Pirkkoliisa Ahponen

NEW CHALLENGES FOR NORDIC WELFARE SERVICES: Emerging Cultural Diversity in Finnish Youth Work

Abstract This article summarises the results of a two-phase research project, which concentrated on leisure practices of ethnic minority youth and their expectations on multicultural youth services. The question is how youth work as “cultureless” principles of Nordic welfare universalism function in contemporary social conditions. Have youth workers and administrative authorities adopted multicultural demands of increasing ethnic diversity? The case of Finland is taken as a special example. The analysis of the data is based on a survey and thematic interviews. The current culturally diverse reality is seen as leading to new youth work practices, but this happens slowly and is disturbed by resistant attitudes

The Internationalisation of Higher Education: Multicultural, Transnational and Cosmopolitan Perspectives Approached

This chapter reviews concepts of multiculturalism, transnationalism and cosmopolitanism and their application to the development of modern higher education. Such focus provides a theoretical framework for discussing the internationalisation of universities. The current debate concerning the various rationales for internationalisation reveals competing visions of higher education. While there is a humanistic ideal of higher education, internationalisation strategies prioritize economic and competitive approaches guided by national interests.

From Locals to Cosmopolitans: Transferring the Territorial Dimensions of Cultural Citizenship

This article deals with the territorial categories of cultural belongings of community members. First, Ahponen discusses the feelings of home and familiarity as the local basis of cultural identity. This aspect is followed by contemplations on how people are located and dislocated, both concretely and symbolically, when they move across regional, national and continental borders and adopt the identities of border-crossers in cosmopolitan conditions. The basic question concerns cultural political reasoning of the sense of togetherness in the transition of local dwellers to global citizens. This problem is exemplified by personal experiences.