I do not trust any of them anymore

Institutional distrust and corrective practices in pro-asylum activism in Finland

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2306366
AutoresP Pirkkalainen (0000-0003-3705-0899, University of Jyväskylä, autor correspondente), Lena Näre (0000-0001-6096-9276, University of Helsinki), Eveliina Lyytinen (0000-0002-6592-6280, Migration Institute of Finland)
Ano2024
Volume72
Fascículo3
Páginas562-580
Data de publicação2024-05-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCurrent Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0011-3921 • E-ISSN: 1461-7064
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00113921221129313
OpenAlexW4306317928
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas47

Although there is extensive research on how institutional trust and distrust play out in the forms political participation takes, the existing research lacks thorough analysis on what trust and distrust actually consist of, that is, how individuals evaluate institutions as trustworthy or not and what consequences this evaluation has for individuals and their relation to the state more broadly. Drawing on qualitative research on Finnish citizens who engage in pro-asylum activism, we examine how institutional distrusting evolves as a reflexive process. By analysing citizens' trust judgements on institutional practices and actions that follow, we argue that distrust in institutions enhances activists' attempts to engage in corrective practices, in other words taking over the functions of institutions when noticing mistakes or unfairness in institutional practices. Corrective practices reinforce activists' distrust in the asylum-related institutions and make them question the 'myth' of Finland as an equal and inclusive country. Engaging in corrective practices is emotionally and economically taxing. Despite negative consequences of institutional distrust, activists continue their work indicating that they continue to trust the democratic system in Finland and its capability to absorb their claims in the long run. Institutional distrust and generalised trust can then coexist

Democracy · Distrust · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements