| 1. |
- Andersson, Jenny, 1974-
(författare)
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Mellan tillväxt och trygghet : Idéer om produktiv socialpolitik i socialdemokratisk socialpolitisk ideologi under efterkrigstiden
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For Swedish social democracy, social policy has historically been not only a means for individual security, but also a means for economic efficiency and growth in close relationship to economic policy. This doctoral dissertation shows that an important aspect of the ideological change of contemporary Swedish social democracy is the erosion of its growth oriented social policy ideology in the post-war period. Whereas a key element in the post-war ideology and the so-called “Strong society” was the conceptualisation of social policy as a productive investment, the ideology of the “Third way” is construed around ideas of social policy as a cost.The thesis discusses this ideological change as a dynamic relationship between growth and security as key concepts in the social policy ideology of Swedish social democracy. It argues that while growth and security where perceived as harmonious goals in the post-war period, the period from the late 1960’s can be seen as a development where growth and security became antagonistic goals, and the relationship between social policy and growth became increasingly problematic. The thesis focuses on two periods of antagonism (struggle over knowledge): the late 1960’s as a critique of growth and its social effects, conceptualised as social costs, and the early 1980’s as a critique of security and the economic cost of social policy. It is argued that both these periods can be seen as processes of crisis for social democracy, leading to new articulations and ideological change.
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| 2. |
- Carlsson, Magnus
(författare)
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Det regionala särintresset och staten : En studie av beslutsprocesserna kring Mälarbanan och Svealandsbanan 1983-1992
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation discusses the relations between regional interest groups and the State as well as their different roles within political decision-making processes. It is argued that it is necessary to include State agencies when analysing the function of interest groups and different outcomes of various State policies. This is illustrated by two case studies of modern railway construction in Mälardalen, Sweden. The results of this study show that in the two railway projects it all came down to the rather blunt expression of 'being in the right place at the right time'. The collaboration between the regional and State representatives during the important phase of preparing the ground for later decisions, as e.g. the undertaking of a preliminary study, was vital in this respect. Apart from that, several other national factors could be pointed to as advantages for the two projects during this time. According to the State representatives one of these, the national employment policy, would gain from a more flexible labour market within the densely populated region. The two projects in Mälardalen also had more specific advantages in comparison to other railway projects during this period. The two railways would not have been realised without the work of the interest groups, but one must also acknowledge the fact that it was up to the State to use their results in national politics. The final result of these decision-making processes concerning the railway in Mälardalen clearly shows the importance of economic and political conditions on a national level. Conclusive was however also the local and regional political entrepreneurs' skills in taking advantage of the situation, and in presenting their arguments as a matter of public interest.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson-Trenter, Anna, 1972-
(författare)
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Anspråk och argumentation : En studie av användning och uttolkning av lag vid naturresurskonflikter i nordvästra Hälsingland, ca 1830-1870
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is concerned with the use, interpretation and practice of law in a local community during a period of institutional, demographic and market change, c.1830-c.1870. The area studied is one of the forest regions of northern Sweden which experienced great changes during the 19th century. Besides the pressure of population growth and expanded demand for forest products such as timber, the state’s increased interest to control the natural resources in the northern provinces implied new challenges for the local peasantry. In order to study how state officials, peasants, colonisers and other actors claimed and protected their rights to resources, two case studies were carried out. The first concerns negotiations between the peasantry and the state during the so-called yngre avvittringar or late enclosures. The other deals with cases concerning natural resources that where resolved in the local court. The study implies that the claimants used the institutional framework, i.e. laws, norms and customs, creatively in order to legitimise their claims. Furthermore, the findings of this study stand in contrast to the common view of the avvittringar which sees the reform as part of a process of modernisation of property rights regarding forests.
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| 4. |
- González Arriagada, Alejandro
(författare)
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Surviving in the city : The urban poor of Santiago de Chile 1930-1970
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with the survival patterns of the urban poor in Santiago de Chile during a period of profound structural changes (1930-1970). Using a qualitative approach and a dynamic analysis, the life histories of 54 interviewees are studied in the framework of the historical, economic, social and cultural conditions of the period. The resulting picture is multifaceted, tending to vary according to factors such as the course of time, gender, age, geographical considerations, individual characteristics, ideological aspects and unexpected events. The urban poor live in a very precarious economic situation that barely covers their basic needs. Unforeseen events easily can develop into a catastrophe. Any eventual crisis hits the directly affected most severely, but also affects their relatives and acquaintances because poverty is both individually and collectively lived. The urban poor conscientiously try to obtain social esteem from their surroundings and the weight of non-economic factors is fundamental to their survival patterns. The lack of economic resources is, to some extent, compensated by plentiful social resources. The immediate environment of the urban poor, and as a consequence many of their survival activities, changes very quickly. The urban poor normally react to situations that are beyond their control. The most successful among them have developed a great capability to quickly react in response to unexpected changes, thus obtaining advantages or reducing possible negative effects.
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| 5. |
- Hedberg, Peter, 1967-
(författare)
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Handeln och betalningarna mellan Sverige och Tyskland 1934-1945 : Den svensk-tyska clearingepoken ur ett kontraktsekonomiskt perspektiv
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis has been to analyse the managing of risks, insecurities and transactions costs that deterred economic exchange during the 1930’s and the 1940’s, within the Swedish-German bilateral clearing system, from a Swedish contractual theoretical perspective. In this thesis it has been shown that the clearing agreement was put in practice in 1934, on initiative of Sweden. In the agreement financial issues associated with risks and insecurities were to be reduced by formalising rules for the economic exchange. The basic principle was that Germany regularly had a trade surplus in relation to Sweden. The surplus was used for re-building the Reichsbank’s monetary reserves, as well as payments on financial claims. The agreement was designed in an incomplete way, to be adjusted ad hoc in a trial and error process. As both parties had different interests, they had to make concessions in order to sustain the clearing system. This was also reflected in the design of the agreement, which evolved from an incomplete to a specific, detailed agreement, due to the increasing risks and insecurities that had to be dealt with. The clearing system was ideal for wartime conditions since it maintained trade flows. It also became a line of defence: specific agreements allowed the dominant Germany less scope to assert preferential rights of interpretation of the rules and regulations. When the war intensified it was difficult for Germany to carry out its commitments to Sweden, and the Swedish party found reasons to distrust the German economy, which was entering a recession. At the same time Allied forces strengthened their political influence, and the victors would become the leaders of the future international economy. Sweden made a gradual exit from the clearing system, delivering the agreed upon exports to Germany, while keeping the Allied negotiators informed of the process. The Swedish-German clearing system collapsed in spring 1945.
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| 6. |
- Hellgren, Hilda, 1972-
(författare)
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Fasta förbindelser : En studie av låntagare hos sparbanken och informella kreditgivare i Sala 1860-1910
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The major question in this thesis is where private persons borrowed on a local credit market in 1860-1910. This study has focused on informal lenders (in other research often referred to as private bankers), from whom most of private persons borrowed during the 19th century, and the savings bank in Sala. This study has shown that similar groups of individuals borrowed from these two lenders. The informal lenders were often merchants and they were frequently part of larger lending networks. The borrowers were often from the middle and higher social groups and often from the town or closest parishes, which was the case for the borrowers in the savings bank as well. A study of relationships between guarantors and borrowers in the savings bank has been carried out, showing that these individuals were also similar to one another with regard to social group and area of residence. Personal relationships and networks and accordingly trust explain why these relationships and similarities were frequent. Additionally, by using personal relationship this was also a way to handle information asymmetries and lowering transaction costs.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Jeding, Carl
(författare)
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Co-ordination, Co-operation, and Competition. The Creation of Common Institutions for Telecommunications
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The telecommunications sector is an example of an industry that requires extensive co-ordination of e.g. technological, economic, and administrative factors in order to function as a unified system. The different actors in the sector normally have diverging interests concerning the choice of common rules. This has created a demand for institutional and organizational structures that can help the actors reach common solutions. This study shows that co-ordination through an international organization, CCIF, created a stable institutional environment for the participating actors. It also defined which type of behaviour was profitable for states and organizations that wanted to influence the CCIF's decisions. The most central actors of the CCIF were those that participated heavily in the organization's Plenary Assemblies and expert study groups.In this thesis it is shown that co-operation between the Scandinavian countries through informal agreements expanded and intensified both in scale and scope between 1900-1960. The individuals taking part in those agreements showed a very stable pattern over time. This indicates the evolution of a social network between the actors and organizations.On the national level the state had the formal power to impose its will on all the other actors. The liberalisation in the 1990's of the Swedish telecommunications sector led to the creation of a large set of new rules. This study shows that the need for a new regulatory function was coupled to the political objectives for the sector defined by the state.The results show that it is insufficient to regard the co-ordination of telecommunications as purely technical exercises. The strategic interests of actors were often based on other policy objectives than technical considerations.
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| 9. |
- Jonsson, Pernilla
(författare)
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Marknadens väv : Svenska mekaniserade bomullsväverier i distribution och försäljning 1850-75
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The breakthrough for mechanized weaving in Sweden occured during the 1850's. Rapidly increasing quantities of cotton-textiles had to reach customers in a country with a scattered population and substansial social and economic differences between various parts of the country. However, Sweden, even before the construction of the railways, constituted a basis for the formation of a relatively well-integrated market for factory-produced cotton textiles. An increasing demand and institutional changes allowing freer internal trade and implementing tariff protection against imports created the conditions required for the growth of the industry. In the late 1850's the weaving firms were selling on a common geographical market, but a large part of the production was still sold in the production area. The market for factory-produced cotton textile principally consisted of the extreme south, western Sweden, East Central Sweden, the Central Mining District and the Northern Baltic Coast. The cotton-weaving firms either competed on the sub-markets, or else they chose various niche markets. Improved communications re-sulting from the steamboat fleet and an improved postal service permitted close contacts between producers and middlemen throughout the country. An expansion of fixed location retailing and, particularly, of specialized wholesale trade played a central role on the market. Still, the oldest weaving firm, located in the classical peddling region and without access to water transports, to a large extent relied on peddlers. The producers did not just passively rely on merchants to handle the dis-tribution of their products. They themselves sought out suitable merchants, pro-duced catalogues and generally marketed themselves.
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| 10. |
- Junestav, Malin, 1971-
(författare)
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Arbetslinjer i svensk socialpolitisk debatt och lagstiftning 1930-2001
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis has been to analyse the conception of the Swedish “work strategy” (arbetslinjen). This principle, or political idea, has been central in Sweden’s economic, employment as well as social policy since (at least) the inter war era. The purpose has been to detangle and dissect the ideas behind an almost sacred political principle, hardly ever questioned or challenged by political actors or scholars. Through studies of political debates and decision- and policy-making, the issue has been to reach an insight into how this particular set of ideas, gathered together in the conception of “the work strategy”, has been understood and how this influenced policy-making. In this thesis it has been shown the conception of “the work strategy” and its realisation is linked to Social Democratic economic policy since the 1930s and the full employment programs designed in the 1950s. The political ideas included in this principle, though, have deeper roots in the history of social and poor relief policy institutions. The theoretical assumption is that certain political ideas have such a strong position among politicians, no matter what their ideological residence, that it is broadly speaking impossible to implement political proposals that challenge these ideas.
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