Browsing by Title

Tutkielma käsittelee ihmisen tekemiä tulkintoja luonnonympäristöstä Ecuadorille kuuluvilla Galapagossaarilla, Tyynellä valtamerellä. Tulkinta tarkoittaa erilaisia näkökulmia ja käytäntöjä, joiden kautta saarten materiaalinen luonto erotetaan inhimillisen tiedon ja toiminnan kohteeksi. Tutkimuksen lähtökohta on, että luonto on sosiaalisesti rakentuva käsite. Samasta materiaalisesta luonnosta voidaan tehdä erilaisia tulkintoja riippuen tulkitsijasta. Työn tavoitteena on tarkastella Galapagossaarten erilaisia luontoja ja pyrkiä näkemään niiden keskinäisen vuorovaikutuksen tuloksena syntyviä luonnon hybridejä. Tutkimusaineisto on kerätty antropologisen kenttätyöjakson aikana, lokakuusta joulukuulle 2010, Galapagossaarilla. Tutkimusaineisto käsittää kahdeksan nauhoitettua ja yhden sähköpostitse toteutetun haastattelun, kenttätyöpäiväkirjan, osallistuvaa havainnointia ja muuta kentällä kerättyä tutkimusmateriaalia sekä lukuisia epävirallisia keskusteluja informanttien kanssa. Lisäksi tutkimusta varten on luettu runsaasti tutkimuskirjallisuutta, mikä tukee teoreettisen viitekehyksen valikoitumista tutkimusaineiston tarkastelussa. Tutkimus keskittyy kolmen erilaisen luonnonympäristön tulkinnan tarkasteluun. Niitä edustavat tiede ja ympäristönsuojelu, paikalliset pienviljelijä-kalastajat sekä turismi, kukin omissa käytännöissään. Erilaisia tulkintoja tarkasteltaessa nousee esille, että tieteen ja ympäristönsuojelun edustama, luonnontieteelliseen tietoon perustuva globaali suojeludiskurssi nostetaan usein muiden tulkintojen yläpuolelle, hallitsevaan asemaan määrittää, miten inhimillisen ja ei-inhimillisen keskinäistä suhdetta tulisi rakentaa. Tiedon ja vallan diskurssiin liittyvät myös Ecuadorin valtiolliset intressit ja toisaalta paikallisen väestön käytännöllinen ymmärrys suhteessa luonnonympäristöön. Tutkimus tuo esille, miten nämä erilaiset tulkinnat vaikuttavat toisiinsa ja luovat uusia luontoja. Galapagossaaret ovat olleet avainasemassa modernin luonnontieteellisen maailmankuvan muodostumisessa Charles Darwinin nostettua ne merkitykselliseksi paikaksi evoluutioteorian elävänä laboratoriona. Saarten luonnontieteellistä arvokkuutta on suojeltu ihmisen aiheuttamia muutoksia vastaan jo vuosikymmenien ajan. Samalla saarille muuttavien uudisasukkaiden ja niiden luontoa ihailemaan saapuvien turistien määrä on ollut jatkuvasti kasvussa, toinen toisiaan ruokkien. Tänä päivänä Galapagossaaret elävät erilaisten luonnonympäristön tulkintojen solmukohdassa. Erilaisten tulkintojen ja niitä tukevien käytäntöjen yhteensovittaminen on osoittautunut haasteelliseksi tehtäväksi. Galapagos heijastelee universaalilla tasolla inhimillisen ja ei-inhimillisen keskinäisen tasapainon löytämisen haasteellisuutta.

More studies are needed to analyse eating related behaviours due to the health and wellbeing related outcomes of unhealthy eating habits. In addition, choosing between multiple food items and different diets has become more complicated, because selection of foods available has increased. As a result, the importance of individual factors affecting food choices has increased. Individual factors that have found to be associated with food choices and food include gender and food choice motives. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the potential changes in food choice motives from the year 2007 to year 2014 between genders, and examine whether changes in food choice motives predict relative vegetable and fruit intake in 2014. Additionally, one aims was to test whether differences in changes in food choice motives mediate the gender differences in vegetable and fruit intake. This study is based on data from on-going population-based prospective study called DIetary, Lifestyle, and Genetic determinants of Obesity and Metabolic syndrome (DILGOM). DILGOM is a sub-study of national FINRISK study. The data was analysed with quantitative methods. The main findings of this study were: (a) the importance of ethicality and price motives increased but the importance of health and pleasure food choice motives decreased between years 2007 and 2014 in all participants, (b) the importance of ethicality motive was the only food choice motive that increased more in women than in men from 2007 to 2014. Female gender, being married and change in health and ethicality motive predicted higher vegetable and fruit intake in 2014. Furthermore, change in the importance of ethicality motive mediated partly the associations between gender and vegetable and fruit intake in 2014. As health and ethicality motives predicted higher use of vegetables and fruit, influencing to these motives could be used in promoting higher vegetable and fruit intake in the future. More precisely, if the target is to decrease the disparity of vegetable and fruit intake between genders, should the target be on increasing importance of ethicality motive for men in respect of the results of this study. More studies should be conducted to gain more information about this topic. The methods should be improved and widen in the future if more and more reliable information about the associations and trends in food choice motives and food choices are needed.

The school environment plays an essential role in the development of students’ identities and in the construction of the self. These processes are crucial for creating a sense of purpose in life, and they fuel students’ future aspirations. Recently, there have been increasing concerns about the well-being of students. Findings from both international and national studies present a trend of decline in well-being. Therefore, new methods are called for to provide resources for supporting and increasing student well-being. The aim of my master’s thesis is to explore the subjective well-being (SWB) of upper secondary school students and examine whether gender and regional differences exist in SWB derived from the data in the project Study with Strength. The regions examined are Ostrobothnia, Uusimaa/Southwestern Finland and the Åland Islands. Prior studies indicate that female students score lower in well-being and higher in ill-being than male students. In this study, six questionnaires measuring SWB, including scales of both well-being and ill-being, are examined using analysis of covariance. The results from 282 participants showed that female students scored lower in well-being and higher in ill-being than male students. No major regional differences were found. Prior research indicates that female and male students have different patterns of decreased well-being and increased ill-being. The results of this thesis are a valuable source of information in understanding the different patterns and contribute to the process of creating tailored solutions that promote health and support student well-being. Research targeting gender inequality shows that promoting equality has a positive effect on the SWB of males but not on females. Therefore, it is crucial for the school environment to identify the differences between objective and subjective gender equality and nurture the well-being of both genders.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted Finland to re-evaluate its national security and led to increased support for NATO membership. This study examines how Finnish news media portrays national security at the time of heightened sense of insecurity. The objective of the study is to explore and expose the nexus of security and gender within the NATO discussion context. Drawing on feminist security studies, this study views security as a gendered concept. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, integrating security studies, gender studies, and media studies. The thesis investigates the gendered nature of security by using traditional masculine and feminine values as tools in discourse analysis. Additionally, the thesis analyses whose voices are heard in the media. This case study focuses on the NATO discussion in Helsingin Sanomat, Iltalehti, and Yle from January to March 2022. The thesis comprises two parts from the perspective of methodology and data. The quantitative content analysis of 671 online news articles examines gender representation in the media, while the qualitative analysis of 70 opinionated online news media articles employs thematisation and Wodak’s approach to critical discourse analysis. The findings of this study imply that the dominant notion of security in the media is narrow and masculine. The hegemonic notion of Finnish national security aligns with traditional masculinity, emphasising militaristic, physical, and rational characteristics. The analysis shows that growing insecurity appears to correspond with decreasing feminine notions of security. The study argues that the prevailing security discourse in the media is exclusive to the performances of militarised masculinity. Additionally, security is predominantly discussed by male voices in the media. Finally, this thesis argues that the dominant narrow, masculine, and militaristic notion of security is not contested in the media, thereby lacking a comprehensive understanding of securities and insecurities as well as inequalities. The study addresses a need for further critical research to examine the interrelation of national security, militarism, and gender in Finland.

This thesis explores the intersections of gender equality, parenthood, and the Nordic welfare state with an aim to investigate the equality paradox embedded within the Nordic welfare model. The gender equality paradox refers to the contradictory situation in egalitarian Nordic countries where women still face persistent inequality while state-driven initiatives unintentionally create new challenges for them. This thesis conduct a case study on the Finnish childcare regime after the 2022 reform. This regime embodies an aggregate framework encompassing all aspects of childcare policies, including the paid parental leave system, Home Care Allowance, and Early Childhood Education and Services. Through the lens of Nancy Fraser's care-work models, this thesis questions how the Finnish childcare regime recognises and potentially resolves the gender equality paradox by a contextual analysis of the regime’s development and current policy design data. The main finding indicates that the newly reformed Finnish childcare regime presents an “equality within difference” scenario rather than pursuing shared care and breadwinning as in Fraser’s universal caregiver model. Firstly, the latest reform shows the ambition towards gender equality, yet there is a split between political ambition and the private sphere. Secondly, while the principle of freedom of choice embedded in the Finnish childcare policy ostensibly empowers parents to make individual decisions autonomously, parental choices seem to be influenced more by necessity than freedom. This thesis identifies a tension in the Finnish childcare regime between promoting gender equality and preserving freedom of choice, revealing a contradicting political logic. Although providing an ostensibly gender-equal policy structure, the childcare regime in Finland falls short of adequately addressing the persistent equality dilemmas faced by women.

The low proportion of women among attorneys-at-law in Finland is striking, particularly among attorneys-at-law in partner positions. Previous research has shown that female attorneys-at-law in Finland, although not working in the prestigious positions of power or financial decision-making, can express a belief in gender equal career opportunities. However, the idea of equal opportunities has been shown to be a myth, which ignores for instance how women are faced with greater expectations concerning family caretaking than men. Overall, the traditionally masculine norms of the legal field have been shown to carry a male advantage. While previous research on the topic has focused on the experiences of female attorneys-at-law, this thesis aims to study also men’s perspectives. The objective of this thesis is to understand better how attorneys-at-law, women and men, talk about gender equality and inequality within their profession, and what kind of attitudes towards the topics are being expressed. The theoretical framework for this thesis draws from social constructionism, rhetorical social psychology and the qualitative attitude approach. Altogether 13 women and men, of different age and living in different parts of Finland, were interviewed in October-November 2017. Three topics were discussed within the interviews: 1) career development as an attorney-at-law, 2) gender and gender equality, and 3) professional success. The analysis of this thesis focused only on the second theme of the interviews, gender and gender equality, and more precisely, on argumentative talk generated by five attitude statements concerning the role of gender, work and family reconciliation and gender inequality. The analysis revealed three different attitudes towards gender equality or inequality in the legal field: 1) gender inequality as women leaving the legal field, 2) gender equality as gender-neutral attitudes and treatment, and 3) men’s gender inequality as an upcoming problem. In addition, an important finding was how work and family reconciliation was constructed as a women’s concern. The attitudes drew from the discourses of individual choice, equal opportunities, and gender neutrality, the idea of work and family reconciliation concerning women, low amounts of boys in faculties of law, as well as a belief in the proportion of female partners changing. Functions of the attitudes included, among others, representing women or oneself as making justified choices over family caretaking or as having opportunities to leave or stay in the legal field, representing oneself as a supporter of gender neutrality or as a person who sees the situation from a larger perspective. Overall, the attitudes represented gender inequality as a problem or not as a problem in varying degrees. The most important references for this thesis were Choroszewicz’s (2014a) Managing Competitiveness in Pursuit of a Legal Career: Women Attorneys in Finland and Poland and Vesala’s & Rantanen’s (2007) Argumentaatio ja tulkinta.

This thesis is concerned with the intellectual formation of two radical political thinkers in the Black radical and anti-colonial traditions: Walter Rodney and Cedric J. Robinson. Deploying the “Horne biographical method”, it contextualizes the knowledge-formation of Rodney and Robinson vis a vis the broader social, cultural, political, and intellectual environments in which they were situated. Particularly central are the national liberation-, Black power-, and post-colonial movements in the U.S., Jamaica, Tanzania, and Guyana during the 1960s and the 1970s. Furthermore, this thesis discusses the epistemological foundation of their knowledge-praxis through Enrique Dussel’s notion of the “geopolitics of knowledge” and Stuart Hall’s conceptualization of “the politics of location”, and contends that knowledge is to be understood in relational and positional terms. In analyzing the knowledge production of Rodney and Robinson, this thesis focuses on three central themes that emerge in their respective writings: (1) the role of the radical political intellectual, (2) the utility of Marxism to Black, Indigenous, and Third World peoples, and (3) the theorization of the emergence and development of the racial-colonial world-system. Finally, this thesis argues that in combining their deconstructive critiques with a constructive politics of worldmaking, Rodney and Robinson provide an important model for “guerrilla intellectualism”, where radical knowledge production is seen to emerge “from below” and conceived of as inseparable from material praxis and liberatory struggles.

Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan Georg Henrik von Wrightin mielenfilosofiaa hänen varhaisemman teonfilosofiansa avulla. Von Wrightin teonfilosofia tunnetaan nimellä analyyttinen hermeneutiikka, mutta tätä nimeä ei tavallisesti yhdistetä hänen mielenfilosofiaansa. Tämä tutkielma pyrkii osoittamaan, että von Wrightin mielenfilosofiassa on kyse samoista tieteenfilosofisista periaatteista kuin hänen teonfilosofiassaan. Tutkimuskysymyksenä on, mitä Georg Henrik von Wrightin analyyttinen hermeneutiikka tarkoittaa mielenfilosofisena näkemyksenä. Tutkielma perustuu ensisijaisesti von Wrightin teoksiin Explanation and Understanding (1971) ja In the Shadow of Descartes (1998), joiden olennaisia ideoita avataan von Wrightin muun filosofisen tuotannon sekä kommentaarikirjallisuuden avulla. Tutkielman ensimmäisessä osassa jäsennetään ja selvennetään, mitä analyyttinen hermeneutiikka tarkoittaa von Wrightin teonfilosofiassa. Analyyttisen hermeneutiikan ydin kiteytyy siihen, että ihmisen käyttäytymistä koskevilla kausaalisilla ja teleologisilla selityksillä on toisistaan riippumattomat explanadat, ja selitysten todentamisessa on kyse eri asioista: kausaalinen selittäminen koskee fysikaalisia tosiseikkoja ja on empiirinen kysymys, kun taas teleologinen selittäminen koskee intentionaalisia tosiseikkoja ja on semanttinen kysymys. Tutkielman toisessa osassa analyyttisen hermeneutiikan teoreettinen jäsennys kytketään von Wrightin mielenfilosofiaan: kausaalinen selittäminen koskee fysikaalisia ilmiöitä ja ominaisuuksia, eli ruumiin neurofysiologisia tapahtumia, ja teleologinen selittäminen koskee mentaalisia ilmiöitä ja ominaisuuksia, eli mielen intentionaalisia tapahtumia, jotka muodostavat psyko-fysikaalisen parallelismin. Seuraavaksi von Wrightin psyko-fysikaalista parallelismia verrataan lähihistorian mielenfilosofista keskustelua hallinneisiin näkemyksiin ja ideoihin. Lopuksi selvennetään, mitä von Wright tarkoittaa episteemisellä, kausaalisella ja semanttisella prioriteetilla, joihin hänen psyko-fysikaalisen parallelisminsa a priori argumentaatio perustuu. Tutkielman perusteella voidaan todeta, että Georg Henrik von Wrightin mielenfilosofia perustuu yhdenmukaisiin tieteenfilosofisiin periaatteisiin kuin hänen teonfilosofiansa, joten näkemyksestä voidaan puhua analyyttisena hermeneutiikkana. Mielenfilosofisena näkemyksenä analyyttinen hermeneutiikka tarkoittaa: etteivät mieli ja ruumis ole kaksi eri substanssia, vaan tosiseikkoja samasta neutraalista todellisuudesta; niiden suhde ei ole kausaalinen, vaan semanttinen; eivätkä ne redusoidu toisiinsa tai ole keskenään identtisiä, vaan mieli ja ruumis ovat kaksi aspektia yhdestä ja samasta käyttäytymisestä, joista toinen koskee tarkoituksia ja toinen neurofysiologiaa.

Street children is a broad topic that has been studied by various researchers often focusing on some more specific part, for example street life and activities in the street. In the previous years, the voices of the children themselves have been increasingly taken into account. In this study the focus is on the ways of helping the children and how to support them to get out of the street. The aim is to find the best practices to support the children and to see if the strategies of the centres meet the needs of the children. Therefore, it is important to study why the children have ended up in the street at the first place and what kind of survival strategies they have. Also the reasons for them to run away back to the street again are discussed. The study is an ethnographic case study. The methods used for data collection were interviews and participant observation. The field study was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, in three different centres for street children. Some participant observation was done in the street too. For clarity’s sake the perceptions of the children and the strategies of the centres are analysed and discussed in different chapters. The findings show that there are various push factors for children ending up in the street, for example poverty and violence at home. Also not having anywhere to go to and the need to survive are pushing children to the street. Running away from the centres is linked to violence but also to freedom, addiction to drugs and alcohol as well as peer pressure. In the street the most usual activity is begging, which is considered as a mean of survival. Aside of begging, children do different kinds of piece works. Street life is hard and unsafe: there is violence, hunger, theft and addiction to glue and drugs. The friends in the street were seen as an important thing in order to survive. Among the children, the centres are generally considered as a good way to get out of the street, alongside education. However, the violence used in some centres is criticised and the child’s willingness to go to the centre is considered as important. Children who are willing to come to the centres can be found through street outreach. From the point of view of the centre staff children working and staying in the street is problematic because these children are deprived of their rights, for example right to education. Often the children do have parents or relatives but they are working in the street in order to support the families. The domestic work is considered as a normal thing whereas the work in the street is seen as abuse and exploitation. Sometimes the parents even send the children to the street to earn money. Work in the street often prevents the children from going to school but sometimes the work can help them to afford going to school. However, children working in the street are often taken advantage of. Both the street life and the work in the street has a lot of consequences for the child’s health and well-being, both physical and psychological. Despite the hardships in the street, there is also friends, belonging and freedom. A simple solution to tackle the street child phenomenon is to stop giving money to the children in the street and direct them to the facilities, where they can obtain education and life skills. The staff of the centres have a consensus of home being the best place for the child. The children’s perceptions are somewhat similar to the strategies of the centres when discussing the best ways to help the children. One simple solution is to stop giving the children money in the street. For the child to integrate to the society he/she needs a place he/she can consider as home, family or guardians, rehabilitation and education. Also the government’s intervention would be important in order to support the families to get help from the social welfare and to send the children to school. This study contributes to the discussion of street children, their lives in the street and how to help them, both from the point of views of the children and the staff of the centres.

Tässä tutkielmassa rekonsturoidaan filosofi Gilles Deleuzen filosofista ajattelua. Rekonstruktion keskeiset lähtökohdat jakaantuvat kolmeen erilaiseen linjaan. Ensinnäkin, tutkielmassa sekä esitellään Deleuzen kehittämiä filosofisia käsiteitä että tarkastellaan niiden ontologista toimintatapaa. Toiseksi, tutkielmassa kuvaillaan Deleuzen filosofista metodologiaa sekä sen muodostamalle perustalle rakentuvaa filosofista argumentaatiota. Kolmanneksi, tutkielmassa hahmotellaan kuvaa deleuzelaisesta etiikasta, eli pyrkimyksestä kohti ei-fasistista elämää. Tutkielman aluksi rekonstruoidaan kuva Deleuzen filosofisesta metodologiasta eli transsendentaalisesta empirismistä. Transsendentaalisen empirismin noudattamat ontologisen ajattelun periaatteet muotoutuvat yhteydessä Deleuzen hahmottelemaan kuvaan siitä, kuinka kielen ja maailman välinen suhde rakentuu ei-käsitteellisistä ja aistimellisuuteen perustuvista lähtökohdista käsin. Transsendentaalinen empirismin kautta muodostuva kuva filosofisesta ajattelusta käsitteitä luovana ja ajattelua uudistamaan pyrkivänä aktiviteettina määrittää kokonaisuudessaan Deleuzen filosofisen tuotannon seuraamia metodologisia periaatteita. Keskeisen sijan tutkielmassa saa Deleuzen yhdessä Felix Guattarin kanssa kirjoittaman Kapitalismi ja skitsofrenia -sarjan käsitteellisen ja argumentatiivisen viitekehyksen rekonstruktio. Sarjan teoksissa luodaan suuri määrä uusia käsitteitä, joiden merkityksien ja toimintatavan analysointi on yksi tutkielman olennaisista lähtökohdista. Käsitteiden esittelyn yhteydessä kuvaillaan Deleuzen ajattelun suhdetta sellaisiin ajattelun muotoihin ja traditioihin, joihin se suhtautuu kriittisesti, sekä hahmotellaan hänen ajattelunsa suhdetta laajempiin kokonaisuuksiin, kuten esimerkiksi kapitalistiseen järjestelmään. Sarjan teokset integroivat sosiaalisten ja poliittisten prosessien analyysin osaksi Deleuzen ontologisen ajattelun kokonaisuutta. Tutkielman lopuksi hahmotellaan kuvaa deleuzelaisesta etiikasta, eli pyrkimyksestä kohti ei-fasistista elämää. Ei-fasistisen elämän etiikkaa määritetään Kapitalismi ja skitsofrenia -sarjan teoksissa esiintyvien eettisten kehotusten pohjalta. Näiden eettisten muotoilujen ei voida katsoa muodostavan mitään varsinaista eettistä ohjelmaa. Ne rakentuvat kokoelmana erilaisia teoreettisia ja heuristisia kehotuksia, jotka kannustavat meitä heterogeenisten, eksperimentaalisten ja olemiseen transformaatiota tuottavien käytänteiden kehittämiseen. Deleuzen ajattelun rekonstruktion lisäksi tutkielmassa esitellään sekä siihen kohdistettua kritiikkiä että hahmotellaan vastauksia tähän kritiikkiin. Kriittisten näkökulmien pohjalta pohditaan kysymystä siitä, onko Deleuzen ontologinen ajattelu poliittista, ja tarkemmin sanottuna siitä, missä mielessä sen voidaan sanoa olevan poliittista. Deleuzen sosiaalista ja poliittista olemista teoretisoivan ontologisen ajattelun logiikka rakentuu jatkuvana vastakkainasetteluna olemista repressoivan politiikan ja olemista uudistamaan pyrkivän etiikan käsitteellisten kehysten välillä.