Refugee Crisis in the European Union

2021

This chapter outlines the myriad push and pull factors that led to the refugee crisis, describes the scale of the migration, and discusses how the European Union (EU) nations and the EU as a whole responded to the crisis. Four push factors are described: the change in migration policy in Macedonia that opened up the Balkan route to the EU, the war in Syria, political and economic instability in sub-Saharan Africa, and climate change. The primary pull factors are economic opportunities and political and religious freedoms. The discussion of the scale of the migration and how each nation responded provides in-depth discussion of how individual EU nations responded to the refugee crisis.

Tibetan Cultural Identity in Nepal: Change, Preservation, Prospects

2016

In the difficult circumstances of institutional discrimination and political pressure, the Tibetan minority in Nepal negotiate their identity with utmost communicative resourcefulness, tying their values to universal ethics. They resort to their spiritual heritage in their daily intercultural encounters, seeing it mostly as an essential mindset. Developing intercultural personhood through universalization does not challenge identity salience, if one’s culture is adhered to consciously. The respondents are optimistic about preserving their culture, provided the positive factors, such as community living and cultural education, persist. The obstacles are seen in materialistic influences, glob…

Perception of Finns Towards Refugees and Immigrants

2021

This chapter explores the perception Finns have towards refugees. In particular, building off intergroup threat theory (ITT), this chapter describes the extent to which Finns perceive refugees as a threat to Finnish society. Researchers have proposed Finns might perceive immigrants (and refugees) as threats because they share less cultural and physical similarities with the “Typical” Finns. As fear of this threat increases, so can the chance of intergroup conflict between these two groups. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews, this chapter brings to light these perceived threats to understand the refugee situation in Finland, as perceived by Finns.

Representing Tibetan Buddhism in books on spirituality : A discourse-historical approach

2022

This article looks into how Tibetan Buddhism is framed in terms of East-West dichotomy in six popular books on Buddhism and spirituality. Discourse Historical Approach is employed to uncover the rhetorical representation of Tibetan Buddhism to the readers. A critical post-colonial perspective offers an insight into various power dynamics, arising from these representations, structured according to Yoshikawa's model of intercultural communication between East and West. The various power outcomes of rhetorical styles range from Ethnocentric to Dialogical, with their ethical consequences and problematics discussed.

Migration to Finland and the Nordic Nations

2021

This chapter provides a brief review of historical migration to Finland, discusses the legal aspects of migrating to Finland and the rights of immigrants and refugees, current trends in migration to and from Finland, and analyses how other Nordic nations (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden specifically) have responded to the refugee crisis. Through this discussion, similarities and differences in how Nordic nations have historically and currently respond to migration are explained.

Teacher-Student Relations in Two Tibetan Buddhist Groups in Helsinki

2017

AbstractBased on sixteen interviews with members of two Tibetan Buddhist groups in Helsinki, Finland, this article investigates how the role of the guru, power imbalance and power abuse are perceived by the students. This qualitative study aims at understanding what shape the reverence to the Vajrayana teacher takes in the egalitarian environment of a European country, where Buddhism is a relatively new phenomenon. The interviews show that while teachers are not losing importance, ways of choosing and paying respect to them changes. They also reveal confusion in defining abuse, and emphasis on personal agency and teachers’ accountability for avoiding it.

Perceptions of Immigrants Towards Refugees and Finns

2021

For a full picture and for more developed insights into the intergroup relations between Finns, immigrants, refugees, and other migrants, it was important for us to look beyond the experiences of refugees and ethnic Finns and to examine the position of other immigrants living or residing in Finland. Thus, this chapter explores the perception immigrants have towards Finns and refugees. Building off intergroup threat theory (ITT), this chapter describes the extent to which immigrants perceive immigrants and refugees as a threat to Finnish society. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews, this chapter brings to light these perceived threats to understand the immigration and prejudice situat…

Buddhism, the Internet, and Digital Media : The Pixel in the Lotus

2016

Perceptions of Refugees Towards Finns and Immigrants

2021

Building off of the previous two chapters, this chapter looks at the refugee experience from the point of view of the refugee. While the overwhelming majority of integrated threat studies have been conducted from the point of view of the dominant culture, and a few from the point of view of an immigrant or minority’s perspective, none have explored threat from the point of view of a refugee. Therefore, for a more holistic picture of the Finnish migration situation, and the situation of refugees in Finland, we explored how refugees see threat, migration, their situation, Finns, and other immigrants in Finland. Thus, through the use of in-depth interviews, this chapter explores the perception…

Discovering Buddhism Online : A Translocative Analysis of Tibetan Buddhist Forum Discussions

2018

The study investigates how tenets, meanings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism are re-contextualized by non-Tibetan students of online courses offered by a major Tibetan Buddhist organization. The research adopts transcultural and translocal perspectives and aims to enrich the understanding of how Tibetan Buddhism is establishing itself globally through online facilities. A 'translocative' analysis, suggested by Tweed (2011) for the study of Buddhism, is employed as the main lens for analysing the online program’s closed forum discussions. The data analysis reveals general trends in the development of Tibetan Buddhism as a transnational religion, and invites an extension of Tweed’s (2011) mo…

Tibetan refugees in Nepal : identity negotiation

2015