Kirjahaku

Countries all over the world make decisions of national and international importance in a national parliament. Today, for a country to have a national parliament is a global norm, but this has only been the case for the last few hundred years. The development of this remarkable uniformity has seen national parliaments become a global institution. National Parliaments as a Global Institution scrutinizes how the current world order comprising national legislatures evolved, how parliaments work, and how they form a global network or field for the transfer of ideas and information. It highlights the remarkably similar structures and practices of national parliaments all around the world, with even the opening words of a session replicating those of other parliaments, and the four sacred principles that define national parliaments as an institution: national sovereignty, parliamentary immunity, the national interest or common good, and the sanctity of fellow parliamentarians. By considering national parliaments as a global institution, Pertti Alasuutari explores how legislatures symbolize, sanctify, and naturalize the nation-state as the component part of world society.

The Synchronization of National Policies shows how it is possible that there is remarkable uniformity in the policies that the nation-states adopt, although there is no world government. Mainstream research attributes such global governance to the influence of leading countries, to functional requirements created by capitalism and technological development, or to international organizations. This book argues that to understand how national policies are synchronized we need to realize that the global population forms a single global tribe of moderns, divided into some 200 clans called nations.While previous research on the world culture of moderns has focused on the diffusion of ideas, this book concentrates on the active role of local actors, who introduce global models and domesticate them to nation-states. In national policymaking, actors justify new policies by international comparisons, by the successes and failures of models adopted in other countries, and by building and appealing to the authority of international organizations. Consequently, national policies are synchronized with each other. Yet, because of the way such domestication of global trends takes place, citizens retain and reproduce the understanding that they follow a sovereign national trajectory.This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, world culture theory, globalization, international relations, and political science.

The Synchronization of National Policies shows how it is possible that there is remarkable uniformity in the policies that the nation-states adopt, although there is no world government. Mainstream research attributes such global governance to the influence of leading countries, to functional requirements created by capitalism and technological development, or to international organizations. This book argues that to understand how national policies are synchronized we need to realize that the global population forms a single global tribe of moderns, divided into some 200 clans called nations.While previous research on the world culture of moderns has focused on the diffusion of ideas, this book concentrates on the active role of local actors, who introduce global models and domesticate them to nation-states. In national policymaking, actors justify new policies by international comparisons, by the successes and failures of models adopted in other countries, and by building and appealing to the authority of international organizations. Consequently, national policies are synchronized with each other. Yet, because of the way such domestication of global trends takes place, citizens retain and reproduce the understanding that they follow a sovereign national trajectory.This book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, world culture theory, globalization, international relations, and political science.

'This is a smart and compelling book. Difficult ideas are presented in an accessible manner, with plenty of supporting illustrations…Students will enjoy the research material and other supporting material. A definite winner!'- Professor Jay Gubrium, University of Missouri This book gets to the heart of what the social sciences really know about the elusive and contradictory object of research: human reality. Drawing on a wide range of international examples and scenarios, Social Theory and Human Reality examines key sociological concepts that we use to understand human behaviour such as: norms, rules and meanings; language and discourse; ritual; and personality and identity construction. Alasuutari clearly and convincingly demonstrates: - The constant interplay between routines and reflexivity that grounds social order - how the body and our bodily experiences mediate our social reality - that language plays a multi-faceted role as it describes, reflects and constructs human reality Building on the work started by Berger and Luckmann in The Social Construction of Reality, this book is a lucid and contemporary analysis of the premises shared across the social sciences, and of the kaleidoscope of 'human reality'. This important book will be welcomed by students and scholars alike in the fields of Cultural Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.

'This is a smart and compelling book. Difficult ideas are presented in an accessible manner, with plenty of supporting illustrations…Students will enjoy the research material and other supporting material. A definite winner!'- Professor Jay Gubrium, University of Missouri This book gets to the heart of what the social sciences really know about the elusive and contradictory object of research: human reality. Drawing on a wide range of international examples and scenarios, Social Theory and Human Reality examines key sociological concepts that we use to understand human behaviour such as: norms, rules and meanings; language and discourse; ritual; and personality and identity construction. Alasuutari clearly and convincingly demonstrates: - The constant interplay between routines and reflexivity that grounds social order - how the body and our bodily experiences mediate our social reality - that language plays a multi-faceted role as it describes, reflects and constructs human reality Building on the work started by Berger and Luckmann in The Social Construction of Reality, this book is a lucid and contemporary analysis of the premises shared across the social sciences, and of the kaleidoscope of 'human reality'. This important book will be welcomed by students and scholars alike in the fields of Cultural Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.

This book is an ethnographic analysis of alcoholism, focusing on the importance of cultural explanations of heavy drinking in modern society. As a starting point, Alasuutari uses a cognitive concept of frames in order to study the social and cultural boundedness of alcohol related problems. The ethnographic narratives concentrate on specific cases, but stress the theoretical level of analysis, and reveal the ways in which the alcoholism frame is linked with Western culture and society. Alasuutari also provides an analysis of the role of the temperance movement and ideology in Finland, and the rise of the distinction between normal and pathological drinking.

`This clearly written, well-illustrated text satisfies a long-standing need for an authoritative account of the methodology of cultural studies. It will become required reading on many courses' - David Silverman, Goldsmiths College, University of London The growth of interdisciplinary cultural studies poses new challenges for the process of doing research. In this textbook, Pertti Alasuutari introduces the range of approaches and methodological tools available for undertaking critical research, and shows how cultural studies transcend traditional divisions between qualitative and quantitative methods and between social sciences and humanities. He draws upon three main sources: the qualitative traditions of sociological and anthropological research, including ethnography and symbolic interactionism; methods for the study of language and interaction - semiotics, narrative analysis, conversation analysis and discourse analysis; and quantitative analysis in terms of its relevance to data produced by research on culture.

Laadullisen tutkimuksen klassikosta uudistettu laitos!Olette varmaan joskus kokeneet sen riemastuttavan ja kutkuttavan tunteen, joka syntyy vasta oraalla olevasta rakkaussuhteesta. Mistä voi tietää, onko toisen osapuolen käyttäytyminen vain luonnollista ystävällisyyttä, vai onko hän myös kiinnostunut lähemmästä kanssakäymisestä tai romanssista? Asiasta voi saada varmuuden tekemällä avoimen aloitteen, mutta erehtyminen olisi noloa ja tökerö aloite voisi rikkoa aran tilanteen. Täytyy tyytyä tulkitsemaan merkkejä, tekemään tulkintoja. Toisaalta täytyy varoa pettämästä itseään, tulkitsemasta merkkejä omien toiveiden mukaisesti. Omaa tulkintaa voi yrittää hienovaraisesti testata katsomalla, miten toinen osapuoli reagoi viattomiksi naamioituihin aloitteisiin.Laadullinen tutkimus on samankaltaista merkkien tulkitsemista ja uusien johtolankojen aktiivista tuottamista. Vihjeiden ja johtolankojen pohjalta yritetään päätellä jotain sellaista, joka ei ole havainnoista paljaalla silmällä nähtävissä.

Suomi muuttui 1960-luvun lopulla moraalitaloudesta suunnitelmataloudeksi. 1980-1990-luvuilla Suomesta tuli kilpailutalous, ja 2000-luvulla markkina-ajattelu levisi yhä uusille yhteiskunnan sektoreille."Tasavalta"-tutkimuksessa professori Pertti Alasuutari tarkastelee, miten diskurssit eli puheavaruudet muokkasivat suomalaista yhteiskuntaa. Hän kartoittaa kulttuuristen kausien vaihtumista ja tapoja, joilla toimijat sopeutuvat uusiin puitteisiin ja puhetapoihin. Alasuutari osoittaa, että Suomi muuttui sodan jälkeisinä vuosikymmeninä politiikan globaalien muotien ja mallien mukana. Uusliberalistisen kilpailutalouden rantautuminen Suomeen on siitä yksi esimerkki. Toinen tasavalta on kulttuurijärjestelmä, joka muovaa ja tuottaa alamaisiaan ja toimijoitaan. Pertti Alasuutari on sosiologian professori Tampereen yliopistossa. "Tasavalta"-kirjassa päivittää klassikoksi muodostuneen tutkimuksensa "Toinen tasavalta" 2010-luvulle.