Photo: Robert Seger Salla Tuori (b. 1975) is a researcher at the Department for Women's Studies at the Åbo Akademi University, Finland. Her research interests include intersections of race and gender, multiculturalism, postcolonial feminism and ethnographic methodologies. Cover design: Kati Rapia Inner sleeve design and book layout: Kari Sammo Åbo Akademi University Press Biskopsgatan 13, FI-20500 ÅBO, Finland Tel. +358 (0)20 786 1468 Fax +358 (0)20 786 1469 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.abo.fi/stiftelsen/forlag Distribution: Oy Tibo-Trading Ab P.O.Box 33, FI-21601 PARGAS, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 454 9200 Fax +358 (0)2 454 9220 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.tibo.net THE POLITICS OF MULTICULTURAL ENCOUNTERS CIP Cataloguing in Publication Tuori, Salla The politics of multicultural encounters : feminist postcolonial perspectives / Salla Tuori. – Åbo : Åbo Akademi University Press, 2009. Diss.: Åbo Akademi University. ISBN 978-951-765-481-4 ISBN 978-951-765-481-4 ISBN 978-951-765-482-1 (digital) Painosalama Oy Åbo 2009 The Politics of Multicultural Encounters Feminist Postcolonial Perspectives Salla Tuori ÅBO 2009 ÅBO AKADEMIS FÖRLAG – ÅBO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY PRESS Contents Acknowledgments..................................................................................... 9 1. Introduction: The Politics of Multiculturalism. ............................. 13 The structure of this book........................................................................ 23 2. Viewing multicultural politics through the lens of an employment project................................................................ 27 The Finnish nation, migration and multiculturalism................................ 27 Integration, unemployment and the proliferation of projects................... 30 The Globe............................................................................................... 38 Migrant women as a target group in multicultural politics....................... 42 Employment measures in the Globe........................................................ 46 Culture as a skill for the labour market.................................................... 50 3. Postcolonial Finland........................................................................ 57 Intersectional questions........................................................................... 57 Postcolonial readings of Finnish multiculturalism.................................... 63 Race, ethnicity and nation....................................................................... 72 4. Ethnographic approaches: situating the subjects............................ 77 The ethnography of meetings................................................................... 80 Texts as things in the world: on the relationship between different sorts of data................................. 85 Ethics and politics: the ethnography of distance...................................... 88 Reading strategies.................................................................................... 95 5. Multiculturalism and nation-building............................................ 107 A multicultural soup.............................................................................. 110 Nation and culture................................................................................ 114 Becoming Finnish through gender equality .......................................... 117 The multicultural nation........................................................................ 121 6. The reproduction of the nation in multicultural politics.............. 123 The place of families in multicultural politics ........................................ 126 Violence against women as ruptures in gender equality.......................... 132 Heteronormativity in multicultural politics........................................... 135 Who can reproduce the nation? ............................................................ 144 7. Expertise versus experience in multicultural politics.................... 149 The construction of sisterhood in gender equality politics...................... 150 Knowledge and feelings: the construction of expertise in the Globe....... 158 Subjectivities, knowledge and feelings ................................................... 164 8. The politics of empowerment......................................................... 167 Empowerment as a travelling concept ................................................... 170 Empowerment in project work ............................................................ 177 Empowerment as a type of agency ........................................................ 182 Empowerment as an affective practice ................................................... 189 9. Transformative politics................................................................... 195 Positional knowledge practices............................................................... 200 Gender equality as a knowledge framework........................................... 203 Western hegemonies.............................................................................. 204 Reparative readings and empowerment ................................................. 207 Transformative figures for the politics of listening.................................. 210 Literature ............................................................................................. 215 Svensk sammanfattning........................................................................ 243 9 Acknowledgments One of the best things about research is that it is a collective endeavour. Working on this research project would have been utterly dull without the support, comments and criticisms of many intelligent, creative and lovable people, as well as the discussions and laughs shared with them. All of the people who are thanked in the following – as well as others who are not men- tioned by name here – have generously given their time in different ways: most often by reading, commenting, or chatting to me about the project. First of all, without the employees of the Globe this work would not ex- ist. I appreciate your openness to different ideas as well as your patience with my research project. Your courage in your work has made an impact on the lives of many women. You cannot be thanked enough. My supervisors have been Harriet Silius and Laura Huttunen. I started the PhD while working on an EU-project together with Harriet, which im- plied quite a bit of travelling and getting to know many colleagues from other European locations. She has supervised the work from the beginning and has always shown total confidence in my work and ability to carry it out. Thank you Harriet for your support, open-mindedness and travel com- panionship. I was luckier than I could anticipate having Laura as supervisor midway in the process. Laura has read and carefully commented on the work in all of its phases. Thank you Laura for thinking through the work with me, and, as importantly, for laughter and friendship. Pre-reviewers are the first ones to read the entire manuscript without any accompanying explanations and excuses. I had the benefit of Laura Assmuth and Paulina de los Reyes as pre-reviewers. Their encouraging reports made me believe that the work can carry itself and that it indeed is ready (enough). I am also very thankful for the comments that helped me to improve the manuscript. I want to thank both of you for the generous comments and utterly careful reading. 10 This work has been physically conducted at the department of Women’s Studies at Åbo Akademi University. “Kvinnis” forms a unique and some- times intense environment in terms of intellectual and collegial interac- tion. There are many colleagues who have generously commented on texts, discussed critical points and in different ways pushed forward the research process. I want to thank my imagined Kvinnis community Ann-Catrin Öst- man, Ann-Louise Grönholm, Elina Oinas, Eve Hed-Kattelus, Harriet Silius, Jutta Ahlbeck, Katarina Jungar, Kattis Honkanen, Kristin Mattson, Lotta Palmgren, Malin Siimes, Marika Kivinen, Mickan Kinnari, Salla Peltonen, Sari Irni and Suvi Keskinen. I also want to thank all those who work at other departments and have participated in the Kvinnis seminars. I have had the luxury of working closely with many colleagues involved in post- colonial theory (and politics); thank you Sari, Suvi, Katarina and Marika in particular. Kattis’ comments and ideas are at once creative, challenging and supportive – and usually unique. During the fieldwork process, Kattis was in many ways a “work supervisor” with whom I could discuss all kinds of aspects of the fieldwork. Mickan has been one of my closest colleagues dur- ing the last years of the process; she is a sharp and broadminded scholar and a great colleague. Salla has brought to our discussions important insights into aspects of feminist theory often taken-for-granted. I want to thank Elina for collegial friendship and discussions ranging from the critique of empower- ment to bringing up dogs. Jutta’s comments are always at once encouraging and professional. Eve is one of the cornerstones of the department; thank you for your engagement and patience. I spent half a year writing and studying at the University of Lancaster, in the United Kingdom. This was a productive and pleasurable time. I had the opportunity of supervision by Anne-Marie Fortier and I remember the discussions we had with much warmth. I was lucky to meet Gail Lewis in Lancaster