Terhi Utriainen
Biographic Data
| ID | 154797 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Terhi Utriainen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Terhi |
| FAMILY NAME | Utriainen |
| SIGNATURE | UTRIAINEN T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Helsinki |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4074-2917 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Finnish Minority Perspectives on the Relations between Work, Religion, and Spirituality
This article examines the relationship between work and worldview among adherents of religious and spiritual minorities in present-day Finland. It is based on interviews with Finnish Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and longtime spiritual seekers, all united by a history of religious switching. In the analysis, we highlight our interlocutors’ emphasis on the integration of their spiritual and professional lives, a finding that resonates with existin…
Esoteric Potentiality in Creating and Viewing Angel-themed Photographs
This article explores esoteric potentiality—the perceived possibility of accessing the otherworldly—through a hermeneutic framework that integrates artist intent, the photographic image and audience reception. The Finnish artist Hanne Kiiveri shot her first angel-themed photograph after a waking dream involving her late sister. As part of the Whose Angels? project—an initiative that combines artistic practice with scholarly research—Kiiveri’s sta…
Becoming a (Better) Muslim
The article explores the multisite learning of Islam by Finnish Muslims from the perspective of the connectivist learning theory, which makes visible the central contemporary ways of learning that emphasize the role of digitalization and collaborative learning with peers. We focus especially on learning in the context of Ramadan because, for many, the holy month is an essential time for apprehending Islamic tenets and practices. Our research indi…
Religion and Spirituality as Sites of Learning
Learning penetrates religion in many ways. Primary religious socialisation - sometimes referred to as religious nurture - is the process by which children are explicitly and purposefully taught to do things religiously or they learn implicitly by following what their families and other people around them do, speak and feel. In secondary religious socialisation one sets about learning something additional to or different from what was learned and …
Learning in the Intimacy of the Guru-Disciple Relationship
Our article has two aims: first, to track the ethos of learning and the importance of the guru-disciple relationship in the Amma movement, and secondly, to explore the ways in which one Finnish disciple frames her life though this special relationship. The narrative of the disciple becomes especially interesting in that she is a long-term devotee from Finland who has a background in formal academic learning and works in a socially highly valued a…
Newcomers Learning Religious Ritual
In this article, we explore the learning of newcomers in a religious community through a micro-sociological approach, making use of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's (1991) notion of 'legitimate peripheral participation' to conceptualize initial stages of inclusion and involvement in social practice. Our case study concerns Orthodox Christianity and is based on material gathered through fieldwork in a course targeting potential new members organized…
Ways of Learning in Spiritual Self-Help
Multiple forms of learning that seek inspiration from religion and spirituality are found alongside more formal learning institutions in contemporary Western societies. Familiarization with spiritual well-being often takes place in introductory courses and workshops, which usually incorporate various study materials – for example, course manuals. This article examines the use of learning materials within well-being spirituality by studying course…
Contemporary Mindfulness and Transreligious Learning Paths of Mental Health Professionals
In this article, we apply and assess the concept of transreligiosity in the study of formally educated and licensed psychologists and psychotherapists in Finland who integrate mindfulness practices in their professional toolkit. Our analytical focus complements the discussion on the use of religious and spiritual traditions as therapeutic resources by turning scholarly attention from individual coping tools to the professional skills of therapeut…
Appropriation as a perspective and topic in the study of religion and spirituality
Cultural appropriation is a timely topic that has been taking up a lot of space in public discussions. The concept is often applied in heated debates aimed at calling out' different actors and actions as appropriation, or on the other hand to defend against such accusations. This thematic issue seeks to look at the topic from a broader and more nuanced perspective, asking what different expressions of appropriation appear in the field of and in r…
From 'Unbelievable Stupidity' to 'Secret Clues for Staying Healthy
Based on a one-month (April 2020) comparative observation of media content in three Estonian and three Finnish mainstream media sources (two daily newspapers and one weekly women's magazine) along with some examples from an earlier period, the authors analysed the representation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the media. The analysis showed that the media from the two countries presented CAM both in its various mainstream and m…
Lived religion meets secular life
In spite of the variety of often welcome everyday enchantments and empowerment that lived religion may bring to an individual in his/her personal life, it may become problematic in a person’s social life due to provoking tensions with significant others who hold different worldviews. This controversy necessitates the adoption of tactics and practices for adjustment and regulation, should that individual wish to enhance the benefits of religious e…
Post-Secular Society
Introduction
sens où il consacre les inégalités entre les sexes.D'autres chercheurs tels que
Descriptions of euthanasia as social representations
In many western societies health professionals play a powerful role in people's experiences of dying. Religious professionals, such as pastors, are also confronted with the issues surrounding death and dying in their work. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the ways in which death-related topics, such as euthanasia, are constructed in a given culture are affected by the views of these professionals. This qualitative study addresses the way…
The post-secular position and enchanted bodies
‘The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.’ This diagnosis of modern life, given by Gramsci, can be translated as pointing towards varying positions between secularity (even secularism), on the one hand, and (religious or political) belief and commitment on the other. This crossroads of belief and disbelief, or enchantment and disenchantment, is topical in new ways after recent revisions of secul…
Agents of De-differentiation
Women have traditionally been important ritual agents with regard to death and dying and they still form the majority of care-givers for the dying in modern Western societies such as Finland. The article asks how women's ritual role and position has changed within modernity. While the first phase of modernity was very much based on the division of labour between doctor and chaplain, in the latter phase, new responsibilities have been delegated to…
Naked and dressed
Using my ethnographical and textual research material, I hope to show that the metaphors of nakedness and dress, as well as those of undressing and dressing, are central expressions of the existentially ultimate situation of dying when assisting at the deathbed of the other, in the context of Finnish hospice care. The article explores how the metaphors of nakedness and dress are constructed in intertextual relationships with the religious and cul…
Être là et être là
Les coutumes liées au mourant renvoient aux notions de « moi » et d'« autre », ainsi qu'aux différences entre les sexes. Les soins au mourant sont en effet essentiellement administrés par des femmes, même dans la société finlandaise contemporaine, séculière et égalitaire. Ce sont les femmes qui, la plupart du temps, assistent les mourants et qui, au dernier moment, leur ferment les yeux. Comment réagissent-elles à une telle proximité du corps mou…
Situated Bodies and Others Making Religion
No abstract available
Women writing their death and dying
Les As. s'interessent a l'aspect semiotique du suicide et plus precisement du suicide en tant qu'action signifiante des femmes en ce qui concerne leur vie, leur mort, leur personnalite telles qu'elles apparaissent dans leurs dernieres notes. Ils tentent ainsi de decrire les relations entre la femme et la mort, de problematiser la subjectivite textuelle feminine du point de vue de la mort, et finalement d'explorer quelques particularites dans les …
Lived religion meets secular life
In spite of the variety of often welcome everyday enchantments and empowerment that lived religion may bring to an individual in his/her personal life, it may become problematic in a person’s social life due to provoking tensions with significant others who hold different worldviews. This controversy necessitates the adoption of tactics and practices for adjustment and regulation, should that individual wish to enhance the benefits of religious e…
Descriptions of euthanasia as social representations
In many western societies health professionals play a powerful role in people's experiences of dying. Religious professionals, such as pastors, are also confronted with the issues surrounding death and dying in their work. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the ways in which death-related topics, such as euthanasia, are constructed in a given culture are affected by the views of these professionals. This qualitative study addresses the way…
Contemporary Mindfulness and Transreligious Learning Paths of Mental Health Professionals
In this article, we apply and assess the concept of transreligiosity in the study of formally educated and licensed psychologists and psychotherapists in Finland who integrate mindfulness practices in their professional toolkit. Our analytical focus complements the discussion on the use of religious and spiritual traditions as therapeutic resources by turning scholarly attention from individual coping tools to the professional skills of therapeut…
Agents of De-differentiation
Women have traditionally been important ritual agents with regard to death and dying and they still form the majority of care-givers for the dying in modern Western societies such as Finland. The article asks how women's ritual role and position has changed within modernity. While the first phase of modernity was very much based on the division of labour between doctor and chaplain, in the latter phase, new responsibilities have been delegated to…
Women writing their death and dying
Les As. s'interessent a l'aspect semiotique du suicide et plus precisement du suicide en tant qu'action signifiante des femmes en ce qui concerne leur vie, leur mort, leur personnalite telles qu'elles apparaissent dans leurs dernieres notes. Ils tentent ainsi de decrire les relations entre la femme et la mort, de problematiser la subjectivite textuelle feminine du point de vue de la mort, et finalement d'explorer quelques particularites dans les …
Women writing their death and dying
Les As. s'interessent a l'aspect semiotique du suicide et plus precisement du suicide en tant qu'action signifiante des femmes en ce qui concerne leur vie, leur mort, leur personnalite telles qu'elles apparaissent dans leurs dernieres notes. Ils tentent ainsi de decrire les relations entre la femme et la mort, de problematiser la subjectivite textuelle feminine du point de vue de la mort, et finalement d'explorer quelques particularites dans les …
Situated Bodies and Others Making Religion
No abstract available
Être là et être là
Les coutumes liées au mourant renvoient aux notions de « moi » et d'« autre », ainsi qu'aux différences entre les sexes. Les soins au mourant sont en effet essentiellement administrés par des femmes, même dans la société finlandaise contemporaine, séculière et égalitaire. Ce sont les femmes qui, la plupart du temps, assistent les mourants et qui, au dernier moment, leur ferment les yeux. Comment réagissent-elles à une telle proximité du corps mou…
Naked and dressed
Using my ethnographical and textual research material, I hope to show that the metaphors of nakedness and dress, as well as those of undressing and dressing, are central expressions of the existentially ultimate situation of dying when assisting at the deathbed of the other, in the context of Finnish hospice care. The article explores how the metaphors of nakedness and dress are constructed in intertextual relationships with the religious and cul…
Agents of De-differentiation
Women have traditionally been important ritual agents with regard to death and dying and they still form the majority of care-givers for the dying in modern Western societies such as Finland. The article asks how women's ritual role and position has changed within modernity. While the first phase of modernity was very much based on the division of labour between doctor and chaplain, in the latter phase, new responsibilities have been delegated to…
The post-secular position and enchanted bodies
‘The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.’ This diagnosis of modern life, given by Gramsci, can be translated as pointing towards varying positions between secularity (even secularism), on the one hand, and (religious or political) belief and commitment on the other. This crossroads of belief and disbelief, or enchantment and disenchantment, is topical in new ways after recent revisions of secul…
Descriptions of euthanasia as social representations
In many western societies health professionals play a powerful role in people's experiences of dying. Religious professionals, such as pastors, are also confronted with the issues surrounding death and dying in their work. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the ways in which death-related topics, such as euthanasia, are constructed in a given culture are affected by the views of these professionals. This qualitative study addresses the way…
Post-Secular Society
Introduction
sens où il consacre les inégalités entre les sexes.D'autres chercheurs tels que
Lived religion meets secular life
In spite of the variety of often welcome everyday enchantments and empowerment that lived religion may bring to an individual in his/her personal life, it may become problematic in a person’s social life due to provoking tensions with significant others who hold different worldviews. This controversy necessitates the adoption of tactics and practices for adjustment and regulation, should that individual wish to enhance the benefits of religious e…
From 'Unbelievable Stupidity' to 'Secret Clues for Staying Healthy
Based on a one-month (April 2020) comparative observation of media content in three Estonian and three Finnish mainstream media sources (two daily newspapers and one weekly women's magazine) along with some examples from an earlier period, the authors analysed the representation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the media. The analysis showed that the media from the two countries presented CAM both in its various mainstream and m…
Ways of Learning in Spiritual Self-Help
Multiple forms of learning that seek inspiration from religion and spirituality are found alongside more formal learning institutions in contemporary Western societies. Familiarization with spiritual well-being often takes place in introductory courses and workshops, which usually incorporate various study materials – for example, course manuals. This article examines the use of learning materials within well-being spirituality by studying course…
Contemporary Mindfulness and Transreligious Learning Paths of Mental Health Professionals
In this article, we apply and assess the concept of transreligiosity in the study of formally educated and licensed psychologists and psychotherapists in Finland who integrate mindfulness practices in their professional toolkit. Our analytical focus complements the discussion on the use of religious and spiritual traditions as therapeutic resources by turning scholarly attention from individual coping tools to the professional skills of therapeut…
Appropriation as a perspective and topic in the study of religion and spirituality
Cultural appropriation is a timely topic that has been taking up a lot of space in public discussions. The concept is often applied in heated debates aimed at calling out' different actors and actions as appropriation, or on the other hand to defend against such accusations. This thematic issue seeks to look at the topic from a broader and more nuanced perspective, asking what different expressions of appropriation appear in the field of and in r…
Religion and Spirituality as Sites of Learning
Learning penetrates religion in many ways. Primary religious socialisation - sometimes referred to as religious nurture - is the process by which children are explicitly and purposefully taught to do things religiously or they learn implicitly by following what their families and other people around them do, speak and feel. In secondary religious socialisation one sets about learning something additional to or different from what was learned and …
Learning in the Intimacy of the Guru-Disciple Relationship
Our article has two aims: first, to track the ethos of learning and the importance of the guru-disciple relationship in the Amma movement, and secondly, to explore the ways in which one Finnish disciple frames her life though this special relationship. The narrative of the disciple becomes especially interesting in that she is a long-term devotee from Finland who has a background in formal academic learning and works in a socially highly valued a…
Newcomers Learning Religious Ritual
In this article, we explore the learning of newcomers in a religious community through a micro-sociological approach, making use of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's (1991) notion of 'legitimate peripheral participation' to conceptualize initial stages of inclusion and involvement in social practice. Our case study concerns Orthodox Christianity and is based on material gathered through fieldwork in a course targeting potential new members organized…
Esoteric Potentiality in Creating and Viewing Angel-themed Photographs
This article explores esoteric potentiality—the perceived possibility of accessing the otherworldly—through a hermeneutic framework that integrates artist intent, the photographic image and audience reception. The Finnish artist Hanne Kiiveri shot her first angel-themed photograph after a waking dream involving her late sister. As part of the Whose Angels? project—an initiative that combines artistic practice with scholarly research—Kiiveri’s sta…
Becoming a (Better) Muslim
The article explores the multisite learning of Islam by Finnish Muslims from the perspective of the connectivist learning theory, which makes visible the central contemporary ways of learning that emphasize the role of digitalization and collaborative learning with peers. We focus especially on learning in the context of Ramadan because, for many, the holy month is an essential time for apprehending Islamic tenets and practices. Our research indi…
Finnish Minority Perspectives on the Relations between Work, Religion, and Spirituality
This article examines the relationship between work and worldview among adherents of religious and spiritual minorities in present-day Finland. It is based on interviews with Finnish Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and longtime spiritual seekers, all united by a history of religious switching. In the analysis, we highlight our interlocutors’ emphasis on the integration of their spiritual and professional lives, a finding that resonates with existin…
Sociology (16 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Aesthetics (7 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (6 works) · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Law (5 works)