Anni Kangas is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Management and Business.
In her research, she has examined political and economic phenomena across scales and contexts–from the formation of Finnish foreign policy toward Russia, to the social reproduction of migrant labour, and most recently, the global political economies of critical raw materials. She is particularly interested in the ontological, temporal, and spatial assumptions that shape how political‑economic processes are understood and governed. Methodologically, her work is driven by a commitment to probing and pushing the established boundaries of social science knowledge production through experimental, and at times speculative, modes of inquiry. She often works across disciplinary lines to illuminate the forces that structure power, extraction, and transformation in the contemporary world.
In her new role as TRANSIT Vice Director, Kangas sees a lot of potential for TRANSIT:
“What makes TRANSIT a unique interdisciplinary research centre within Tampere University is its sustained effort to bring different knowledges, methodologies, and ontological perspectives into dialogue in the study of transnational processes. Its commitment to transformation, and to inventive approaches to social, political, educational, and ecological change, is especially crucial in times of polycrisis.”
Kangas with her Kone funded FANTASCRIT research project have already launched monthly “Shut up and write (differently) sessions”, which create shared time and space for researchers to reflect on their writing practices and the structures and conventions that shape them, as well as to explore alternative modes of writing.
“The sessions resonate closely with and concretely contribute to TRANSIT’s mission as a collaboratory—a space for collective experimentation. For each session, we curate a small selection of readings on the theme of ‘writing differently’, which are discussed at the beginning. The aim is to simply spread awareness of these kinds of texts, after which participants are free to write in as norm‑conforming or norm‑busting ways as they wish. In this way, the sessions function as a space for mutual support and enable critical reflection on the often ossified conventions of academic writing.”
“Shut up and write (differently)” sessions starting in March | TRANSIT | Tampere Universities
TRANSIT’s Directors Nelli Piattoeva is thrilled to welcome Anni on board:
“She brings a rich tapestry of empirical and theoretical insights, along with an extensive network of scholars across international relations and the social sciences. Her projects address timely societal transformations such as the global critical raw material industry and its connection to both intensifying ecological crisis and militarization. Anni’s research has consistently been deeply attuned to the world around us.
She has already introduced several novel, collaboratory ways of working. Stay tuned for more exciting news from TRANSIT as we continue to explore new topics, ideas, and modes of collaboration in the coming months.”
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