University of Turku
September 30-October 1, 2010
During the past several decades, the world’s advanced industrial nations have been confronted by the need to find new strategies for incorporating ethnic minorities into the mainstream of their respective societies. The major factor contributing to this situation, shared by all of these nations, is the dramatic increase in levels of immigration, while in some settings the presence of indigenous peoples and ethnonational minorities has also played a role. It is within this context that multiculturalism emerged as a new mode of incorporation, one that in various ways sought to both valorise difference and at the same time foster societal integration.
Multiculturalism has proven to be both controversial and misunderstood. At the moment, some go so far as to claim that it has been to large extent abandoned in settings where it once held sway, either as official governmental policy or, more often, as a generalized approach to integration that viewed diversity not as something to be overcome, but as something to be defended. However, one thing is clear at the moment: there is little evidence that the idea of diversity is being repudiated.
What makes matters more complicated is the fact that multiculturalism comes in a number of versions, reflecting the distinctive imprint of different societal cultures and political systems. It is with this in mind that this conference is being convened, for its purpose is to raise the question of whether there is a distinctive Nordic version of multiculturalism, perhaps akin to the Nordic version of the welfare state.
The conference will include keynote addresses by the scholars who can frame the topic of multiculturalism broadly. They are Peter Kivisto (Univ. of Turku and Augustana College), Thomas Faist (Bielefeld University), Ewa Morawska (Univ. of Essex), Leena Huss (Univ. of Uppsala), Fakhra Salimi (MiRA, Oslo), Pasi Saukkonen (Ceren, Helsinki) and Garbi Schmidt (National Centre for Social Research, Copenhagen), who will contribute to the discussion by focusing attention on international perspectives or the unique cases of the four Nordic nations.
Preliminary conference timetable
Preliminary workshop timatable
The conference fees
70 €, including registration costs, conference materials, two lunches and a conference dinner.
50 €, including registration costs and conference material.
45 €, for students, including registration costs, two lunches, a conference dinner, and conference materials.
25 €, for students, including registration costs, conference material and two lunches.
10 €/day, for students, including registration costs and conference material.
Payments should be made by Monday September 6th, 2010 to: Nordea Bank Finland Plc (Aleksanterinkatu 36, Helsinki, FI-00020 Nordea, Finland)
Payments from abroad:
University of Turku
IBAN: FI13 1733 3000 0042 89
BIC: NDEAFIHH
Payments from Finland:
Nordea 173330-4289
write 2600114621 and your name as the payment message.
Conference location: The conference will take place in the seminar rooms at the Sirkkala Campus, old military headquarters recently renovated for the university.The main entrance is from the courtyard, and the street address is Kaivokatu 12.
http://www.utu.fi/en/studying/studies/information_guide/map2007.pdf
T53 Sirkkala campus
Information on accommodation possibilities will be sent to the participants at request.
For further information, contact the project coordinator Vanja La Vecchia-Mikkola at the University of Turku, Department of Sociology, 20014 Turku, Finland (email: vanlav[at]utu.fi).