0000000001035367
AUTHOR
Aila-leena Matthies
showing 36 related works from this author
Internationalisation of social work doctoral studies : experiences and perspectives in the changing context of European higher education
2016
The internationalisation of doctoral education in social work has become a newly developing area particularly in Europe during the last two decades. It has been promoted by two factors: (1) the reform of higher education (Bologna reform), which contributed to the development of doctoral study and (2) the establishment of European funding programmes that would allow international cooperation and ensure the quality of the programmes. Also, in the European Qualification Framework the knowledge, skills and competences gained by doctoral qualification are defined. In this article, we analyse three international doctoral projects that were developed in Europe in last 10 years. We focus on what th…
Research-Based Social Work Profession in the Finnish Welfare State
2021
This chapter examines the Finnish model of social work education from the perspective of the European system of higher education. The analysis is framed by the fast development of the social-democratic welfare state. Formalised social worker education started in 1942 as a two-year bachelor’s degree that was vocationally oriented with the purpose of providing municipalities a sufficient labour force. From the 1970s onwards, social work education started its process of academisation, and in 1994 social work became its own scientific discipline. Currently, Finnish social work education places strong emphasis on research and research-based understanding of social work. Social work education is …
Research‐based knowledge about social work and sustainability
2020
Next-generation modelling of community work and structural social work in Finland
2021
The recently reformed Finnish Social Welfare Act obligates public social work to enact structural social work, and to address the community- and structural-level social problems behind individual cases. This article examines how community work and structural social work are conceived by early career social workers. The empirical data consists of 26 project plans by social work Master’s students studying in a working life-based part-time programme. The data includes designs for community work or structural social work to be applied in practice to address a real social problem or issue identified by the students in their working environment. The designs are analysed by content analysis and re…
Book Review: Lena Dominelli (2012) Green Social Work – From Environmental Crises to Environmental Justice
2013
Ecosocial Innovations as Part of Social and Solidarity Economy : Local Models for a Sustainable Development
2017
Este artigo apresenta o conceito de inovacoes eco-sociais. Conceito que remete para as organizacoes locais ligadas a economia social e solidaria cuja intervencao nao deixa de atender aos desafios sociais e ecologicos, podendo ser vistos como modelos de sucesso na operacionalizacao da sustentabilidade. Baseado num estudo comparativo multi-caso internacional, a partir de uma abordagem do Servico Social, o artigo procura mostrar o trabalho desenvolvido nestas iniciativas, salientando a importância das mesmas. Entrevistas recolhidas junto dos atores locais em quatro paises permitiram identificar sete caracteristicas comuns as diferentes experiencias estudadas. Destaca-se a identificacao de um p…
Applying transdisciplinary sustainability transitions research in international social work doctoral training
2022
In the last 15 years, transdisciplinary research of sustainability transitions has become an increasingly powerful approach. We discuss it as a perspective for social work discipline, and as a theoretical-conceptual frame of a new international doctoral training and research programme in social work taking place in seven European countries. In our qualitative study, we investigate how the participating social work doctoral students reflect upon transdisciplinarity and understand the interconnectivity between environmental, ecological, and social sustainability transitions—which is widely recognised as a highly complex challenge of sustainability. The data used included the students’ learnin…
The ecosocial approach in social work as a framework for structural social work
2016
The article aims to deepen the understanding of structural social work from the point of view of the ecosocial framework. It analyses selected current international literature from the debate on the new wave of various interpretations of ecological social work. The debate shares four main themes: (a) a global perspective, (b) a critical view of professional social work, (c) a holistic ecosocial transition of society and (d) environmental and ecological justice. The ecosocial framework challenges structural social work to follow the principles of sustainable development and considers environmental issues as a crucial part of the goals and practical activities of structural social work.
Combining labour market and unemployment policies with environmental sustainability? A cross-national study on ecosocial innovations
2020
AbstractLabour market and unemployment policies in particular are rarely connected to issues of environmental sustainability. In the present article, the link is examined by focusing on ecosocial innovations in four European countries – Finland, Germany, Belgium and Italy. These innovations are small-scale associations, cooperatives or organizations that create new integrative practices combining both social and environmental goals. By asking how their social practices are linked with labour market and unemployment policies, we explore the scope for new ecosocial policies. The results of this cross-national case study lead to three lessons to be learnt for a future ecosocial welfare state: …
Kohti kestävää taloutta : ekososiaalinen näkökulma taloussosiaalityöhön
2019
[Johdanto] Jos ilmastonmuutosta halutaan jarruttaa, suomalaisten on vähennettävä radikaalisti asumisen, liikkumisen ja kulutuksen aiheuttamaa ympäristökuormaa (Sitra 2019). Elävätkö köyhät ehkä ympäristöystävällisemmin kuin paljon kuluttavat hyväosaiset? Kestävän kehityksen yhteys taloussosiaalityöhön ei ole näin yksinkertainen. Köyhyys pakottaa myös epäekologisiin ratkaisuihin. Tässä luvussa pohdin, miten taloussosiaalityö aivan erityisesti kytkee ekososiaalista lähestymistapaa eli ympäristökysymysten näkökulmaa sosiaalityöhön. Sosiaalityön ekososiaalinen ajattelutapa tarkastelee ihmistä kokonaisvaltaisesti elinympäristössään ja osana sitä. Siinä ympäristöongelmat nähdään myös sosiaalisina…
Ecosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition
2019
The article contributes to sustainability transition research by indicating the significance of transformative grassroots innovations in the context of social work research. We introduce the integrative concept of ecosocial innovation in order to demonstrate how grassroots innovations can successfully combine social, ecological and economic aspects of a sustainability transition. By ecosocial innovations, we refer to social innovations with a strong ecological orientation (e.g., recycling workshops, urban gardening, participatory unemployment projects and new local economies). The data consists of 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK. We invest…
An eco-social approach to tackling social exclusion in European cities: A new comparative research project in progress
2000
In this article we would like to introduce a three-year Research Project called 'New Local Policies against Social Exclusion in European Cities', financed by the Targeted Socio-Economic R ...
The otherness of social work under neoliberal governance
2013
This special issue examines the topic of ‘understanding the Other’ from a very different perspective of ‘Otherness’, which advocates that the own Otherness of social work be reflected on as well. In the contexts of many current societies, social work itself increasingly appears as a strange element – an exceptional idea – as ‘the Other’. Moreover, a question raises over whether social work itself is understandable to those who are outside of it. In this paper, social work is distinguished at three institutional levels: as a science, as a profession and as an ideology or social movement. The paper aims at analysing how social work itself is put into the position of ‘the Other’ in the current…
The Promise and Deception of Participation in Welfare Services for Unemployed Young People
2018
This study examined the role of welfare services in the participative citizenship of young people under 30 years of age outside the labour market. Thematic content analysis of the government’s white papers regarding participation policies, as well as participatory action research projects in two Finnish towns, were used to identify factors that enable or hinder participation for this group of service users. The paradigm of participation was critically examined with reference to the theoretical framework of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s “dialectic of Enlightenment”, which proposes the parallel existence of the promise and the deception of Enlightenment. The results indicated that user …
Reflecting on Work Values with Young Unemployed Adults in Finland
2019
In this article, we explore the internal conversations about the work values of young unemployed adults in Finland. We draw on the theoretical concept of internal conversation by Margaret Archer in order to shift the focus from the individual work values to the interplay between subjective concerns and structural circumstances. The data consist of six group interviews conducted among 29 young unemployed adults. We argue that the internal conversations on work values of young unemployed adults constitute five significant concerns: self-realization and opportunity to contribute to society; sufficient income to live independently; social expectations; challenges of finding employment; and unsu…
Citizens' participation and community orientation – indicators of social sustainability of rural welfare services
2011
The article discusses the issues of social services in rural areas from a theoretical view point of sustainability paradigms of social work. The ecological crisis existing beyond the ongoing global economic crisis is not separated from the increasing urbanization and weakening perspectives in rural areas. The paper is based on results from a participatory action research project in Finland, which aims at strengthening social service provision in rural areas through citizens' participation and community-orientation. The neoliberal politics of centralization, marketization and privatization are heavily transforming rural regions also in the Nordic welfare states right now. The debates in the …
Kansalaiset ja asiakkaat rakenteellisen sosiaalityön monitoimijaisen toimijaverkoston osana
2022
Ympäristökysymys suomalaisessa sosiaalityön tutkimuksessa
2018
The concept of subjectivisation by Adorno – applied in social work
2009
This article focuses upon subjectivisation as one of the core aspects of critical theory. Subjectivisation refers to the process of becoming a subject, a fully responsible, autonomously thinking and acting adult citizen, as opposed to a manipulated and system-functioning object. It is discussed in the context of the current debates on critical reflection in social work, as it contributes to discovering the power structures in which social work is embedded. The aim is not to re-discuss critical theory as a whole, but to point out the process of subjectivisation of social workers and service users as an element for critical self-reflection in social work. The contribution includes a short int…
Ecosocial innovations enabling social work to promote new forms of sustainable economy
2020
Social work research and practice that address environmental sustainability have already become prominent. However, a change in unsustainable economic structures is also urgently needed. This study explored emerging opportunities in theory and practice for a sustainable economy that are relevant to the aims of social work. As practical examples, our study concerns ‘ecosocial innovations’, i.e., social innovations that combine ecological and social goals. We analysed how these grassroots innovations in the field of social work reflect crucial shared conceptions of alternative economies. The qualitative data set comprised of 50 ecosocial innovations and six case studies in five European count…
Sosiaalityö aikuisopintoina
2009
Arjen ja tieteen välissä : sosiaalityön akatemisoitumisen tarkastelua
1990
Sosiaalityön akateeminen asema, tiedepohja ja kohteena oleva todellisuus eivät ole itsestäänselviä eikä samoja kaikkialla. Akateemisuuden erityishaasteena on oppiaineen ammatillinen orientaatio. Sosiaalityön tiedepohjaa suhteellistavaa ja arvioivaa keskustelua käydään jatkuvasti. Myös sosiaalityön tutkimuksen ja toiminnan kohteena oleva todellisuus on sopimuksenvaraista, yhteiskunnallisesti konstituoitunutta. Muissa maissa voi tavata aivan toisella tavalla määräytynyttä sosiaalityön opetusta ja tutkimusta. Tieteenharjoittajan itseymmärrykselle onkin hyödyllistä kysellä, mitkä tekijät ovat ohjanneet suomalaisen sosiaalityön akatemisoitumisprosessia tietynlaiseksi. Pyrin seuraavassa valaisema…
The ecosocial paradigm in social work : Striving for planetary well-being
2024
This chapter focuses on the concept of planetary well-being from the perspective of social work. Social work is a practice-oriented profession and academic discipline that takes many different forms globally. We present an outline of the emerging ecosocial paradigm in social work. This rather new approach attempts to adjust the profession’s core emphasis on social problems of and between human beings, shifting it to a position that puts humanity’s dependence on the natural environment at its centre. The chapter discusses the similarities between the ecosocial paradigm and the concept of planetary well-being. It further asks what added value the concept of planetary well-being might bring to…
Ecological Theories
2017
The eco-social approach in social work
2001
Kestävää siirtymää edistäviä työn ja toimeentulon muotoja : analyysi kirjallisuudesta
2016
Artikkelissa tarkastelemme kestävää siirtymää edistäviä työn ja toimeentulon vaihtoehtoja. Artikkeli perustuu kirjallisuuteen, joka sisältää ekososiaalista sosiaalipolitiikkaa, kestävää kehitystä, kestävää työtä sekä kestävää taloutta koskevia julkaisuja. Artikkelin tarkoituksena on yhdistää kestävän siirtymän hallinnan tutkimusta hyvinvointivaltioiden tulevaisuutta koskevaan keskusteluun. Kuvaamme kirjallisuudessa esitettyjä vaihtoehtoja siirtymän tutkimuksessa käytettävän monitasomallin näkökulmasta: jäsennämme vaihtoehtoja keskeisten käsitteiden ”toimintaympäristön”, ”hallintojärjestelmän” ja ”paikallisten innovaatioiden” (niché) avulla. Analyysin tuloksena kuvaamme, miten ansiotyötä laa…
Ecosocial Innovations in Europe : How Social and Solidarity Economy Actors Can Promote the Sustainable Development Goals
2019
This paper focuses on small-scale social and solidarity economy (SSE) actors for a transformation towards sustainable societies. These actors’ ecosocial innovations (ESIs) - for example, food cooperatives, reuse centres, and alternative mobility projects - successfully combine all dimensions of sustainability in new ecosocial practices. By inventing and establishing these practices on the local level, the ESIs promote Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on employment and decent work, and also strengthen the implementation of other goals. The empirical part of this paper is based on a Finnish social work research project that examines multiple ESIs in four different European countries. The …
The Conceptualisation of Ecosocial Transition
2017
30 Jahre transnational vernetzte Sozialarbeitsforschung zu Gemeinwesenarbeit, sozialer Ökonomie und ökosozialen Themen
2023
Seit einigen Jahren ist das Interesse am Thema soziale und solidarische Ökonomie im Zuge einer sich beschleunigenden Debatte über die Bedeutung der sozial-ökologischen Transformation und Nachhaltigkeit im deutschsprachigen Diskurs der Sozialen Arbeit deutlich gestiegen. Die Ursprünge reichen tatsächlich bis in die 1970er Jahre zurück, als unter den Stichworten Selbsthilfebewegung oder alternative Sozialarbeit erste Versuche einer Verbindung sozialer und ökologischer Zielsetzungen unternommen wurde. Der Beitrag verbindet eine historische Kurzanalyse mit einer Darstellung der beruflich-persönlichen Kooperationen und Begegnungen zwischen Susanne Elsen und den Autor*innen. In der Kurzanalyse st…
Kapinasta muutoksen malliksi : vaihtoehtoinen sosiaalityö Suomessa
1990
Osallistumisen lupaus ja petos hyvinvointipalveluissa
2017
Artikkelissa analysoidaan osallistumisparadigmaa hyvinvointipalveluissa. Teoreettisen analyysin empiirisenä kaikupohjana ovat kirjoittajan osallistumistutkimukset sekä kansalliset ja kansainväliset osallistumisohjelmat. Analyysin välineenä sovellan kriittisen teorian traditioon kuuluvaa, Max Horkheimerin ja Theodor Adornon luomaa valistuksen dialektiikan käsitettä. Siihen sisältyy sekä valistuksen lupaus että petos. Osallistumiseen hyvinvointipalveluissa kytkeytyy lupaus demokratisoitumisesta, palvelujen paranemisesta ja kuulluksi tulemisen kokemuksesta. Osallistumisen lupaukset voivat kuitenkin kääntyä petokseksi, jos palvelujärjestelmä valjastaa osallistumisparadigman esime…