa väitöskirjojen saamaa julkisuutta ja yleisempänä ilmiönä yhteiskuntatieteellisten aiheiden käsittelyä ja asemaa julkisessa sanassa. 1.1 Tutkimuskohde: väitöskirja uutisena Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tieto näyttäisi olevan hankalampi aihealue tiedotusvälineille kuin luonnontieteellinen tieto. Esimerkiksi Helsingin Sanomien tiedesivuilla käsitellään lähinnä luonnontieteen saavutuksia ja yhteiskuntatieteellinen tieto jää tieteestä raportoitaessa vähemmälle huomiolle. Max Weber havaitsi, että tieteen paikka maailmassa on labiili ja altis ajan virtauksille. Tieteen asiantuntijat vaikuttavat päätösten tekoon, mutta insinööritieteiden selkeät ratkaisuvaihtoehdot näyttävät syrjäyttävän helposti yhteiskuntatieteellisen tutkimuksen suhteelliseen näkyvyyden (Weber 1987, 33 - 34; 46 - 47). Tieteen tiedotuksen edistämiseksi korkeakouluihin alkoi ilmestyä 1980-luvulla tiedottajia. Samalla tieteen (yleensä tosin luonnontieteen) kansantajuistamiseksi syntyi mm. Tiede 2000 -lehti. Saman asian edistämiseksi perustettiin myös tiedekeskus Heureka Vantaalle. (Eskola 1985, 155.) Yhteiskuntatieteen popularisointia ei ole järjestetty yhtä systemaattisesti. Tämän ilmeisen puutteen vuoksi halusin tässä tutkimuksessa selvittää, vastaako käsitykseni yhteiskuntatieteen vaatimattomasta julkisuudesta myös todellisuutta.
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(2020)Yhteiskuntatieteet ovat olleet ajoittain tärkeässä roolissa suomalaisessa korkeakoulupolitiikassa – niin uudistusten kohteena kuin niiden tekijänä. Artikkeli tarkastelee suomalaisen korkeakoulupolitiikan muutoksia Helsingin yliopiston valtiotieteellisen tiedekunnan näkökulmasta. Tiedekunta perustettiin 75 vuotta sitten.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2011)Thee thesis, which consists of four original articles and a summarizing chapter, discusses homology between social class and cultural taste. Cultural taste is defined as the choices made in different areas of culture (television, cinema, reading, music, visual arts, sports, dining out, and leisure pursuits). Taste choices manifest themselves as likes and dislikes but also in what a person does. Social class is observed through occupational status, level of education, income and subjective views on class. The central research question concerns the relationship between social class and consumption of culture. The study aims to clarify what kind of class related differences can be found in cultural consumption, but also how these differences are connected to other factors stratifying the society such as gender, age and mother tongue. The data that is being analyzed consists of the data gathered by the project Cultural Capital and Social Differentiation in Contemporary Finland: An International Comparison. Class identification and the relation of cultural divisions to the socioeconomic ones are being analyzed using a nationally represent-ative survey data (N = 1388). Individual interviews (N = 25) and twenty focus group interviews (N = 20) on cultural consumption are also being analyzed. The theoretical framework is built around Pierre Buourdieu s theory of distinction and its critique but also recent research that expands on bourdieusian theory. In the theory of distinction lifestyle is thought to be defined through the quantity and quality of different capitals (economic, cultural and social). Cultural tastes are therefore linked to class status through different capitals. The study shows that the majority of Finns can place themselves in the class scene. Moreover, class-related differences can be found in cultural consumption in empirical analyses. The main differences between classes can be seen in how different classes relate to cultural products but also in the number of leisure pursuits. Being well-off economically is connected to being well-off culturally. High status manifests as omnivorous cultural consumption. The central differences are built upon occupational class so that the working class is more passive than other class groups. Same difference can be found in relation to education and income level. Other im-portant divisive variable is age. Age group defines what is being consumed: the younger respondents are inclined to choose popular culture whereas the older age groups choices represent more traditional taste choices.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2020)The study looks at integration as a cultural process and argues that in the process Finland and its citizens are built as a fantasy. Integration is one of the current challenges of the Finnish and European societies. The brief increase in the number of asylum seekers in 2015 has brought a growing number of people into the scope of the integration services and increased the importance of the way integration is implemented in the society as a whole. In Finland, integration has traditionally been studied either at the level of integration politics or practises. However, rarely do these two strains of research meet. Therefore, the current study builds a view of integration as a cultural process. That is, in addition to being produced through politics and practises, integration is also constructed through the way it is imagined in discourses and representations. The cultural process includes the ways movement, the nation state and citizenship are understood and, hence, the way integration and being ‘well integrated’ are interpreted. The research question of the current study is: What kind of cultural process of integration is constructed in the information packages for migrants? The study analyses 11 information packages produced by ministries in Finland in the years 2000–2018 and intended to guide the migrants during their first steps of integration. The packages are only one part of integration, but they are viewed here as an interface between the integration politics and practises. The study uses critical discourse analysis (CDA) as an overall framework and the tools of CDA, social semiotics and content analysis in the analysis of texts and images. The findings of the analyses are discussed together, utilising the three methods to support and contribute to each other. In the packages the migrants are invited to integrate into an embellished version of Finland, a fantasy of Finland. They thus reveal the best aspects of both the nation and its citizens while excluding the less favourable ones. The nation is constructed especially through the traditional aspects of the welfare state and nature, whereas citizenship is constructed in particular through working. In the cultural process of integration migrants are hence invited to integrate into specific areas of the society, particularly into the welfare state and the labour market, but not into the society or with its citizens at large.
