From the Autumn 2019 minority researchers at Åbo Akademi collaborate with the blog of the Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU) – Liikkeessä yli rajojen. Contributors are ÅAU researchers, guest speakers at the monthly Lunch Seminars and visiting fellows. Posts are written in English and Finnish.
Doctoral Candidate: Johan Ehrstedt: The Critique of ”Finnish Exceptionalism” and the Burden of History
“In many respects, Finland’s position as a Nordic welfare state is but a memory. While private charity continues to prop up the unstable walls of the ever-leaner welfare state, the cherished national self-image of Finland also begins to show more cracks than ever before. With self-image, I mean the politically useful myth of the Finnish nation-state, which has succeeded in impressing the world. This myth has been the narrative of a kind of national innocence, grounded in the claim that the success story of Finland has not been built at the expense of others, whether these are minorities, nationalities or countries. The brutal treatment of national minorities at the hands of the nation-state has long been a topic of research, while the supposed innocence of our country compared to the rest of the world has faced justified criticism at least since the 1990s. A whole other question is also what effect all of this criticism has had on Finnish citizens in general.” (Ehrstedt 2023) Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Doctoral Candidate Rosa Salmela: Digitaalisista apuvälineistä tukea suomen kielen oppimiseen ja kielitaidon arviointiin
Maailma digitalisoituu kovaa vauhtia. Kuinka suomi toisena kielenä -oppijat huomioidaan tämän keskellä ja millaisia digitaalisia menetelmiä voidaan hyödyntää oppimisen tukena? Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Postdoctoral Researcher Leonardo Custódio, Åbo Akademi: What difference does “anti-racism media activism” make?
Social change is a subject of great interest in academic (Noble, 2000) and non-academic conversations. More often than not, we hear politically motivated people claiming that they want to “make a difference”. Likewise, we often hear people observe different types of political actions and wonder what difference they make. In my research career, I have researched and engaged in media activism. That is, individual and collective initiatives through multiple forms of communication – e.g. journalism, photography, filmmaking, social media, broadcasting, theatre, music, etc. – and interactions. I specifically look at media activism for respect, justice and changes among people who suffer from inequalities (Custódio, 2017). Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Doctoral Candidate Anaïs Duong-Pedica, Åbo Akademi: Colonial Ordering of Space and Bodies: Researching “mixed race” in Kanaky/New-Caledonia
While some would argue that we now live in a postcolonial era, this assumption obscures the fact that settler colonialism continues to be a reality for many Indigenous peoples and nations. Dean Itsuji Saranillio (2015: 84) describes settler colonialism as “a historically created system of power that aims to expropriate Indigenous territories and eliminate modes of production in order to replace Indigenous peoples with settlers who are discursively constituted as superior and thus more deserving over these contested lands and resources”. Among others, setter colonies include Canada, Hawai’i, the United States, South Africa, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, West Papua and Kanaky/New-Caledonia, currently one of France’s “overseas territories”. Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Doctoral Candidate Heidi Katz, Åbo Akademi: Considering race in the context of Finnish schools: why should we move past colour-blindness?
Race is often treated as an uncomfortable, misunderstood concept in Finland and Finnish schools. Equality, a core Finnish value, is frequently used as a reason to not consider race, but as long as race and students’ racialized experiences are ignored, inequality persists. Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Doctoral Candidate Inka-Maria Nyman, Åbo Akademi: Uhkaako digitalisaatio vähemmistöjen musiikkikulttuuria?
Tekniikan kehitys on mullistanut musiikkielämän viime vuosikymmenten aikana. Koskaan aikaisemmin ei tällaista määrää musiikkia ole ollut näin monen ihmisen saavutettavissa missä ja milloin vain. Myöskään musiikin tuottaminen ei ole koskaan aikaisemmin ollut mahdollista yhtä edullisesti yhtä laajalle joukolle kuin tässä älypuhelinten ja suoratoistopalveluiden maailmassa. Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Professor Siv Björklund & Project Coordinator Linda Storås, Åbo Akademi: Fostering linguistically sensitive teaching in teacher education
Linguistic and cultural diversity is rapidly increasing in schools in Europe. Research-based tools are needed to make schools better equipped to accommodate to the changes resulting from it. The Listiac project (Linguistically Sensitive Teaching in All Classrooms) intends to increase linguistically sensitive teaching by targeting the cognitions, education and professional development of teachers. Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Ruth Illman, Docent and Director of the Donner Institute at Åbo Akademi: Everyday Judaism in Finland – why is that important?
Vernacular religion can be described as a triangle of being, knowing and doing, kept together by continuity, change and context. Exploring how this dynamic works is the goal of an ongoing research project at Åbo Akademi University mapping everyday Jewish life in Finland today. Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.
Jan-Eerik Leppänen, Doctoral Candidate at Åbo Akademi: Ei enää äänetön vähemmistö – Kuurot vähemmistönä Hongkongissa
Kuurous luokitellaan toisinaan vammaisuuden kautta ja sille alisteiseksi. Hongkongin kuurojen yhteisöissä viittomakieli on sen sijaan identiteetin, yhteisön voimavarojen ja omanarvon tunteen yhteinen nimittäjä, liikkeelle laittava voima, ja keskeinen syy aktiiviseen yhteiskunnalliseen osallistumiseen. Mikä merkitys viittomakielellä on yhteiskunnalliselle osallistumiselle? Läs mer/lue lisää/read more.