Justice and the experience of justice are key for wellbeing. Global inequality also poses an increasing threat to security. In addition to these themes, the Faculty examines, for example, ethnic discrimination as well as inequality in health and living conditions.
The Faculty coordinates the University’s strategic, multidisciplinary profiling action Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ). It brings together academics from seven University of Helsinki faculties whose work enhances an in-depth understanding of causes and consequences of intersecting inequalities.
The Faculty explores democracy in theory and practice as well as threats to it on many levels, from the local to the global. The Nordic welfare state model and its history and future are a particular focus area. The model is attracting increasing international interest.
Getting along with others is crucial to the very survival of humankind. This key issue is examined by studying interaction and the images and identities that emerge through it. The Faculty also examines participation and its obstacles from the perspective of several disciplines.
Research is increasingly multi- and cross-disciplinary. The relationship between research-based information and decision-making is an important topic of discussion.
In addition, the Faculty hosts the Initiative for Advancing Research in Social and Health Affairs.
The purpose of the Initiative for Advancing Research in Social and Health Affairs is to identify new and bottom-up practices founded on concrete action to promote multidisciplinary basic research. In addition, the initiative aims to
The initiative was launched by the Faculty in 2019 with funding from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and it has since become a part of the UHealth research profile-building area.