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Competent Actors or Vulnerable Objects? Constructions of Children and State Intervention among Finnish Politicians in Relation to the Child Protection Act 1983 and 2006
In: Social policy and administration, Band 43, Heft 5, S. 464-482
ISSN: 1467-9515
AbstractThis article investigates constructions of children and state intervention among Finnish MPs during the parliamentary debates relating to the 1983 and 2006 enactments of the Child Protection Act. It seeks to illuminate the politicization of children within a parliamentary framework, and to illuminate the role of dominant discourses, ideas and ideological views in shaping child protection policy. The research data consist of the official transcriptions of speeches made by MPs during the preliminary debates relating to the 1983 and 2007 bills on child protection.The data were analysed by using qualitative content analysis. The results suggest that the notion of the child as an actor with individual rights was rather controversial among MPs in 1983. The core of this controversy consisted of whether or not parental authority should be weakened in favour of enhanced child agency, and whether it would be advisable to permit more intense public intervention in the family sphere. In the 2006 debate, by contrast, the idea of children's rights and agency had become an uncontested principle that impregnated most of the speakers' statements. However, this accentuation of the child's agency pro forma was accompanied by rather gloomy evaluations of the well‐being of contemporary families with children, including claims for more rigorous public actions in order to regulate family‐related risks. This resulted in a somewhat paradoxical situation where children's rights were emphasized, while at the same time stricter demands on public and adult control over children were presented.
Competent Actors or Vulnerable Objects? Constructions of Children and State Intervention among Finnish Politicians in Relation to the Child Protection Act 1983 and 2006
In: Social policy & administration: an international journal of policy and research, Band 43, Heft 5, S. 464-482
ISSN: 0037-7643, 0144-5596
Welfare or workfare?: Partisan re/constructions of Finnish unemployment security in the era of retrenchment
In: Journal of language and politics, Band 6, Heft 1, S. 29-50
ISSN: 1569-9862
The aim of the article is to analyse changing partisan constructions of unemployment security in Finland during the 1990s. In the article, a corpus of 143 texts comprising partisan statements on un/employment policies is analysed by using Perelman's (1971/1958) rhetorical design. The focus lies on how the leading parties interpreted state responsibility for labour market failures, the nature of social rights for unemployed persons, and the generosity of unemployment benefits. Were there major reformulations of unemployment security as a reaction to high unemployment, fiscal problems and globalisation? And if so, what kinds of rhetorical argumentation were used in order to legitimate these reformulations? The results show that partisan constructions of unemployment benefits changed in a contractual and reciprocal direction, indicating that elements of so-called workfare rhetoric became rooted in the Finnish political discourse during the Mid-90s. The political elites also moved closer to a narrower interpretation of the concept of social right for unemployed.
Welfare-Ideological Change in Scandinavia: A Comparative Analysis of Partisan Welfare State Positions in Four Nordic Countries, 1970-2003
In: Scandinavian political studies: SPS ; a journal, Band 29, Heft 4, S. 356-385
ISSN: 0080-6757
Välfärdsstat och ideologi: Den välfärdsideologiska förändringen inom fyra finländska partier under 1990-talet
In: Sociologisk forskning: sociological research : journal of the Swedish Sociological Association, Band 41, Heft 3, S. 29-54
ISSN: 2002-066X
Hälsa och välfärd i ett föränderligt samhälle: festskrift till Gunborg Jakobsson
Literaturangaben
The (non)politicisation of age discrimination in Finland and Sweden
In: The international journal of sociology and social policy, Band 34, Heft 9/10, S. 694-709
ISSN: 1758-6720
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the politicisation of age discrimination in relation to the enactment of anti-discrimination legislation in Finland and Sweden in the early-2000s. By showing how politicians constructed the meaning of age discrimination, it seeks to highlight the drivers of country variation in terms of the implementation of directives from the European Union (EU).
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper uses a comparative design based on content analyses of parliamentary documents. Theoretically, it uses discursive institutionalism as a starting point but it also builds on previous research/theories on age discrimination.
Findings
– The findings show that although age was seen as a ground for discrimination in both countries, there was surprisingly little debate about discrimination as societal problem. There was however considerable differences between the countries suggesting that age discrimination was a much more heated subject in Sweden.
Research limitations/implications
– Although the analysis focuses on a small part of the policy-making process it highlights drivers (such as political culture) that may cause variation in the ways age discrimination is politicised, even within similar welfare state regimes. It also suggests that more research is needed to fully understand such drivers.
Social implications
– The paper presents examples that can help analysts and the public to deconstruct institutionalised practices of age discrimination and thereby to understand how age discrimination practices may prevail in society.
Originality/value
– By analysing the ways in which age discrimination was constructed as a problem within national policy-making frameworks, the paper presents valuable insights as to the sources of country variation in relation to the implementation of EU directives.
Disability and citizenship. Politicians' views on disabled persons' citizenship in Finland
In: Scandinavian journal of disability research, Band 15, Heft 2, S. 125-142
ISSN: 1745-3011
Disability and citizenship. Politicians' views on disabled persons' citizenship in Finland
Active citizen participation has today become increasingly highlighted in political debates worldwide. The aim of this article is to analyse the impact of so-called active citizenship ideas on disability policies in Finland by scrutinising how people with disabilities, disability policies and disability policy actors were constructed by MPs in relation to the parliamentary debate about the Government Report on Disability Policy in 2006. The results show that people with disabilities were seen as a group with equal rights to societal participation. Furthermore, the role of municipalities was viewed as crucial for realising this goal through its provision of support and service. However, there were also signs of a shift towards active citizenship insofar that measures for facilitating employment among disabled persons were emphasised while some claims requested disability benefits to be made more reciprocal.
BASE
Is the association between social capital and health robust across Nordic regions? Evidence from a cross‐sectional study of older adults
In: International journal of social welfare, Band 22, Heft 2, S. 119-129
ISSN: 1468-2397
Nyqvist F, Nygård M. Is the association between social capital and health robust across Nordic regions? Evidence from a cross‐sectional study of older adultsThe study examined the association between structural and cognitive social capital and self‐rated health among 65‐ and 75‐year‐olds in Västerbotten in Sweden and Österbotten and Pohjanmaa in Finland. Data were retrieved from a cross‐sectional postal questionnaire survey conducted in 2005 and was answered by 3,370 persons, yielding a total response rate of 69 per cent. The association between self‐rated health and interpersonal trust and membership in organisations was tested by logistic regression analysis. The results showed that older adults in Västerbotten in Sweden experienced better self‐rated health than in Finland. Furthermore, interpersonal trust and active membership in organisations were associated with self‐rated health among 65‐ and 75‐year olds even after having controlled for the influence of region. We therefore conclude that the association between social capital and self‐rated health tends to be robust across contextually similar regions, but that further analyses are warranted in order to clarify the nature of this relationship.Key Practitioner Message: •Health status can be indirectly strengthened through investments in social capital, such as group participation and active networks; •When working with older adults, more focus needs to be put on how to develop trustful relationships; •The Nordic welfare state, with its universal and subsidised social and health care services, has an indirect and positive effect on health among older adults.
Social inclusion or gender equality? : Political discourses on parental leave in Finland and Sweden
During the 2010s, both Finland and Sweden made advancements in their parental leave systems by widening the right to paid parental leave to a greater diversity of family constellations and investing in gender-equal leave distribution through longer leave periods reserved for the father. However, in the latter respect, Sweden has remained more successful than Finland. This article analyses government and political party discourses in Finland and Sweden during the 2010s in pursuit of an explanation to this difference and for understanding how ideas on social inclusion and gender equality have been used to drive, or block, policy reforms in the field of parental leave. The results show that the parental leave discourses have become influenced by ideas on social inclusion and gender equality in both countries, but in somewhat different ways. While gender equality has retained a stronger position in the Swedish discourse and its policy, social inclusion, and notably the rights of same-sex parents, have become more visible in the Finnish. However, the results also show that both ideas have remained contested on a party level, especially by confessional and nationalist-populist parties.
BASE
Social Inclusion or Gender Equality? Political Discourses on Parental Leave in Finland and Sweden
During the 2010s, both Finland and Sweden made advancements in their parental leave systems by widening the right to paid parental leave to a greater diversity of family constellations and investing in gender-equal leave distribution through longer leave periods reserved for the father. However, in the latter respect, Sweden has remained more successful than Finland. This article analyses government and political party discourses in Finland and Sweden during the 2010s in pursuit of an explanation to this difference and for understanding how ideas on social inclusion and gender equality have been used to drive, or block, policy reforms in the field of parental leave. The results show that the parental leave discourses have become influenced by ideas on social inclusion and gender equality in both countries, but in somewhat different ways. While gender equality has retained a stronger position in the Swedish discourse and its policy, social inclusion, and notably the rights of same-sex parents, have become more visible in the Finnish. However, the results also show that both ideas have remained contested on a party level, especially by confessional and nationalist-populist parties.
BASE
Social Inclusion or Gender Equality? Political Discourses on Parental Leave in Finland and Sweden
In: Social Inclusion, Band 9, Heft 2, S. 300-312
ISSN: 2183-2803
During the 2010s, both Finland and Sweden made advancements in their parental leave systems by widening the right to paid parental leave to a greater diversity of family constellations and investing in gender-equal leave distribution through longer leave periods reserved for the father. However, in the latter respect, Sweden has remained more successful than Finland. This article analyses government and political party discourses in Finland and Sweden during the 2010s in pursuit of an explanation to this difference and for understanding how ideas on social inclusion and gender equality have been used to drive, or block, policy reforms in the field of parental leave. The results show that the parental leave discourses have become influenced by ideas on social inclusion and gender equality in both countries, but in somewhat different ways. While gender equality has retained a stronger position in the Swedish discourse and its policy, social inclusion, and notably the rights of same-sex parents, have become more visible in the Finnish. However, the results also show that both ideas have remained contested on a party level, especially by confessional and nationalist-populist parties.