Browsing by Subject "narrative"

Finnish national identity in defense policy is a concept that is often less emphasized in academic research. By utilizing the historical research method to evaluate 8 Finnish security policy documents from 2001-2022, this thesis seeks to uncover how the idea of national identity is used within the documents. There is an extensive historical background which covers wars and foreign relations of Finland to note the formation of a national identity and its variations over time. Constructivism as an approach to international relations and history in a narrative format is used as a theoretical background to investigate these issues. National identity is found to have some influence upon action taken in Finnish defence policy and can prescribe a range of options for maneuver.

The purpose of this study was to find out, in retrospect, how the polytechnic students chose their study place and how their conception of the reputation of an educational institute affected their choices during the application process. The study was based on the narrative interviews of 17 first year students from three degree programs of one polytechnic. The analysis of the interviews proceeded in two successive stages. The first stage consisted of a narrative analysis in accordance with the classification of Donald Polkinghorne (1995). In the second stage, the analysis was complemented by A. J. Greimas’ three-level semiotic approach, comprising the discursive, narrative (actantial model) and deep levels. The conclusions were based on both analyses, i.e. on methological triangulation. The narrative analysis prepared the way for the construction of three meta-narratives in accordance with the applicants’ aims. The three aims that guided the applicants’ choices were (i) the up-dating of one’s professional skills, (ii) the choice of a profession and (iii) the taking of a degree in a polytechnic. The semiotic analysis showed two dimensions along which the choices were made. Firstly, the applicants aimed to have a study place in which they could combine both practical skills and theoretical knowledge (pragmatic-professional dimension). Secondly, the analysis also showed that emotions and values affected the choices they made (dimension of social values). The reputation of a polytechnic was considered an important factor of the application process. The applicants’ conception of reputation turned out pragmatic, since the stories they had heard about the daily routines of a polytechnic were regarded as essential for its reputation. The stories about a high number of drop-outs and graduation without employment prospects were considered negative for reputation. The applicants highly valued the information they received directly from the polytechnic students. Grapevine proved to be an effective means of communication, but the applicants also resorted to general information guides and the institutes’ Internet pages, whereas the media’s role turned out less important during the application process. The most important communicational channel was face-to-face communication. E-mail, mobile phone and various platforms in the Internet also provided forums or networks for meeting peers and spreading stories about the polytechnics.

War children were sent away to shelter without their parents to other Nordic countries, mainly to Sweden. The phenomenon was remarkable. During the Second World War nearly 80,000 children were sent from their homes by trains or boats. These children travelled to foster homes where they were placed with new parents looking after them. After the conclusion of the peace, for some months or sometimes years later, orders were given to send the children back to their families in Finland. Returning back to Finland and to their biological parents and families was not always easy. Deep bonds between the children and their foster families were created and leaving caused grief to those small travellers once again. In some cases, distances were created in the relations between Mothers and their daughters. Many had forgotten their Finnish, and returning to school proved difficult. Some of the war children felt rootlessness, a result of being torn away from their family and culture. The aim of this study is to describe how former war children became mothers by themselves, and later on grandmothers. The study also explores how they describe the meaning of the war and their childhood in their own parenthood and what were their experiences of time in foster homes. Seven former war children and three daughters were interviewed for this study. Interviews were biographical. A narrative approach and thematic reading (by Riessman 2008) has guided the analysis of the texts. According to the results of this study, the importance of having your own home , family and security in childhood relationships is significant. Caring and having responsibility for disadvantaged others was important for former war children. What come from the detailed experiences of the 'war childhood' most of all were the difficulties they found on returning to Finland. Some of them had become very attached to their foster parents. There were varying degrees of language problems among the returnees. Some of the interviewees had completely forgotten their native language. Given that, starting the school at home was difficult. They also remembered continuous travelling.When asked on the outcome of their relationship with their biological mother, most interviewees were happy, with a few experiencing some distance in this relationship. Security and being available to protect their children were important in their own motherhood and grand motherhood. In difficult family situations like divorce, they wanted to give their time and support for helping with grandchildren. Another important aspect in family life is interaction between all its members. Talking things through in families and also in War Child Associations was highly valued. However, talking of war childhood had been silenced in some families. In conclusion, the experiences of former war children should take in consideration when difficult situations between parents and children or children's positions in war zones are resolved. War children also have a lot to give for further educational study.

The thesis studies the European anti-trafficking framework, comprehending relevant EU and Council of Europe instruments, and the narrative of trafficking that it creates. The aim of the thesis is to identify the assumptions and the imagery of trafficking upon which the framework is formed as well as the exclusions and blind spots that these assumptions create. The thesis analyses the legal framework by adopting a critical feminist methodology. It studies assumptions concerning gender and migration in the trafficking narrative by first focusing on a linkage between trafficking and prostitution policies, then on a linkage between trafficking and migration and finally on connections between trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence. Assumptions of what trafficking is are produced through linkages, and sometimes lacks of linkages, between these frameworks. The thesis argues that trafficking is assumed to involve organized criminal groups trafficking migrant women to the sex industry and forced prostitution. Trafficking is combated as a form of organized crime, and legal instruments are based on this assumption. The anti-trafficking framework is also linked to migration policies as trafficking is understood as a form of irregular migration, contributing to a focus on transnational trafficking. In addition, the understanding of trafficking is marred by a debate on the nature and potential harmfulness of prostitution which has been among the most controversial issues of the anti-trafficking framework. The role of the sex industry and prostitution is thus at the focus in the debated narrative of trafficking. As the narrative of trafficking focuses on some experiences, it forgets others. Victims of trafficking taking place within romantic relationships are excluded from the narrative of trafficking, as the relational nature of trafficking remains invisible due to a focus on organized crime. Domestic trafficking victims often remain unidentified as well, as the anti-trafficking framework focuses on transnational trafficking. As the question of prostitution takes space in legal discourses around the anti-trafficking framework, other forms of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation remain unidentified and under-analyzed. A more inclusive narrative of trafficking would be beneficial for the identification of victims. In addition to being conceptualized as a question of migration and organized crime, trafficking should be understood in more relational terms, as a form of gender-based violence with connections to other such crimes. Trafficking should altogether be understood as a complex phenomenon that can take many forms and needs to be combated in multiple ways, as generalizing assumptions are too often counterproductive and based on political motives instead of empirical analysis.