#SpeakUP: Helsinki University Press

The ]u[ Ubiquity Partner Network is made up of a diverse range of presses united under a common goal; to publish fully in open access.

A large proportion of our partner presses are university presses, based at institutions all over the world. They publish research from across all academic disciplines and in a range of different formats, such as journals, monographs, data sets, and so on.

As the ]u[ Ubiquity Partner Network continues to grow, we are always delighted to watch our presses flourish, and continue to publish high-quality, impactful research. In honour of this year’s University Press Week theme, #SpeakUP, we want to spotlight just a small selection of the recent research output from some of our university-based partner presses, in order to demonstrate the strength of the university press model. In today’s post, we spoke to Matleena Sopanen, Communications and Publications Coordinator from Helsinki University Press, about just a handful of the press’ book publications.

Matleena: Helsinki University Press (HUP) is a fully open access university press, which launched its first books in 2020. It was established with the aim to further the transition to open research, and publish research literature with as global a reach as possible. The press is particularly conscious of being accessible to researchers and readers in the Majority World, where paywalls are a major challenge, as well as to audiences outside of academia. We believe that the absence of paywalls increases the societal impact of research. By making all of our publications freely available, we seek to contribute to a more equitable publishing landscape.

We aspire not only to provide accessible publications with as wide a reach as possible, but to produce publications of the highest quality. The press publishes high-quality literature across a wide range of academic fields and disciplines, with a particular focus on the humanities and social sciences. We are committed to upholding rigorous standards of peer review and the highest levels of academic integrity, and we offer researchers a number of services to ensure a smooth and professional experience publishing their works in open access.

Since its launch, HUP has published a wide range of publications, including journals, monographs, and multidisciplinary edited volumes. The press’ book publications cover a range of timely and fascinating topics; the titles highlighted in this post represent the diversity of HUP’s book output.

Military Revolution and the Thirty Years War 1618–1648: Aspects of Institutional Change and Decline by Olli Bäckström, (2023)

In Military Revolution and the Thirty Years War 1618–1648: Aspects of Institutional Change and Decline, Olli Bäckström provides an interdisciplinary reinterpretation of early modern warfare. The book examines the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) in the context of the Military Revolution theory, which links military changes to the formation of early modern states.

The author’s approach to military history is fresh and innovative, shifting the focus away from technology and tactics to explore change and decline within military institutions. The book offers a new way of understanding military history, attempting a historical application of contemporary sociology.

Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality by Josephine Hoegaerts, Tuire Liimatainen, Laura Hekanaho, Elizabeth Peterson (eds.), (2022)

Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality is a multidisciplinary volume, edited by Josephine Hoegaerts, Tuire Liimatainen, Laura Hekanaho, and Elizabeth Peterson. The authors are scholars from a range of disciplines, including cultural studies, history, sociology, linguistics, and genetics, and bring together a collection of case studies that explore the shifting experiences and framings of Finnishness and its relation to race and coloniality.

Instead of imposing a singular definition of what it means to be Finnish, Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality creates space for diverse understandings and analyses of whiteness and Finnish identity. The book reveals that the imagined homogeneous whiteness of Finland has always been (and remains) a myth.

The Kobane Generation: Kurdish Diaspora Mobilising in France by Mari Toivanen, (2021)

The Kobane Generation analyses how Kurdish diaspora communities mobilised in France after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and political unrest in Turkey and Iraq in the 2010s, focusing on the second generation of Kurdish migrants.

The book provides valuable insights into the generational dynamics of political mobilizations and their significance in understanding diaspora contributions; it goes beyond the diaspora context and examines the migrants’ descendant’s political activism and its relation to global transformations in political subjectivities. The book also focuses on the potential role the second generation can play in peace promotion. It has been hugely impactful in its field and received the 2022 Alixa Naff Book Prize in Migration Studies.

Modern Folk Devils: Contemporary Constructions of Evil by Martin Demant Frederiksen, Ida Harboe Knudsen (eds.), (2021)

Modern Folk Devils: Contemporary Constructions of Evil investigates and analyses the construction of the concept of ‘evil’, drawing upon Stanley Cohen’s theory on folk devils and moral panics. The case studies presented in the book span across Europe, Asia, and Oceania, examining various manifestations of the devilish, and how the concept of folk devils continues to shape ideas of otherness and evil on a global scale. The authors show how the concept can encompass potential threats, individuals, phenomena, or visible groups such as refugees, technocrats, LGBTQ+ groups, and right-wing politicians.

The volume features works from a wide range of authors, who are scholars from various disciplines including anthropology, sociology, political studies, ethnology, and criminology. Each contribution demonstrates how the concept of ‘evil’ can encompass potential threats, individuals, phenomena, or visible groups such as refugees, technocrats, LGBT groups, and right-wing politicians.

As HUP continues to go from strength to strength, ]u[ Ubiquity is delighted to be able to support the press and to be involved with producing such an interesting and important range of publications. HUP demonstrates just how successful open access, university publishing can be in offering a scholar-led alternative to traditional publishing models.

We are proud to support a major resurgence of University Press publishing, to be able to help new presses become established, and to provide them with the capability to grow and flourish. We believe this trend will only accelerate, so please speak with us if your institution would like to join the movement.