| 1. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Integration and green business development in a trust-building context
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Mistra Urban Futures Annual International Conference “Comparative Co-Production”, SunSquare Conference Centre, 5–7 November 2018, Cape Town, South Africa.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The success of social science research and collaboration projects which seek to gain involvement from a particular group of participants are highly reliant upon the quality of social relationships between all stakeholders and actors involved. This means that the quality of these relationships is reliant upon trust and obligations that are inherent within. Trust is a multifaceted process of sensemaking which is developed over time and is created and reproduced though social interactions at both an interpersonal and institutional level. It is argued that the most significant relationship within a project that seeks the engagement of immigrant communities is that between the project team and the gatekeeper. However, empirical examples show that projects focusing on specific kinds of development (like green development) may overshadow the project’s social context in terms of who it is really for. Moreover, such projects may also inadvertently cater to actors already established on the local market (rather than focusing on the neediest) or even breed stereotypes about immigrants (such as that “all” immigrants are farmers, and hence green development is suitable for them). Unsurprisingly, unreflective approaches to themed integration projects are likely to raise suspicion and, probably undeservingly, spawn negative media attention. This presentation focuses on the backside of implementing a themed integration process in a setting marred by low levels of trust in municipal authorities, past difficulties of implementation and general reluctance of key actors. By making use of reflexive autoethnographic methodology, this presentation opens up to both the possibilities and challenges of an integration project aiming to create new jobs within green development. It also includes a number of recommendations for successful implementation.
|
|
| 2. |
- Pemunta, Ngambouk Vitalis, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
-
Toward a reconceptualization of the “urban” and “rural” as conceptual and analytical categories in the social sciences
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Arts and Social Sciences Journal. - : Aston Journals. - 2151-6200. ; 3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Globalization implies a general shift in spatio-temporal relations and the simultaneous deterritorialization of cultural phenomena orchestrated by the multiple global flows of people, ideas, and fashions. Within the context of globalization, it is troublesome for social scientists to continue using the “urban–rural” dichotomy as distinctive analytical and methodological categories because it tends to suggest a contingency in the pattern and character of social phenomena. This article sets out to theoretically rethink this conceptualization because of the multi-stranded and culturally embedded nature of human behavior in both space and time which has led to difficulties in delineating rigid subject boundaries today unlike in the past. Drawing on empirical data from diverse social phenomena, but particularly from the urban procurement and consumption of medicinal plant recipes, “dualistic” religious inclination and urban agriculture, we demonstrate that the geographic, spatio-temporal conceptualization of distinctive urban and rural phenomena are problematic. We suggest the notions of “urban-ruralism” and “rural-urbanism” as theoretical and methodological reconceptualizations to capture multiple embedded processes and to show that there exists a type of behavioral continuum/consistency because individuals have adopted hyphenated identities.
|
|
| 3. |
-
Anatomy of a 21st-century sustainability project: The untold stories
- 2020
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- What does a sustainability project look like in the 21st century? Not the glossy version, but the naked truth? Tired of manicured, over-theorised accounts of the ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’ of sustainability transitions, we got to the bottom of things; actually, to the very bottom of the project hierarchy: the individual. Our point of departure is that projects are nothing but temporarily interconnected people. This means that if we don’t know what people do and what they think about their work, we will never be able to create a deeper understanding of the project, its rationale and future impact. Making use of the autoethnographic method, this book provides critical insights into what it’s like being part of a 21st-century project. Building on unfiltered first-hand contributions from 73 authors representing the five organs of a project’s anatomy – the brain (theoreticians), the skeleton (leaders), the limbs (strategists), the heart (local stakeholders) and the lungs (researchers) – the book covers all the important aspects of contemporary project-making: (1) projectification as a societal phenomenon; (2) sustainability as the main project buzzword; (3) transdisciplinarity as a hot working method; (4) economy as the invisible project propeller; (5) space as the contextual project qualifier; (6) gender and integration as the obstinate orphans of project-making; (7) trends as the villains of thoughtless project mimicry; (8) politics as the “necessary evil” of projects; and (9) knowledge production as the cornerstone of all project work. The book ends with an extensive critical analysis of what makes a project tick and how to avoid project failure. We infer that talking about project outcomes and impacts is just that… talking. What makes a difference is what can be done to the project in itself. Three important virtues – the ABC of project-making – emanate from this book’s 40 chapters: building good relationships (Affinity), having the guts to make a change (Bravery), and showing willingness to learn (Curiosity). These are the basis for the successful execution of future sustainability projects, where complexity, unpredictability and desperation will become a staple force to recon with. The original contribution of this book is to shed light on the silent triumphs and hidden pathologies of everyday project-making in an effort to elevate individual knowledge to a level of authority for solving the wicked – yet project-infused – problems of our time.
|
|
| 4. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
-
The impact of tourism research
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Annals of Tourism Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-7383 .- 1873-7722. ; 77, s. 64-78
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The exceedingly competitive climate of academia has increased the emphasis on performance-based research funding. In this paper we evaluate the UK's government assessment of research impact and critically comment upon the implications for future research conduct. The key findings are as follows; firstly we provide a summary of UK tourism research impact. Secondly, we demonstrate the effect of the resulting significance gap, and comment upon the consequences of the Research Excellence Frameworks' (REF) research impact assessment in terms of a research culture change. Lastly, we proposition that the current assessment structure can have negative long-term consequences in that key issues facing tourism fall outside 'good' research impact.
|
|
| 5. |
- Kotze, Shelley, 1986, et al.
(författare)
-
The role of trust in street-level organisations within integration projects
- 2019
-
Ingår i: The 17th Annual ESPANET Conference: “Social citizenship, migration and conflict – Equality and opportunity in European welfare states”, The European Network for Social Policy Analysis, 5–7 September 2019, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Swedish immigrant integration holds a unique contradiction in that it is lauded as having the ‘best’ policy in Europe (MIPEX), but its outcomes are amongst some of the poorest (Eurostats). Currently, responsibility of implementing integration policy is held by national agencies at the macro-level. Such a structure, however, is likely to overshadow what goes on at the micro-level, an oversight which is also reflected within current research. By adopting a street-level organisation (SLOs) approach, this research sets out to explore the gap between formal policy provision and measurable outcomes, where trust is situated as a critical dimension within the process of integration that is yet to be captured by other means. This presentation explores trust as a reason for the disparity between policy and outcomes, with the help of a case study that involves an SLO situated in Gothenburg; more specifically, a suburb characterised by a 90% immigrant population, and its unexploited social capital. To resolve this issue Gothenburg embarked on a four-year EU sponsored project concerned with labour market integration. Under this umbrella, a sub-project has been launched to engage 500 immigrants visiting an SLO within green business development as a means to integration. However, while initially promising, several intricacies surrounding the studied SLO, including its structure, history and leadership, has brought forth a number of worrying insights that have severed trust-building and impeded future work. Previous studies exploring the success of projects at the street level have successfully used qualitative methods, including reflexive non-participant observation. In our research we have used field notes collected over a six-month period from the project’s inception, supplemented by time lines of interactions and stakeholder engagements. The data have been coded to decipher key incidents and exchanges where trust has played a pivotal role in the dynamics between stakeholders, and for the direction of the project, as such. Given the responsibility that SLOs currently hold within immigrant integration, the personal street-level interactions from which (dis)trust evolves need to be regarded as significantly important. Our findings suggest that trust is greatly underestimated within SLOs, with distrust disrupting the success of the integration process, often resulting in project failure. This presentation will make recommendations as to how a SLO approach can contribute to trust-building, which will go some way in addressing existing ambiguities and inconsistencies between policy and outcomes concerning immigrant integration.
|
|
| 6. |
- Brauer, Rene, et al.
(författare)
-
How to write a REF impact case study? Critical discourse analysis of evidencing practices
- 2016
-
Ingår i: “Making an impact: Creative constructive conversations” International Conference, 19-22 July 2016, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper applies critical discourse analysis to scrutinize submissions to the “REF [Research Excellence Framework] 2014 Impact Case Study” platform. More specifically, it focuses on the rhetorical practices used within these submissions to evidence research impact as outlined by the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) within tourism studies. The evidencing practices used within the submissions to Panel 26 (Sport Science, Leisure and Tourism) included quantitative sources and measures (e.g. Google Scholar, citation counts, journal ranking scores, monetary value of research grants, value of policy investment, industry revenue figures, etc.) and implicated ‘high status’-end users (e.g. government bodies, the UN, industry, NGOs) as their main type of evidence. The evidencing of impact did not differ depending on whether the research was of quantitative or qualitative character, neither on the type of research impact claimed. Instead, the disciplining of the epistemic evidencing practices was enforced by the outlined guidelines for submission (verifiable evidence, word count, type of impact). Leaning on Collins and Evans’ (2007) notion of ‘expertise’ used to conceptualize evidencing practices, this paper discusses the implication of such evidencing for an evaluation practice that sets out to assess the quality of research impact. The rhetoric such evidencing evokes, however, is not necessary indicative of the impact claimed. Furthermore, the evidencing practices used within the REF marginalize so-called negative impacts (failures), despite their specific value for research and, consequently, for societal progress at large.
|
|
| 7. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Crossing dichotomies and breaking mental patterns: Green business development when all else fails?
- 2017
-
Ingår i: 8th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2017: Bioeconomy Challenges”, 23–24 November, 2017 Kaunas, Lithuania.
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Obtaining sustainable and inclusive societal organization is not merely a simple matter of ‘doing it’ by subscribing to some winning formula. Given that conceptual frameworks always guide our thoughts, judgments and actions (Latour, 2013; Harvey, 1996; Dennett, 1993), the ways in which we relate to concepts chosen to serve as guiding forces for future development will eventually determine its outcome. As scholarly evidence continuously suggests the concepts ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ are increasingly recognized as artificial barriers for conducting sound and integrated development endeavors in a globalized reality of interconnectedness. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to eradicate poverty, shield the planet and safeguard prosperity for all, commitment to universal access to healthy food year round has become an important agenda point. This, however, has been exacerbated by binary thinking and separate ways of doing policy. This paper aims to share experiences from a unique project launched in the northern parts of Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. While the area offers ample resources and immense opportunities for areal economies, it at the same time remains one of Gothenburg’s most segregated, with high levels of unemployment, ill health and crime. The uniqueness of the project lies not only in its way of abridging the rural-urban divide, but also by consciously deferring from the debilitating rhetoric of previous ‘immigrant policies’, and instead focusing on agricultural productivity, small-scale food producers and sustainable food strategies. Such exhortations to bridge between philosophical and material polarities, however, have not come without conceptual and practical challenges, something this paper aims to subsume and open up to debate.
|
|
| 8. |
- Kotze, Shelley, 1986, et al.
(författare)
-
Ticking boxes and clocking in: A critical view of gender mainstreaming in labour-market integration
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0029-1951 .- 1502-5292. ; 75:3, s. 171-186
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mainstreaming is a popular approach when seeking to address societal inequalities. Gender and migrant integration are mainstreamed within EU policy, both seeking to increase labour market participation as a means to redress inequality. However, there are limited references to migrant women within gender equality or integration policies at the EU level. The study dissects a subset of migrant integration projects in Sweden – a country lauded for having Europe’s best integration policy while exhibiting the poorest results. The authors used non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews to identify pitfalls such as embedded stereotyping, undervaluation of cultural motivations, gender-washing, and methodological misalignment. Their findings show that gender and integration mainstreaming within the EU systematically position migrant women as a problem, despite the significantly important role they play within global labour markets. The authors conclude that migrant women may need to be included within gender and integration policy beyond the labour market.
|
|
| 9. |
- Dymitrow, Mirek, et al.
(författare)
-
Deprivation and the rural-urban trap
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. - : Wiley. - 0040-747X .- 1467-9663. ; 109:1, s. 87-108
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Departing from the idea that cultural mechanisms are capable of allowing for conceptual dichotomies to create oppression, this article challenges the engrained tradition of using ‘urban/rural’ as guiding labels in societal organization when seen through the prism of deprivation. Two Polish deprivation-ridden estates – one ‘urban’ and one ‘rural’ – were investigated. Having taken account of the residents’ everyday lives in the socio-economic, material and discursive dimensions, our results indicate that the notions of rurality and urbanity imbricate and leapfrog meaningful territories at the local level. Realizing the danger of deploying stereotypes as beacons in governance, from this richly contextualized account we draw that many problems today are space-independent and cannot be attenuated by following development paths reinvented in the name of some empirically questionable yet culturally sustained and politically ontologized spatialities. This, then, calls for rethinking both the discursivity and the elusiveness of rural-urban thinking in the context of deprivation.
|
|
| 10. |
- Keshavarz, Mahmoud, et al.
(författare)
-
Orientations of Europe : Boats, the Mediterranean Sea and the Materialities of Contemporary Mobility Regimes
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Borderlands e-journal. - Sydney, NSW, Australia : Borderlands. - 1447-0810. ; 17:2, s. 1-27
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is an investigation of how the specific design and materiality of the artefact of the boat, as well as the various material, visual, technical and geographical practices at work in the space of Mediterranean Sea, orientate a specific space and produce a selective politics of seeing, saving and framing of bodies on the move. It highlights how the very presence and movement of ‘unseaworthy boats’ in this actively orientated space of the sea brings to the fore the many strategies and techniques that have been employed to make it a space of European control. We argue that this is an active and deadly orientation carried out in an often dispersed number of practices and interventions within a seemingly flat space of water. The paper concludes that border transgressors’ act of moving by boat, with all of the losses involved, both challenge and potentially reorientate European mobility regimes.
|
|
