(Im)possibilities of Parity of Participation in School Settings in the Lives of Unaccompanied Youth. Kauhanen, I., Lanas, M. & Kaukko, M. (2023). International Journal of Inclusive Education. Link to the article
This paper examines situations in which outcomes do not align with efforts regarding students’ opportunities to participate equally. The research, conducted as an ethnography, focuses on young people who arrived in Finland as unaccompanied asylum-seeking youths. The study reveals how seemingly ‘innocent’ and well-meaning practices contribute to a web of exclusion, making inclusion and equal participation practically impossible for young people seeking asylum.
Barriers to social justice in unaccompanied youth’s lives: feminist ethnography in institutional settings. Kauhanen, I (2023). Doctoral thesis. Oulu University. Link to the thesis
This research focuses on the lived experiences of unaccompanied youths, examining how they navigate social justice and its barriers through concepts of recognition, parity of participation, and love. The study sheds light on the challenges faced by these youths in institutional homes and school settings. While the participants demonstrated resilience in creating loving relationships and advocating for equal treatment, the research emphasizes the need for critical examination of all practices in their lives to identify and address barriers to social justice.
Työnantajien kansainvälisen rekrytoinnin ja monikulttuurisen johtamisen kyvykkyydet Suomessa. Raunio, M. (2023) Avoin dokumentti julkaistu kommenttikierokselle. Valmis raportti julkaistaan Siirtolaisuusinstituutin raportteja sarjassa. Linkki raporttiin
Tutkimus korostaa työnantajien keskeistä roolia kansainvälisessä rekrytoinnissa ja monikulttuurisessa johtamisessa. Vaikka työnantajien asenne on myönteinen, tarvitaan lisätoimia urapolkujen kehittämiseksi ja tasa-arvoisuuden edistämiseksi. Tutkimuksen mukaan työnantajien kyvykkyys rekrytoida ja johtaa monimuotoisia työyhteisöjä vaikuttaa merkittävästi maahanmuuton onnistumiseen ja sen vaikutuksiin suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa. Kyselyyn osallistui 97 suomalaista työnantajaa.
How diversity matters in working life: A literature review in a Finnish context. Vanhanen, S., Raunio, M., Heikkilä, E., & Olegário, G. (2023) Migration Letters Special Issue. Link to the article
This literature review draws together three perspectives on Finnish working life: employees with an immigrant background, their colleagues, and their employers. Building truly multicultural workplaces requires an understanding of work processes, workplace roles and opportunities for participation. From an employer’s perspective, it would be relevant to look at what factors contribute to diversity in different sectors and at regional and national level.
Law, Migration, and Human Mobility. Kmak, M. (2023). Routledge. Link to the book
This book looks at how law and human mobility interact, going beyond the usual understanding of migration law as simply regulating border crossings. It explores a broader idea of mobility, showing how movement shapes global, legal dynamics. Using concepts like ‘kinology,’ ‘kinopolitics,’ and ‘mobility justice,’ the book examines how movement plays a role in political and social systems, challenging fixed ideas like the state and border and emphasizing how human mobility itself helps shape the law.
How and why does official information become misinformation? A typology of official misinformation. Ruokolainen, H., Widén, G., & Eskola, E.-L. (2023). Library & Information Science Research, 45(2), 101237. Link to the article
This study emphasizes that official information can be a source of misinformation, uncovering four types: outdated, conflicting, incomplete information, and perceived intimidation. It suggests that tailored and clear communication, potentially with in-person support, is essential to mitigate misinformation risks and ensure information is suited to diverse groups.
Nordic Exceptionalism or a Well-Trodden Path? Asylum Policy Lessons From the US and Australia. Phillips, S. (2023) Retfaerd: nordisk juridisk tidsskrift, 175 (1) , 55-68. Link to the article
This study highlights that in Nordic countries, similar to a broader trend among affluent nations, the response to asylum seekers is centered on deterring entry rather than addressing asylum needs. Despite a recent shift in attitude towards Ukrainian refugees, challenging this approach, it actually reinforces the perception of refugees as either welcome or unwelcome. Drawing parallels with historical policies in the United States and Australia, this study reveals a pattern of toughened political responses and a decline in upholding international human rights and refugee law, posing a risk to the asylum institution.
Pockets of love. Unaccompanied children in institutional care in Finland. Kauhanen, I., Kaukko, M., Lanas, M. Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 141, October. 2022. Link to the article
This article discusses how needs for loving relationships are met for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Finland. The data was collected through a focused ethnography with 13 unaccompanied children. The findings show that institutional protocols and practices fail to consider the need for love of these children, hindering their possibilities to create or maintain loving relationships. The findings also suggest that new loving ties could be created when individuals invested in them.
Enrolling around – Reconfiguring place and space in the wake of a new reception centre in a small rural town. Välimaa, M, Vähä-Savo, V & Hiitola, J (2022). Population, Space and Place. Link to the article
This paper explores how a small town in Finland, Kauhava, changed after a reception center was set up. The study explores the micro-level dynamics shaping place and belonging, analyzing how varying perspectives on community and identity contribute to a complex interplay of actors and spaces, drawing from interviews with town officials, reception center volunteers, opponents, and refugees.
AUTHORED BY MOBILE FUTURES RESEARCHERS
Sundbäck, L. (2023). Trust Shaping in Forced Migrants’ Institutional Encounters in the Finnish Welfare State. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 13(2), 7.DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/njmr.532
Karimi, Zeinab (2023) I am not the info desk for Islam and Arabs: the racialization of Islam and boundaries of citizenship. Ethnic and Racial Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2023.2210659
Palander, Jaana. (2023). Family Reunification Restrictions and the Politics of Belonging in Finland. Retfaerd: nordisk juridisk tidsskrift, 175 (1) , 43-55. https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/29442
Palander, Jaana (2022) ‘Köydenvetoa maahanmuuton suuntaviivoista – Talous vai solidaarisuus perheenyhdistämisen perusteena?’, Migration–Muuttoliike 48(2). https://siirtolaisuus-migration.journal.fi/article/view/124982
Cantor, David et al (2022) ‘Externalisation, Access to Territorial Asylum, and International Law’, International Journal of Refugee Law 34(1).
Kang, Dionysia J Y & Wang, Yijie (2022) ‘Letters on Divisions’, in Cheng, Y. (eds) International Student Mobilities and Voices in the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3675-3_6.
Ruokolainen, H. (2022). A methodological approach to misinformation: An analysis of the data creation process in two interview studies. Information Research, 27(4), [colis2229]. https://doi.org/10.47989/colis2229
Ruokolainen, H. (2022). Volunteers’ strategies for supporting asylum seekers with information challenges. Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 305-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2021-0148
Pirkkalainen, Päivi, Lena Näre & Eveliina Lyytinen (2022) ’I do not trust any of them anymore’: Institutional distrust and corrective practices in pro-asylum activism in Finland, Current Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1177/001139212211293
Kmak, M., & Phillips, S. (2022). Our European Way of Life? Challenges to Human Rights and Justice in the EU’s Migration Policy. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2022/02/10/our-european-way-of-life-challenges-to-human-rights-and-justice-in-the-eus-migration-policy/
Kmak, M. (2021). From Law’s Discourse on Refugees to Refugees’ Discourse on Law. Redescriptions: Political Thought, Conceptual History and Feminist Theory, 24(2), 110–128. DOI: http://doi.org/10.33134/rds.346
Toivanen, R., & Kmak, M. (2021). Exclusion and Inequality. In C. P. Krieg & R. Toivanen (Eds.), Situating Sustainability: A Handbook of Contexts and Concepts (pp. 137–152). Helsinki University Press. https://doi.org/10.33134/HUP-14-10