Hannu Ruonavaara
Doctor of Political Sciences, professor
+358 2 333 5382, hanruona (at) utu.fi,
Office hours: mon 13-14
Teaching:
Introductory sociology, social theory, qualitative methods, classical sociology, sociology of housing.
Research:
My main fields of research are housing and housing policy, problems of comparative-historical sociology and social theory. My present financed research projects deal with (1) neighbour relations and disputes in contemporary society and (2) "retrenchment" in Finnish housing policy. Apart from these two projects, my recent work in housing research has been connected with the past EU funded collaborative project Demographic Change and Housing Wealth (DEMHOW, 2008-2010): together with Päivi Naumanen and Pedro Perista we have written an article comparing Finland and Portugal (to be published in International Journal of Housing Policy in 2012). In the field of historical sociology I have recently been writing together with Bo Bengtsson about path dependency theory and process tracing as tools of institutional analysis (published late 2011 in the above mentioned journal). In social theory I am interested in the notion of moral regulation, the idea of social mechanisms and the prospects and problems of actor-centred sociology. My paper Deconstructing Explanation by Mechanism is forthcoming in Sociological Research Online (spring 2012).
Expertise:
Housing, housing policy, historical sociology, qualitative methodology, social theory.
Ongoing research projects:
Demographic Change and Housing Wealth (DEMHOW) 2008-2010, financed by the EU.
Neighbouring and neighbour disputes in contemporary society 2009-2011, financed by the Academy of Finland
Recent publications in English:
Deborah Quilgars, Marja Elsinga, Anwen Jones, Janneke Toussaint, Hannu Ruonavaara & Päivi Naumanen (2009): Inside qualitative, cross-national research: Making methods transparent in a EU housing study. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 12:1, 19–31.
Hannu Ruonavaara (2009): Dealing with Complex Matters (and Getting into Trouble). Housing, Theory and Society 26:2, 102-106.
Päivi Naumanen & Hannu Ruonavaara (2010): Old Age and the Role of Housing Equity. A case study on the Finnish homeowners’ perceptions. Teorija in praksa XLVII:5, 1078-1096.
Bo Bengtsson & Hannu Ruonavaara (2010): Introduction to the Special Issue: Path Dependence in Housing. Housing, Theory & Society 23:3, 193-203.
Hannu Ruonavaara (2011): Home ownership and Nordic housing policies in 'retrenchment'. In Richard Ronald & Marja Elsinga (eds.): Beyond Home Ownership. Housing, welfare and society. Routledge: London & New York, pp. 91-107.
Bo Bengtsson & Hannu Ruonavaara (2011): Comparative Process Tracing in Housing Studies. International Journal of Housing Policy, 11:4, 395-414.
Working papers:
Moral Regulation, Status Politics and the Anxiety Explanation