University of Helsinki
Pekka Sulkunen, Professor of sociology at the University of Helsinki since 2000, is retiring from his post in July 2016. In honour of his remarkable work as a professor and researcher, his friends, colleagues and former students have edited a festschrift which pieces together personal recollections, methodological observations and theoretical insights from different parts Pekka’s long and diverse research career.
In the book a total of 26 colleagues from all parts of the world share their memories, theories and notions of Pekka’s thematic interests such as European drinking cultures, the urban pub, semiotic methodology and images theory of addiction. The chapters of the book illustrate the huge impact Pekka has had on 
Finnish sociology but also on the international community of alcohol and consumption researchers, among which Pekka continues to be a key figure.
Pekka will give his last lecture as a University Professor on 30th of August at 14-16 pm in the SSKH Festsal, Snellmaninkatu 12, 1st floor. The title of the lecture is “Where Did I Go Wrong? Democracy and the Problem of Lifestyle Regulation in the Age of Agency”
The festschrift (15 €) can be ordered from Anu Katainen, anu.h.katainen@helsinki.fi
The book is edited by Matilda Hellman, Anu Katainen, Anna Alanko, Michael Egerer and Anja Koski-Jännes
Citations from the book:
”Pekka has often claimed that he does not understand numbers, which I seriously doubt, since some of his first and still well-known publications created the basis for current international statistics on alcohol production and consumption.” – Anja Koski-Jännes
“Actually, the strongest memory is of having Pekka describing to me his earlier observational study of drinking behaviour in public restaurants in Helsinki. What a project! Participant observation? Envy from those of us who had failed to pull the same trick to obtain funding for a similar study in the UK.” – Alan Warde
“We were of course curious to know when Pekka had conducted fieldwork in Sicily or where he had found the information. ‘I took it from a tourist brochure’, Pekka told us.” – Pertti Alasuutari
“I will never forget visiting the casino of Enghien-les-Bains north of Paris together with Pekka and other CEACG gambling researchers, when Pekka played the roulette even though none of us understood how it worked.” – Virve Marionneau
LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS:
The early PS files
Jussi Simpura
Globalization of drinking patterns
Pertti Alasuutari
Transgression and addiction – memories and theories
Tiina Arppe
Us, others and Finnish individualism
Anu Katainen
The semiotics of Sulkunen: What does the two-way window show?
Antti Maunu & Jukka Törrönen
Petit manifeste sémiotique en l’honneur et à l’attention du camarade sociologue Pekka Sulkunen
Eric Landowski
The sociological promise and the Enlightenment
Arto Ruuska
The sociology of lifestyle governance: A research field
Matilda Hellman
Drinking into intoxication
Elina Haavio-Mannila
Images and realities of addiction
Anja Koski-Jännes
Images and RAGI: Praise to a scholar who has successfully combined theory and method
Sara Rolando & Franca Beccaria
A professor’s professor in the land of the semiotic sauna
Tom Babor
Alcohol and society: Concepts chasing issues
Norman Giesbrecht
Pekka Sulkunen and international alcohol sociology
Robin Room
Pekka Sulkunen – a Nordic researcher
Pia Rosenqvist & Kerstin Stenius
Streams of friendship and splits of cooperation
Irmgard Eisenbach-Stangl
A thoughtful friendship
Sue Scott
Consuming times
Alan Warde
Real life interventions
Kati Rantala
Being Pekka’s student
Anna Alanko
The task of a sociologist
Riikka Perälä
Footprints in my academic career
Michael Egerer
A thank you to Pekka
Virve Marionneau