Kaisa Kuurne, Ph.D. and Title of Docent in Sociology

University Lecturer

Interest areas

• reproductive politics, birth and care practices
• belonging, social bonds and community
• family, friendship, intimacy
• urban sociology
• social theory, relational sociology
• life vulnerability, illness and social well-being
• social and sociological categorizations
• qualitative and relational analysis

I teach sociology of belonging, social theory, qualitative research methods and Bachelor’s seminars. I am the tutor teacher for Ukrainian students.

I currently lead two projects. The first one is a research project entitled Battles over the birth – Finnish birth culture in transition (2020-25, Kone Foundation) and the other, Academies4Ukraine -Erasmus+ Helsinki project, which works to enhance the everyday wellbeing and sense of belonging of Ukrainian students during wartime (2023-26). My earlier project (Belonging and local community in Helsinki, New York and Madrid) was an ethnographic cross-cultural project, of which I am still working on some articles. In addition, I have a long-term interest in social theory.

I have earlier worked at the University of Eastern Finland (2016-2018) and worked as a Fellow at the New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge, dividing my time between Helsinki and New York (2011-2015)

In addition to my work at the University of Helsinki I am affiliated with New York University as a Fellow at the Institute for Public Knowledge (since 2011) where I spend some time every year.

See the list of my publications here.

My doctoral dissertation The Relational Self, the Social Bond and the Dynamics of Personal Relationships. A Sociological Analysis (2010, Fulltext pdf) was published by the Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki.