Browsing by Subject "nuorten haavoittuvuus"

In this MA dissertation I’m going to examine the discursive formation of social exclusion from the specific aspect of social governance. Social exclusion has been a main concern in welfare policy in Finland and Europe in recent decades. The social construction of exclusion is reconstructed in daily practices in politics, media and everyday speech. Despite the numerous areas of discussion there is a great consensus in public opinion regarding who the socially excluded are and why it is especially important to form resistance to their exclusion. Discourses regarding the uncontrollability of social exclusion have managed to divert the focus away from exclusion, which hides the modes social exclusion is operating in as an instrument of social governance. The aim of this dissertation is to critically examine the discursive formation of social exclusion, and to show how the concept is connected to social governance. For research methodology I have used genealogy and critical reading of governance, as well as the idea of discursive formation of truth systems. This dissertation mainly uses analysis based on literature, but also utilises the extracts of policy documents to support its arguments. In this research I have separated the governance of social exclusion into four sections. I review each theme in their own chapters, where I discuss how the theme is formed and how it became a part of the discursive formation of social exclusion. The first theme discusses how social exclusion is a way of moral and normative governance, while the second area explores the dimension of financial-rational governance. The third section considers social exclusion as a reflection of changing citizenship, as well as ideologically degrading the welfare state. The fourth theme discusses management of mental states as a form of exclusion governance, and where interventionist projects have a primary role. Critical examination of social exclusion is important as discursive formation and knowledge systems are used in many ways to legitimize displacing practices and unequal policies. By critically examining the certainty of social exclusion we can become aware of how positions of the socially excluded are formed through variated discourses legitimizing truth systems. The conclusion of my paper suggests that political discussion needs new openings and contemporary perspectives to question the prevailing way of rationalization.