1.
Bask, Miia, 1977-
(författare)
A longitudinal approach to social exclusion in Sweden
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis consists of four papers, and has as its central theme the accumulation of welfare problems and social exclusion. We use Swedish data and all analyses are based on individuals of working age. We perform longitudinal analyses to scrutinize the accumulation of disadvantages over the individual life courses as well as to detect the general trends in social exclusion occurrence in Swedish society during the past two decades. In Paper I, in an analysis of social exclusion among immigrants in Sweden, we find that immigrants suffer more often from social exclusion than native Swedes do. We also find that even if the accumulation of welfare problems is more common among immigrants than native Swedes, the connections between welfare disadvantages are stronger among Swedes. Furthermore, a logistic regression analysis revealed that time spent in Sweden decreases the risk of social exclusion among immigrants. However, even though we control for several demographic variables, human capital indicators and socio-economic class, the odds for social exclusion are still greater for immigrants than for native Swedes. Some form of discrimination can therefore not be excluded. Paper II is co-written with Björn Halleröd. This paper involves a longitudinal analysis of the accumulation of closely related welfare disadvantages, showing that the initial deprivation increases over time. Latent growth curve models reveal that a high initial deprivation is related to low socio-economic class and being single. It is also shown that a high initial deprivation decreases the probability of upward class-mobility as well as the probability of deprived singles becoming cohabiting. Moreover, a high initial deprivation increases the risk that couples will experience a household break-up. In Paper III, we perform a longitudinal analysis of social exclusion in Sweden during the period 1979-2003, in which several logistic regression models for panel data are fitted to our data. We find no support that immigrants have been better integrated into Swedish society over time from the perspective of social exclusion risk. Instead, there are weak signs that integration has become worse. We also find weak signs that the higher social exclusion risk that men have relative to women has decreased during the past two decades. Furthermore, comparing with couples without children, the odds for social exclusion among singles with children have increased and the odds for couples with children have decreased during the period 1979-2003. Paper IV utilizes latent class factor models to scrutinize the connections between welfare problems and a set of demographic variables, human capital indicators and socio-economic class. We find that welfare problems do cluster. Our results also support several of the findings in the previous paper. Family type, especially being single or living in a relationship, makes a clear difference in the propensity to accumulate welfare problems. Furthermore, immigrants characterize the factors with a high problem accumulation. Additionally, there is no general difference between the sexes in the problem accumulation itself, but experiences of threat or violence and having sleeping problems seem to be more often related to being a woman, whereas the lack of a close friend is most often related to being a man. To conclude, this thesis reveals several interesting facts concerning the accumulation of welfare problems and social exclusion in Sweden. Considering the implications for policy, the situations of immigrants and single parents need to be underlined. That is, the integration of immigrants should be given more emphasis and measures should be taken to support single parents as well as to promote a discussion on how to make relationships last.
2.
Boye, Katarina, 1975-
(författare)
Happy hour? Studies on well-being and time spent on paid and unpaid work
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The present thesis focuses on causes and consequences of paid working hours and housework hours among women and men in Sweden and Europe. It consists of four studies. Study I investigates changes in the division of housework in Swedish couples when they become parents. The study shows that women adjust their housework hours to the number and age of children in the household, whereas men do not. Longer parental leave periods among fathers have the potential to counteract this change towards a more traditional division of housework. Study II explores the associations between psychological distress and paid working hours, housework hours and total role time in Sweden. The results suggest that women’s psychological distress decreases with increasing paid working hours and housework hours, but that a long total role time is associated with high levels of distress. The gender difference in time spent on housework accounts for 40 per cent of the gender difference in psychological distress. Study III asks whether hours spent on paid work and housework account for the European gender difference in well-being, and whether the associations between well-being and hours of paid work and housework is influenced by gender attitudes and social comparison. The results indicate that gender differences in time spent on paid work and housework account for a third of the gender difference in well-being. Gender attitudes and social comparison do not to any great extent influence the associations between well-being and paid work and housework, respectively. Study IV examines possible differences between European family policy models in the associations between well-being and hours of paid work and housework. Some model differences are found, and they are accounted for by experiences of work-family conflict among men, but not among women. For both women and men, work-family conflict appears to suppress positive aspects of paid working hours.
3.
Heikkinen, Satu, 1969-
(författare)
Att köra eller inte köra : Hur de äldre, åldrande och bilkörning har diskuterats i svensk transportpolitik
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The objective of this study is to analyse the formation of older and ageing drivers in Swedish transportation policy. Documents from the Swedish Government, the Riksdag and, in a few cases, public authorities and newspapers are analysed. The discourse-analytical framework is inspired by Foucault’s archaeology, which is used as a tool box. The study identifies/constructs three periods in the formation of older and ageing drivers. In the first period (1934–1967) there is a discursive gap between statements about driver selection and traffic safety. Driving in ‘old age’ is a problem for medical expertise and mandatory tests are proposed. The proposals are rejected, as older people’s driving is not a problem in the discourse of traffic safety. In the second period (1967–1991) ‘older drivers’ is made up as a category of interest. ‘Older drivers’ become an accident population in the discourse of traffic safety due to changes in statistical practices. In the third period (1991–2006) a discourse of older peo-ple’s mobility is appearing alongside the discourses of traffic safety and driver selection. Moreover, the study traces how the statements of older and ageing drivers are ordered by more general ideas of the aged and ageing. Double discourses of ageing are followed by a dichotomisation in ‘healthy’ and ‘sick older drivers’ in the 1990s. The idea of an abrupt exit in old age alters to a more gradual exit, in its turn followed by challenging the very idea of exit.
4.
Kravchenko, Zhanna, 1978-
(författare)
Family (versus) Policy : Combining Work and Care in Russia and Sweden
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The twentieth century has witnessed a revolution in the ways in which the social division of labour is organised, and in terms of how waged work and caring for children are reconciled. This study explores family policy from the perspective of its capacity to manage the socio-economic risks emanating from combining the roles of breadwinner and caregiver which many parents are beginning to do in contemporary society. This study is focused on Russia and Sweden, countries which have a large share of their female population in the labour force and an institutionalised public policy directed towards meeting the challenges of childrearing in dual-earner families.In the first empirical stage of the study, I examine the establishment and development of family policies in these countries, and analyse their effects in terms of how they have attempted to reconcile the competing demands of work and family life in recent years, specifically, by focusing on three main components: parental leave regulations, the organisation of early childcare and education, and schemes of financial assistance and support for families with children (including their impact on poverty reduction, with the use of Luxemburg Income Survey data). The next stage, involved the exploration of the normative setting in which employment and parenting are realised. To do this I used survey data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), and its modules on Family and Gender Roles. In the final stage, by conducting in-depth interviews with families in Stockholm and St. Petersburg I was able to examine how decisions about using the available public means of assistance and support are negotiated within households, and which factors, other than public policy, influence such decisions. The results of these three empirical parts are juxtaposed in order to establish the relation between official inputs into family policy and the complex picture of its outcome in the two countries.
5.
Sjöstrand, Glenn, 1966-
(författare)
Gåvan i Gnosjö – Företagares relationer i ett industriellt distrikt
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) 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.
6.
7.
Tham, Pia, 1960-
(författare)
Arbetsvillkor i den sociala barnavården : förutsättningar för ett kvalificerat arbete
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis describes and analyzes the working conditions of child welfare social workers who responded to a comprehensive questionnaire (n=309, dropout rate 3 per cent).In Study 1, the working conditions of social workers new to the profession (0-2 years) were compared with those of social workers with longer experience. The study shows that less experienced workers were more often found working in areas characterized by worse socioeconomic conditions and in workgroups where many others were also new and inexperienced. Although they described some aspects of their working conditions more positively they tended to report more health problems.In Study 2, working conditions of the child welfare social workers were compared with those of other professional human service workers. The study shows that although social workers in general and child welfare social workers in particular made positive assessments of their working lives, social work was unusually demanding among human service professions on several measures of workload, complexity of tasks and quality of management.In Study 3, the associations between the child welfare social workers’ working conditions and their health and well-being were investigated, controlling for background variables. The negative consequences of high job demands, especially for psychological health and well being emerge.In Study 4, factors associated with the social workers’ intention to leave the job were investigated. The study showed that lack of human resource orientation within the organization was of greatest importance. The results are analyzed from two different perspectives; the effort/reward model and new institutional theory. The main conclusions are that improvement is needed of the introduction to the profession at the workplace, that the status of child protective work needs to be raised and that social workers need help to limit their responsibility load, more time and space for reflection, and greater valuation of their work.
8.
Berg, Martin, 1977-
(författare)
Självets garderobiär : självreflexiva genuslekar och queer socialpsykologi
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Det övergripande syftet med föreliggande studie är tudelat. För det första syftar den till att på teoretisk väg etablera en dialog mellan queerteoretisk och socialpsykologisk teoribildning om aktörer och aktörsskap med utgångspunkt i en kritisk läsning av Judith Butler och George Herbert Mead. För det andra syftar den till att på empirisk väg utveckla och fördjupa denna dialog i syfte att demonstrera och resonera kring de möjligheter som uppstår i spänningen mellan dessa teoretiska perspektiv. På detta sätt är avsikten att föra ett bidrag till såväl den queer- och genusteoretiska debatten som dess socialpsykologiska motsvarighet. Ambitionen är att detta sammantaget kan utgöra ett ramverk i vilket möjligheterna med en queer socialpsykologi skisseras. I jämförelsen mellan dessa teoretiska perspektiv fokuseras på frågan om hur människor antas bli till som aktörer och under vilka villkor och genom vilka processer detta äger rum. I centrum för denna diskussion positioneras relationen mellan deras respektive antagande om struktur och aktör samt hur denna relaterar till och förutsätts vara uppburen genom något slags praktik. För det andra diskuteras individens möjlighet att omförhandla sitt förvärvade aktörsskap och genom vilka processer och praktiker detta eventuellt kan göras möjligt. Avhandlingen är uppdelad i fyra delar. Den inledande delen (del 1: Inledande ord) introducerar studiens övergripande bakgrund, teoretiska position, syfte, material och de metodologiska överväganden som har gjorts under forskningsresans gång. Den andra delen (del 2: Teoretiska interventioner) utvecklar i tre kapitel den diskussion om spänningen mellan queerteori och socialpsykologi som påbörjades i avhandlingens första och inledande kapitel. I ett första kapitel fokuseras på Judith Butler för att ringa in och granska några centrala argument och faktorer i hennes tänkande. I ett andra kapitel diskuteras George Herbert Mead för att, i likhet med föregående kapitel, presentera hans övergripande argument och huvudsakliga tankegångar. Avslutningsvis avrundas avhandlingens andra del med ett kapitel som syftar till att summera och utveckla den spänningsrelation som hittas mellan dessa två teoretiker samtidigt som en diskussion förs om de möjligheter en empirisk utveckling av den teoretiska problematiken skulle kunna bidra med. Den teoretiska spänning som lokaliseras mellan Mead och Butler kretsar i första hand kring deras förståelse av relationen mellan aktör och praktik och med utgångspunkt i denna formuleras arbetsbegreppen transaktör och transpraktik som genomgående används i presentationen av det empiriska materialet. Avhandlingens tredje del (del 3: Empiriska nedslag) är i första hand av empirisk karaktär och är uppdelad i två kapitel. I det första av dessa förs en diskussion om hur de självreflexiva genuslekarna inbegriper formulerandet av ett särskilt transgenus och på vad sätt det är möjligt att förstå iscensättandet av genus som en i första hand självkommunikativ praktik. Gradvis demonstreras hur det går att utläsa en önskan om att iscensätta genus tillsammans med andra människor och därför kretsar det följande kapitlet kring en diskussion om betydelsen av social interaktion för detta iscensättande. Med andra ord går det att utläsa en rörelse från självkommunikation till (önskad) social interaktion och detta är ett tema som tydligt ringar in en stor del av den teoretiska problematik som genomsyrar denna studie. I den fjärde och avslutande delen (del 4: Avslutande reflektioner) knyts i tre kapitel de resonemang som hittills har presenterats och diskuterats ihop. Det inledande kapitlet för en teoretiskt orienterad diskussion om den föregående genomgången av det empiriska materialet. I ett därpå följande kapitel fokuseras på olika aspekter av självreflexiva genuslekar i relation till den klädda kroppen för att visa hur den tidigare presenterade praktik- och aktörsproblematiken är avhängig den klädda kroppens genusprägling. I detta sammanhang visas hur det är möjligt att upprätta en relation mellan självets framväxt, subjektivitet och den klädda kroppen. Avslutningsvis förs ett kortfattat resonemang kring avhandlingens huvudsakliga argumentationslinjer och vilka möjligheter ett tänkande inspirerat av queer socialpsykologi för med sig.
9.
Wennerhag, Magnus
(författare)
Global rörelse : Den globala rättviserörelsen och modernitetens omvandlingar
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
A basic premise of this dissertation is that social movements are political and social actors expressing the centrality of autonomy in modernity. To grasp the nature of the relation between politics and social movements, the latter has to be related to the profound transformation in the forms of politics implied by the breakthrough of modernity, and the subsequent transformations within modernity. Following Peter Wagner’s theory and periodization of modernity, a central premise of this dissertation is that the tension between liberation and order—or between liberty and discipline—is to be conceived of as a foundation for the cultural self-understanding as well as the transformations of modernity. When the premises for this tension is challenged and renegotiated during the crises of modernity, social movements have often played a prominent role, in creating solutions, drafting utopian projects, making social experiments and bringing forward new values and forms of action. The dissertation is divided in two parts. The first is oriented towards social theory and social movement theories, while the second part is more empirically oriented, studying the contemporary global justice movement, the activists of the movement and one of its primary forms of mobilization: the social forum. The empirical data primarily concerns the Swedish part of the movement, using activist interviews and survey data, but similar survey data from other countries is also used in order to make a comparative analysis possible. In the first part of the dissertation I offer a survey of various social movement theories since the conceptualization of the emerging worker’s movement during the mid-19th century, to the theories on new social movements created from the 1960s onwards. In particular, the theories of Lorenz von Stein, Gustave Le Bon and Alain Touraine are focused. From these discussions, I derive three persistent problématiques that I consider to be central in the study of social movements, when it comes to grasping their relation to politics and autonomy, making either mediation, collective action or creativity the explanatory basis for understanding the evolvement and political role of social movements. Using the perspective established in the first part, I focus on the global justice movement in the second part of the dissertation. Here, I show that the global justice movement is characterized by a complex relation to institutionalized politics, by a global perspective on issues about democracy and social justice, by its organizational and political diversity, by its creation of new political spaces (especially the social forums) and its transgression of the national political context. At large, it is claimed that the global justice movement can be said to embrace a “participatory democratic” view of politics, rooted in the institutional transformations created by globalization and the cultural changes connected to the individualization of our time.
10.
Ahlberg [Alsarve], Jenny, 1980-
(författare)
Efter kärnfamiljen : familjepraktiker efter skilsmässa
2008
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This dissertation is about post-divorce families. The central question is how family is constructed after divorce. The aim is to study how family relationships are negotiated, transformed and reproduced after the separation. The research is based on 24 in-depth interviews with twelve young adults, between the ages of 21 and 29, with divorced parents. Their narratives about their families are analysed using a theoretical framework inspired by the individualization theories (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim 2001; Giddens 1997, 1995) and the doing family perspective (Morgan 1996; Silva & Smart 1999a), especially focusing on the concepts of negotiation and family practices. More specific questions raised in the dissertation are how are family boundaries drawn by the young adults? How do the interviewees understand the new organization of their families, which has been renegotiated after the separation? What perception of motherhood and fatherhood can be found in the narratives? And, finally, to what extent are family relationships after divorce negotiated in the way that the individualization theories claim?The results show a quite complex picture of family life after divorce. While both parents are often described as participating parents, the family practices after divorce appear clearly gendered. The mother’s involvement in taking care of the child seems not to be negotiable in the same way as the father’s. Hence, motherhood appears natural and taken for granted to a much greater extent than fatherhood. The negotiations between the parents after divorce can be of both an explicit and implicit character according to the narratives, but yet another kind of negotiation are the indirect negotiations. In these negotiations, the child is used as a go-between or carrier, a position that seems to limit their own possibility to participate in the decision making. Another aspect that seems to diminish children’s participation is the principle of loyalty to both their biological parents. The results also show that the children’s living arrangements after divorce are characterized by changes and renegotiations rather than being permanent. The parents’ new partners are described in different ways in the narratives, however, they are often seen as turning points that have a major influence on the family relationships. The nuclear family as a normative ideal is present in all the interviews but in different ways. While some express an explicit critique of it, others regard it as something that they want for themselves in the future. What constitutes a family according to the narratives? Firstly, blood ties and formal relationships are pointed out. Secondly, the feeling of solidarity and closeness is viewed perhaps as the most evident element of family life. This feeling can be created by open communication as well as by spending time together on a regular basis. Thirdly, growing up together and/or sharing everyday life practices are also considered as vital to develop and maintain close family ties. This means that the family boundaries after divorce are renegotiated over time rather than permanent. These negotiations take place in a certain context, where gender norms, earlier experiences and other social relationships play an important role.
