| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Jonsson, Gunilla, 1967-
(författare)
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Rotad, rotlös, rastlös : Ung mobilitet i tid och rum
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis is to survey and analyse young peoples’ geographical movements, and illustrate the similarities and differences that exist between different individuals.. The aim of the thesis is also to examine and discuss youth’s attitudes and motivation for different forms of geographical mobility. The youth focused on in this project reside in Norrland. The first phase, Mapping of the Geographical Movement of Youth, was carried out through the use of a questionnaire, sent to graduating students in upper secondary school. The second phase, Umeå Students Abroad, was carried out by interviewing Umeå students who had either completed or were about to begin a period of foreign exchange. The third phase, Emigrants from Sweden, is based on statistics acquired from Sweden Statistics’ (SCB) and from the TOPSWING database. Home: The starting point of this thesis is the conception of “home”. The choice of path to take in life, and where students wanted to live in the future had significance for how they examined the choice between moving and staying; and the role of the home town in a longer perspective as to how the students viewed Umeå. Away: It is not just the place that a person comes from that says something about who she is, but also the place where she is going and the way in which she takes herself there. Many of the upper secondary school students that took part in the questionnaire had been abroad one or more times. Furthermore, many of the students would like to travel abroad again. At the same time, it can be said that there are also young people that do not have extensive experiences in travelling to other countries. Somewhere between home and away: The study shows that students may have very different views of their time abroad. The Tourist Student is one who chooses his/her destination in order to fulfil certain criteria and then mainly stays in the university town, “taking one day at a time.” He or she does not have a thought-out strategy for how the stay abroad should be carried out. The Travelling Student is the student who searches for a particular destination and later also has the ambition to get to know the country and the people that live there. The travelling student can be said to have a thought-out strategy for how to make the most out of his or her time in a foreign country. When away becomes home – or when home becomes home again: The interview study shows that to live abroad or to live in Sweden acquired a different meaning if you had a family. To have a family gives rise to a reason why one may choose to move back to Sweden. On the other hand there were also students for whom the home country was not important. A large portion of those who emigrated from Sweden during the study period moved back again. For those with a college or university education, a few years abroad can be a part of their choice of life path. It is something that one wants and from a career prospective, possibly should do. Rooted, rootless or restless young? The rooted are those who mainly live their entire lives in one place. The rootless represent a mobile life, where there is no home base, instead they create new ones as life passes. I would like to characterise most of the young people that in one way or another is featured in my study as restless. The restless combine, in different ways, the characteristics of both the rooted and the rootless. They are not unwilling to move, within the country, as well as to other countries, but they are at the same time rooted in their home town or in their home country.
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| 23. |
- Khouangvichit, Damdouane, 1957-
(författare)
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Socio-Economic Transformation and Gender Relations in Lao PDR
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to examine socio-economic transformation and gender relations in Lao PDR after the adoption of economic liberalization by the Lao government in the late 1980s. Against a background of general socio-economic transformation in Laos the main focus of the study is on the local level, with emphasis on how people in their everyday lives have engaged with and handled the changes. The application of economic liberalization shaped new conditions for people in local communities, and various livelihoods strategies were adopted under the new circumstances. The study examines gender relations, livelihoods and actors of change in two different contexts of globalization. The first context is the case of foreign direct investment in the Sepone mine, the largest gold-copper mine in the country located in Vilabury district, Savannakhet province. Five villages located close to the mine and directly affected by the operation were chosen as research site. The second case is the context of international tourism development in the small town of Vang Vieng, situated halfway between Vientiane Capital and the world heritage town of Luangprabang. The purpose with the two case studies is to examine how changes take place in different places of the same country under the same political direction and development policy. The study is inspired by theories of space and place and the view that phenomena are place-based and different places are constituted by different socio-spatial relations. The findings show that profound changes took place both in the economic and social-cultural spheres, including in gender relations. The two contexts experienced different processes of changes: in the context of Vilabury district, the transformation was produced through top-down development and created a dependency pattern where new social inequalities and social stratification emerged through unequal access to the new resources of the villagers. In the context of Vang Vieng and the expansion of international tourism, the development process proceeded more through a bottom-up pattern; the villagers perceived they were important actors of development, had more equal access to resources and could define livelihood strategies by themselves.
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| 24. |
- Landby, Emma, 1991-
(författare)
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Family, disability and (im)mobility : geographies of families with wheelchair-using children with cerebral palsy
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mobility is important in shaping people’s lives and experiences through places visited and social interactions with other people. In families with children, mobilities are usually complex and include negotiations between various family members, affecting how they move about in time-space. While children in general often are dependent on parental support in relation to transport, children with disabilities tend to be even more reliant on their parents, not least because they are highly car dependent due to social and environmental barriers associated with other transport modes. This implies that not only disabled children, but also other family members, could be affected by disability related mobility constraints. This thesis focuses especially on mobilities of Swedish families with wheelchair-using children with cerebral palsy. Based on interviews, time-use diaries and a survey, I explore how disabling barriers affect families’ daily and tourism mobilities. I use a time-geographical framework, especially focusing on projects and constraints. My findings show that these families experience many constraints on mobilities and numerous negotiations and adaptations need to be done to enable mobility for all family members. Oftentimes, it is the disabled child’s mobility that is prioritised, which in everyday life often is related to an increased number of trips (e.g. appointments with physiotherapists, doctors and other authorities involved in healthcare) as well as longer distances travelled to reach accessible (pre)schools and leisure activities. Parents are often accompanying their children, which limits the time available for the parents’ own mobilities, impinges on their geographical reach and affect their possibilities on the labour market. A solution to improve opportunities for (independent) daily mobility for all family members is to have personal assistance in combination with special transport services for the disabled child, which are part of the Swedish support system. For tourism mobility, families often travel together and disabling barriers affect how and where they can travel. My findings show that these families have a limited set of tourism destinations that they can travel to. Disabling barriers on tourism mobility can be negotiated by leaving the disabled child at home or going on separate trips. This opens up mobility opportunities for the non-disabled family members, but can put further limitations on the mobility of the disabled child.
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| 25. |
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| 26. |
- Leu, Traian, 1981-
(författare)
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Tourism work among Sámi indigenous people : exploring its prevalence and role in sparsely populated areas of Sweden
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Little is known about the role of tourism development among Sámi indigenous people living in the sparsely populated areas of Sweden. Previous research shows tourism to be a potentially suitable option for development in such regions, yet the exact implications for the indigenous population remains largely unexplored. The aim of this thesis therefore is to investigate the prevalence and role of tourism involvement among Sámi indigenous people in sparsely populated areas of northern Sweden. Three different objectives underlie the aim of this work. First, to see if involvement in tourism among Sámi is common enough to have meaningful impacts on changes that bestow rural livelihoods in northern Sweden. Second, to investigate whether instead of replacing a struggling traditional occupation, tourism is part of a diversification strategy that allows for the continuation of reindeer herding. The final objective is to investigate to what extent tourism benefits go beyond just economic ones and incorporate a variety of social and cultural meanings as well. This thesis uses a livelihood approach as a theoretical lens to guide the investigative work and interpret the results. Multiple methods are used to investigate the topic, which include quantitative register data and interviews.The results are presented in three articles. The first study shows that reindeer herding is an occupation with a strong inheritance factor. Results also indicate that individuals involved in reindeer herding are more likely to get involved in tourism than geographically matched farmers are. The second study in this thesis shows that there are many motivations behind working in tourism among Sámi entrepreneurs. Links to indigenous culture and knowledge of nature are, alongside job versatility and the joy of working with people, some of the motivations uncovered. The results also show that involvement in tourism is part of a livelihood diversification strategy, where income from tourism is used to support reindeer herding. The final study uncovers a variety of meanings given to tourism work by Sámi entrepreneurs. This includes tourism work as an opportunity to educate tourists about Sámi people and culture, as well as tourism work allowing individuals to express themselves and to keep certain traditions alive. Overall, this thesis shows that tourism involvement is prevalent among Sámi living in sparsely populated areas of Sweden, it often occurs jointly with reindeer herding, and encompasses numerous non-economic benefits. A better understanding of indigenous tourism in northern Sweden opens the door for better policies. The findings presented here need to be taken into consideration in any future analysis of tourism development in northern Sweden.
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| 27. |
- Liljenfeldt, Johanna, 1983-
(författare)
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Where the Wind Blows : the socio-political geography of wind power development in Finland, Norway and Sweden
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis analysis the planning process for large-scale wind power development in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The aim is to explore the emerging power relations and socio-economic dynamics of the negotiation, planning and realization of this new development. The thesis employs an energy justice framework to capture the opportunities different stakeholders have to take part in and influence wind power development processes (‘procedural justice’), and how the potential benefits and burdens of wind power development are divided between stakeholders (‘distributional justice’). The study’s setup is an embedded sequential mixed methods research design, which includes analysis of policy documents, in-dept interviews, observations, as well as register based population data.The thesis shows how power relations on both a structural level and an actor level are used to exert power and influence over the planning process for wind power development. On a structural level, the results indicate that transformations in EU directives and national planning laws and guidelines in Finland, Norway and Sweden in recent years have been more focused on speed and efficiency in planning processes than on legitimacy issues. The changes that have been implemented seem to point to diminishing opportunities for broad participation and debate in wind power planning processes, in favour of more top-down processes with a specific, sectoral focus on developing wind power. On the actor level, perceived improper behaviour by different actors within the planning process can further limit the possibilities for participation. People refrain from participating in planning processes, for instance, if they feel that they are treated disrespectfully or if there have occurred procedural errors that undermine the legitimacy of the formal planning process. However, participation in formal planning processes is not the only way to influence planning processes. There are a number of more informal channels, such as using the media or the Internet, lobbying, or rallying local support, that can and have been used by stakeholders to tap into the formal planning process to try to affect its outcomes. Such informal activities have a considerable spatial and scalar reach, the importance of which is that stakeholders utilizing such measures have the possibility to affect not only the local wind power project under debate, but also developments in other places and attitudes towards wind power more generally.As concerns distributional issues, the results of the thesis show that the evidence of distributional inequality concerning wind power development on the national scale in Sweden is not very strong; but if such inequalities exist, there are possibilities to redistribute the benefits from wind power to those who are burdened by the developments. Distributional injustice related to wind power development is thus not an evident problem, generally speaking, in Sweden today. However, if this state is to remain, procedural aspects related to the continued development of wind power need to be kept in mind, as procedural and distributional inequalities are intimately related. Of specific concern is the need to address formal and informal procedures that marginalize stakeholder participation in planning processes, but it is equally important to also consider who is to be included in or excluded from negotiations and the distribution of local economic benefits connected to specific wind power projects.
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| 28. |
- Lind, Tommy, 1984-
(författare)
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Schools in sparse spatial structures
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis describes and analyses how the school sector in sparsely populated municipalities in northern Sweden has developed with emphasis on spatial dimensions and in relation to demographic change and political reforms during the last 20 years.In paper I primary schools were studied in a number of small municipalities in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The aim of the study was to investigate how the spatial structure of schools has changed, what strategies the municipalities have developed to adapt their schools to changing conditions and what constraints there are to apply the strategies. To answer these questions, semi-structured interviews with municipal representatives were conducted.In paper II, the upper secondary school system was studied. The aim of the paper was to analyse the combined consequences of the school reforms, demographic development and competition on the ability of small municipalities to provide upper secondary schools during the period 1997 to 2015 in the four northernmost counties of Sweden. The study was based on data from the database SIRIS at the Swedish National Agency for Education and has a descriptive approach.The spatial structure of school organizations under study has undergone substantial changes during the recent decades, with closures and mergers among primary schools and an expansion of upper secondary schools. In recent years, the size of the young cohorts have decreased, which overall has led to increasing pressures to close primary schools and has created a detrimental competition between upper secondary schools. The large distances and the already small and declining number of pupils have had major effects on the ability to offer a good range and quality in the supply and availability of education. According to representatives from all the studied municipalities, the ambition is to prioritize the primary schools in the municipal centre and have as few small village schools as possible, taking into consideration quality of education, per capita costs, distances, and how scattered the pupils are within the municipalities. Independent schools and their increasingly larger role have attracted a great deal of attention in media, but this is a change that has mainly occurred in municipalities with large populations and their presence in the studied municipalities is very small both at the primary and upper secondary level.
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| 29. |
- Lundholm, Emma, 1975-
(författare)
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New motives for migration? : On interregional mobility in the nordic context
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The subject of this thesis is migrants’ motives and the outcomes of interregional migration, as well as how the propensity for interregional migration has changed for different groups over the past three decades. The background consists of a discussion on the role of the labour market in long-distance migration decisions and a discussion on how social and economic change affect the context in which migration decisions are made. The thesis consists of four empirical studies presented in four separate papers. The studies derive from two sources of data. Papers I and II are based on a Nordic survey, while Papers III and IV draw from Swedish population register data. Paper I focuses on migrants’ perceptions of the migration decision, motives, voluntariness, attitudes and values, based on a survey. The conclusion of this paper is that employment is by no means a dominating motive from the migrant’s perspective. Additionally, very few migrants explicitly express a sense of being forced to migrate against their will. Paper II is also based on the survey and examines the migrants’ perceptions of the outcome of migration in economic and non-economic terms. This paper further supports the view that employment and income gain are in most cases subordinate in the migration decision from the individual migrants’ point of view. Paper III is a register study comparing the composition of interregional migrants in Sweden during the period 1970-2001. In this study, it becomes evident that the increase in migration rates in the 1990’s was an effect of increased migration among young people. Compared to 1970, increasingly more people migrated during a time in life when they were not yet established on the labour market and had no family. Paper IV is also a register study comparing the effect of commuting potential on migration propensity in Sweden during the period 1970-2001. This paper concludes that increased commuting should be interpreted as a result of, rather than an explanation for, long-distance migration reluctance. Migration literature suggests that long-distance migration is primarily labour-market induced. This is evident in the sense that long-distance migration requires a new job in a new locality for those who are in the labour force, but this study show that this does not necessarily mean that employment is the main motive in the migrant’s mind; the trigger is usually something else, often related to social relationships. The pattern of interregional migration has changed over time. Compared to the 1970’s, more people now migrate at a time when they are not established on the labour market, and other considerations besides employment are thus more relevant. An important explanation for the current immobility among families and employed persons is attributed to the increase in dual-career households during the period studied. This has changed the aggregated migration behaviour everywhere, regardless of commuting potential, but enhanced constraints for interregional migration in this group could be seen as an explanation for the observed increase in commuting.
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| 30. |
- Lundmark, Linda, 1975-
(författare)
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Restructuring and employment change in sparsely populated areas : examples from Northern Sweden and Finland
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to examine ongoing restructuring and its impacts on sparsely populated areas in Sweden and Finland. In the context of sparsely populated areas, the global processes have great local impact because of their poor capacity to adapt to rapid economic changes. The focus here is on tourism and forest-related employment, however amenity motives for mobility and migration are also considered in relation to restructuring. A major part of the information used in this thesis comes from a database collected and stored by Statistics Sweden.Results show that employment in tourism in the Swedish mountain municipalities is largely seasonal in character. The seasonality of tourism has caused seasonal in-migration or long-distance commuting of young people, first and foremost to the southern mountain municipalities. The success of tourism as a regional development strategy is affected by the structure and characteristics of the local labour force. The importance of tourism for development also depends on other regional characteristics such as infrastructure, demographic composition, experience and education of the local labour force, as well as on attributes of the tourism industry. The assumed and almost automatic positive relationship between nature conservation and tourism is challenged. Tourism employment does not automatically follow from unemployment in forest sectors, accentuating differences in the characteristics of the labour force needed in tourism, forestry and related activities and the difficulty of enforcing restructuring and diversification towards tourism.In the last article, analyses of the forest-related employment are in focus. It is concluded that there is no significant effect of climate change on employment. Instead other global, national and local processes and interrelationships, such as supply and demand and productivity increase, have a greater impact on employment. Forestry and related sectors have shifted towards a more capital intensive management, which means that the productivity rate of the each worker is so high that the increasing amount of harvestable forest due to climate change does not involve the employment of more people. The relative unimportance of forestry and forest-related employment in the research area has also been highlighted.In conclusion, the economic restructuring processes in relation to tourism have been limited in a majority of the mountain municipalities. This is clearly demonstrated by the high level of seasonal labour mobility to some parts of the mountain area. However, there is evidence suggesting a positive relationship between seasonal tourism employment and permanent migration. To the north, there are fewer large resorts with high seasonal pressure than in the south. This means that tourism can be a way of maintaining work opportunities and sustaining local service. In the south and in the larger resorts, tourism might be a way to ensure more employment, albeit on a seasonal basis. Local diversity through place-dependent activities like tourism and resource-based recreation, as well as resource extraction, might offer opportunities for economic diversification. However, if the demographic structure is unbalanced there will be difficulties in pursuing economic restructuring and diversification. Add to this a peripheral location and there are many obstacles to increasing population, even temporarily. Thus, tourism development must be carefully considered on a local basis.
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