‘We hugged each other during the cold nights’: the role of affect in an anti-deportation protest network in Finland

This article analyses the role of affect and emotions in Finland’s first large-scale anti-deportation protest, the 2017 Right to Live protest in Helsinki. Despite deportation protests having recently gained scholarly attention, their emotional dimensions have not been sufficiently studied, especially as concerns the emotions of protestors with vulnerable legal status. This article is based on in-depth interviews with key activists in the anti-deportation protest network in Finland, including asylum seekers, refugees and Finnish citizens. The article argues that in order for the protest of asylum seekers facing the threat of deportation to become public and visible, it was important that cit…

Maahanmuuttajajärjestöt kolmannen sektorin muutoksessa

The diaspora - conflict - peace - nexus : a literature review

This paper seeks to offer a comprehensive literature review on the role and contribution of diasporas to conflicts and peace building. By scanning the existing literature on the conflict – migration nexus and identifying gaps within this literature, this review will thereby serve as the starting point for analysis in the DIASPEACE project. First, the review will provide a general overview of diasporas and conflicts, and will then move on to discuss the various risks faced by diasporas in conflict situations. In this section, the ‘New Wars’ debate will be examined through empirical examples of how diasporas contribute to conflicts in their respective country of origin; the factors influencin…

Erikoisjulkaisu : Näkökulmia Ukrainan sodan aiheuttamaan pakolaisuuteen

Venäjä hyökkäsi Ukrainaan tämän vuoden helmikuun 24. päivä. Tällöin ensimmäisistä maan sisäisesti kodeistaan paenneista ja maan rajojen ulkopuolelle pakoon lähteneistä ihmisistä muodostunut pakkomuuttoliike on kasvanut kaikkineen nyt yli kuuteen miljoonaan Ukrainan rajan ylittäneeseen pakolaiseen (UNHCR, tilanne 23.5.2022). Tämän teemanumeron taustalla on halumme ymmärtää paremmin Ukrainan sodan aiheuttamaa pakolaisuutta sekä toisaalta tarkastella sitä aikaisemman aiheeseen liittyvän tutkimustiedon pohjalta. Tavoitteenamme oli koota yhteen maahanmuuton ja pakolaisuuden tematiikkaan erikoistuneilta tutkijoilta erilaisia näkökulmia liittyen Ukrainan sotaan ja sen synnyttämään pakolaisuuteen. …

Becoming Politically Active: Life Courses and the Formation of Capitals among Young People of Migrant Origin in Finland

This article focuses on the life courses of young people of migrant origin who are active in civic and political fields in Finland. The aim is to analyse, from the micro-level life course perspective, the issues in their lives that have helped them to become active. The article draws on empirical data collected using participatory methods. Four young people of migrant origin participated in the research process and contributed to the data analysis. The theoretical framework consists of Bourdieusian concepts of political habitus and emotional, cultural and social capital. The article shows that participants gained strong emotional capital during their childhood, which laid the groundwork for…

The political potential of migrants is often overlooked in discussions around integration

In a recent study, Hanna Wass, Päivi Pirkkalainen and Marjukka Weide drew on the Somali community in Finland as a case study to consider immigrants as a political resource. They found that turnout among Somali‐born voters was only slightly lower than native citizens, and that their engagement in civic associations is highly dynamic and diverse. The results demonstrate that political potential of immigrants is often overlooked and highlight that economic and social inclusion are closely intertwined with political inclusion. nonPeerReviewed

Johdanto

Kansalaisyhteiskunnan korvaamaton rooli pakolaisten vastaanottamisessa

Valtion vieraanvaraisuus, viranomaisten päävastuu pakolaisten asuttamisesta ja tuki kansalaisyhteiskunnan pakolaisten avustustoiminnalle on tärkeää, jotta vältytään vastakkainasettelulta, epäluottamukselta ja solidaarisuuden hiipumiselta. nonPeerReviewed

Engagement dynamics between diasporas and settlement country institutions : Somalis in Italy and Finland

This study presents a comparative work on engagement dynamics occurring between the Somali diaspora1 and authorities in two countries of settlement, namely Italy and Finland. The analysis focuses on cooperation dynamics, on the one hand looking at how ‘external actors’ (governmental and non governmental)2 attempt to engage diaspora in development and peacebuilding in Somalia, and on the other hand how the diaspora3 attempts to get support from external actors for their efforts in development and peacebuilding in the country of origin4 The cross country comparison between Somali diaspora engagement strategies in Italy and Finland responds to the following three research questions: . 1. Which…

The Slow Violence of Deportability

In 2015, Finland, like other European countries, received an unprecedented number of asylum seekers. Later, in the aftermath of what we prefer to call the ‘refugee reception crisis’, the deportation of those who had received negative asylum decisions began. The Finnish Immigration Service significantly tightened its policies after 2015. Increasingly strict asylum criteria have resulted in deportations at a level never seen before. Furthermore, protests against deportations have increased and become publicly salient. In this chapter we theorize deportation as a form of slow violence that hurts not only its main target but also people nearby. While a forced removal can be seen as a single, po…

‘I do not trust any of them anymore’: Institutional distrust and corrective practices in pro-asylum activism in Finland

Although there is extensive research on how institutional trust and distrust play out in the forms political participation takes, the existing research lacks thorough analysis on what trust and distrust actually consist of, that is, how individuals evaluate institutions as trustworthy or not and what consequences this evaluation has for individuals and their relation to the state more broadly. Drawing on qualitative research on Finnish citizens who engage in pro-asylum activism, we examine how institutional distrusting evolves as a reflexive process. By analysing citizens’ trust judgements on institutional practices and actions that follow, we argue that distrust in institutions enhances a…

Somali diaspora in Finland : assistance of the country of origin

Kansalaisyhteiskuntaan osallistumisesta osallisuuteen? : vuonna 2015 Suomeen saapuneiden turvapaikanhakijoiden näkökulmia

Somali Associations’ Trajectories in Italy and in Finland: Leaders building trust and finding legitimisation

Previous research on migrant associations has explained their formation and maintenance by highlighting migrant groups' cultural characteristics or the political opportunity structures (POS) available in the countries of settlement. Past research has also focused on associations in relation to migrants' political participation in the countries of settlement, applying the notion of social capital. The aim of this article is to enrich the debate on migrant associations by analysing their trajectories. This analysis will also make use of the concepts of POS and social capital. The article analyses Somali associations' developmental trajectories over time in two different settlement-country con…

Karkotukset ja hidas väkivalta

Karkotuksiin liittyvä ”hidas väkivalta” on ennen muuta pelkoa ja epävarmuutta tulevaisuudesta, ja se uuvuttaa ja näännyttää kohteensa vähitellen. Hidas väkivalta ravistelee myös karkotuksen tai karkotusuhan kohteena olevien ihmisten lähipiiriä. nonPeerReviewed

Toimijat ja tunteet Oikeus elää -protestissa

COVID-19-pandemia : mitä se merkitsee ihmisten liikkuvuudelle ja siihen liittyvälle eriarvoisuudelle?

Olemme eläneet outoja aikoja jo yli vuoden. Yli vuosi sitten maat ympäri maailmaa alkoivat asettaa erilaisia rajoituksia COVID-19-pandemian hillitsemiseksi. Ihmisten liikkuvuuden rajoittaminen on ollut yksi merkittävin tapa pyrkiä hallitsemaan viruksen leviämistä. Rajoitusten seurauksena monien ihmisten arkielämä muuttui täysin. Samalla monet ovat joutuneet todistamaan viruksen aiheuttamien sairauksien ja kuolemien suurta määrää – jotkut kauempaa, jotkut lähempää. Me Liikkeessä yli rajojen-blogin toimittajat olemme työssämme maahanmuuttoon liittyvien aiheiden tiimoilta havainneet, miten pandemia on vaikuttanut erityisesti ihmisten liikkuvuuteen ja siihen liittyviin ilmiöihin, kuten ylirajai…

Transnational responsibilities and multi-sited strategies : voluntary associations of Somali diaspora in Finland

Paikallisten ja turvapaikanhakijoiden kohtaamiset pienessä maaseutukunnassa ja mediassa: tapaus Kyyjärvi

Tarkastelemme artikkelissa tapaustutkimuksena pientä maaseutupaikkakuntaa, Kyyjärveä, jonne saapui vuonna 2015 ensimmäistä kertaa turvapaikanhakijoita ja joka nousi uutismediaan myönteisenä poikkeuksena - vieraanvaraisena paikkakuntana yleisen maahanmuuttovastaisen ilmapiirin ja turvapaikkapolitiikan kiristyessä. Analysoimme haastattelu- ja media-aineistoja hyödyntäen vieraanvaraisuutta sosiaalisina suhteina, vieraiden ja vierauden kohtaamista paikallistasolla sekä näiden mediakehystystä. Analysoimme, miten paikallisten ja turvapaikanhakijoiden välille syntyi vastavuoroisia suhteita ennakkoluuloista huolimatta, luottamuksen rakentumisen ansiosta. Nämä kohtaamiset ovat vaikuttaneet paikallis…

The Slow Violence of Deportability

Third Sector Hybridization and Migrant Integration : Cases of Two Migrant Youth Organizations in Finland

In Europe, with its larger numbers of recent newcomer migrants, there lingers the important question of how to facilitate migrant integration into society. This article focuses particularly on migrant organizations and their role in integration processes in the cultural context of Finland, where there is a tradition of civil society corporatism, but where the role of the third sector has traditionally also been strong. In addition, the third sector in Finland has in recent years been experiencing changes, as demands of service provision increase, and at the same time individual participation in formal associations is decreasing. Keeping these tendencies in mind, in this article we study two…