Browsing by Subject "equality and non-discrimination policies"

Intersectionality as a concept is gaining increasingly more foothold in the academia, politics, and activism globally, also in Finland. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic overview of the appearance, meaning and operationalization of intersectionality in the equality and non-discrimination plans of Finnish municipalities. Intersectionality has not been studied systematically in the context of policy in Finland, and thus, this study fills a notable gap in research. The closely related terms in the Finnish language, such as multiple discrimination, are included in the analysis. The study draws from the genealogical, theoretical, methodological, and paradigmatic discussions surrounding the concept of intersectionality. Qualitative content analysis was applied in the examination of the equality and non-discrimination plans of five large or middle-sized municipalities in Finland (Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu and Rovaniemi). In addition, email conversations with the municipalities’ employees working with equality and non-discrimination promotion was used as data. The municipalities were chosen to the study with the criteria of involving relatively large cities from different geographical areas in Finland. In the analysis, the similarities and differences of the plans and their uses of relevant terminology are outlined. Intersectionality was applied in two of the municipalities in various manners. It was explicitly referred to as a tool for viewing overlapping identity characteristics with and without emphasis on gender as a central category of difference. In addition, intersectionality was vaguely connected to the deconstruction of discriminatory societal structures. Multiple discrimination, a concept which appeared in most of the municipalities, was not clearly distinguishable from the concept of intersectionality. An interest towards utilizing intersectionality and multiple discrimination more extensively appeared. However, both terms, especially intersectionality, were perceived as difficult to understand and connect to practice. Defining and explaining the terms better, training personnel, and unifying the equality and non-discrimination policies emerged as ways to improve the operationalization of the terms.