Browsing by Subject "transnationalism"

The aim of this thesis is to research Japan-U.S. Security Treaty protests in 1960 in global context. The Anpo-protests were selected as research topic because not much research was found of the protests. Anpo-protests begun in 1959 and ended in late 1960. The main motive was to oppose revision of U.S.-Japan Security Treaty but eventually protests led to resignation of the prime minister Kishi Nobusuke. The protests were the largest in Japanese history and left their legacy to Japanese political history and civil society. Scholars have researched Anpo-protests to some extent. However, the Anpo-protests have not been analysed in Worldwide context of Cold war which is why transnational history got selected as primary theoretical framework for this thesis. This thesis uses the Japan Times as the primary source. The Japan Times is Japan’s oldest English language newspaper firstly published in 1897. As for main method theory-guided content analysis was used. Analysis was carried out with coding in which Atlas.ti software was used. Theory of historical study of images got selected as second theoretical framework after transnational history because this thesis aims to construct comprehensive image of the Anpo-protests from the lens of the Japan Times. The research question asks how the Anpo-protests are portrayed in the Japan Times. The goal of the research question is to find out whether the Anpo-protests were portrayed as transnational in the Japan Times. This thesis is interested if the Anpo-protests had transnational influences. The results of the analysis indicate that the Japan Times is mainly interested certain issues, such as who are protesting, why they are protesting and how the protests are carried out. The codes that appear most frequently are communism, students and protests techniques. During the analysis over 1200 codes were reduced into 16 categories which were evolved further into themes. The themes are social unity of Japanese people, legitimacy and transnationalism. Social unity represents how people who were breaking the cohesion of society are judged on the newspaper. Legitimacy deals with the issue of what is legal and what is not. Transnationalism pays interests on transnational influences of the Anpo-protests such as peace activism, communism and democratic ideals. All themes express change in Japanese society. Results explain how the conception of peace, democracy, authority, violence and social unity changed due the Anpo-protests. The results indicate that Anpo-protests were portrayed transnationally to some extent on the Japan Times. Thus, Anpo-protests may have had some transnational connections. Broader analysis would offer more reliable results and thus this thesis serves only as a brief outlook to the Anpo-protests. However, this thesis offers valuable information of the Japan Times itself and of the major change in Japanese society that has often left without notice. Anpo-protests itself served as transnational influence on other protests which evolved later in the 1960s.

This thesis examines female 2nd generation Somali immigrants’ life challenges experienced in Finland and Switzerland. More precisely, the present study is based on a combination of narrative and semi-structured interviews which provide phenomenological insights in the young Somali women’s own understanding of the difficulties they witness and their personal responses to identified challenges. Against the background of raising Islamophobic atmosphere in the West, the study lays special importance on challenges which arise for the Somali women based on their Islamic belief. By focusing on the women’s interpretation of Islam and their Islamic everyday practices in Switzerland and Finland the project examines in reference to the theoretical framework of everyday Islam outlined by Schielke and Debevec (2012), Dahlgren and Schielke (2013) and Marsden and Restikas (2013) how the Somali women evaluate the impact of their belief on challenges they face. Additionally, the project contributes to the limited literature on 2nd generations’ transnational practices. Hence, it answers the question of what role possible connections to and their feelings towards their heritage play in the Somali women’s lives. Finally, the thesis provides insights in differences between experiences of young Somali women in Switzerland and Finland. The thesis argues that the young Somali women’s experienced challenges can be best understood and explained by the application of the anthropological concept of belonging as for instance described by Pfaff-Czarnecka (2011), Tošic (2012), Rogozen-Soltar (2012) and Gammeltoft (2014). More precisely, the study illustrates how the unique position of 2nd generation Somali immigrant women in-between the three very different groups of “Swiss/Finns”, “Somalis” and “Muslims” asks them to find a balance between often conflicting value systems and how these negotiations lead at times to tensions, uncertainties and ambiguities in their lives. Further, the present project suggests that Islam is not the only way the participants explain hardships they face. Moreover, by applying the theoretical framework of social fields, transnational ways of being and transnational ways of belonging (Levitt & Glick Schiller 2004) the thesis found that the young Somali women are actively involved in transnationalism even though their transnational approaches differ from the ones of their parents. Hence, especially the wish to get to know more about their roots, the pride they displayed to be Somali, and the need they feel to help other Somalis in future illustrates the Somali women’s active way of belonging. Finally, the project implies that Swiss Somalis feel stronger impeded by the Swiss state structure and experience more often mistreatment based on the veil than Finnish Somalis. Moreover, individual understandings of piety and religiosity differ between participants in Switzerland and Finland. The thesis concludes that further research would be highly valuable in order to explain these differences.

This thesis examines the relation between the young Finnish Muslim women and conflicts abroad involving Muslims. The subject of my study arises from topical questions and events which combine conflicts and Muslims strongly. The foreign fighter phenomenon has generated concerns about young Muslims, for instance. The purpose of my study is to offer Muslims a possibility to shed light on their own perspective regarding conflicts. The research questions of this thesis are 1) What is the young Finnish Muslim women’s relation to conflicts abroad concerning Islam or Muslims, 2) what role does Islam play in this relation and what kind of articulations does it receive and 3) how does the media function in forming a relation to conflicts abroad. The theoretical background utilizes a perspective, which clarifies on two levels where a relation can exist between Finnish Muslim women and conflicts abroad. The effects of conflicts on a transnational level and the impacts in Finland are concentrated. Transnational Islam and especially solidarity explain the first level. The media, as well as the whole history of how the West has viewed Islam as the other, constitute important factors on the local level. The data in my study was generated in ten qualitative research interviews, which I implemented in Helsinki during six months from December 2017 until May 2018. I analyze the data by using a content analysis to interpret the ways the informants construct their relation to conflicts abroad. My study shows that Muslim women build a relation to conflicts abroad through two kinds of paths. On the one hand, the Muslims receive conflicts via different factors, and on the other hand, they construct the relation to conflicts by themselves. Receiving consists of several negative phenomena, which especially the media generates. Islam functions as the most crucial intermediary in approaching conflicts and mostly defines the perspective. My study reveals that the Finnish Muslims’ relation to conflicts abroad contains challenges and unbalanced elements. The scope of the effects of conflicts for them appears too extensive compared to the Muslims’ limited attempts to approach conflicts. The position of religion differs remarkably in how conflicts relate to Muslims in Finland and how they in turn relate to those conflicts. Additionally, the biased picture of Muslims as active perpetrators in conflicts differs from the reality, where the Finnish Muslim women only attempt to show solidarity for suffering fellow Muslims. The relation includes the element of inevitability, because conflicts affect Finnish Muslims without their own volition and Islam urges them to look after fellow believers. This thesis contributes to the field of the research on Finnish Muslims. The themes of conflicts and the media have been addressed in previous research, but this study approaches them from a new angle. Prospective studies can draw on the findings of this study when approaching the topic in the future.

The aim of this thesis is to examine migration of educated Dominicans in light of global processes. Current global developments have resulted in increasingly global movements of people, yet people tend to come from certain places in large numbers rather than others. At the same time, international migration is increasingly selective, which shows in the disproportional number of educated migrants. This study discovers individual and societal motivations that explain why young educated Dominicans decide to migrate and return. The theoretical framework of this thesis underlines that migration is a dynamic process rooted in other global developments. Migratory movements should be seen as a result of interacting macro- and microstructures, which are linked by a number of intermediate mechanisms, meso-structures. The way individuals perceive opportunity structures concretises the way global developments mediate to the micro-level. The case of the Dominican Republic shows that there is a diversity of local responses to the world system, as Dominicans have produced their own unique historical responses to global changes. The thesis explains that Dominican migration is importantly conditioned by socioeconomic and educational background. Migration is more accessible for the educated middle class, because of the availability of better resources. Educated migrants also seem less likely to rely on networks to organize their migrations. The role of networks in migration differs by socioeconomic background on the one hand, and by the specific connections each individual has to current and previous migrants on the other hand. The personal and cultural values of the migrant are also pivotal. The central argument of this thesis is that a veritable culture of migration has evolved in the Dominican Republic. The actual economic, political and social circumstances have led many Dominicans to believe that there are better opportunities elsewhere. The globalisation of certain expectations on the one hand, and the development of the specifically Dominican feeling of ‘externalism’ on the other, have for their part given rise to the Dominican culture of migration. The study also suggests that the current Dominican development model encourages migration. Besides global structures, local structures are found to be pivotal in determining how global processes are materialised in a specific place. The research for this thesis was conducted by using qualitative methodology. The focus of this thesis was on thematic interviews that reveal the subject’s point of view and give a fuller understanding of migration and mobility of the educated. The data was mainly collected during a field research phase in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic in December 2009 and January 2010. The principal material consists of ten thematic interviews held with educated Dominican current or former migrants. Four expert interviews, relevant empirical data, theoretical literature and newspaper articles were also comprehensively used.

Migration is not necessarily about settling with the whole family to a new country, but instead it is becoming more common that family members are dispersed between countries. Also almost all Estonian parents who have been working abroad have decided to leave their child or children in Estonia where they are typically in the care of the other parent. For Estonian migrants Finland is the most popular destination country and therefore, this study investigates family life in the context of Estonian labour migration to Finland. The labour migration of one family member does not only shape the life of that person, but also the lives of those who remain behind. Because partners who stay behind with the children in the home country are rarely included in research on migration or transnational families, this study is based on their perspectives and analyses the dynamic experiences of family life that crosses national borders. Drawing on the literature of some of the leading scholars in the field of transnationalism, family practices and co-presence, I examine how family relationships are maintained, how family responsibilities are managed, and what meanings are given to family life across countries borders. The study includes in-depth semi-structured interviews with stay-behind partners who are currently living in a transnational family, but also those who have recently had the experience and who thus were able to better reflect on it with hindsight. The results of the research add insights to presence and absence in family life. The analysis shows that frequent and highly regular communication over distance helps to sustain a sense of family unity. However, mediated co-presence which is produced by this long-distance communication does not replace physical co-presence which allows the stay-behind partners to best make sense of the family relationships. At the same time, physical co-presence requires adjustments in the stay-behind partners everyday life who during the absence of their partner have established their own routines. For some stay-behind partners, these adjustments can feel very demanding as they decrease their control over their daily routines and bring with it more tasks.

This research explores the way in which the Russian-speaking community of Narva, Estonia perceives their identity and sense of belongingness in relation to Estonia and Russia through self-reflection. Sixteen interviews with residents of Narva reveal perceptions of discrimination and integration and the surrounding discourses on inclusion and exclusion which define and influence how Russian-speaking Estonians balance their relationship with Russian and Estonian societies. The theoretical framework is composed of psychological and sociological theories which examine the individual and social aspects involved in the relationships the interviewees describe. The research underlines the value in having a deeper understanding of minority populations along critical borders to develop appropriate and effective national-level policies which affect the community, country of residence and country of origin of the minority community. This research aims to add to the existing literature focused on the study of minority communities along critical borders in general and Russian-speaking communities spread across the Post-Soviet Space in particular as well as describe the factors that influence their mobilization and transnationalism.

Syftet med min pro gradu är att granska unga flyktingars sociala nätverk efter att de fått uppehållstillstånd. Mitt intresse ligger i hur de upplever att nätverken utvecklats och vilken betydelse de fått. Forskningsfrågorna är: 1) Hur ser de ensamkommande unga flyktingarnas sociala nätverk ut? 2) Hurdan betydelse tillskriver de ensamkommande unga flyktingarna sina sociala nätverk för hur vardagen i det nya landet formas? och 3) Hurdan betydelse tillskriver de ensamkommande unga flyktingarna de lokala och transnationella sociala relationerna för utvecklandet av identiteter? Materialet utgörs av 6 narrativa intervjuer med 4 unga i åldern 19–21. De kommer från Somalia, Syrien, Angola och Irak och har bott i Finland 2–6 år. Informanternas nätverk består av familj, vänner, varav de flesta är av invandrarbakgrund, och formella relationer, så som socialarbetare, företrädare och handledare. Familjen är viktigast, men alla har inte kontakt med dessa. Vännerna står för en stor del av det emotionella stödet, medan det formella nätverket har en viktig roll i att erbjuda praktisk hjälp. Informanterna har svårt att komma i kontakt med finländska jämnåriga. Kontexten är här central och de unga upplever det vara lättast att lära känna finländare i skolan. Ett annat centralt tema i informanternas berättelser är det finska språket, vilket är en utmaning främst i skolan och i arbetslivet. Även för detta har omgivningen och de sociala relationerna en betydelse. De sociala nätverken är också av betydelse för hur de ungas identiteter utvecklas. Avståndet till föräldrarna har lett till att de måste ta mer ansvar och dessutom har de utmaningar som kommer av att vara ensam i ett nytt land, fått dem att bli vuxna. En viktig slutsats är att oron för familjen gör att det svårt att leva i nuet. De unga har ett starkt aktörskap som blir synligt när de reflekterar kring sina erfarenheter. Därtill visar informanternas upplevelser att de ännu efter flera år i Finland kan uppleva svårigheter och ha behov av stöd både av de lokala och de transnationella relationerna.