Neighbouring and Neighbour Disputes in Contemporary Society is a research project at the Department of Sociology at the University of Turku. It is funded by the Academy of Finland.
Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this research is to investigate a form of informal social relations that is a very common and mundane one: relations between neighbours. Many sociological theories say that locality-based social ties, like those between neighbours, lose their importance in modern, individualistic societies. There is, however, research that says that neighbour relations are more important in modern societies than what individualisation theories say. This project will investigate empirically the importance and nature of neighbour relations in contemporary Finland.
Research Team
Researchers in the research program are prof. Hannu Ruonavaara, Dr Soc Sci Risto Haverinen, Ma Soc Sci Antti Kouvo and Ma Soc Sci Carita Lockmer.
Central Research Questions
The following are some of the central research questions in the project:
- How intensive is neighbouring in a modern society? What is the significance of neighbourliness to people?
- What is the nature of neighbourly interaction? Is it characterised by neighbours helping and doing favours to each other or by neighbours experiencing each other as disturbing and non-friendly?
- How do people manage the tension between distance and nearness in neighbour relations? How do people conceive the good and the bad neighbour?
- Does house type of the residential area contribute to the quality of neighbour relations? In what way does it influence neighbouring?
- When and why people do experience their neighbours' behaviour disturbing? How are neighbour relations managed in cases of dispute? How can disputes be resolved?
- Are there cultural differences in the conceptions of neighbourliness among different local subcultures?
Reseach Actualisation
Research questions will be answered in the project by using several different kinds of research materials and methods. Quantitative aspects of neighbour contacts will be examined by analysing survey data. The nature and meaning of neighbouring as well as neighbour disputes will be approached by means of qualitative methods.
The research results will not only contribute to the social scientific understanding of neighbour relations but also provide evidence-based material for rethinking the possibilities of neighbour relations as a source of informal care in our aging European societies.
The project was started in early 2009.