61.
Olofsson, Anna
(author)
Waves of controversy : gene technology in Dagens nyheter 1973-96
2002
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
This thesis investigates the public debate on gene technology, between 1973 and 1996, in one of the agenda-setting media in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter. Gene technology is one of the latest controversial technologies which characterise our present Western society. The main concern of the study is the dynamic of this mediated debate on gene technology, which represents variation in the intensity and content of the debate over time. Potential controversies in this debate have also been a major focus. The study is mainly based on a quantitative content analysis of all articles published by Dagens Nyheter with gene technology as the main theme, but also on a qualitative text analysis of a smaller amount of articles covering controversies within the same population of articles.The results show that the debate has ebbed and flowed in a more or less regular way, as four waves, and that the number of articles increases over time. Different themes have been in focus at different periods of time, each corresponding to a wave: Risk and safety in the late 1970s, ethics in the early 1980s, regulation in the end of the 1980s and finally applications of gene technology in the 1990s. Therefore, the 'RERA hypothesis' was formulated, suggesting that the overall themes of the public debate on a new technology will follow this specific sequence. It is also shown that the coverage is divided between two separate types of debates, or media packages, one reporting latest news and discoveries, and one discussing the technology more critically. This latter debate covers the explicit expressions of the underlying controversy between the scientific and the humanistic view of technology in society.The author's main conclusion is that the public debate on gene technology follows a wave-like pattern corresponding to cycles of attention given to the issue, and that the characteristics are context initiated. Real world events trigger the underlying controversy between the scientific and humanistic point of view, which, if it fits media logic, is exposed in the media. The media package characterised by controversy brings with it the coverage of general news, and as the controversy ends, interest cools off and so does media attention. Waves of controversy arise.
62.
Peterson, Helen, 1974-
(author)
Gender, Power and Post-Bureaucracy : Work Ideals in IT Consulting
2005
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
This thesis deals with work environments defined as post-bureaucratic, and which are characterised by individualisation and a decrease in the employer's formal control. The study shows how the employees in such work contexts are both empowered and disciplined. The main questions concern to what extent power shifts in relations between the employer and the employees and between female and male employees are visible and how such potential power shifts manifest themselves. The primary analysis of this power shift focuses on post-bureaucratic work ideals. Work ideals prescribe the skills, competence, manner and qualities of the ideal worker. While bureaucratic work ideals have emphasised employees' rule-following and role adaptation, reflecting the employer's supervision and control over employees, the post-bureaucratic work ideal has been suggested to a shift in power and control that challenges the bureaucratic relationship between power and position. The study uses a narrative analysis to highlight post-bureaucratic work ideals through examining in depth how Swedish IT consultants constitute, and position themselves in relation to, the ideal IT consultant. Although the consultants present themselves as powerful and autonomous vis-à-vis their managers, they also appear highly controlled by the system of consulting, by customer relations and by a work environment restricted by economic, individualised rationality. They also portray themselves as powerless in relation to threats of being made unemployed. Notwithstanding the supposed feminisation of a post-bureaucratic work ideal characterised by social competence, this study also shows that the work ideal that is rewarded in post-bureaucracy is not a feminine ideal. Although alleged to be gender-neutral, it is concluded that the idealised character of IT consulting is a gendered construction that gives precedence to hegemonic masculinity, and subordinates traditional feminine qualities, thereby reproducing gendred power relations.
63.
Polanska Vergara, Dominika, 1980-
(author)
The emergence of enclaves of wealth and poverty : A sociological study of residential differentiation in post-communist Poland
2011
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Since the fall of communism, some crucial political, economic and social changes have been taking place in the former communist societies. The objective of the thesis is to examine the processes of residential differentiation taking place in the urban landscape of the Polish city of Gdańsk after the introduction of the capitalist system. The focus is on different forms of residential differentiation and the social, economic and historical factors behind these forms. The empirical material that forms the basis of the thesis consists of interviews, newspaper articles, a questionnaire, official (national and local) reports and documents.Study I examines the way in which different social, economic, historical and physical conditions coincide in the formation of space and the processes of decline in the period of transformation in Poland. The focus lies on a specific residential area in the center of Gdańsk and the lack of improvements in this particular area, which would stop its successive decline.Study II explains the emergence of gated communities in the post-communist urban context and discusses the reasons for their increasing numbers and popularity. The main argument is that the popularity of gated communities is tightly intertwined with the communist past, emerging in reaction to the housing conditions that prevailed under communism.Study III investigates how social class markers are constructed in the discourse on gated communities in post-socialist Poland. The “new” capitalistic system, with its inherent social divisions, is described in the discourse as creating demands for “new” forms of housing, where gates function as separators, protectors and class identifiers.Study IV concentrates on the support for the formation of gated communities in the legal and regulatory framework in Poland since 1989. The paper asserts that the outcome of liberal politics and legal regulation in the country is the neglect of spatial planning and imprecise urban policies.
64.
Sandberg, Carl, 1979-
(author)
On Board the Global Workplace : Coordination and Uncertainty on Merchant Ships
2014
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how work and social life are coordinated on board merchant ships. The merchant ship is a global workplace where people from different nationalities come together to work and live for an extended period of time.The study is based on ethnographic field work on board merchant ships. The core of the study is field work on two Swedish-flagged RoRo-ships with ethnically mixed crews coming from Sweden, the Philippines and Eastern Europe. Participant observation and interviews are the two methods that have been used to generate the material.The empirical material shows that although the ships have a formal organization, the ships with mixed ethnic crews are in a disorderly state, a state of dissonance. The dissonance is due to a conflict between two evaluative principles. One principle refers to the Swedes’ way of doing things, which involves a flattened hierarchy and autonomous workers. The other principle refers to the Filipinos’ way of doing things, a formalized relationship between officers and crew and respect for the chain of command. These two principles sometimes come into conflict in the coordination of work tasks. The analysis also shows that social life on board is coordinated by ethnic networks, i.e. the seafarers spend their free time segregated by ethnicity. Furthermore, the results show that these two evaluative principles are in a hierarchical relationship. They form a hierarchy of worth where the Swedes’ way of doing things is seen as superior.
65.
Schmauch, Ulrika
(author)
Den osynliga vardagsrasismens realitet
2006
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The main objective of the thesis is to study how people of African decent experience and deal with everyday discrimination and racism in a context where such racism is to a large degree concealed and/or denied. Everyday racism affecting people with an African background in Sweden is expressed in a number of different, often subtle and obscure, ways. It is experienced in a context of structural inequality between those who are racialized and those who are seen as the norm in society. The mystification that takes place in the public debate highly restricts the opportunities for resistance in an open and articulated manner. This is partly because silence leads to an insecurity about how to understand the racism experienced, for example, should it be defined as “racism” or as a “misunderstanding”? In addition, people who openly resist and protest tend to be discredited as exaggerating or being too sensitive. Consequently, resistance against structural discrimination in Sweden today is difficult. The findings demonstrate that interviewees deal with everyday racism in a variety of ways that can be categorized in to three broad strategies: mystifying the experiences of racism in one’s everyday life, longing for a place or context far away from Swedish racism and finally, keeping racism at a distance, including resisting and protesting within the existing limitations.
66.
Sjöstrand, Glenn, 1966-
(author)
Gåvan i Gnosjö – Företagares relationer i ett industriellt distrikt
2008
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
In the growing body of research on industrial districts, focus is usually on trying to explain the economic outcomes of the configuration of formal and informal economic and social organisations specific to these districts. A general way to explain the outcomes is by referring to the “culture” in which economic and social exchanges take place without specifying what culture means and what it is in culture that affects the economic outcomes. This dissertation analyzes a gift-economy where goods and services are offered, accepted and returned among business entrepreneurs in the industrial district of Gnosjö, Sweden. Especially the institutional and social embeddedness of exchanges between small business owners and the norms in the culture that regulates the relationships are focused. The three aims of the study are to explain the local preconditions for a gift-economy to be established, explain how the gift-economy is affecting the outcomes of the formal economy and to explain how the social changes with globalization and integration of markets change the conditions for the gift-economy to reproduce. The empirical data is drawn mainly from 94 interviews with business owners or CEO:s in the district. The dissertation shows that the gift-economy is affecting the economic outcomes, such as high flexibility, low transactional costs, high profits, coordination of production, prices and knowledge dispersion of the industrial district, but also that it creates (social) costs of social control and other social drawbacks such as exclusion from networks and conformity.
67.
Svanevie, Kajsa, 1976-
(author)
Evidensbaserat socialt arbete : Från idé till praktik
2011
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
As an innovation Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is designed as a tool for clinical problem solving. According to its theory of use EBP will bring a difference for policy makers, for professionals, for researchers and for service users. One question to be asked is whether EBP actually leads to the radical social change it is designed to accomplish. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse the outcome of the effort to establish EBP, with a focus on the case of social work in Sweden. The research questions are: What is EBP? Why are efforts made to establish EBP? What is the outcome of the EBP project? How can the outcome of the EBP project be explained?The case study was conducted on a critical realistic meta-theoretical ground with a focus on explanation of social change with an explicit actor-structure perspective. Methodologically, a narrative synthesis of studies was made. As a complement primary data were collected to fill empirical gaps. The state of things was described before and after the EBP-initiatives. Several helping theories – Kuhn’s theory of paradigm, program theory, neo-institutional theory and theory of diffusion – were used to analyse the empirically mapped outcome of the EBP project.The results show that the import of the original model of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) to social work is a part of a wider social movement in the helping and educational professions. The new model has influenced social work as a discipline, as a field of practice and as a field of policy. There are examples of full-scale implementations of EBP, although EBP has not reached a general status as daily practice. Some obstacles remain.The gradual adaption of EBP corresponds to criteria hold by Kuhn for a paradigm shift. Acceptance of the model has contributed to change the structure and function of social systems. At an organizational level, this change means on-going institutionalization. The innovation is influencing the way institutional actors conduct their work. Although the structural conditions have been optimal, the EBP-model has been debated with heat. The EBP-debate and policy-driven infrastructural efforts have brought a more in-depth examination of the model. So-called coercive, normative, and regulative isomorphisms were used to change organizations. The degree of institutionalization depended on the individuals and the organizations willingness and preparedness to change, to understand, and to put the model into practice. When actors used a less strict version of the original EBP model, the pace of cultural and institutional change slowed down.
68.
Urban, Susanne, 1966-
(author)
Att ordna staden : Den nya storstadspolitiken växer fram
2005
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The sociology of the city has two faces: one of threat and one of promises. Originally, the city was portrayed as a threat to social life and individual identity, while, in contrast, the neighbourhood was seen to include the promise of restoring basic social relations to the web of city life. Later, the neighbourhood itself came to be perceived as a threat, as it was seen to separate people from one another. The solution to this dilemma was that the neighbourhood should be an arena for meetings between different groups, supplying not strong ‘excluding’ bonds, but subtle ‘bridge-building’ ones.The aim of the first part in the thesis is to study the public view of the neighbourhood and its significance for social integration. The aim of the second part is to investigate the new metropolitan policy approach to attain the challenging goal of integration at the local municipal level. This is explored using the theoretical model of a democratic welfare society, as developed by Jürgen Habermas.Ethnic housing segregation, as a social problem, has evolved in several stages. In 1990 the promise became to combat ”problem areas” through various methods for integration, commitment, improved reputation, an increasing sense of community and environmental improvement. More recently, since 2000, the question of ethnic housing segregation appears to be being dealt with through a process of delegation of responsibility to various authorities with different areas of expertise and to local municipal authorities. This suggests a possible fragmentalization of approaches to ethnic housing segregation. In official discussion of ethnic housing segregation, an acknowledgement of the relational approach has been severely lacking. A review of the literature of neighbourhood effects shows that ethnic clustering can result in positive as well in negative effects. In a relational perspective, local networks are one of several other relations that, in combination with different structures and power distributions, effects integration between ethnic groups in the society.Principles from new metropolitan policy, referred to as ”bottom-up”, are similar to Habermas’ ideal. However, the concrete experiences highlight the difficulty in offering possibilities for rational communication, development of communicative knowledge, and even less communicative power. The new metropolitan policy has posed a new formulation of threat and promise. The dichotomy of segregation versus integration has developed into one of exclusion versus participation. The ideal has changed from formal to subjective integration, which includes civil participation in state business. The neighbourhood has served as one arena to start inclusive processes. The practice, on the contrary, is still dominated by measures aimed at making society work more efficiently through state intrusion into private matters i.e. governmentalization.
69.
Waara, Peter, 1963-
(author)
Ungdom i gränsland
1996
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)
70.
Wahlgren, Paula, 1976-
(author)
De laglydiga : Om skolans brottsförebyggande fostran
2014
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Politicians and scholars often frame schooling as one of society’s most important crime preventive measures. The object of the study is to examine and problematize the hopes and ambitions that have evolved around what the study conceptualizes as the crime preventive educational task of public schooling and its historical trajectory as articulated in government publications. Drawing on governmentality theory, the study focuses on the liberal conception of the autonomous and self-regulating subject, and how the liberal mode of government works through the governing of freedom. The study identifies three discourses on crime preventive education: The emancipatory (1970s onwards), the deterrence (late 1980s onwards) and the safety/security discourse (21st century). The discursive shifts identified are further analysed in respect to how i) the explanation of crime, and the relationship between the deviant and the law-abiding subject, ii) control and iii) freedom and responsibility, are conceptualized over time. The conceptualization of criminal behaviour goes from being caused by social deprivation, becoming instead a calculated rational act. Subsequently, the deviant is altered from a person in need of reintegration to a deterrent example and a risk. The problematization of control has a trajectory from being a matter of social control and integration, ending instead as a matter of risk control and prudentialism. The conceptualization of the kind of freedom and responsibility the crime preventive education should foster is also reframed, from a strategy to counter a lack of democracy and influence, to a way of making prudent citizens. In this, the notion of a collective responsibility has been superseded by a belief in individual responsibility. The key problematization vindicating the process has gone from how to integrate youths into a society in constant flux, to how to restore control if lost and how to protect a pre-given social order.
