Workshop: Social psychological perspectives on intra- and intergroup solidarity

Convenor: Tuuli Anna Renvik, University of Helsinki, tuulianna.renvik@helsinki.fi

Presenters: Elina Turjanmaa, Eerika Finell, Paula Paajanen, Tuija Seppälä, Emma Nortio, Katarina Pettersson, Viivi Mäkinen & Tuuli Anna Renvik

Workshop type: Closed workshop consisting of academic presentations. The presentations are prepared in English, and the working language of the workshop is English or Finnish, depending on the audience.

Increasing immigration challenges old divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Consequently, people need to rethink to whom they are ready to extend their solidarity to, and reconsider the in-/exclusiveness of societies and smaller groups that are important to them. By presenting current research conducted in our social psychological research group, this workshop provides four different theoretical and methodological perspectives on interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup solidarity. First, we will discuss intergenerational solidarity within families, with a special focus on obligation and gratitude in autonomy negotiations between immigrant adolescents and their parents. Second, we will discuss ethnographic research on intra- and intergroup solidarity between mothers of small children, with a special focus on intercultural encounters in everyday life. Third, we will take a discursive psychological perspective on intra- and intergroup solidarity in examining off- and online negotiations of national belonging. Finally, we will see how intergroup solidarity is promoted in schools through an intervention implemented in three national settings: Finland, Italy and Slovakia.