Katri Vihma

Research interests

In her doctoral thesis, Katri reflects on the (ethical) challenges of global ethics and its dialogical applications, especially through the lenses of epistemic, cognitive, and ontological (in)justice. In addition to rather abstract theorising, Katri ponders on these themes in three different, more concrete contexts. These contexts are: the political dialogue and partnership between the OACPS and EU; the possibilities of crafting knowledge in manners that contribute to recognising and dismantling unjust hierarchies; and the ways of knowing and being within the European Rights of Nature Tribunal, organised in 2021.

The focus – and whole context, to be precise – of Katri’s thesis has been changing and evolving in intriguing, yet also quite stressful, ways.

• The rosy starting point: ‘Universalism, diversity, and the foundation of global ethics’
• The long bumpy ride: ‘(Doing?) Global ethics in dialogue with struggles for epistemic, cognitive, and ontological justice’
• The finishing line, which hopefully will not move too much at this point: ‘Why global ethics should not be a universal nor pluriversal story: situated remarks on the ethicality of this field(s) of study and its dialogical applications amidst the crises within/of modernity and anthropocene'

Katri’s research interests include (but are not restricted to) global ethics and cosmopolitanism; feminist ethics and epistemology; decolonial and postcolonial theory; political ontology; the Rights of Nature and (other) alternatives to development; and the capability approach.

Katri’s research has been funded by the Kone Foundation (2018, 2021, 2023), the Alfred Kordelin Foundation (2023) and the SYLFF Association of the University of Helsinki (2018). During her research project, Katri has also worked as a specialist in doctoral education (UH, until 2018) and NGO sector (Finnish Red Cross, 2024).

Education information

Besides the UH, where Katri received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (both in Social Sciences, in 2013 and 2016 respectively), Katri has studied at the Università degli Studi di Roma ’La Sapienza’ (2014) and conducted research at the Queen Mary University of London (2019). Since early 2022, she has also had the huge joy and privilege to learn something new every day as a parent and human being.