Kia Liimatainen


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ORCID linkhttps://orcid.org/0009-0007-8888-8997


General description

I am a doctoral researcher in ethnology and anthropology, and I am studying in the doctoral program of the Department of History and Ethnology. My research focuses on questions related to disability, health, and well-being within cultural and societal contexts. I am also interested in the lived experiences of other minorities.

I completed my master’s program in Cultures communities and change master’s program (KUMU) and hold a bachelor’s degree in cultural management.


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Research interests

In my dissertation research, I study people with disabilities and their experiences transitioning to work. Through a qualitative interview study, I explore how people with disabilities experience the transition to work and identify the factors that either facilitate or hinder their employment. Additionally, I am intrigued by the meanings that work or societal participation holds in the lives of people with disabilities.

In my research, I view disability as a socially and culturally constructed phenomenon. It is not solely tied to individual characteristics; rather, it is influenced by society's disabling barriers, cultural practices in everyday life that produce disability, and conceptions of 'normality' and 'abnormality.' The people I have interviewed have various types of disabilities. My focus includes exploring practices that support or hinder employment, as well as examining attitudes and assumptions related to their ability to work. Additionally, I delve into cultural practices within the realm of work-life, such as how people with disabilities present their disability in work applications and workplaces and how it is encountered. I aim to analyze societal and social structures of work life from the perspectives of people with disabilities.

My dissertation builds upon my master’s thesis (https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/77488) where I studied the experience of becoming disabled and encountering it. The research data consisted of life stories from the ‘Life of Disabled Persons in Finland 2013–2014’ writing collection, compiled by the Finnish Literary Society (SKS) and Kynnys, the Threshold Association. The thesis won the prize for best master’s thesis in 2021 from the Ethnos association.


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Last updated on 2024-04-06 at 13:55