Pertti Alasuutari

I am interested in the global system and its transformation, especially in the global travel of ideas and in governance through epistemic means both in national and global contexts. Regarding global transformation, in addition to the role of policymaking, I am interested in the impacts of economy, science and technology,  and popular culture. I have also had a long-term interest in social research methodology, especially qualitative research.

As an emeritus professor, I am freed from formal administrative responsibilities, but I do supervise some doctoral candidates and am engaged in publishing articles and books with my former and current students.

My areas of specialization are global studies, social and cultural theory, and methodology of social research.

Chair of the board of the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies

See more about my research interests in our research team's home page: Tampere Research Group for Cultural and Political Sociology (TCuPS) 

2016-2020 Academy of Finland, Epistemic capital in the synchronization of national policies; large scale research project 

2014-2018 Epistemic governance in policymaking; large scale research project  

2014-2016 Kone Foundation: Synchronization of national policies; small scale research project 

2009-2013 Academy of Finland, The Moderns; large scale research project 

2009-2012 Academy of Finland, Domestication of Ubiquitous Communication 

2006-2009 Academy of Finland, Knowledge Production, Power, and Global Social Change 

2000-2004 Tekes, Alma Media & Stora Enso, Media and Everyday Life 

2001-2002 Academy of Finland, The Cultural Unconscious 

1996-2002 Academy of Finland, The Habitus Research Project 

1997-1999 Sitra, National Culture and Identity; part of Sitra’s Globalization, Welfare and Employment project 

Recent select publications 

Alasuutari, Pertti: “The vertical metaphor of power”. Journal of Political Power 2026, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/2158379X.2026.2660238.

Alasuutari, Pertti: National Parliaments as a Global Institution: An Institutionalist View. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2025. https://academic.oup.com/book/59563

Heimo, Lauri, Pertti Alasuutari, Laia Pi Ferrer & Olga Ulybina: ”Evoking ‘other countries’ in media discourses: The case of the Covid-19 pandemic in six countries.” Discourse, Context & Media 63 (2025), 100847, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2024.100847.

Rautalin, Marjaana & Pertti Alasuutari; “Navigating in the global discourse: The case of Swedish COVID-19 strategy”. Acta Sociologica 2025, Vol 68(3), 370-388, https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993241301604.

Ulybina, Olga, Laia Pi Ferrer & Pertti Alasuutari: “Intergovernmental organizations in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic: Organizational behaviour in crises and under uncertainty”. International Sociology 37(4), 2022, 415–438. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/02685809221094687

Ulybina, Olga, Laia Pi Ferrer & Pertti Alasuutari: “Intergovernmental organizations in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic: Organizational behaviour in crises and under uncertainty”. International Sociology 37(4), 2022, 415–438. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/02685809221094687

Qadir, Ali & Pertti Alasuutari: ”The Discursive Side of Sociological Institutionalism in the Study of Religion”. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 2022: 1-23, DOI https://doi.org/10.1163/15700682-bja10075

Alasuutari, Pertti & Ali Qadir: Epistemic Governance: Social change in the modern world . London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2019. 

Alasuutari, Pertti & Valtteri Vähä-Savo: Owning worldwide principles: The case of American exceptionalism. Social Science Information 57 (4), 2018, 533–552. 

Pi Ferrer, Laia, Pertti Alasuutari & Leena Tervonen-Gonçalves: Looking at others in national policy-making: the construction of reference groups in Portugal and Spain from 2008 to 2013. European Politics and Society 20 (3), 2018, 333–347. 

Alasuutari, Pertti, Marjaana Rautalin & Jukka Tyrkkö: The rise of the idea of model in policymaking: The case of the British parliament, 1803–2005. European Journal of Sociology 59 (3), 2018, 341-363. 

Alasuutari, Pertti: Authority as epistemic capital. Journal of Political Power 11 (2), 2018, 165-190. 

Wang, Li & Pertti Alasuutari: Co-construction of the tourist experience in social networking sites: Two forms of authenticity intertwined. Tourist Studies 17 (4), 2017, 388–405. 

Alasuutari, Pertti: The Synchronization of National Policies: Ethnography of the Global Tribe of Moderns. London: Routledge 2016. 

Alasuutari, Pertti & Ali Qadir: Imageries of the social world in epistemic governance. International Sociology 31 (6), 2016, 633-652. 

Alasuutari, Pertti: The Discursive Side of New Institutionalism. Cultural Sociology 9 (2) 2015, 162–184. 

Alasuutari, Pertti: Following the Example of Other Countries? Policy Analysis of New Legislation in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 16 (3) 2014, 266-279. 

Alasuutari, Pertti and Ali Qadir: Epistemic governance: an approach to the politics of policy-making. European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology 1, 2014, 67–84.