Meri Kulmala

Docent, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Docent, Social and Public Policy

  • PL 54 (Unioninkatu 37)

    00014

    Finland

20032024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Curriculum vitae

I am a sociologist and hold docentships in social and public policy (especially in the field of welfare and Russian studies, University of Eastern Finland) and Russian and Eurasian studies (University of Helsinki). I currently work as the director of the Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ) at the University of Helsinki and as the theme leader of the interdisciplinary RESET (Resilient and Just Systems) research environment. I also serve as the director of the multidisciplinary 'OBaMa Overcoming Barriers to Participation' research consortium funded by the Strategic Research Council, which studies inequalities in democratic participation and develops new solutions to overcome these barriers in the context of various minoritized and marginalized groups together with these groups. I am a PI in the TUBEDU research project funded by the Academy of Finland, which studies youth mental health and peer support of young people in the context of social media. I have also studied linguistic inequalities in the context of Finnish welfare services from the perspective of peope who have migrated to Finland and worked extensively on issues related to Russian society and social welfare. My research activities are almost always carried out through co-research designs, and I am interested in various power issues related to knowledge production. I am one of the founding members of the Finnish Co-research network and one of the editors and authors of the first Finnish-language textbook on co-research (Co-research: Ideals and Practices, Tampere University Press).

Fields of Science

  • 5141 Sociology
  • Russian Studies
  • Gender Studies
  • Social policy
  • Child protection
  • Civil Society

International and National Collaboration

Publications and projects within past five years.