“A dynamic of blaming and counterblaming”: J.M. Coetzee’s Analysis of Self-deception in South African Resistance Literature

The aim of this article is to introduce briefly some of the more prominent aspects of these complex questions regarding the interplay of art and politics in the context of the South African literary discourse in the early 1980s. I explore South African resistance literature, and more particularly André Brink’s ideas, and his commitment to political struggle vis-à-vis Jean-Paul Sartre’s notion of politically committed art. I read Coetzee’s challenge to resistance literature as a response with striking similarities to Theodor Adorno’s criticism of committed art, which Adorno leveled at Sartre in his two-part essay “On Commitment.” As both Coetzee and Adorno demonstrate, committed art remains close to the power it criticizes, and does not break free from it. Coetzee maintains that it is the constant task of the writer to resist the binaristic logic of the state by avoiding the lure of self-deception and maintaining an awareness that he, too, is implicated by state violence

Contested political alliances in fortress Europe: migrants and Europeans in Helon Habila’s Travellers

Helon Habila’s Travellers was written as a response to the refugee crisis in 2015, and it narrates loosely connected stories of African asylum seekers precariously travelling in Southern and Western European countries seeking shelter. This article discusses the novel’s representation of Europeans and migrants acting together by drawing from Jacques Rancière’s theorization of dissensus as a tool to challenge existing political hierarchies by creating new solidarities against present orders. I maintain that the novel manages to problematize the mainstream media images of immigration issues, as well as other such narrative tropes that reinforce the understanding of immigrants as Europe’s others. I argue that the novel instead exposes facets of structural violence in fortress Europe as it violently suppresses immigrant voices. Along these lines, the novel is further discussed as a representative of critical art or dissensual art that not only exposes contemporary exclusionary politics, but also advances a new affective politics by actively demonstrating more democratic ways of including people without a political voice. It can thus help to reconfigure which political questions are included in public deliberations in the future and provoke new, more democratic ways of seeing immigration issues

Sidosryhmien vaikutus verkostossa toimivan palveluyrityksen laskentakäytäntöihin : case-tutkimus tuotesuunnittelupalveluyeityksestä

Siirretty Doriast

"AS-HENKILÖT-TYÖELÄMÄN SALAISET TALENTIT" Asperger diagnosoitujen henkilöiden työllistyminen IT-alalle

Lahjakkaiden osaajien merkitys yrityksissä korostuu entisestään tulevaisuudessa. Tällä hetkellä IT-alalla eri yrityksissä on suuria haasteita globaalissa rekrytoinnissa ja osaajista on pulaa. Suomessa puhutaan useiden tuhansien koodaajien ja ohjelmistoalan osaajien vajeesta. Osaajapulan ennustetaan kasvavan tulevaisuudessa ja yritysten tulisi miettiä uusia keinoja osaajien palkkaamiseen. Isot IT-talot maailmalla, mm. IBM ja Microsoft, ovat löytäneet osaajia autismin kirjon henkilöistä mm. Asperger-diagnosoiduista henkilöistä. Heillä on nähty olevan ominaisuuksia, joista on selkeää hyötyä IT-alalle. Tanskalainen Specialisterne-säätiö on tehnyt uraauurtavaa työtä autismin kirjon henkilöiden työllistämisessä IT-alalle eri puolilla maailmaa. Suomessa autismi- sekä Asperger-tietoisuus on vähäistä. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää miten monimuotoisuuden johtaminen ja erityisesti Asperger-työntekijät osana sitä, ymmärretään kirjallisuudessa sekä tutkielman kuudessa haastatteluyrityksissä. Tutkimus tehtiin laadullisena tapaustutkimuksena ilman toimeksiantajaa. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla. Haastatteluaineisto koostui Suomen Asperger-yhdistyksen sihteerin, tanskalaisen Specialisterne-säätiön edustajan, sekä kuuden suomalaisen IT-alan HR-henkilön haastatteluista Haastatteluissa korostui, että osaamista arvostetaan niin paljon, että ollaan valmiita joustamaan sosiaalisuuden vaatimuksista. Tutkimus toi esiin ”salaiset talentit”, joiden diagnoosia ei tiedetä, eikä välttämättä haluta tietääkään. Jokainen haastateltu HR-henkilö olisi valmis palkkaamaan AS-henkilön, jos osaaminen on oikealla tasollafi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Yhteistyötä tutkitun tiedon maailmassa – tutkijan ja kirjaston rooleista

Tutkitun tiedon teemavuosi 2021 kokosi viime vuonna eri alojen toimijoita yhteistyöhön edistämään tutkitun tiedon tunnettuutta yhteiskunnassa erilaisin tapahtumin, hankkein ja tempauksin. Yksi teemavuoden ohjelmistoon kuuluva tapahtuma oli marraskuussa järjestetty STKS:n webinaari Tiedolla tulevaisuuteen? Kirjastot, tutkittu tieto ja vaikuttaminen. Webinaariesityksen pohjalta tehdyssä artikkelissa tarkastellaan teemavuoden ilmiöitä ja pohditaan erityisesti kirjastojen roolia tutkitun tiedon välittäjänä, tuottajana ja eri toimijoiden yhteistyökumppanina nyt ja tulevaisuudessa

Geenitestit ja lääkehoito

Lääkeinfo.Lääkehoitoihin vaikuttavien geenien tutkiminen voi auttaa suunnittelemaan potilaalle sopivan lääkehoidon ja ehkäisemään lääkehoitojen haittavaikutuksia tai parantamaan hoidon tehoa

Finnish agrifood sector outlook 2023

Economic growth in Finland remains weak Uncertainty about international economic development and its impact on Finland remains high. The start of 2023 has been marked by persistently weak business and consumer confidence. However, the recovery of consumers’ purchasing power is supported by lower inflationary pressures at the end of the year and an increase in wages. The Finnish economy is expected to contract by 0–0.5% in 2023. The increase in food prices is expected to decelerate In 2022, there were unusual pressures to increase food prices, as the prices of the production inputs in the food chain increased significantly. Food prices increased by an average of 10.5% in 2022, while there were significant differences in the development of the prices of various food products. The prices continued to increase steeply at the beginning of 2023, and there will be cost pressures on food prices with a delay. The price increase is expected, however, to decelerate during 2023. The trade deficit of all plant- and animalbased products increased The export value of all animal- and plant-based products from Finland increased significantly in 2022 compared to previous years – due to the steep increase in the prices of agricultural products and foodstuffs. The value of exports reached EUR 2,199 million, up by 23.1% from the year before. The value of animal- and plant-based products imported into Finland was EUR 6,817 million, roughly 23.4% more than in the previous year. The trade deficit of all plant- and animal-based products increased by EUR 879 million – from EUR 3,739 to EUR 4,618 million – marking the largest annual change in history. Agricultural policy requires more environmental and climate measures The new term of the EU agricultural policy started at the beginning of 2023. Total EU funding for Finnish agriculture will remain close to the previous level. However, reaching the previous support level requires more action from farmers regarding the environment and climate measures. The basic mandatory requirements to obtain direct support financed wholly or partly by the EU, will be stricter than before. Eco-schemes for direct support will be introduced as a completely new element, which are voluntary actions selected annually by farmers. The grain market has calmed down The high yields of 2022 stabilised the cereals market. Finland also strengthened the stocks of bread cereals after the shortage in spring 2022. Based on preliminary data about cultivated areas for 2023, lower cereal yields are expected, roughly 3.2 million tons, while the final volume may deviate by more than 10% in either direction as a result of growth conditions. The final harvest level will have an impact on prices in Finland, even though the price level is largely determined according to European and, more broadly, global supply and demand situation. Cultivation of oil and protein crops increased In 2022, the production volumes of oilseed and protein crops grew driven by increased surface areas and high average yields. Self-suffciency in complementary proteins increased significantly from the previous years’ level to almost 27%. However, yields in 2023 are expected fall behind the previous years’ levels if the weather conditions remain normal which would return this year’s self-suffciency rate to a lower level. Meat consumption and production are decreasing Higher costs and the resulting increases in producer and consumer prices have caused significant changes in the Finnish meat markets. The financial situation has improved on meat farms, while differences between farms have increased. The production and consumption of meat fell in 2022, and both are expected to decrease further in 2023. In 2022, pork saw the largest decrease in production and beef in consumption. As a result of these changes, the self-suffciency rate will decrease in pork and increase in beef. Overall, the focus of the consumption structure is shifting to more affordable product groups. The economic situation of milk production has fluctuated The dairy sector experienced a highly exceptional year in economic terms in 2022. The cost crisis that started in the previous year continued, while the unusual increase in producer prices that started at the beginning of the year eventually slowed the steep decline in profit margins. The stabilisation of feed costs at the end of the year, supported by the relatively large cereal harvest, enabled the profit margin of milk to return to the average level of the previous years. However, milk producer prices have already started to fall from their peak levels in Europe, and Finland will also see a return close to the recent years’ situation in 2023. Producer price of eggs increased by almost 28%, organic sales decreased In 2022, egg consumption decreased by 5.3% and egg production by 1.6% from the previous year. Both consumption and production are expected to remain roughly at the same level in 2023. The consumer prices of eggs increased last year, being as much as a quarter (25%) higher than in the previous year on average. The producer price of all eggs grew by roughly a third (28%). A significant drop was seen in sales of organic eggs, whose market share was 16% of total consumption measured by value. Horticultural production is concentrating strongly In recent years, the number of horticultural enterprises has decreased, even though production has remained unchanged or even increased. The concentration of production in specific areas and on large farms has accelerated. The ten largest producers cover already 82% of Finland’s total cucumber production. For tomatoes, the corresponding figure is 56%. The aging of farmers affects the development of agriculture The number of farms is decreasing, and the average farm size continues to increase. In 2022, the total number of agricultural and horticultural enterprises was 43,611. As there are fewer farm successions, the averageage of farmers is increasing, and more and more farms will be run byfarmers of retirement age. During the next ten years, a third of Finland’sfarmers will reach retirement age. This will also inevitably have an impacton the development of agriculture. Price fluctuations affected the farms’ finances The price turbulence in 2022 had a significant impact on the economy of farms. According to estimates, profitability in agriculture in 2022 was almost as low as in the previous year. Costs on farms first increased steeply, while producer price increases followed with a delay. Cost pressures were especially reflected in the low profitability of livestock farming. The profitability of cereal and oilseed and protein crop farming improved from the previous year

Half of the Finnish population accessed their own data: comprehensive access to personal health information online is a corner-stone of digital revolution in Finnish health and social care : Englanti

In Finland, the implementation of the national Kanta services’ second phase was carried out step by step from May 2010 to December 2017. My Kanta Pages, launched in 2010, is an online service where citizens can browse their own health information recorded in the Prescription Centre and the Patient Data Repository regardless of whether the healthcare services they had used were public or private. It is the patient accessible national electronic health records in Finland (PAEHR). The study objective was to investigate the use of the national PAEHR by using indicator data from 2010 to 2018. Cumulatively 2.8 million (M) persons (51% of the Finnish population, and 63% of the adults at least 18 year old) had accessed the PAEHR 23.2M times (49.2M sign-ins) by 31 December 2018. Altogether, 6.0M e-prescription renewal request were sent to healthcare via the PAEHR by 31 December 2018. Patient Data Management Service was implemented as part of the Patient Data Repository. By 31 December 2018, the Patient Data Management Service had records of 6.3M information notices, 3.3M consents and 93,732 refusals (consent restrictions). In addition, the Patient Data Management Service had records of 467,055 organ donation testaments and 93,484 living wills. Half of the Finnish population in general, and two out of three adults had used the national PAEHR by 31 December 2018. Since nine years after its launch, the adults’ use of the Finnish national PAEHR is still increasing and is approaching 50% annual use.In Finland, the implementation of the national Kanta services’ second phase was carried out step by step from May 2010 to December 2017. My Kanta Pages, launched in 2010, is an online service where citizens can browse their own health information recorded in the Prescription Centre and the Patient Data Repository regardless of whether the healthcare services they had used were public or private. It is the patient accessible national electronic health records in Finland (PAEHR). The study objective was to investigate the use of the national PAEHR by using indicator data from 2010 to 2018. Cumulatively 2.8 million (M) persons (51% of the Finnish population, and 63% of the adults at least 18 year old) had accessed the PAEHR 23.2M times (49.2M sign-ins) by 31 December 2018. Altogether, 6.0M e-prescription renewal request were sent to healthcare via the PAEHR by 31 December 2018. Patient Data Management Service was implemented as part of the Patient Data Repository. By 31 December 2018, the Patient Data Management Service had records of 6.3M information notices, 3.3M consents and 93,732 refusals (consent restrictions). In addition, the Patient Data Management Service had records of 467,055 organ donation testaments and 93,484 living wills. Half of the Finnish population in general, and two out of three adults had used the national PAEHR by 31 December 2018. Since nine years after its launch, the adults’ use of the Finnish national PAEHR is still increasing and is approaching 50% annual use