The Transformation of Consumer Society Graduate School is funded by the University of Helsinki 2005-2009. At the moment there are four doctoral students in the graduate school. The aim of the graduate school is to study the formation of the Finnish consumer society in a historical perspective. The graduate school is a joint project between two disciplines at the University of Helsinki (Consumer Economics and Economic and Social History).The leaders of the seminar are Professor Visa Heinonen (Consumer Economics) and Professor Matti Peltonen (Economic and Social History).

Doctoral Students and their research subjects:

Mr Md. Motaher Hossain, Master of Business Administration: Changing Consumption Pattern of Rural Households and its Impact on Rural Economy of Bangladesh.

Ms Kaisa Huttunen, Master of Science in Agriculture and Forestry: The Ideologies and Actions of the Finnish Co-operative Movements in a Historical Perspective.

Ms Riitta Matilainen, Master of Social Sciences: Finnish Gamblers in the Era of an Emerging Consumer Society from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Ms Sari Rauhamäki, Master of Social Sciences: Changes of Life as Described in Letters. A Dialogue of Generations in Finland in the Latter Half of the 19th Century.

Multidisciplinary and History Related Consumer Studies:

The aim of the graduate school is to promote multidisciplinary and history related consumer studies. The graduate school focuses especially on the role and significance of the consumption in the Finnish society’s modernisation processes during the 20th century. Even though the research concerning consumption increased during the 1990s not enough attention has been paid to the significance of the consumption in the society’s modernisation. At the same time, no comparative aspects have been used in the research. The presupposition of a rational consumer has meant that many interesting aspects of consumption have not yet been taken into consideration in the research. A multidisciplinary approach means that many sources earlier underestimated in the historical research, e.g. films, advertisements and novels, are used as a source material.

An essential part of the Transformation of Consumer Society Graduate School is the Seminar Transformation of Consumer Society. The Seminar gives its participants an opportunity to e.g. present their own papers and book reviews and get feedback. The main aim is to exchange ideas in an informal way. The graduate school also helps its students to create international contacts with the researchers working in the same field and promotes students’ participation in the international conferences.