Suvi Keskinen

Suvi Keskinen is a Professor at the Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki, where she leads the Centre for Research on Ethnic Relations and Nationalism (CEREN) and serves as supervisor for the Doctoral Programme in Gender, Culture, and Society and the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences. She is also part of the Subunit Diversity in Society and Life (DIVSOL) and Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ).

Her research interests span post/decolonial feminism, critical race and whiteness studies, politics of belonging, political activism, welfare state dynamics, and the intersections of nationalism, racism and class. Keskinen has conducted extensive research on the politics of gender, nation and race in debates on immigration and multiculturalism, with special focus on right-wing populist rhetoric. Her postdoctoral research analyzed national belonging and unbelonging in Danish and Finnish public debates on gendered violence in migrant/minority families.

Keskinen's publication trends reveal a consistent focus on activism, border studies, and critical race theory, with increasing attention to disobedient knowledge and epistemological justice in recent years. Her work frequently examines police practices and ethnic profiling, particularly in Nordic contexts, while maintaining strong connections to feminist and postcolonial theoretical frameworks.

• ETMU academic award 2023

As an academic leader, Keskinen supervises doctoral students and has led numerous significant research projects including the Academy Research Fellow project 'Postethnic Activism in the Neoliberal Era' (2014-2019), 'Intersectional Border Struggles and Disobedient Knowledge in Activism' (2018-2022), and 'Border Crises in Two Languages' (2019-2022). She currently leads the 'Becomings: Temporalities, Solidarities and Social Class in Antiracism' project (2025-2028) and serves as PI in the Nordic research project SEPOS. Her research has been funded by the Academy of Finland, Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Kone Foundation, and Nordforsk.

Keskinen actively participates in international research networks including the Anti-Racism Lab (2020-2027), EU COST Action Police Stops network (2018-2023), and the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet funded research network on Post-Truth Politics. She serves on the editorial boards of Current Sociology and Tidskrift för Genusvetenskap and has organized numerous conferences and seminars on topics including black feminism, antisemitism, racism, and decolonizing higher education.