General – Knowing Globe

New publication: History of knowledge in Finnish

Together with my colleagues, we have for several years worked on this anthology on the history of knowledge and it is now finished and published. Tiedonhistoria (Vastapaino 2023) introduces the field of the history of knowledge to the Finnish audiences. The volume contemplates what it means to study knowledge historically, how the history of knowledge expands our perspectives about past ways of knowing and what type of possibilities and challenges relate to this type of research. The book includes a comprehensive introduction and eleven chapters that elaborate on these questions.

In addition to the introduction, I contributed to the volume a chapter that emphasizes how historians of knowledge should in their work carefully contemplate the approaches and concepts developed by historians of colonialism and colonial knowledge.

Arkistojen äärellä

Sain taannoin mahdollisuuden kirjoittaa arkistojen käyttämisestä ja järjestetyn arkiston tärkeydestä tutkijalle arkistoalan asiantuntijan, MetaManagerin, Asiakirjatyypit-blogiin. Kirjoitukseni “Järjestetty arkisto on tutkijan onni” on luettavissa täällä.

Kuva kirjeaineistoista, joita tutkin ensimmäisellä arkistomatkallani Britannian kansallisarkistoon.

First post: Fascinated by ways of knowing

As long as I recall, I have been fascinated with different ways of organizing knowledge concerning the world. In my childhood I remember picking up volumes of an encyclopedia or pouring myself over the Reader’s Digest atlas of the world my parents had. I especially loved reading about different types of animals – and Ethiopia! Of course back then I had no idea that these books were about that – ways of knowing. For me they signified the way of knowing and the things to know.

Since the 1990s I have learned to appreciate the multivolume encyclopedia Facta as a way of knowing. Importantly, my studies in history and geography inspired me to make it my daily job to research how people in the past have known the world and what they have utilized this knowledge for. This site is dedicated for reflecting my explorations with these questions.