Transnational reflections on transnational research projects on men, boys and gender relations

This article reflects on the research project, ‘Engaging South African and Finnish youth towards new traditions of non-violence, equality and social well-being’, funded by the Finnish and South African national research councils, in the context of wider debates on research, projects and transnational processes. The project is located within a broader analysis of research projects and projectization (the reduction of research to separate projects), and the increasing tendencies for research to be framed within and as projects, with their own specific temporal and organizational characteristics. This approach is developed further in terms of different understandings of research across borders: international, comparative, multinational and transnational. Special attention is given to differences between research projects that are in the Europe and the EU, and projects that are between the global North and the global South. The theoretical, political and practical challenges of the North-South research project are discussed

Immigrant organisations as schools of bureaucracy

This article analyses the way Norwegian authorities facilitate and expect immigrant organisations to serve as schools of democracy – and to what extent there are elements of bureaucratic schooling. Moreover, it examines how immigrant organisations’ adaptation to these expectations can be understood as an adaptation to an administrative culture. The article concludes that adaptation to democratic ideals is emphasised in the political rhetoric, while in practice street-level bureaucrats educate members of immigrant organisations in how to establish and run a formal, hierarchical, rule-based and impersonal organisation in Norway. The emphasis on bureaucratic schooling is especially relevant in a Nordic context, where the voluntary sector functions as a parallel bureaucratic structure to the government administration. Most immigrant organisations formulate written statutes the way the authorities expect of them and in accordance with these statutes they construct their own democratic and bureaucratically structured organisations. By formulating their statutes, the immigrant organisations are socialised into the Norwegian administrative culture

Policies and Measures for Speeding Up Labour Market Integration of Refugees in the Nordic Region: A Knowledge Overview

The employment gap between refugees and the native-born population in the Nordic countries has been highlighted by numerous studies, as has the large variety in the extent of the gap based on country of origin. Studies of earlier migrant cohorts show that the chance of being unemployed decreases over time and it takes on average 5-10 years for people to become fully employed. The integration process is slower for women, with low levels of education and family conditions, including child care, having a substantial impact. With respect to the most recent wave of refugees arriving in 2015, primarily from Syria and Afghanistan, research has yet to determine the effectiveness of the new measures which have been used in an attempt to close this gap in years to come. The fact that Sweden has the smallest share of low-qualified or simple jobs (5.2%) in the EU28 is a factor, together with labour market policies and regulations

Wrestling with(in) the welfare state. An overview of Nordic Youth Research

The article outlines the development of youth research in the Nordic countries into a crossnational field that is characterised by interdisciplinary cooperation across national boundaries and openness towards different international strands. The field is structurally conditioned by the strong welfare states of the region. On the one hand, they have facilitated varied research into the living conditions, transition and attitudes of young people, and on the other hand, these bonds have created considerable tension between the clientelist perspective of the welfare state and more autonomous positions of youth researchers that have stressed the agency of young people and youth cultures. The article argues that it has been crucial for the different degrees of success in the Nordic countries whether this tension has produced a schism between welfare research and culturalist approaches or a fruitful and dialogue-oriented strain based on the recognition of the different structural positions of researchers and public authorities.L'article explica el desenvolupament de la recerca sobre la joventut als països nòrdics cap a un àmbit internacional caracteritzat per la cooperació interdisciplinària que travessa les fronteres nacionals i per l'obertura cap a tendències internacionals diferents. L'àmbit està estructuralment condicionat pels poderosos estats de benestar de la regió. D'una banda, han facilitat una recerca variada sobre les condicions de vida, les transicions i les actituds dels joves, i, de l'altra, aquests vincles han creat una tensió considerable entre la perspectiva clientelista de l'Estat de benestar i les posicions més autònomes d'investigadors sobre la joventut que han recalcat l'agència dels joves i les cultures juvenils. L'article sosté que això ha estat essencial per als diferents graus d'èxit en els països nòrdics, independentment de si aquesta tensió ha produït un cisma entre la recerca sobre el benestar i els enfocaments culturalistes o una tensió fructífera i orientada al diàleg basada en el reconeixement de les diferents posicions estructurals dels investigadors i les autoritats públiques

Glokalisoituva hoiva pohjoismaissa

Peer reviewe

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe Conference Report

This report was produced by FAMILYPLATFORM. FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH-2009-3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family policies) is funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (€1,400,000) and has a duration of 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011). The consortium consists of the following 12 organisations: 1) Technical University Dortmund (Coordinators); 2) State Institute for Family Research, University of Bamberg; 3) Family Research Centre, University of Jyväskylä; 4) Austrian Institute for Family Studies, University of Vienna; 5) Demographic Research Institute, Budapest; 6) Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon; 7) Department of Sociology and Social research, University of Milan-Bicocca; 8) Institute of International and Social Studies, Tallinn University; 9) London School of Economics; 10) Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE), Brussels; 11) Forum delle Associazioni Familiari, Italy; 12) Mouvement Mondial des Mères, Brussels; Contact [email protected] or visit http://www.familyplatform.eu for more information.The aim of this Critical Review Report is to describe and report on the international conference "Families and Family Policies in Europe - A Critical Review", wich took place in Lisbon, at the Institute for Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), in May 2010. Organized by FAMILYPLATFORM consortium, the main objective of this 3 day conference was to carry out a critical review of existing research on families and family policies in Europe. Drawing on expert reviews of the state of the art, critical statements by stakeholders and policy makers, and debate on the major challenges for research and policies, the conference was organized with a view to providing a major forum for discussing and identifying the design of future family policies and research.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH 2009.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family  policies):  funded  by  the  European  Unions 7th Framework Programme for 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011)