Troublesome Differences—Dealing with Gendered Violence, Ethnicity, and ‘Race’ in the Finnish Welfare State

Bibliographic Data

ID23159697
AuthorsSuvi Keskinen (0000-0001-6174-9216, University of Turku, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume12
Issue2
Pages153-172
Publication date2011-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1404-3858 • E-ISSN: 1651-2340
PublisherScandinavian University Press (PUBLISHER • NO)
DOI10.1080/14043858.2011.622075
OpenAlexW2002701236
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited27

Forced marriages, honour-related violence, and violence in transnational marriages have been the focus of public interest in the Nordic welfare states for over a decade. The article analyses how authorities and welfare practitioners discuss differences, ‘race’, ethnicity, and gendered violence in families in this sometimes controversial societal setting. Based on 35 interviews with representatives of the police, social work, shelter movement, and NGO-led projects, it is argued that the main ways to approach the issue are ‘culture speech’ and ‘universalist speech’. In culture speech, differences can be constructed as dichotomous and hierarchical (culturalization), but also in a variable and lateral way. The universalist discourse has paradoxical effects. It functions as a counter-force to culturalization, but it also discourages and prevents discussion about how to take into account the different starting-points of the diverse clientele. The welfare state plays an important role in both. While the universalist discourse is embedded in welfare state ideologies, the culturalist discourse (re)produces welfare state nationalism. Finnish authorities and practitioners distance themselves from cultural relativism but have developed forms of practical multiculturalism to reach migrant clients. The dominant discourses are questioned by approaches that emphasize individual and multiple differences.

Criminology · Demographic economics · Economics · Ethnic group · Political science · Politics · Race (biology) · Sociology · State (computer science) · Welfare · Welfare state · Anthropology · Computer Science · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies