51.
Klysing, Amanda
(författare)
Who is Woman and Who is Man? : Normativity at Intersections of Gender and Sexual Orientation
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Current gender norms predominantly construct gender as an expression of binary sex categories that are different but complementary. A performative view of gender instead analyses gender as an emergent feature of social interactions that is created by the constant repetition of acts in relation to discourses of gender. Within these hegemonic discourses, gender is constructed as fundamentally heterosexual. That is, there is an epistemic model of gender that justifies the existence of binary, complementary genders through appeals to complementarity within the structure of heterosexuality. Using an intersectional approach, this dissertation aims to analyse how gender norms of binarity and heterosexuality are expressed in mental representations at intersections of gender and sexual orientation. Study I examined how explicit and implicit stereotype content for groups at intersections of gender and sexual orientation relate to general gender stereotypes. Study II examined the influence of the social ideologies androcentrism and heterocentrism on cultural prototypes of general gender and sexual orientation categories and their intersecting subgroups. Finally, Study III examined how gender non-normativity in organisation communication and applicant gender expression can influence a recruitment situation.Study I showed that the content of explicit, but not implicit, cultural stereotypes for women and men in general only match the stereotype content for heterosexual women and men. Stereotype content for homosexual and bisexual women and men was incongruent with that of their respective gender groups and instead partially gender inverted. Study II showed that cultural prototypes for ‘women’ and ‘men’ are strongly influenced by heterocentrism, as they include an assumption of heterosexuality. The cultural prototype for ‘homosexual people’ was influenced by androcentrism, such that it was more representative of gay men than of lesbian women, but androcentrism showed no direct influence on cultural prototypes for ‘heterosexual people’ or ‘bisexual people’. Study III showed that organisational communication that explicitly moves beyond binary gender can increase perceptions of organisational attractiveness among gender minority individuals, with no measurable impact on gender majority individuals. Additionally, applicants with a non-normative gender expression did not face the hypothesised discriminatory outcomes when assessed by Swedish HR-professionals. This dissertation used empirical, quantitative methods to analyse how gender is structure within a heterosexual matrix of cultural intelligibility and what the consequences are of becoming unintelligible. The findings support the perspective that gender and sexual orientation categories do not represent natural kinds and are instead constructed in relation to each other. Treating gender and sexual orientation as co-constitutive is a break with dominant disciplinary practices in psychological research but doing so would provide a better possibility of analysing how gender influences the lives of those acting within and outside of gender norms.
52.
Lagerlöf, Hannes
(författare)
Conditional Progress: Technical Rationality and Wicked Problems in Nuclear Waste Management
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
While various states and enterprises have produced nuclear power for decades, that is, demonstrated the functionality of the nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining to power production, the waste that is simultaneously produced has been provisionally stored awaiting a safe solution. Still, no country has implemented such a solution. Nuclear waste is both dangerous and notoriously controversial, implying a range of social and technical problems. However, according to prevailing assertions in nuclear waste management (NWM), lingering concerns have now been addressed and definitive solutions are ready to be implemented. In this thesis, I problematize these claims. By asserting that NWM constitutes a ‘wicked problem’ – that is, a problem to which there is no ‘silver bullet’ solution, only a set of suboptimal options to choose from – my ambition is to produce knowledge of that which has remained unsolved, de-emphasized, sacrificed, or even suppressed as NWM has progressed. Rather than understanding NWM as progressing because it has solved remaining problems, I ask how progression is possible in spite of the insolubility of these problems. Points of departure like my own are marginal in previous research. Albeit sometimes critical, research has far from exhausted critical perspectives readily available for social scientists. I argue that such concepts are a viable future research route. To contribute to formulating a more critical research path, I turn to science and technology studies (STS) because this field contemplates a broader range of sociotechnical issues than does most NWM research. However, STS has increasingly come to elaborate theoretically on instances in which sociotechnical configurations are made unstable, change occurs, and actors challenge taken-for-granted scientific facts and technologies. My core observation is that such a focus downplays the significance of stability and inertia, which I hold to be far more prevalent phenomena in NWM. With a few caveats, I propose that these aspects of NWM can be understood using ‘critical constructivism’, that is, an alloy of the Frankfurt School’s critical procedure and STS. By emphasizing the critical legacy of critical constructivism – primarily by borrowing the concept of ‘technical rationality’ – I argue that NWM’s progress can be understood in new ways. Empirically – by means of participant observation and textual analysis – I engage with four NWM sites, both locally and internationally. In Study I, we study how contradictory social interests in NWM were concealed by means of technical consensus and the production of technicaliv standards at the European policy level. In Study II, I seek to understand why a scientific controversy over copper corrosion remained the main issue in a Swedish court of law for technical and nontechnical actors alike, and why the broader implications of nuclear power and NWM were not made explicit. In Study III, I analyse the Swedish nuclear industry’s tactics to secure consent in order to prevent opposition in a local community where a final repository for spent nuclear fuel will be built. In Study IV, we analyse how internationally influential implementers conceive of public emotions, and how implementers foresee the transformation of public emotions to facilitate the implementation of repositories. On an aggregate level, the individual studies together show the ways in which NWM – in order to implement geological disposal – depresses and excludes reasonable objections that could challenge NWM’s biases or expose its historical contingencies and preconditions. In the prevailing culture of NWM and its technical rationality, one of the few areas in which critique is still seen as legitimate is in strictly technical domains. The scrutiny of scientific and technical detail is recognized as viable because of its association with technical rationality, taking precedence over other forms of critical procedures based on, for example, the lived experience of technology and/or ethical concerns. A core conclusion that I draw, and that is enabled through the deployment of critical constructivism – is that the material nature of nuclear waste has rendered irreversible damage to the prospects of achieving change in the field.
53.
Larsson Hult, Karin, 1985-
(författare)
En skola för alla, eller? : Om diskursiva dilemman i ett (o)möjligt värdegrundsprojekt
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is to discuss the possibility for schools in Sweden to be “a school for all”. More specifically, the study follows a four-year long project at a secondary school, aiming at implementing the idea of being “a school for all.” The Swedish education system has long engaged with the idea that education systems should be for all pupils and that teaching should be adapted according to pupils’ differentials needs. There is wide recognition for such adaptive and inclusive education within Sweden and internationally. However, there is little conceptual consensus, among scholars and educators, on the practical educational and administrative characteristics of “a school for all”. This openness means that the efforts to be ”for all” can be interpreted in different ways and be translated differently by actors within schools. This dissertation is based primarily on document analysis, observations, and interviews with actors related to the project. The study shows that “a school for all” is variously understood by school staff through discourses of rationality, giving rise to discursive dilemmas related to justice and inclusion. As the Swedish education system is founded on the notion of an “ideal” pupil, these dilemmas make “a school for all” a practical impossibility. This study contributes the conceptual framing of “a school for everyone’s learning”. This is supported by a model depicting the dimensions forming schools’ possibilities of being “for everyone’s learning”. Also, the discourses underlying the understanding of “a school for all” need to be discussed. The combination of these measures is suggested as a means to increase the possibilities of reaching an education system fit for all pupils. That is where the discussion needs to start. If it does not, it will be difficult to reach consensus regarding how the Swedish school will be “a school for all”.
54.
Larsson, Marie
(författare)
The Work of Contracepting : Young people's experiences and practices with contraceptives in Sweden
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Contraception is a complex phenomenon with differing meanings, expressions, and materialities depending on its historical, social, and cultural context. In this thesis, I depart from the conceptualisation of contraception as the prevention of both pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and I name these practices through the collective term of contracepting. Previous research on young people and contraceptives has centred on cis women and, to a lesser extent, men who have sex with men. Studies on young people and contraceptives tend to focus on use and choice-making, with an emphasis on the medical risks that these may pose. The sociological and more critical studies on contraceptives largely emerge from the US context, and usually separate pregnancy and STI prevention efforts, which is problematic as it obscures the fact that many young people are or have been concerned with both of those elements of contraception. The Swedish context presents some similar criticalities, as there are extremely few studies that explore contraceptive use and experiences beyond the medical sphere, and even fewer that look beyond the practices of cisgender women. More critical and sociological studies are needed to explore how young people with various gender and sexual identities experience contracepting practices. This dissertation contributes to the literature on contraceptives by drawing on the stories and accounts generated from 27 interviews with 13 women, men, and non-binary people aged 18 to 29, with different sexual identities living in Sweden, and who had some experience with pregnancy and/or STI prevention. The aim of this research project has been to explore young people’s diverse practices and experiences with pregnancy and STI prevention (i.e. contracepting). Participants’ stories and accounts were analysed through a critical, relational lens and based on a conceptual understanding of contracepting as involving multifaceted work. Analytical leads were identified using a broadly thematic approach, further influenced by narrative inquiry and critical optimism. My main empirical contributions highlight that participants described doing different elements of the work of contracepting across different relational contexts and in relation to a range of actors. First, I explored the important role friends played in these practices, followed by the possibilities and challenges detailed by young people of trying to negotiate sharing the work of contracepting in longer-term sexual relationships. Through my analysis, I also found that contracepting as a young person in Sweden involved a great deal of work around becoming informed and making contraceptive choices. Ultimately, participants’ stories and accounts of contracepting highlight the ongoing, everyday work often involved in pregnancy and STI prevention. Contracepting as a young person in Sweden involves considerable negotiation and navigation of interpersonal relationships and relationalities with a range of actors, including others’ ideas, thoughts, feelings, understandings, and beliefs about what are right/wrong, in/appropriate, un/reasonable, un/fair, and ir/rational contraceptive practices across a multitude of different situations. Through this study, I cast light on activities and efforts that often remain invisible and unrecognised, but that are integral parts of young people’s contracepting experiences and practices. The conceptual understanding and lens of contracepting as work has been key in this endeavour and provides an important shift in perspective. Through this critical relational lens, different conversations and imaginations are made possible, illustrating that there is more that can be done to make the work of contracepting easier, less burdensome, more shareable, more enjoyable, and fairer for all.
55.
Lindberg, Emy, 1985-
(författare)
Dream Machine : an Ethnography of Football Migration between Ghana and Sweden
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis examines football migration between Ghana and Sweden. Based on multi-sited, transnational, part-time ethnographic fieldwork that spanned 22 months between 2017 and 2019, it focuses on the everyday realities of Ghanaian football migrants throughout their labor migration trajectory. At the same time, the thesis contextualizes these experiences within the larger historical processes of neoliberalism, colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade. The theoretical framework draws on literature concerning dreams and aspirations, time and migration, family structures, race, and the enduring impact of colonialism. The thesis sheds light on the historical connection between Ghanaian and Swedish football as a colonial project, a national project, and a global postcolonial phenomenon, emphasizing the political economy of football migration. By zooming in on dreams and the footballing body, it then examines footballers as neoliberal entrepreneurs of themselves as well as objects of the industry’s racialized dreams. Next, the thesis draws attention to the temporal aspects of football migration, including institutional borders, capitalist timelines, and the time of the footballing body. The thesis goes on to explore family structures, particularly fatherhood, in the migratory and footballing context, showing how these structures are interconnected with the business interests of the global football industry. It further demonstrates how race and racialization are present in the Swedish footballing context and finally looks at return migration, investigating how migrant footballers seek to repay economic and social debts. As performers on a commercialized global stage, the footballers embody the dreams of people all over the world. They are commodified and seen as investments for the future, both by people at home and by those working in the industry. Their success generates profit and shows that the dream of migration and the dream of football can come true. This thesis uses the metaphor of the dream machine to understand how dreams operate both globally and locally. It examines the linkages between maintenance of the footballing body, transactions of care, practices of social inclusion and racialized exclusion, and the functioning of the global capitalist football industry. Doing so, it emphasizes the meaningfulness of the migration trajectory for individual footballers and their networks, placing these relationships at the very heart of the beautiful game.
56.
Lukkerz, Jack, FIl licentiat, 1972-
(författare)
Sex på rätt sätt : Unga, sexualitet och svensk samtida sexualsyn
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Swedish sexuality education, mandatory since 1955, is part of general social politics, aiming among others to prevent socio-sexual problems through educating and disciplining young, future citizens. The overall aim is to examine contemporary societal view on sexuality through studies of representatives of schools, authorities and NGO’s negotiating young people's sexuality regulations related to current ideas of socio-sexual problems, and to outline constructions of young people's sexuality through the organisation of sex education. Two studies with ten years in between highlight the contemporary view on youth and sexuality through an analysis of 1) professional views on sexuality education and 2) analysis of documents regarding the new Swedish curriculum, in force since autumn semester 2022. The first study contains of focus group interviews with staff working with young people with intellectual disabilities, previously published 2014, using Theory of Social Representations. The second, newer study, using Critical Discourse Analysis as method and Rubin´s radical theories on sexuality politics as theory, analyses views on sexuality in open access published preparatory works regarding the new curriculum. Young people's sexuality is related to risks, while the idea of pleasure is absent. Young women, young LGBTQ people, and young with intellectual disabilities are made vulnerable and norm breaking, while young men´s sexuality, heterosexuality and able-bodiedness are a not scrutinised norm. Sex education is defined by professionals and experts on elite level, not necessarily linked to scientific knowledge. Equality, pornography, and consent appear as questions that engage. Equality is related to a binary understanding of gender, or a freer view on gender as a prerequisite for equality work to succeed. Pornography is understood as a problem in young men, affecting young women and promoting violence and negative attitudes. Consent is welcomed, but with lacking analyses of how to communicate it.
57.
Mai, Yên T., 1991-
(författare)
Narratives of Change : Youth Participation in Vietnamese Development Programs
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
In development studies, the definition of what good "development" entails remains a contentious topic. In particular, the "participatory turn" in development practices has faced criticism due to its vague conceptualization, underlying assumptions, and often paradoxical outcomes. Concerns raised by various scholars include the instrumentalization of local beneficiaries to further the interests of the powerful, the co-optation of the process by elites, and the potential imposition of projects that lack relevance to the target community. Consequently, these studies emphasize the need for a more nuanced examination of local motivations within participatory development, and of the diverse meanings individuals associate with this process.Utilizing in-depth interviews with 31 young individuals and participant observation, this research delves into the experiences of Vietnamese youth involved in participatory development programs. The aim here is to explore and analyze how participation in development programs shapes young people’s civic engagement, visions, and aspirations towards the development process. The study features the narratives of Vietnamese post-reform youth, a generation who came of age during a period of rapid development following Vietnam’s 1986 economic reform.The findings shed light on the coexistence of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms within participatory development practices. While access to these programs tends to favor those who align with development practitioners' epistemology and class dispositions, young individuals can strategically negotiate their belonging by framing their motivations in line with neoliberal values and altruistic drives. Development programs are portrayed as a space of freedom, equality, and inclusion by those who successfully enter them. Their narratives highlight the profound impact of participatory development on transforming individuals from passivity and ignorance to self-efficacy and self-awareness. In addition, the narratives illustrate how development programs offer youth shared frames to interpret Vietnam's development challenges and future strategies, shaping their civic engagement.By examining four core dimensions related to participatory development practices—motivations, outcomes, challenges, and potential of participation—this study makes significant contributions to development studies and social movement scholarship. Theoretically, it sheds light on the intricate interplay between meaning-making, civic engagement, and civil society. Empirically, it uncovers the diverse and contextually embedded pathways through which youth can contribute to societal change within a Global South authoritarian regime. In this context, participatory development serves as a realm where assisting the state can simultaneously lay the groundwork for potential resistance against its hegemonic control.
58.
Michelson, Stina, 1979-
(författare)
Att navigera svåra barndomar : Barns perspektiv och narrativa praktiker när vardagen påverkas av vuxnas psykosociala problem
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Children experiencing family-related adversity have their own stories to tell about themselves and the challenges they face. Qualitative inquiry into children’s personal narratives is important for social work practice and for the pursuit of matching support to children’s needs. While previous research has contributed important knowledge on what children say about experiencing family-related adversity, less attention has been paid to how children handle and make sense of their situation through their telling. The purpose of this thesis is to explore children’s perspectives on how their childhood is affected by adult family members’ psychosocial problems. The primary focus is directed towards children’s narrative project of handling suffering and orienting towards enhanced well-being – albeit in difficult life situations. In connection to this, intergenerational support is studied, with a specific focus on whether the supportive context may have significance for children’s self-narration. Theoretically, the thesis draws upon a childhood sociological perspective on children as social actors within social structures that can either promote or constrain their agency. The thesis also draws upon narrative theory and its focus on the significance of personal and cultural narratives for children’s project of handling and making sense of their situation. The empirical material comprises 42 interviews with 22 children, aged 6–17 years, and 10 interviews with 10 professionals who have personal experiences of difficult childhoods. Both the children and the professionals were recruited from two Swedish non-governmental organizations offering support to children experiencing family-related adversity, such as a parent’s/other adult family member’s alcohol or drug abuse, mental ill health and/or incarceration. The findings show that children navigate difficult childhoods through their telling. They need to navigate both relational challenges and problematic cultural narratives about norm and deviance. In the children’s telling, a number of narrative practices become visible. These practices illustrate various ways in which children negotiate relationships, positions and understandings. Children’s narrative practices can be understood as internal resources that can develop over time, if those children receive adequate support and knowledge. There are also external resources that may help children navigate their childhoods. Here, adults who recognize children as unique individuals and child-centered supportive contexts stand out as central. Alternative cultural narratives can offer children an expanded repertoire of positions. If these narratives are centered around children’s needs, they may contribute to the children’s project of handling suffering and navigating towards well-being – albeit in difficult life situations.The core contribution of the thesis is an in-depth insight into children’s perspectives and narrative practices when everyday life is affected by adults’ psychosocial problems. It adds to previous research on what children tell by focusing on how children may handle and make sense of the situation through their telling. The thesis shows that children relate to cultural narratives about children and childhood in their telling. This has implications for social work practice because it highlights that organizational perspectives on children may influence how children narrate, and make sense of, themselves and their opportunities.
59.
Minissale, Alessandra, 1992-
(författare)
Emotions in Legal Decisions : The Construction of Objective Narratives in Italian Criminal Trials
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Drawing on ethnographic data collected in Italian courts and prosecution offices, this dissertation offers new perspectives on legal decision-making by highlighting the importance of emotions for constructing and evaluating legal narratives. Focusing on criminal cases, it describes and dissects how judges and prosecutors use emotions in reflection and action tied to lay narratives and legal constraints. The analysis shows that legal professionals engage in different types of emotional dynamics when dealing with stories; first, they develop gut feelings, which are either endorsed or kept at distance by means of emotional reflexivity, to comply with legal ideals of objectivity and impartiality. Second, empathy emerges as a crucial tool to direct the interaction with lay people and to interpret legal prerequisites, such as credibility, and intent. Finally, the dissertation shows that lay stories lead legal professionals to become passionate and committed towards the correct application of the law, the restoration of the moral order, and the achievement of justice. In light of the empirical findings, this thesis strives to develop a theoretical understanding of legal decision-making as narrative work that includes emotional dynamics consistent with rational, objective action.
60.
Nordin, Therese, 1980-
(författare)
Harnessing togetherness : perceptions of loneliness and promotion of social participation in the home care context
2023
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Introduction: It is well known that older adults have a higher risk for loneliness, which is detrimental to health. Home care in Sweden has a responsibility to address social needs, but systematic approaches are lacking and there is a know–do gap. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop knowledge about older home care recipients’ and home care providers' perceptions of loneliness and social participation among older adults, and furthermore, to develop a work model for supporting social participation in home care and explore that process.Methods: Four studies were included. In the first study, care recipient interviews explored perceptions of social participation. In the second, a total population survey investigated the association between perceived care quality and loneliness. The third study used individual and group interviews with home care providers to explore discourses on loneliness and social support. The fourth applied a participatory action research(PAR) process with care workers to develop strategies to alleviate care recipients’ loneliness.Findings: Enjoying personally relevant occupations, both in solitude and with others, was found to be important for satisfactory social participation. Low perceived quality in home care quality was statistically associated with loneliness. Two discourses, one in which care recipients were described as valued but vulnerable “others”, and another in which they were described as competent peers, were identified. A work model facilitating social participation was created, and the process was applied to a “framework for occupational enablement for change in community practice”.Conclusion: The understanding of loneliness and social participation in the complex home care context has been nuanced, as have discourses that affect home care practice. The work model itself could become a first step towards systematically addressing loneliness and social needs, and the application of an occupational enablement framework onto the PAR process ties the methodologies together and facilitates participatory research for occupational therapy and science.
