Weibo, framing, and media practices in China

This study uses frames analysis to investigate online discourses and processes of political deliberation on China’s weibo (microblog) service. It offers a comparative analysis of competing discourses surrounding the case of Wang Yue, a toddler who was ran over by two motor vehicles in Foshan, following which eighteen people passed by and ignored her plight. The study aims to understand how weibo facilitate its users to express their differences and deliberate disagreements with each other. The study found that Internet users are rational in the sense that they do not simply lean towards a dichotomised choice of ‘pro-’ or ‘anti-’ official discourse, but they are able to negotiate their moral choices by considering a wide range of social and political factors in such an emotional and morally controversial incident.

Recognition and moral progress : a case study about discourses on disability in the media

This article aims to discuss the notion of moral progress in the theory of recognition. It argues that Axel Honneth's program offers sophisticated theoretical guidance to observe and critically interpret emancipatory projects in contemporary politics based on ideas of individuality and social inclusiveness. Using a case study – the investigation, through frame analysis, of transformations in the portrayal of people with impairment as well as in public discourses on the issue of disability in major Brazilian news media from 1960 to 2008 – this article addresses three controversies: the notion of progress as a directional process; the problem of moral disagreement and conflict of interest in struggles for recognition; and the processes of social learning. By articulating empirically based arguments and Honneth's normative discussions, this study concludes that one can talk about moral progress without losing sight of value pluralism and conflict of interest.

The social foundations of risk

Ulrich Beck's argument about risk society emphasises, among other things, the pervasiveness of risk. As a feature of the human condition in the contemporary, globalised, world that distinguishes the present from the past, risk is widespread across society and affects all social strata. While Beck has gestured towards the irregular distribution of contemporary risks, nonetheless he has suggested that traditional structural entities – class and wealth – no longer provide the key interpretive frameworks for the calculation of susceptibility. In short, the tentacles of risk are long and almost no one is out of reach. Yet, while the risk society thesis has generated a large theoretical literature, there is very little in the way of research that marries theorising to original data collection. This paper represents an attempt to address this gap by using empirical data to investigate whether risk is more textured than Beck's account suggests. Focusing on health as a domain of risk, the paper uses data from a national sample survey of the Australian electorate to investigate the extent to which social divisions structure perceptions of risk within the general population. The findings suggest that various aspects of social stratification, such as income, occupation and education, do indeed play a role in shaping perceptions of risk.

Valence and spatial explanations for voting in the 2013 Australian election

This paper examines the 2013 Australian federal election to test two competing models of vote choice: spatial politics and valence issues. Using data from the 2013 Australian Election Study, the analysis finds that spatial politics (measured by party identification and self-placement on the left-right spectrum) and valence issues both have significant effects on vote choice. However, spatial measures are more important than valence issues in explaining vote choice, in contrast with recent studies from Britain, Canada and the United States. Explanations for these differences are speculative, but may relate to Australia’s stable party and electoral system, including compulsory voting and the frequency of elections. The consequently high information burden faced by Australian voters may lead to a greater reliance on spatial heuristics than is found elsewhere.

"Köyhyydestä ei puhuttu, sitä vaan elettiin." : Köyhyyden kokemus ja selviytyminen 1930-luvun pulan oloissa Suomen maaseudulla

On the material level of poverty, the work shows how the Great Depression forced rural women and children to enhance their work input and find new ways of coping. The most serious impact of the Depression was poor nutrition, as well as scarcity of food and clothes. Women's and men's ways to make a living started to resemble each other; men had also to consent to wages in form of foodstuff. The research also focuses on immaterial poverty by means of exploring experiences of otherness: shame, hatred and expressions of protest. Substantial humiliation was induced by poor relief and begging. A clear gap prevailed between the poor and the better off people in school, work and at leisure. The economic crisis deepened this gap even further. The dissertation specifies the poor people s every day experiences by taking into account the different worlds of men and women. The analysis of four different memory-based sources is the core in the micro-historical research design. The narrators of the research were survivors, unlike many others, who experienced the Great Depression. Moralization and humiliation of the poor have not ceased in contemporary society. Therefore, the historical perspective of both the material and the immaterial side of poverty could increase the understanding of the multifaceted phenomenon of today s poverty.

The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST)

The Politics of Pulp Investment and the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) The paper industry has been moving more heavily to the global South at the beginning of the 21st century. In a number of cases the rural populations of the global South have engaged in increasingly important resistance in their scuffle with the large-scale tree plantation-relying pulp investment model. The resistance had generally not yet managed to slow down Southern industrial tree plantation expansion until 2004. After all, even the MST, perhaps the strongest of the Southern movements, has limited power in comparison to the corporations pushing for plantation expansion. This thesis shows how, even against these odds, depending on the mechanisms of contention and case-specific conflict dynamics, in some cases the movements have managed to slow and even reverse plantation expansion. The thesis is based on extensive field research in the Brazilian countryside. It outlines a new theory of contentious agency promotion, emphasizing its importance in the shaping of corporate resource exploitation. The thesis includes a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of resistance influence on the economic outcomes of all (14) Brazilian large-scale pulp projects between 2004-2008. The central hypothesis of the thesis is that corporate resource exploitation can be slowed down more effectively and likely when the resistance is based on contentious agency. Contentious agency is created by the concatenation of five mutually supporting mechanisms of contention: organizing and politicizing a social movement; heterodox framing of pulp projects; protesting; networking; and embedding whilst maintaining autonomy. The findings suggest that contentious agency can slow or even reverse the expansion of industrial plantations, whereas when contentious agency promotion was inactive, fast or even unchecked plantation expansion was always the outcome. The rule applied to all the assessed 14 pulp conflict cases. The hypothesis gained strong support even in situations where corporate agency promotion was simultaneously active. In previous studies on social movements, there has been a lack of contributions that help us understand the causal mechanisms of contention influencing economic outcomes. The thesis answers to the call by merging a Polanyian analysis of the political economy with the Dynamics of Contention research program and making a case for the impact of contentious agency on capital accumulation. The research concludes that an efficient social movement can utilize mechanisms of contention to promote the potential of activism among its members and influence investment outcomes. Protesting, for example via pioneering land occupations, seemed to be particularly important. Until now, there has been no comprehensive theory on when and how contentious agency can slow down or reverse the expansion of corporate resource exploitation. The original contribution of this research is to provide such a theory, and utilize it to offer an extensive explanation on the conflicts over pulp investment in Brazil, the globalization of the paper industry, and slowing of industrial plantation expansion in the global South.

Reinventing Nordic Openness : Transparency and State Information in Finland

The study explores new ideational changes in the information strategy of the Finnish state between 1998 and 2007, after a juncture in Finnish governing in the early 1990s. The study scrutinizes the economic reframing of institutional openness in Finland that comes with significant and often unintended institutional consequences of transparency. Most notably, the constitutional principle of publicity (julkisuusperiaate), a Nordic institutional peculiarity allowing public access to state information, is now becoming an instrument of economic performance and accountability through results. Finland has a long institutional history in the publicity of government information, acknowledged by law since 1951. Nevertheless, access to government information became a policy concern in the mid-1990s, involving a historical narrative of openness as a Nordic tradition of Finnish governing Nordic openness (pohjoismainen avoimuus). International interest in transparency of governance has also marked an opening for institutional re-descriptions in Nordic context. The essential added value, or contradictory term, that transparency has on the Finnish conceptualisation of governing is the innovation that public acts of governing can be economically efficient. This is most apparent in the new attempts at providing standardised information on government and expressing it in numbers. In Finland, the publicity of government information has been a concept of democratic connotations, but new internationally diffusing ideas of performance and national economic competitiveness are discussed under the notion of transparency and its peer concepts openness and public (sector) information, which are also newcomers to Finnish vocabulary of governing. The above concepts often conflict with one another, paving the way to unintended consequences for the reforms conducted in their name. Moreover, the study argues that the policy concerns over openness and public sector information are linked to the new drive for transparency. Drawing on theories of new institutionalism, political economy, and conceptual history, the study argues for a reinvention of Nordic openness in two senses. First, in referring to institutional history, the policy discourse of Nordic openness discovers an administrative tradition in response to new dilemmas of public governance. Moreover, this normatively appealing discourse also legitimizes the new ideational changes. Second, a former mechanism of democratic accountability is being reframed with market and performance ideas, mostly originating from the sphere of transnational governance and governance indices. Mobilizing different research techniques and data (public documents of the Finnish government and international organizations, some 30 interviews of Finnish civil servants, and statistical time series), the study asks how the above ideational changes have been possible, pointing to the importance of nationalistically appealing historical narratives and normative concepts of governing. Concerning institutional developments, the study analyses the ideational changes in central steering mechanisms (political, normative and financial steering) and the introduction of budget transparency and performance management in two cases: census data (Population Register Centre) and foreign political information (Ministry for Foreign Affairs). The new policy domain of governance indices is also explored as a type of transparency. The study further asks what institutional transformations are to be observed in the above cases and in the accountability system. The study concludes that while the information rights of citizens have been reinforced and recalibrated during the period under scrutiny, there has also been a conversion of institutional practices towards economic performance. As the discourse of Nordic openness has been rather unquestioned, the new internationally circulating ideas of transparency and the knowledge economy have entered this discourse without public notice. Since the mid 1990s, state registry data has been perceived as an exploitable economic resource in Finland and in the EU public sector information. This is a parallel development to the new drive for budget transparency in organisations as vital to the state as the Population Register Centre, which has led to marketization of census data in Finland, an international exceptionality. In the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the post-Cold War rhetorical shift from secrecy to performance-driven openness marked a conversion in institutional practices that now see information services with high regards. But this has not necessarily led to the increased publicity of foreign political information. In this context, openness is also defined as sharing information with select actors, as a trust based non-public activity, deemed necessary amid the global economic competition. Regarding accountability system, deliberation and performance now overlap, making it increasingly difficult to identify to whom and for what the public administration is accountable. These evolving institutional practices are characterised by unintended consequences and paradoxes. History is a paradoxical component in the above institutional change, as long-term institutional developments now justify short-term reforms.

How terrorist campaigns end : The Rode Jeugd in the Netherlands and the Symbionese Liberation Army in the United States

This study explores the decline of terrorism by conducting source-based case studies on two left-wing terrorist campaigns in the 1970s, those of the Rode Jeugd in the Netherlands and the Symbionese Liberation Army in the United States. The purpose of the case studies is to bring more light into the interplay of different external and internal factors in the development of terrorist campaigns. This is done by presenting the history of the two chosen campaigns as narratives from the participants’ points of view, based on interviews with participants and extensive archival material. Organizational resources and dynamics clearly influenced the course of the two campaigns, but in different ways. This divergence derives at least partly from dissimilarities in organizational design and the incentive structure. Comparison of even these two cases shows that organizations using terrorism as a strategy can differ significantly, even when they share ideological orientation, are of the same size and operate in the same time period. Theories on the dynamics of terrorist campaigns would benefit from being more sensitive to this. The study also highlights that the demise of a terrorist organization does not necessarily lead to the decline of the terrorist campaign. Therefore, research should look at the development of terrorist activity beyond the lifespan of a single organization. The collective ideological beliefs and goals functioned primarily as a sustaining force, a lens through which the participants interpreted all developments. On the other hand, it appears that the role of ideology should not be overstated. Namely, not all participants in the campaigns under study fully internalized the radical ideology. Rather, their participation was mainly based on their friendship with other participants. Instead of ideology per se, it is more instructive to look at how those involved described their organization, themselves and their role in the revolutionary struggle. In both cases under study, the choice of the terrorist strategy was not merely a result of a cost-benefit calculation, but an important part of the participants’ self-image. Indeed, the way the groups portrayed themselves corresponded closely with the forms of action that they got involved in. Countermeasures and the lack of support were major reasons for the decline of the campaigns. However, what is noteworthy is that the countermeasures would not have had the same kind of impact had it not been for certain weaknesses of the groups themselves. Moreover, besides the direct impact the countermeasures had on the campaign, equally important was how they affected the attitudes of the larger left-wing community and the public in general. In this context, both the attitudes towards the terrorist campaign and the authorities were relevant to the outcome of the campaigns.

Tiedon jakaminen tiimityössä

Knowledge-sharing in a teamwork The study examines the link between knowledge-sharing that takes place in a team and the dimensions and objectives of the team s activities. The question the study poses is: How does knowledge-sharing in a team relate to the team s activities? The exchange of knowledge is examined using knowledge-sharing networks and the conversion model, which describes the process of knowledge formation. The answer to the question is sought through four empirical articles describing the activities of a team from the viewpoint of quality, fairness, power related to knowledge management, and performance. One of the articles used in the study describes the role of networks in work life more generally. It attempts to shed light on the manner in which team-related networks operate as part of a more extensive structure of organizational networks. Finland is one of the most eager users of teamwork, if numbers are used as a yardstick. About half of all Finnish wage earners worked in teams in 2009, and comparisons show that the use of teams in Finland is above the EU average. This study focuses on so-called semi-autonomous teams, which carry out permanent work tasks. In such teams, tasks are interdependent, and teams are jointly responsible for ensuring that the work is done. Team members may also, at least to some extent, agree between themselves on how the tasks are carried out and are able to take part in the decision-making process. Such teamwork makes knowledge-sharing an important element for the team s activities. Knowledge and knowledge-sharing have become a major resource, allowing organizations to operate and even compete in today s increasingly competitive markets. A single team or a single organization cannot, however, possess all the knowledge required for carrying out the tasks assigned to it. Although it is difficult to copy the knowledge generated in an organization, it is important to share the knowledge within and between organizations. External links supply teams and organizations with important knowledge that allows them to keep their operations up-to-date and their structures well-functioning. In fact, knowledge provides teams and organizations with an intangible resource that improves their capacity to interact with their environment and to adjust to it. For this reason, it is important to examine both the internal and external knowledge-sharing taking place in a team. The findings of the study show that in terms of quality, fairness, performance and the knowledge management issues concerning a team, its social network structure is both internally and externally connected with its activities. A team structure that is internally coherent and at the same time open to external contacts, is, with certain restrictions, connected with the quality, fairness, and performance of the team. The restrictions concern differences between procedural and interactional justice, public and private sectors, and the team leaders and ordinary team members. The role of the team leader is closely connected with the management of networks that are considered valuable. The results of the study indicate that teamwork is supervisor-dominated. Thus, teamwork does not substantially strengthen the influence of individual employees as players in knowledge-transfer networks. However, ordinary team members possess important peer contacts inside the organization. Teamwork clearly allows employees to interact in a democratic manner, and here the transfer of tacit knowledge plays an important role. Keywords: teamwork, knowledge-sharing, social networks, organization

Elite Bargaining and the Evolution of Centre-Periphery Relations in Post-Soviet Russia : A Comparative Analysis

This work is concerned with presenting a modified theoretical approach to the study of centre-periphery relations in the Russian Federation. In the widely accepted scientific discourse, the Russian federal system under the Yeltsin Administration (1991-2000) was asymmetrical; largely owing to the varying amount of structural autonomy distributed among the federation s 89 constituent units. While providing an improved understanding as to which political and socio-economic structures contributed to federal asymmetry, it is felt that associated large N-studies have underemphasised the role played by actor agency in re-shaping Russian federal institutions. It is the main task of this thesis to reintroduce /re-emphasise the importance of actor agency as a major contributing element of institutional change in the Russian federal system. By focusing on the strategic agency of regional elites simultaneously within regional and federal contexts, the thesis adopts the position that political, ethnic and socio-economic structural factors alone cannot fully determine the extent to which regional leaders were successful in their pursuit of economic and political pay-offs from the institutionally weakened federal centre. Furthermore, this work hypothesises that under conditions of federal institutional uncertainty, it is the ability of regional leaders to simultaneously interpret various mutable structural conditions then translate them into plausible strategies which accounts for the regions ability to extract variable amounts of economic and political pay-offs from the Russian federal system. The thesis finds that while the hypothesis is accurate in its theoretical assumptions, several key conclusions provide paths for further inquiry posed by the initial research question. First, without reliable information or stable institutions to guide their actions, both regional and federal elites were forced into ad-hoc decision-making in order to maintain their core strategic focus: political survival. Second, instead of attributing asymmetry to either actor agency or structural factors exclusively, the empirical data shows that both agency and structures interact symbiotically in the strategic formulation process, thus accounting for the sub-optimal nature of several of the actions taken in the adopted cases. Third, as actor agency and structural factors mutate over time, so, too do the perceived payoffs from elite competition. In the case of the Russian federal system, the stronger the federal centre became, the less likely it was that regional leaders could extract the high degree of economic and political pay-offs that they clamoured for earlier in the Yeltsin period. Finally, traditional approaches to the study of federal systems which focus on institutions as measures of federalism are not fully applicable in the Russian case precisely because the institutions themselves were a secondary point of contention between competing elites. Institutional equilibriums between the regions and Moscow were struck only when highly personalised elite preferences were satisfied. Therefore the Russian federal system is the product of short-term, institutional solutions suited to elite survival strategies developed under conditions of economic, political and social uncertainty.

Kulutus, tieto, hallinta : Kulutuksen tilastoinnin muutokset 1900-luvun Suomessa

The aim of the study was to find out how the consumption of the population in Finland became a target of social interest and production of statistical data in the early 20th century, and what efforts have been made to influence consumption with social policy measures at different times. Questions concerning consumption are examined through the practices employed in the compilation of statistics on it. The interpretation framework in the study is Michael Foucault s perspective of modern liberal government. This mode of government is typified by pursuit of efficiency and search of equilibrium between economic government and a government of the processes of life. It shows aspirations towards both integration and individualisation. The government is based on freedom practices. It also implies knowledge-based ways of conceptualising reality. Statistical data are of specific significance in this context. The connection between the government of consumption and the compilation of statistics on it is studied through the theoretical, socio-political and statistical conceptualisation of consumption. The research material consisted of Finnish and international documentation on the compilation of statistics on consumption, publications of social programmes, and reports of studies on consumption. The analysis of the material focused especially on the problematisations related to consumption found in these documents and on changes in them over history. There have been both clearly observable changes and as well as historical stratification and diversity in the rationalities and practices of consumption government during the 20th century. Consumption has been influenced by pluralistic government, based at different times and in varying ways on the logics of solidarity and markets. The difference between these is that in the former risks are prepared for collectively while in the latter risks are individualised. Despite the differences, the characteristic that is common to these logics is certain kind of contractuality. They are both permeated by the household logic which differs from them in that it is based on the normative and ethical demands imposed on an individual. There has been a clear interactive connection between statistical data and consumption government. Statistical practices have followed changes in the way consumption has been conceptualised in society. This has been reflected in the statistical phenomena of interest, concepts, classifications and indicators. New ways of compiling statistics have in their turn shaped perceptions of reality. Statistical data have also facilitated a variety of rational calculations with which the consequences of the population s consumption habits have been evaluated at the levels of economy at large and individuals.

Etiikan tutkimuksen funktio Aristoteleella ja Nikomakhoksen etiikan tulkintaperinteet

Käytännöllisen filosofian historian alaan kuuluva Pro Gradu -tutkielmani pyrkii vastaamaan kysymykseen, mikä on etiikan tutkimuksen funktio Aristoteleen Nikomakhoksen etiikassa. Tarkastelen Nikomakhoksen etiikan tulkintaperinteitä ja erityisesti Aristoteleen etiikan egoistisesta perusluonteesta käytyä keskustelua. Tutkimuksessa kyysenalaistan oletuksen, että etiikan teorian funktio Aristoteleella olisi ollut sama kuin mikä se modernissa etiikassa on. Tutkimuksessani totean antiikin etiikan ja modernin moraalikäsityksen erot ja tuon esiin sen, kuinka helposti modernit Aristoteles-kommentaattorit lankeavat anakronismiin. Tämä tulee esiin egoismi-keskustelussa ja siinä, millaisia asioita keskustelun osapuolet vaativat Aristoteleen etiikalta tai olettavat etiikan teorian sisältävän. Keskustelu Aristoteleen etiikan egoismista toimii esimerkkinä, jonka kautta valoitetaan modernien tulkintaperinteiden ongelmia. Tutkimuksessa päädytään kumoamaan ongelmallisena tulkintaperinne, jonka mukaan Aristoteleen eettinen naturalismi voisi tarjota rationaalisen perustan etiikalle. Myös perinteinen käsitys Aristoteleen etiikan teorian funktiosta hylätään ja päädytään esittämään että Aristoteleen etiikka on perusluonteeltaan erottamatonta politiikasta ja antiikin kreikan kaupunkivaltion poliittisesta rakenteesta. Tämän johdosta kyseenalaistetaan vakavasti mahdollisuus soveltaa Aristoteleen etiikkaa moderniin maailmaan. Johtopäätöksenä on, että Nikomakhoksen etiikka on enemmänkin lainsäätäjille/valtiomiehille (tai sellaiseksi aikoville) suunnattua asiantuntijakirjallisuutta kuin yksityiselle ihmiselle hänen omassa elämässään vastauksia tarjoava opas. Etiikan teorian tarkoituksena on näyttää lainsäätäjille kokonaiskuva, mihin suuntaan heidän tulisi lainsäädännöllään kansalaisia ohjata.

Kantin käsitys ystävyydestä ja rakkaudesta

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan Immanuel Kantin käsitystä ideaalista ystävyydestä. Tarkoituksena oli ratkaista sen olemassa olo rakkauden vastavuoroisuuden perusteella. Ystävyys on ollut antiikista lähtien filosofialle merkittävä ongelma. Immanuel Kant käsittelee ystävyyttä kahdessa teoksessaan The Metaphysics of Morals ja Lectures on Ethics. Kantin ystävyyskäsitys sisältää neljä erilaista ystävyyden lajia. Ne ovat tarveystävyys, esteettinen ystävyys, intiimiystävyys ja ideaali ystävyys. Tarveystävyys perustuu hyödyn tavoittelulle. Esteettisellä ystävyydellä tarkoitetaan nautintoja hakevaa ystävyyttä. Intiimiystävyys on luonteen ystävyyttä. Ideaali ystävyys on Kantin käsitys täydellisestä ystävyydestä. Ideaalissa ystävyydessä niin kuin intiimiystävyydessä tärkeintä on keskusteleminen. Rakkauden tasapainon selvittämiseksi tutustuttiin Kantin käsityksiin rakkaudesta. Rakkauden lajeja Kantilta esittelin viisi. Niiden lisäksi onnellisuus oli tunne, joka vaikutti ystävyyden muodostumiseen. Rakkauden lajeja ovat itserakkaus, eros, agape, philia ja amor benevolentiae. Itserakkaus on itsensä rakastamista. Eros on intohimoa korostava rakkauden laji. Se kuuluu avioliittoon, ei ystävyyteen. Agape tunnetaan lähimmäisenrakkautena. Philia eroaa agapesta siten, että se on kiinnostunut joistain rakastettavista piirteistä toisessa yksilössä. Amor benevolentiae on hyväntahtoisuuden osoittamista. Rakkaus, joka ystävien välillä ilmeni vastavuoroisena, vahvistui lajiltaan philiaksi. Vastavuoroisuus ystävien kesken vaatii ajan ja paikan. Vastavuoroisuutta vaikeuttaa epävarmuus siitä. Vastavuoroisuudesta on saatava runsaasti todisteita. Todisteita saadaan tavoilla, jotka ystävät ymmärtävät. Ymmärtäminen edellyttää yhteisiä viestintäkeinoja. Kun tarpeeksi toisiinsa luottavat ystävät keskustelevat keskenään, he myös muovaavat toistensa persoonia. Silloin he tekevät toisistaan rakastettavampia. Tutkimukseni perusteella ideaali ystävyys on mahdollinen. Vastavuoroisuus rakkaudessa onnistuu, jos ystävät muokkaavat toisiaan. Ideaali ystävyys on molemminpuolisen kehittymisen tulos, jolloin ystävät tekevät toisistaan itsensä kaltaisia ja pystyvät rakastamaan toista kuin itseään.

"Sinunko rintasi? Ei vaan pääoman!" : Marxist-Feministerna-ryhmä ja sosialistisen feminismin mahdollisuus 1974–1978

Tutkimuksen aiheena on Helsingissä 1970-luvun puolivälissä ja loppupuolella toiminut Marxist-Feministerna-ryhmä, MF-ryhmä. Ryhmään kuului noin viisitoista naista, joista useimmat olivat ruotsinkielisiä. MF-ryhmä toimi tiedostamisryhmänä, opintopiirinä ja feministiverkoston osana. MF-ryhmää on pidetty yhtenä ensimmäisistä niin kutsutun uuden naisliikkeen ilmentymistä Suomessa. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tarkentaa kuvaa uudesta naisliikkeestä ja 1970-luvun feminismistä Suomessa sekä laajentaa käsitystä 1970-luvun sosialistisesta ajattelusta ja vasemmistosta. Tutkielmassa MF-ryhmää tarkastellaan aatehistoriallisesta näkökulmasta ja tutkitaan sen sijoittumista sosialismin ja feminismin ajattelutraditioihin. Kysymystä tutkitaan ryhmässä luetun kirjallisuuden, ryhmän työskentelytapojen ja ryhmän muihin sekä suomalaisiin että ulkomaisiin järjestöihin ja ryhmiin pitämien yhteyksien näkökulmasta. Samoin tarkastellaan, miten ryhmän käymät keskustelut ja niissä esiintyneet teoreettiset kehittelyt ja käsitteet suhteutuvat sosialismin ja feminismin piirissä käytyihin keskusteluihin. Alkuperäislähteistönä työssä ovat MF-ryhmän kokousten pöytäkirjat, kahden ryhmän jäsenen kirjoittama kirja sekä ryhmän jäsenten kirjoittamat lehtiartikkelit. Lisäksi käytetään kolmen ryhmän jäsenen haastatteluja, ryhmän toiminnasta kertovia lehtijuttuja sekä 1970-luvun naisliikettä ja vasemmistoa koskevaa tutkimus- ja muistelukirjallisuutta. MF-ryhmälle sosialismi oli itsestään selvän oloinen osa oman ajattelun pohjaa. Ryhmässä luettiin niin vanhempaa kuin uudempaakin sosialistista kirjallisuutta ja keskusteltiin naisten asemasta sosialistisen analyysin pohjalta. Ryhmässä nostettiin esiin, miten marxilaiset ajattelijat olivat olleet kyvyttömiä kunnolla ymmärtämään naisten sortoa ja etenkin analysoimaan sen yksityisempiä puolia. Ryhmälle oli kuitenkin tärkeää kehittää sosialistista ajattelua ymmärtämään myös naisten alistukseen liittyviä kysymyksiä. Erityisesti ryhmän keskusteluissa nostettiin esiin uudelle naisliikkeelle keskeisiä kysymyksiä ruumiillisuudesta, seksuaalisuudesta ja reproduktiosta, mutta ryhmässä käsiteltiin myös naisten työntekoa ja lisäksi naisten asemaa historiassa. Ryhmässä luettiinkin myös uuden naisliikkeen ulkomaista kirjallisuutta ja osallistuttiin naisliikkeen piirissä käytyihin teoreettisiin ja käytännöllisiin keskusteluihin naisten sorrosta ja siitä vapautumisesta. Toisaalta, osin marxilaisen kehyksen vaikutuksesta, ryhmässä nousivat esiin sellaiset esimerkiksi seksuaalisuuteen ja ruumiillisuuteen liittyvät kysymykset, joilla on kytköksensä talouteen. Ryhmän toiminnassa korostui oman ajattelun vapauden säilyttäminen. Vaikka ryhmä haki aktiivisesti yhteyttä muihin nais- ja vasemmistoryhmiin, sille oli tärkeää säilyttää oma riippumattomuutensa ja itsenäisyytensä.

Nuorten osallisuus ja osallistuminen maaseudun kehitysstrategioissa : osuuskunnat ja Feria Francat Koillis-Argentiinassa

Tutkin Pro Gradu -työssäni nuorten osallisuutta ja osallistumista suhteessa maaseutukehitykseen Argentiinan maaseudulla. Vaikka nuorison tärkeä strateginen asema maaseudun kehityksen kannalta mainitaan usein sekä akateemisessa että poliittisessa diskurssissa, on nuoriso jäänyt vähälle huomiolle tutkijoiden, yhteiskunnallisten päättäjien, ja muiden toimijoiden silmissä Latinalaisessa Amerikassa. Maaseudun nuorten ”näkymättömyys” on johtanut siihen, että heidän asemansa erillisenä sosiaalisena toimijana on jäänyt heikoksi. Oman tutkimukseni ensisijaisena tavoitteena on siis saada paljon kaivattua lisätietoa argentiinalaisista maaseudun nuorista. Lähestyn maaseudun kehitysproblematiikkaa osallisuuden ja osallistumisen käsitteiden kautta tutkimalla nuorten osallisuutta ja osallistumista maaseutuympäristössä yleisesti sekä muutamissa maaseudun yhteisötaloudellisissa instituutioissa erityisesti. Tutkimiani instituutioita ovat maatalousosuuskunnat ja pientuottajien verovapaat torit eli Feria Francat. Kutsun kyseisiä instituutioita kehitysstrategioiksi. Suhteutan aineistoani territoriaaliseen maaseudun kehitysnäkemykseen (desarrollo territorial rural) ja erityisesti argentiinalaisen Mabel Manzanalin paikallisväestön järjestäytyneen osallistumisen roolia korostavaan versioon siitä. Tutkimukseni perustuu pääasiassa vuoden 2009 syksyllä Koillis-Argentiinassa toteutetun kenttätyön antiin. Tutkimusotteeni oli melko etnografinen ja aineisto sisältää osallistuvan havainnoinnin kautta hankittua informaatiota, haastatteluja, keskusteluja sekä kirjallista materiaalia. Tutkimukseni tärkeimpänä tuloksena voidaan todeta, että Koillis-Argentiinan maaseudulla nuorilla ei juurikaan ole tilaa osallistua ja heidän asemansa erillisenä sosiaalisen toimijana on erittäin heikko. Vaikka tilanne näyttää huolestuttavalta, onneksi jotkut osuuskunnat ja erityisesti Feria Francat ovat pystyneet tarjoamaan uudenlaisia mahdollisuuksia maaseudun nuorille ja niillä on muutenkin potentiaalia toimia järjestäytyneen osallistumisen areenoina sekä kokonaisvaltaisen territoriaalisen maaseutukehityksen edistäjinä. Maaseudun kehityksen kannalta olisi erittäin tärkeää, että nuorten sosiaalista pääomaa vahvistettaisiin, he tuntisivat itsensä osallisiksi ja pääsisivät oikeasti osallistumaan ja vaikuttamaan. Nuoret nimittäin usein omaavat sellaista tietotaitoa ja ideoita, joita vanhemmilta sukupuolilta ei välttämättä löydy. Mutta jos nuoret kokevat, että heitä ei arvosteta eikä heille tarjota mahdollisuuksia, he lähtevät etsimään onneaan yhä suuremmiksi paisuvista kaupungeista ja samalla maaseudun tulevaisuus vaarantuu kun se menettää kehityksensä kannalta tärkeitä voimavaroja ja sosiaalista pääomaa.