Browsing by master's degree program "Kulttuurienvälisen vuorovaikutuksen maisteriohjelma"

This thesis investigates the compatibility of the French, Republican values and Islam as portrayed in the Charter of the Republican Values (La Charte des principes pour l’islam de France). It asks the question of whether there is, according to the Charter, a fundamental incompatibility between the two or whether the two can coexist in a person’s identity. The aim is to discover which types of discourse relating to Islam’s place in the French society this Charter furthers. The Charter of the Republican Values is a charter written by the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) and commissioned by the French government. The Charter was published in January 2021, and thus offers a new angle into the research on Islam in France. It is document consisting of ten articles which touch upon subjects such as foreign influence, laïcité, equality, and education. With the use of Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) the Charter is analyzed on multiple levels to determine its place in the larger, societal picture. All discourse is affected by power structures, which subsequently affect the social order. CDA’s aim is to analyze the material in question to find out how it fits into the discourse and which types of power structures it is a) affected by and b) it furthers. The authors of the Charter of the Republican Values clearly state that the Republican values and Islam are compatible. However, upon further analysis and the application of CDA it becomes clear that this is the case with islam de France, a specific version of Islam that the French government deems appropriate for the French context. Thus, the Charter furthers the belief that there are “good” and “bad” Muslims and acceptable and non-acceptable versions of Islam, and further divides the nation. It also clearly demonstrates the hegemony of the core French values which date back to the French Revolution. Finally, it furthers the belief of Islamic exceptionalism and legitimizes treating Islam differently than other religions in the French context.

The present thesis consists of an ethnographic study of the encounter between an NGO and the local practices and epistemologies where it operates. Specifically, the thesis provides insights to what extent the NGO La Maison sans frontières takes into consideration the local practices, traditions, knowledge, and overall ecology of the community of Kuma Tsamé Totsi, in Togo. The study mainly focuses on three aspects that emerged during the research: time, hygiene, and upbringing practices, highlighting both incongruences and meeting points between the goals and operations of the NGO and the local ontologies and epistemologies. Given that the local community and the NGO enter in dialogue and develop new practices together, this thesis adopts the metaphor of ‘bridge’ for the NGO, indicating to what extent the local practices have agency on its operation and vice versa. Overall, the meeting of these different realities seems to be permeated by acceptance and understanding, creating a unique practical and organizational system. The encounter between La Maison sans frontières and this Togolese community seems to have created a middle ground between different cultures, where peoples together strive to bridge the gap in cultural diversity. The research study relies on qualitative methodology, comprising fieldwork and structured and semi-structured interviews. Fieldnotes in the form of written texts, photographs and videos have been taken during fieldwork and analysed through a qualitative data analysis software.

This thesis aims to study migrant women’s experiences of participative decision-making offered for Helsinki residents during the OmaStadi (2020-2021) process. It examines how the multiple interconnected social categories shape migrant women’s navigation and negotiation for inclusive decision-making and its relevance. It fills the gap in the systematic analysis of OmaStadi (2020-2021) from the perspective of immigrants’ needs, especially that of migrant women. Simultaneously, this thesis calls attention to migrant women’s aspirations, strengths, knowledge, and skills to negotiate relevance successfully. Data was collected through documents and semi-structured interviews with three migrant women whose community proposals were voted for implementation by Helsinki residents. Data was examined with thematic and intersectional analyses based on the six key principles of intersectionality (obstacles, relationality, complexity, context, comparison, and deconstruction). The investigation showed that the most salient interlocked social categories of the interviewees are gender, parenthood, migrant and employment status, multilanguage and different levels of Finnish language skills, and knowledge and experience of the participatory budgeting process that is linked to the country of origin of migrant women. These interrelated identities promoted migrant women’s overall sense of belonging in Helsinki by inviting extra resources to improve their knowledge of Helsinki and foster solidarity and empowerment. Nevertheless, these interrelated social identities and roles reinforced the polarisation of multicultural communities, deterred the inclusion of multicultural knowledge from existing across Helsinki communities, and rendered some identities invisible through language domination, unequal modes of participation and the majoritarian voting system. The analysis revealed that the interviewees faced multiple challenges that only the city could resolve. Simultaneously, they effectively utilised intercultural communication skills and competence to engage with various communities during the OmaStadi process (2020-2021). The study contributed to a more systematic understanding of migrant women’s struggles and needs during their participative decision-making experience of OmaStadi (2020-2021). It offered a more comprehensive and nonbinary understanding of how to devise more inclusive and equitable services for migrant women communities by examining their interrelated multiple social identities and the context. It also addressed migrant women’s strengths and skills in creating a new home environment. More extensive and longitudinal intersectional research could contribute to an even deeper understanding of various communities' intra- and inter-dynamics, struggles, needs, and strengths. This understanding would support the improvement of the OmaStadi and other forms of participatory democracy in Finland.

Despite the identity-based nature of hate crimes, previous studies on hate crime mediation have not yet explored the role of social identity in this process. Thus, this research investigates mediators’ perspectives and experiences on the role and effect of social identity on the mediation of hate crime, hate incidents and prejudice-based behaviour by applying Tajfel’s and Turner’s Social Identity Theory. In addition, it outlines strategies to mitigate its influence on the mediation process and evaluates approaches to conflict resolution rooted in Social Identity Theory. Data for this study was collected through eight semi-structured thematic interviews with Finnish mediators in the field of victim-offender mediation and community mediation from March until May 2023. Qualitative content analysis was applied as a method of data analysis. The results revealed the diversity of mediators’ accounts regarding the role of social identity in mediation. Participants’ descriptions of exemplary case examples outline the potential effects of social identity on the mediation of hate crime, particularly a strong ingroup-outgroup distinction in connection with overgeneralised outgroup perspectives and negative outgroup attitudes. The findings suggest that differences in social identity between the mediator and the participants can lead to biased views towards the mediators, creating the necessity to build trust and emphasise the mediators’ impartiality to bridge identity differences. Diversity among the mediators seems to support these processes. Moreover, the study has identified three strategies to avoid the influence of mediators’ social identities on mediation: (1) Becoming aware of their own social identity, (2) reflecting their own stereotypes and prejudice, and (3) achieving an understanding of the clients’ social identity. To mitigate the influence of participants social identities in mediation two strategies have been identified: (1) Asking critical questions, and (2) facilitated conversation and discussion. Despite the potential positive effects of addressing social identity on the mediation process, limitations of this approach are also outlined in this study. The results offer tools for mediators to deal with and address social identities and related bias in mediation, to understand the potential impact of their own social identities and provides knowledge on their effect in hate crime mediation. Future studies could investigate participants’ perspectives on the matter and study the effectiveness of these approaches for long-term bias reduction, which could further support the success of the mediation process in times of internationalization, societal diversification, and polarization.

The parent-child relationship is arguably one of the most vital relationships within a family. Relevant studies have focused on the dynamics between parents and children in the family communication field, especially on underage children. At the same time, the family is not an isolated island but a unit in a society. Hence, social-cultural contexts have significant impacts on parent-child communication. Migration, as an indicator for changes in the surroundings, influences the communicative practices within a family as well. This research dwells on Chinese immigrant families in Finland, explores the relationship between parents and their adult children. Adopting a relational dialectics perspective, the study aims at identifying competing discourses and their interplay. Through interviews with four dyads of parents and adult children, this research conducted a contrapuntal analysis to examine their relationship. Three pairs of competing discourses are identified: closeness versus distance, authority versus independence, and responsibility versus wuwei (no action). In short, the discourses of closeness, independence and responsibility have been more favored in various manners. Findings from this study revealed the significant influences of migration, manifested as the distal social-cultural factors in the interviewees’ utterances. Results of the analysis also indicate an emphasis on communication and dialogue in the parent-child relationships, which flows with the Chinese traditional thinking of pursuing harmony.

This thesis investigates how the ideas of boyhood and what it means to be a man are constructed and performed in Japanese shōnen anime and how these representations contribute to gender stereotypes. The original assumption of the writer is that performances of masculinity cannot be separated from those of femininity, as the duality is present in every individual, and the negotiation of their gender performance of gender is inherently personal, although culturally informed. The analysis focuses on the Japanese shōnen anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi). The case study is justified by the role media plays in portraying the culture, and it is essential to analyse representations of gender and sexuality in popular culture to grasp how these are understood and reproduced in films, books and tv shows that influence the way people relate to each other. To start the conversation, Japanese anime history is firstly introduced. Then the leading concepts of patriarchal gender roles, gender performance and male gaze are explained and put in dialogue with representations of androgyny and masculinity/femininity in other shōnen manga/anime. The analysis focuses on three supporting characters: Envy, Alex Armstrong and Olivier Armstrong. The method used in this thesis is visual and focuses on meaning systems and perception of reality as culturally situated. Through the analysis of visual elements, speech, non-verbal communication (NVC), gestures and camera angles, the researcher claims that the three subjects of the study perform gender in both a subversive and conforming way to patriarchal gender norms. To summarise, masculinity exists in many forms as it is individually performed and transforms socially and culturally through time. It has never been a fixed and static concept; as such, the masculinity we have known under the patriarchal rule is doomed to change (Kimmel, 1994). How it changes is something that we will see gradually. The main findings of this thesis are that gender play in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is encouraged and praised rather than condemned. Those characters associated with patriarchal gender norms are severely punished, whereas those who openly resist them avoid fatal punishment. Masculinity in this thesis is reduced to elements of gender stereotypes formed under the patriarchal ideology and is played inconsistently within FMAB as we encounter characters who fit the gender stereotype and the expectations. Still, we also find characters that subvert gender performance and gender norms while being aware that specific contexts require them to adopt a performance more closely related to the gender they present on the outside. From the dichotomy old generation (Father)-new generation (the protagonists), FMAB can be seen as a commentary on shifting views of gender but also as a shifting in generational understandings of it overall. This can be seen in the group of characters who survive until the end. These are all characters who have no issues with gender fluidity.

Abstract In this Master’s thesis, five women, born between 1920 and 1955, are narrating their lives in their native language, Swedish. The informants describe their lives from childhood, motherhood, family relationships, household, to elderly care, and finally, concluding with the Finland-Swedish context to wrap up the interview session. The women were interviewed in a semi-structured manner, either in their homes if living independently, or in their own rooms if living in an elderly home. Some of the informants are strongly in favour of an increased nativity, whereas there also is ambivalence, because of the current societal atmosphere. The major societal improvements have been related to material resources and technological advances. The general opinion is that contemporary social interactions are rather weak; several informants mentioned how familial bonds nowadays are weaker than when they were younger. Older women have an ambivalent opinion regarding the treatment of elderly today, for instance mixed treatment of healthcare phone calls, or the treatment depending on the older person’s general health condition. The women also provided insight into how society has changed; for instance that men are more willing in today’s society to take an active role in regards to household chores, such as vacuum cleaning and cooking. This is a phenomenon that is observed amongst the women who have sons. However, there is an agreement that the grandchild situation is vastly different in contrast to their own, as the informants themselves were growing up.

The popularity of populism, especially right-wing populism, has been one of the most central global political trends of the 21st century. One central aspect of right-wing populism is its close relationship to Christianity and the product of this collaboration is religious populism. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze whether this closeness is true in Finnish political context. I have examined whether the populist and religious populist rhetoric was used in three proceedings of the commonly called trans-law in the Finnish Parliament between 2022 and 2023. According to my research, political speech combines the three core features of the populist style: built-in demagogy, performance of threats and bad manners (Moffitt 2016) and uses religion as a framing device counts as religious populism. The amount of populist rhetoric in my data was significant. According to the data analysis several representatives use a lot of different populist style rhetorical means and religious populism in their political speech. Demagogy appeared both as traditional dichotomy between the people and the elite as well as between liberal and conservative representatives. The bad manners appeared mostly as colorful and informal self-expression and within the use of false information. The performance of various crises, threats and collapses was appearing primarily as a concern about the fundamental collapse of the values of the Finnish welfare state. As a conclusion it can be said that the use of religious populist style in Finland follows largely the same legalities than abroad. All of these enable religion and its symbolism and tradition to be utilized in different ways. This research backs up the consensus about religious populism being a global phenomenon and somehow similar regardless of the local context. According to the results of my analysis, in Finland, religion was used in many ways as a rhetorical device as part of political speech.

This thesis examines the stories of three Arab Queer individuals in Finland in relation to universal LGBT/Queer rights discourse. The main aim of this study is to explore more critically the implications of the so-called universal LGBT/Queer rights discourse on Arab queer individuals’ experiences and narratives in Finland through their own stories as a medium of sense making about the world. Secondly, and pertaining to the first objective, this research intends to inquire into the possible contributions of a methodology grounded in local concepts and categories of knowledge production in studying an under-researched topic as such. Inspired by conversational method in Indigenous research as discussed in literature by Kovach (2010), hakaya (stories) were used in this research as a means of gathering knowledge. Additionally, art-based methods were included as part of this research in order to engage the participants’ stories from the offset and to foster reflexivity from my end as a researcher throughout the research process. The research material was analysed in conversation with Edward Said’s (1978) work on Orientalism, as well as the contributions of several scholars on Decolonial Queering. Through a comprehensive analysis of data gathered via thematic analysis, artistic reflexivity, as well as follow-up conversations, three common themes were identified: a) pressure to assimilate; b) exclusion/exoticising inclusion; and c) feeling unsafe. The findings in this thesis demonstrate a clear link with previous literature discussed, indicating a perpetual issue when it comes to stories of Queer Arabs being mediated and filtered to feed dominant narratives informed by a Western lens which disregard the subjectivity and distinctive experiences of Arab queer individuals. This points to the necessity as well as the inherent challenge of bringing queerness into conversation with decolonisation to pave the way for the past, present, and future to be reimagined, as well as narrated differently. By utilising a combination of conversational and art-based research methods, this study also reveals that a methodology grounded in local methods of knowledge production—like hakaya or storytelling in the case of this specific thesis—in research on an under-researched topic as such can promote more equal participation and collaboration, yielding more nuanced findings as a result. Moreover, this paper concludes that utilising Art-Based methods can play a substantial role in the process of bringing forth the question of ‘what are the voices that have not been archived?’ and in fostering the visibility of historically marginalised and silenced voices. These findings will help to inform future research in the area and provide a better understanding of the complex dynamics at play when it comes to research on sexuality.

Due to historical and political reasons, a lot of Belarusians face a challenge regarding the understanding of their national identity. This thesis aims at analysing the ways tourism advertisements contribute to the nation’s representation to Belarusians. The study’s objectives concentrate on the formulation of the most recurring cultural representations of Belarusian nation portrayed in the advertisements and evaluation of their contribution to nation-building processes. In the following thesis, I am answering the research questions regarding the markers of cultural representation (e.g., signs, symbols) seen in tourism advertising contributing to Belarusian identity, their cultural connotations, and the differences in the representation of such symbols in governmental and private Belarusian tourist advertisements. Since the thesis is analysing Belarusian national identity features, I also provide a historical and political background of the republic since the thirteenth century. By doing so, the reader gets a comprehensive picture of the events that influenced the problem of national identity and the topicality of this issue nowadays. The data consist of 44 images and snapshots taken from Belarusian online travel resources. As a rule, these images have a direct connection to traditions, myths, and national heritage of the republic. The materials were classified according to their references to geography, leisure practices, cultural heritage, and social relationships. Such references facilitate the classification of the data and allow to identify the national identity markers in a structured way. In this research, I applied the semiology analysis method that analyses denotative and connotative meanings of an image. This method helps to identify “symbols” depicted in the tourist advertisements regarding Belarusian national identity which involves reading between the lines and understanding the historical and cultural “baggage” of the nation in question. This study demonstrated the most representative markers of cultural representation used in the tourist advertisements of Belarus, the way they “speak” to the citizens, and shape Belarusian national identity in the modern context.