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Tuija Pulkkinen

Tuija Kaarina Pulkkinen
Born 30 July, 1956, Pihlajavesi

Master of Political Science 1982 (Political History), Licentiate of Political Science 1989 and Doctor of Political Science 1996 (Practical Philosophy), University of Helsinki;

Docent of Practical Philosophy 1998, University of Helsinki
Docent of Political History 2002, University of Turku
Docent of Politics, Philosophy and Women’s Studies 2002, University of Jyväskylä

Professor of Women’s Studies 2008-, University of Helsinki

Editor of collected works of J.V. Snellman, Council of State (198391)
Research Assistant, Academy of Finland/University of Helsinki (199195)
Researcher (199697), Senior Project Researcher (19982003); Professor (200307), University of Jyväskylä
Academy Professor, Academy of Finland (201115).

Research abroad: Freie Universität, Berlin (1986); University of California, Santa Cruz (199194); University of Greifswald (199899); University of Minnesota (2002); University of Manchester (2007-09); Université Paris 8 (2012).

Research interests
Political thinking and concepts, feminist theory, political theory, history of philosophy, history of concepts, German idealism.

Publications, research projects and other academic activities

Over 100 academic publications, incl. nine books.

Deputy Director, Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence: Political Thought and Conceptual Change (2006-11)
Academy Professor, Academy of Finland 20112015
Director, National Doctoral Programme of Gender studies (201215)
Director, Doctoral Programme ‘Gender, Culture and Society’, University of Helsinki, 2014-
Board member, InterGender – International Consortium for Interdisciplinary Feminist Research Training (2009-)
Chair, Sukupuolentutkimuksen seura (SUNS) (‘Association of Gender Studies’) (2009-)
Board member, International Association of Women in Philosophy (IAPh), (2009-)

Awards and special achievements
Member, Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (2011-)

Photo: Mika Federley
Written by Tuija Pulkkinen and Suvi Uotinen (ed.)
Translated by John Calton

How to Do Things with Thoughts and Concepts

The research in which I and my team are currently involved focuses on contemporary feminist theory. The object of our study is thinking, and we consider central concepts and their usage as a crucial aspect of that.

Studying thoughts and concepts requires an understanding of historical contexts and a profound awareness of history. In our case, for example, this involves awareness of the past layers of feminist thinking. It also requires philosophical skill, which is needed in order to distinguish clear, precise, and nuanced distinctions of meaning.

We have to know the tradition of philosophical writing, the ideas that keep coming up, and the oppositional concepts that reoccur. However primarily, we are looking at the work that the central concepts that appear in the texts we study are made to do in them: how these concepts are set in opposition to other concepts and how they are used to construct the reality. What is distinctive in our approach is that it combines the tradition of philosophy, a sense of historical time and place, and the ability to think politically.

Research on thinking may seem abstract, but our work is driven by the fact that it is precisely ideas and concepts that often act as a strong force in changing of the world.

Indeed, during the last couple decades new thought and new concepts regarding gender have in fact changed the world in an unprecedented way. For example, the conceptual distinction sex/gender, which entails the idea of a discontinuity between biological and social gender, has already shaken things up considerably: it has changed people’s experience of themselves and it has shifted cultural norms. The debate on the gender-neutral marriage law in the Finnish Parliament is just one of its manifestations.

The change in the understanding of gender is perhaps one of the western world’s most significant societal developments recently and a particular moment in the history of humanity. How has this come about and how does it continue to occur at this particular moment in time? That is the subject of our analysis, and that is the change we hope to contribute to through our research.

The President’s Independence Day Party 2014 continued for Tuija Pulkkinen with an after-party at "dtm", the LGBT-community night club in Helsinki.  Pulkkinen (left) and Sarah Green toasting  with Green party MP Pekka Haavisto, the dtm host Ville Ylikahri, and Antonio Flores. The photo was taken by the other host of the dtm night, Karri Nieminen.​
The President’s Independence Day Party 2014 continued for Tuija Pulkkinen with an after-party at "dtm", the LGBT-community night club in Helsinki. Pulkkinen (left) and Sarah Green toasting with Green party MP Pekka Haavisto, the dtm host Ville Ylikahri, and Antonio Flores. The photo was taken by the other host of the dtm night, Karri Nieminen.​

 

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