Browsing by Subject "governmentality"

The thesis deals with discourses and experiences of positive parenting and ‘mother love’ in Somaliland within the context of Save the Children’s development intervention called the Parenting without Violence common approach and its parenting advising component, the positive-parenting sessions, aiming at reducing violent and humiliating punishment that children may face in their homes. The study aligns with the anthropological approaches to global development that emphasise the importance of paying attention to the multiple ideas, identities, social roles and social relations of different development actors. Through the theories of caregiving of children, motherhood, human development, personhood, governmentality, social orders and social change, the study explores the Save the Children’s policy discourses and the experiences of different development actors as they encounter and interact in some real-life situations and negotiate the diverse meanings around positive parenting and ‘mother love’, what they mean and how they are achieved. This study rests on discourse analysis of the Save the Children’s policy material as well as ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the space and facilities of the Save the Children’s country office in Hargeisa, Somaliland, during the period of one month in August 2021. Predominately, the study is based on semi-structured interviews of eight Somali mothers who had taken part in the positive-parenting sessions and three Somali community mentors who facilitated the sessions. By looking into the Somali mothers’ experiences of motherhood, the thesis contributes to the anthropological discussion about the intertwined concepts of mind, body, self and emotions. Furthermore, it seeks to point out how the emotional and embodied experiences of motherhood connect with the wider social structure in Somali context. The study suggests that the approach to human development and caregiving of children that Save the Children reproduces might be quite different from the ideas, morals and norms of the local communities, where the positive-parenting sessions are implemented. By the means of parental self-reflection, self-control and parenting advising, the positive-parenting sessions play out as a form of governmentality in a neo-liberal world, attempting to shape subjectivities and to manage the conduct of caregivers. The Somali mothers’ accounts indicate that their concept of the self is much more socially related than the Western individual concept of the self, upon which the ideological and theoretical foundations of the positive-parenting sessions are built on. Save the Children’s positive-parenting sessions, as a form of parenting advising, reflect individual mentality and they attempt to intervene with the patterns of human development, parental behaviour and emotional expression. The study argues that the Save the Children’s positive-parenting sessions’ development ideas are transferred into practice instrumentally by using Somali culture and Islam as resources for the project aims. However, when the Save the Children’s policy discourses are negotiated by the different development actors at the grassroots level, the ideas of positive parenting and ‘mother love’ achieve quite ambiguous and multiple meanings, along with the complex theorisations of culture and religion. The study shows that people live among multiple social orders and people can resist, appropriate and adopt different caregiving approaches. However, the core idea of the study is that the cultural construction of personhood, and how an individual is oriented and related with social relationships and structure must be considered in development thinking and practice if the development interventions aim at understanding the diverse approaches to human development and caregiving of children in different cultural contexts.  

The study explores how mineral resources are rendered governable through the EITI, a global multi-stakeholder governance mechanism focusing on transparency. The study focuses on Mozambique, a country with growing mining and petroleum sectors and low rankings on governance indices. Stakeholders views on extractive sector governance in Mozambique are analysed through the theoretical framework of governmentality. A governmentality approach focuses on how we govern and are governed, and the nexus between thought and governing. The data for this study consists of 20 interviews conducted in Maputo, Mozambique with government officials, civil society actors, representatives of extractive companies and development partners. The interview data was analysed by conducting a qualitative content analysis. The EITI is a governance mechanism within which governments, civil society actors and companies collaborate to publish and communicate information about the oil, gas and mining sectors. The role the EITI assigns to non-state and private actors and the value it places on liberal ideals show that the EITI reflects a neoliberal understanding of governance. Mozambique has implemented the EITI since 2009. This study demonstrates that in Mozambique, despite EITI implementation, the adoption of neoliberal governance is not complete. Actors deploy neoliberal and other techniques of governance selectively to further their agendas. The state remains a central hub for mineral resource governance, and different actors attempt to influence governance through the state apparatus. Transnational influences, such as development aid, steer the state towards adopting neoliberal governance. Civil society continues to have limited influence over mineral resource governance despite participation in the EITI. However, the adoption of neoliberal forms of governance may open up opportunities for civil society to influence governance.

Foucauldian concepts of bio-power and biopolitics are widely utilized in contemporary political philosophy. However, Foucault’s account of bio-power includes some ambivalence which has rendered these concepts of bio-power and biopolitics rather equivocal. Foucault elaborates these concepts and themes related to them in his books Discipline and Punish (1975) and History of Sexuality: An Introduction (1976), and also in his Collège de France-lectures held from 1975 to 1979. Through a detailed analysis of these works this research suggests that there are differences in Foucault’s account of bio-power. The aim of this thesis is to shed light to these differences, and consequently, clarify Foucault’s account of bio-power and biopolitics. This research is divided into two main sections. The first analyzes Foucault’s works of 1975-76. In those works Foucault investigates relations of power and knowledge through a framework of what he called the normalizing society. Foucault identifies two essential forms of power operating in the normalizing society: individualizing discipline and population targeting bio-power. Together they form a network of power relations that Foucault calls power over life. By this concept Foucault designates the process by which human life in its totality became an object of power and knowledge. In this framework bio-power and biopolitics are essentially connected to particular system of norms which creates its power effects through medicine, human sciences and laws and regulations. The two pivotal reference points for normalizing techniques are race and sexuality. The second section focuses on Foucault’s lectures of 1977-79 and his other works published approximately until 1982.In these works Foucault elaborates the subject of governing population from different angle and with novel concepts. He abandons the view according to which one could locate a uniform architecture of power operating in society. Rather, he begins to analyze society as being constituted by multiple different forms of power and political rationalities. The crucial research question is what kinds of modifications take place in techniques of government when relations of power and knowledge are changed. In these investigations bio-power and biopolitics are identified with liberal apparatuses of security and pastoral power. The conclusions deduced in this thesis are that Foucault’s preliminary analysis of bio-power in the context of normalizing society is not sufficient to produce a firm analytical ground for concepts of bio-power and biopolitics. However, in his later elaborations of these concepts Foucault manages to demonstrate how political rationalities and different forms of power are related to the ways in which human life is governed and modified. Thus Foucault succeeds in creating analytical tools by which to have better understanding through what kinds of rationalities human life is managed in contemporary societies.

This thesis analyses the Finnish Government report on the need for a reform in integration promotion (2021:62). The material contains reform proposals to the current act regarding newcomer integration. The chosen method for studying the material is a Foucault-inspired critical discourse analysis which regards policy programmes as producers of problematizations concerning social phenomena. The primary study question of the thesis is ‘what kind of problem newcomer integration is represented to be’. This question is supported by five accompanying questions which elaborate how the representation of the problem has come about, what presuppositions and assumptions underlie the problem representation, what is silenced within the problem representation, what effects does the problem representation create and is there a possibility of thinking about the problem representation differently. The analysis concludes that the problem representation within the policy report presents the process of newcomer integration from an outdated point of view. The process is being represented as something that affects newcomers only and that the receiving society primarily has a coordinating role when it comes to providing efficient public services. The arrival of newcomers is perceived as a positive phenomenon only if newcomers commit to integrating themselves quickly and enter the Finnish labour market as soon as possible. Newcomers are thus treated as economic resources needed for solving Finland’s ongoing socio-economic challenges. The representation does not address the two-way nature of the integration process and thus accepts and reproduces the imbalance of power between newcomers and the receiving society. The proposals within the policy programme focus on creating an integration programme for the initial phase of the integration process and developing the integration service infrastructure so that the integration of newcomers could be achieved within a maximum of two years. In addition to intensifying the speed of the integration process, the analysis shows that demands for the receiving society relate mostly to redefining the responsibilities of officials at different governance levels. Equally, increasing the amount of low threshold integration services are given attention so that newcomers outside the labour market would be reached more efficiently. The analysis indicates that the purpose of this is to gather and manage all human capital that is currently left unattended, mould it into a usable resource and redirect it into the labour market. The analysis concludes that the suggested proposals advocate for increasing control on the lives and identities of newcomers as they are categorized according to their competences and skills i.e., their value to the receiving society. Thus, regardless of the reform on the act concerning newcomer integration, the process is still being thought of as a unidirectional economic process. Key words: Newcomer integration policy, two-way integration, critical discourse analysis, governmentality, biopolitics

This master’s thesis explores governmentality within the context of a private company providing integration courses for unemployed immigrants. The main aspirations of this research are threefold: firstly, to analyze the ways in which students and teachers of the courses are governed and secondly, to identify what kind of subjects the governance is creating. Thirdly, the research deconstructs Finnishness to scrutinize what kind of ideal citizen is recreated at the courses. The data of this research include interviews of the teachers and their superior, field notes written at the integration courses and pictures of the course premises. The data was analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The theoretical framework of this research consists of governmentality studies and studies on precarious work. Governmentality studies, established by Michel Foucault, have previously focused on, for example, governance of unemployment and governance of migration. The studies have examined the ways in which neoliberalism has brought market rationalism in the realm of public services. Research on precarious work, in turn, has given outlooks on insecurity of employees with university degrees at labour market. According to the findings of this research, the competitive bidding system of the integration courses creates insecurity and constant change that falls on the students and the teachers respectively. Governance makes the teachers and the students joyful, motivated, disciplined and responsible. The teachers are governed by poor terms and conditions of job contracts and by workplace facilities of low quality. The teachers have thus ended up in precarious position. The students’ bodies and behavior are changed to increase their Finnishness and employability. They are pushed towards precarious jobs but they expect something better. Finnishness is represented at the courses as equal, positive and calm. In this light, it is possible to argue that neoliberalist values and practices have spread over the field of integration. Market rationality is visible in all activities at the integration courses, which intensifies governance at the courses. At integration courses, two precarious groups encounter: the immigrants and their teachers. Finally, it can be said that the courses promote hierarchy and power relations instead of equality.

This master’s thesis examines the role of health technology as part of biopolitical governance and the emergence of self-tracking as a tool of biopolitical control at a time when the development of technology and its ability to measure diverse information about the human body appears to be still accelerating. The fact that self-tracking devices are becoming smaller and less noticeable seems to be making it easier and more effortless to implement them into one’s life. The aim of this thesis is to increase the understanding about how significant factor health technology seems to be in the transmission of biopolitics to the lives of citizens. The hypothesis for the thesis is that the self-tracking that is happening through health technological devices is part of the strategies of states biopolitics and is used as a tool for remote control of citizens’ lives and bodies. The theoretical framework is based on Michel Foucault’s work that has led to the birth and definitions of the concepts governance and governmentality as well as to the birth of the modern concept of biopolitics. It was important to pay attention to the fundamentalities and development of the modern governmentalities and especially to the key elements of the neoliberal one. The theoretical framework of the thesis also included the definition of the term self-tracking, focusing especially on its emergence and nature in relation to modern society. In addition to this, the idea of a more responsible person created by health consciousness also served as a theoretical starting point for the thesis. Research material for the thesis included Finnish state social and health policy documents and interviews done with individuals that were using a health technological device. The aim of the analysis of the documents was to outline the Finnish state's goals in managing the population and the expectations placed on its citizens. The aim of the interviews was to increase understanding of the impact of self-tracking on the lives of individuals and whether factors in the use of the device reflected to the factors in state’s biopolitical goals and societal norms. The interviews followed the style of a semi-structured thematic interview, and the analyses of the material were performed according to the data-driven analysis models of the qualitative research methods. Based on the analysis of the Finnish state's social and health policy documents, state wants citizens to participate more in society. They are also expected to maintain their well-being and develop their skills in working life for being able to pursue longer careers during their lifetimes. Citizens are expected to take more responsibility for their own lives and to be more resilient to changes in working life. The Finnish state recognizes a healthier, well-being citizen as a more efficient member of society. All interviewees’ understanding and awareness of their health and well-being appeared to have improved as a result of self-tracking. The increase in health consciousness was supported by changes in the use of the device during the years of use. The usefulness and harmfulness of self-tracking, depending on whether the use is on a healthy or toxic basis, was also a strong emerging theme. Among the interviewees' ways of living and acting, the factors of the Finnish state's goals for governing the population could be found. Through the results of the thesis, a self-tracking individual can be seen in many ways as an individual resembling an ideal, neoliberal citizen. This was supported by the observation considering all interviewees about how they have become more aware of their own health and the functions of their bodies by measuring themselves, possessing more power to take care of their health through self-tracking. Perspectives on healthy and toxic self-tracking also described the potential of self-tracking on harnessing individuals to control themselves and to be more responsible. The ease in use of the devices also seemed to play a key role in how well biopolitical goals reached an individual’s life. In addition, the status symbolism formed by the physical nature of the devices also seemed to affect to the reach of biopolitical governing. From the point of view of the state's biopolitical goals, a self-tracking individual could be seen as a more ideal neoliberal citizen particularly in terms of the impact of increased health consciousness and responsibility.

This master’s thesis studies the Finnish migrant integration programme. Integration is a manifold concept. The term is used referring to many different aspects of social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities. This paper deals with the integration of newly arrived and/or unemployed migrants in Finland, through compulsory language training and workfare type internship practice – in this case publicly funded services delivered by a private training company. The research applies ethnographic participant observation data to Foucault-scholarship influenced governmentality theory. Governmentality refers modern use of state power, where governance of populations is increasingly delegated to grassroots societal actors, such as private companies, and mechanisms of state control have shifted away from direct coercion and command, into soft power of subjectification. Contributions from governmentality research allows situating ethnographic data into a wider framework of changing rationalities behind population management. Combining ethnographic research with analysis derived from governmentality theory allows relating macro-sociological analysis of social power to micro-sociological accounts of everyday life, habits and working conditions. The main aim of integration training is to increase the employability of its participants. My research describes how integration training seeks to subjectify its students as workers, or more precisely, how teaching a self-managing and disciplined worker subjectivity as a general soft-skill is embedded within language teaching. This active, flexible and service oriented worker subjectivity is reflected in classroom teaching and feedback, but also normalized in the role of the teacher. Integration training is also a place of learning, making friends, and multicultural expression. As an ethnographic study this is also a portrayal of integration training as a work place and a community. The teachers’ working conditions widen their role beyond just educators, to also carers and administrative assistants, whose work involve negotiating between the competing requirements of these roles throughout the working day.