| 1. |
- Henriksson, Malin, 1971-
(författare)
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Att bygga ett samhälle : Tid, rum och politiska visioner i bostadspolitiken 1901–1947
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a study of political modernization in Sweden, focusing on the formation of modern housing policy. The analysis reveals how changing concepts relating to time and space redefine a political and social order, thereby laying the foundation for the welfare state. In the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century Sweden saw rapid industrialization, urbanization and extensive migration in and out of the country, but also problems such as poverty, poor working conditions, overcrowded housing and epidemics. Housing policy did not only express ideas and strategies for how people should live in the modern industrialized world; it was also introduced as a political instrument to create a modern society and a modern population. In the first decades of the twentieth century, government reports and bills on housing presented new ways of constructing political subjects and political community, along with an emerging conviction that political reforms were necessary to create a modern society.The investigation emphasizes the importance of adopting a longer time frame when analyzing political change. It combines Reinhart Koselleck’s research program and method for the study of diachronic conceptual change with Quentin Skinner’s speech-act theory and tools for the synchronic study of political rhetoric. The aim of the dissertation is to analyze conceptual change in Swedish public policy about housing in the period 1901–1947. The aim is specified by the following research questions: How does the construction of political subjects and political community change during this period? How does meaning-making concerning time and space change, and how does such change relate to new ways of conceptualizing political subjects and political community? How do these conceptual shifts contribute to shape the conditions for the welfare state?The dissertation contributes to the scholarly understanding of welfare state formation by demonstrating how temporality and spatiality in conceptual formations contributed to the making of the Swedish welfare state. It demonstrates in empirical detail how time and space were used in the shift from an organically interpreted nation to a modern society, and in the emphasizing and evaluation of political subjects such as the earth-bound and loyal peasant, the transcendent modern worker, the flexible yet stable nuclear family, and the sociable democratic human being.
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| 2. |
- Arvidsson, Viktor, 1984-
(författare)
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Digital transformation : the material roles of IT resources and their political uses
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As IT became ubiquitous, we recognized that IT was everywhere but in our theories. Despite significant efforts, Information System (IS) research is still in desperate search for the IT artifact. Recent reviews show that IS research first and foremost considers IT resources as a socio-technical and managerial concern. Analyses of inertia are restricted to cognitive limitations or technical challenges of IT development and use as separate activities. Hence, IS research assumes that more development resources, extended training, and better management could turn most failures into success. In this thesis, I posit that IS strategy research often treats normal failure as unexpected to maintain the rational idea that managers are in control and that IT does not matter in and of itself. I argue that planned and convergent views of change work well under stable and unitary conditions but in this way fail to account for the complexity of current IS strategy practice. To substantiate this claim, I demonstrate how IS research routinely neglects the material IT use story in the context of digital transformation (DT) studies and social informatics. Political conflict is a constant theme in IS strategy implementation research, yet few studies provided explanation for the apprehension that managers and workers display during the introduction of new IT resources; even as most managers remain men I found also no study that theorized gender politics as related to IS strategy outcomes. I argue in particular that the IS fields routine adherence to borrowed assumptions about the pace, linearity, and sequence of radical change have limited IS scholars to marginally improve on received DT narratives in which IT plays little or no part as IT appears as an agent mostly before and after DT. Though much is said about how IT triggers and enables organizational change, the actual processes and mechanisms that underlies IS strategy change enactments are thus poorly understood. To examine how the material roles of IT resources and their political use can be captured and explained, I summarize and synthesize insights grounded in empirics from four appended research papers. In this way, I chart avenues for material theorizing of micro-affordances and institutions, and develop an IS strategy-as-practice lens that attends IT use as a material practice. After developing this lens, I discuss how material practice perspectives afford deep understanding of the materialities through which actors create, sustain, and transform organizational practice with digital material, and highlight some opportunities to observe the social consequences of IT use in the context of critical studies on men and masculinities and digital gender.
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| 3. |
- Brandén, Jennie, 1984-
(författare)
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In the name of safety : power, politics and the constitutive effects of local governing practices in Sweden
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In a time of uncertainty and risk, safety has become an increasingly significant concern. In Sweden, a powerful discourse around public safety has developed in recent years, moving it to the top of the political agenda. While safety is often regarded as a prerequisite for a democratic and gender-equal society in Sweden, previous research demonstrates that safety is increasingly linked in public politics to matters of national and individual security, crime, and immigration. Considering this discursive change in relation to the neoliberal transformation of the Swedish welfare state, the centrality of public safety as a political ideal in Sweden raises questions. Why is safety increasingly seen as a self-evident answer to a range of societal issues in Sweden? Why safety, rather than equality, democracy, or justice?Drawing upon a governmentality framework, this thesis examines how, and with what effects, safety is being discursively produced as a political problem in Sweden and how it operates as a practice of governmentality. Three widespread practices of governing safety in Swedish municipalities are examined: community-based safety walks; the safety certification of city centers; and the contracting of private guards to patrol public spaces. The study applies a political ethnography approach and is based on policy materials, observations, and interviews. The overall analysis of these case studies combines to demonstrate that a technical, calculable, and depoliticized representation of safety is produced. Thus, safety is largely reduced to a set of technical details to be measured, fitted into a protocol, ticked off a checklist, or fixed by making changes to the physical environment. This enables the commodification of safety, manifested in the branding of cities as safe and the outsourcing of responsibility for safety to the private security industry. In this context, safety largely becomes a matter of order and uniformity in public space, while those deviating from these normative ideals are marked as unsafety problems. The various societal issues being addressed as “unsafety problems” are in turn marked as individual or community failures. In effect, these issues are detached from their social and political circumstances and understood as problematic primarily due to causing unsafety to others. The analysis shows how the governing of safety in this manner produces a boundary between the familiar, “Swedish”, “us”—to be made safe in public space—and the estranged, “non-Swedish”, “others,” who are marked as problematic and out of place. However, these exclusions are concealed by the depoliticized representation of safety as a technical matter as well as a virtue.The thesis shows how these deeply political acts of deciding who is legitimate or illegitimate in our public spaces, and how altering dimensions of democratic accountability and the monopoly on using force, are enacted through the government of safety as a set of technicalities, largely without political contestation. While safety is often put forward as a democratic tool of inclusion and access to public space, the thesis claims that the government of safety operates through a de-democratizing dynamic of governmental precarization. This means that, despite the centrality of safety as a political ideal, the politics of safety neither challenges nor changes, but rather reproduces and reinforces, prevailing relations of power and the current political order of things. Shadowed by our own demands for safety, we fail to recognize that this order both (re)produces and relies upon a state of unsafety.
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| 4. |
- Lauri, Johanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Feministiska fantasier : mellan marknad och feminism
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Feminism is highly visible in contemporary Sweden. The government labels itself feminist, artists and influencers take a stand for feminism, businesses are branded with feminist advertising and feminist tropes and symbols are visible on clothes, art and jewellery. What this kind of feminism means is not always easy to discern. However, what is evident is that this visible and popular kind of feminism is highly compatible with business and market values. From this starting point, the aim of this dissertation is to explore the different meanings of feminism in four different but concurrent arenas. By using psychoanalytical discourse theory, I analyse: (i) a particular governmental arena through a policy analysis of the governmental articulation of social innovation, (ii) a commercial arena through a study of an advertising campaign, (iii) a business arena through interviews with feminist business owners and (iv) an activist arena through interviews with house-squatters. I use these analyses to explore how feminism is used, articulated and understood at the nexus of the market and feminism. What feminist discourses are articulated in the studied arenas? How are feminist values utilised? What expressions of social change are made intelligible and desirable? How are feminist subjects and the preconditions for feminist mobilisation shaped?Analysing the results of the four studies together shows that a fantasy of the benevolent business is created and sustained. Such a fantasy enhances a logic of good-hearted and ethical capitalism within which business and entrepreneurship become understood as activism, articulated as the ultimate solution to social problems. Such a logic inevitably shapes the preconditions for feminist organisation and activism, and encourages individual solutions at the expense of collective efforts. The fantasy of the benevolent business is immersed in and reinforced by fantasy echoes of feminist and social democratic history. These fantasy echoes both conceal inherent conflicts and intensify the force of the fantasy. In order to sustain this fantasy, the desire to make a difference is directed towards ethical practices. These are articulated as individual practices, thus saturating feminism and social change with individualism. Hence, feminist subjects are shaped into individual and entrepreneurial subjects who desire ethical choices. Furthermore, the thesis shows how “the public” is structured as the guarantor of the fantasy of the good business, which entails that certain expectations are attached to the idea of the public. Such expectations shape how feminism and the work towards social change are organised and practised.
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| 5. |
- Mc Glinn, Malin
(författare)
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Translating Neoliberalism : The European Social Fund and the Governing of Unemployment and Social Exclusion in Malmö, Sweden
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is concerned with how the governing of unemployment and social exclusion is accomplished through labor market projects that are initiated, tailored, and co- financed by the European Social Fund. The aim is to map and problematize how such projects, as examples of neoliberal programs of government that promote social cohesion and combat unemployment amongst identified “ethnic others,” become operational and legitimized in the Swedish context through multiple acts of translation. By scrutinizing the discursive, calculative, and visual practices that constitute them, the thesis also considers some of the consequences of this way of governing as well as the larger political landscapes in which they function. Ultimately, the political problem that is addressed concerns how certain “truths” about unemployed “ethnic others” in Sweden are facilitated within and co- produced by the European Social Fund and the projects it sets in motion. It thereby calls into question practices that are legitimized in the name of diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. The analysis includes discussions about the multivalent relationship between colonial and neoliberal rationalities of government, as well as how compassion and pity function to legitimize certain practices of inclusion.
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| 6. |
- Rönnblom, Malin, 1967-
(författare)
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Ett eget rum? : Kvinnors organisering möter etablerad politik
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the relationship between women’s organising and established politics in three Swedish municipalities, and by way of this analysis study the construction of gender power orders. In the analysis, special emphasis is put on women’s agency. By posing questions to activists and local politicians concerning their opinions about women’s organising, the positions of women in established politics, and the concept of gender-equality, the ambition is to illuminate constructions of local gender power orders. The analysis is mainly based on interviews with activists, local politicians, and local administrators in the municipalities of Berg, Kiruna, and Robertsfors. Theoretically, the dissertation is influenced mainly by feminist theory of gender power relations and women’s agency, for example the work of Maud Eduards, and the theories about power and resistance developed by Michel Foucault. Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the problem?” approach is used when analysing the opinions of activists and politicians regarding the issue of gender-equality. In this approach, the way of constructing problems is the key, not “the problem” as such. The point is to constantly question phenomena that are defined as natural or self-evident, or, in other words, to deconstruct dominating discourses. When the interviews with the politicians were analysed with the ambition of discerning a dominant discourse of gender power, five limiting principles became visible; essential (in biological terms) differences between women and men, figures and complementarity, reduction, voluntariness, and co-operation. The principle of differences appears to be central, and all the principles place questions of gender-equality on the labour market. The “gap” between activists and politicians regarding the way in which gender is constructed is put forward as the main reason why women’s organising meets resistance from the sphere of local, established politics. This gap is also the central ingredient in the construction of the three local gender power orders, even if there are also other differences between the three. Key words: Women’s organising, women’s movement, gender-equality, rural areas, local politics, gender and politics, feminist theory
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| 7. |
- Säll, Line, 1983-
(författare)
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Kluster som teori och politik : Om den regionala tillväxtpolitikens diskursiva praktiker
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The starting point for this study is the successive changes in regional policy that has taken place in Sweden. These changes can be understood within the context of a new regional discourse emphasising the role of ‘strong regions’. Regional actors are expected to ‘pull together’, mobilising regional resources in a more globalised world. The introduction of the cluster concept in the politics for regional growth in Sweden can be seen in the light of this new discourse. Inspired by the works of Michael Porter, and clusters such as Silicon Valley, public actors from all over the world have adopted what could loosely be identified as an approach encouraging cluster development. The regionalisation of decision-making power has also been motivated by increased democratisation of the politics for regional growth. At the same time, it has been argued that regional policy is strongly marked by consensus and that politics and ideology have been left aside in these processes. This thesis analyses the conditions for the political in this new regional discourse. Building on qualitative data and with regional cluster policy as an empirical case, this is done through analysing clusters as politics. From the ontological assumption that the way politics is talked about shapes how politics is done, the research question that underlies the study is: how is the regional politics for cluster development articulated and shaped? Two of the main conclusions are that the cluster discourse has changed over time and that regional politics for cluster development can be seen as de-politicized. ‘Clusters’ are introduced in Swedish national policy as an ‘interesting theory’ about how firms create and sustain competitiveness. Today, cluster development is understood as organised cooperation between ‘clusters of firms’, universities and public actors. A new form of political organisation is taking place at the regional level. At the same time, the regional politics for cluster development can be described as de-politicized. It is strongly marked by consensus and there is a lack of public discussion concerning who gains and who loose in this form of organisation. The findings suggest that this de-politicization can be understood in the light of the theoretical articulation of cluster policy, in the light of the relation between theory and politics, knowledge and power.
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| 8. |
- Tangnäs, Johanna
(författare)
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Utveckling, konkurrens och möjliga framtider : En studie om görandet av hållbarhet i regional utvecklingspolitik
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Regional development policy has been devoted to tackling global competition for decades. This governmental rationality puts growth objectives at the heart of development and Swedish regions have channelled their efforts into building attractiveness and supporting market differentiation. This competitive orientation has been accompanied by a collaborative approach, rather than by political debate over competing ideological positions. Since the early 2020s, a new direction for regional development has begun to evolve as the Swedish government is changing its regional policy from regional growth to sustainable regional development. By using Carol Bacchi’s critical policy approach (WPR), this thesis explores how sustainability is represented in recent regional development policy and whether these problem representations create room for other conceptualisations of development or open up space for what Chantal Mouffe describes as the political to re-enter the policy field. The study draws on fieldwork comprising interviews, policy documents and observations. The thesis shows that regional development is changing into a broader and more societal-oriented field as a result of the sustainability efforts, but the major problem representations identified in the policy proposals produce sustainability as a problem of outdated methods, silo-based organisation and a lack of innovative tools. Aspects such as climate change, inequality or loss of biodiversity are seldom addressed in the proposals. Together, this constitutes sustainability in regional development as a matter of form, rather than content. As a consequence of the effects of how sustainability is currently represented, the thesis concludes that there are openings for re-vitalisation due to colliding aims and approaches, but the challenge they pose to the established rationality has not yet induced a (re)politicisation of development in regional policy.
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| 9. |
- Ekström, Linda, 1978-
(författare)
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Jämställdhet – för männens, arbetarklassens och effektivitetens skull? : En diskursiv policystudie av jämställdhetsarbete i maskulina miljöer
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Issues concerning gender equality are today an integral part of Swedish society. Because of this, even traditionally male-dominated actors are forced to incorporate a focus on gender equality. What kind of tensions may this provoke, and how are these tensions visible in the gender equality policy making of traditionally male-dominated organizations? Against this background, the aim of this dissertation is to analyse how issues of gender equality are “problematized” by three organizations that originate from masculine environments; Män för jämställdhet, IF Metall and Rikpolisstyrelsen. I wish to analyse the meaning that these actors incorporate into the issue of gender equality and from which discourses these meanings are derived. This focus entails a specific theoretical standpoint. Thus, another aim of the study is to discuss the advantages of a post-structuralist approach to the study of public policy. More specifically, I want to develop the use of a range of discourse analytical modes of analysis and to evaluate their utility in capturing the dynamic of problematization processes.The empirical focus of the dissertation is on the years between 2000 and 2008. The research material consists of both formal and informal documents.The analysis shows that questions of gender equality can be problematized in a number of ways. Issues concerning gender equality can be tied to issues of men’s hegemony, men’s gender-specific problems, class-based problems and organizational problems. This wide array of problematizations also illustrates ways in which there still seems to be an underlying conflict over the meanings tied to the concept, even though nobody openly challenges the importance of gender equality reform efforts. I call this situation a “conflictual consensus” and point to the importance of deconstructing this supposed unity and illuminating the kind of power relations that lay hidden beneath it.
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| 10. |
- Sandberg, Linda, 1978-
(författare)
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Fear of violence and gendered power relations : Responses to threat in public space in Sweden
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several cases of single repeat offenders in urban space have raised public concern in Sweden during recent decades. Few studies have been conducted on consequences of the kind of ‘hostage situations’ that emerge when one individual offender causes fear and affects a larger group of people in a specific place. The concern of this thesis is to examine consequences of the Haga Man phenomenon: the case of a serial rapist operating between 1998 and 2006 in Umeå, a medium-sized Swedish city. This thesis explores some of the ways not only women but also men in Umeå responded to this specific situation, the threat from a single repeat offender, and how fear of crime and changing public crime discourses influenced gendered power relations. The thesis examines different aspects of fear and safety in public space, such as the views of those who are fearful; of those who are feared; perceptions of both women’s and men’s bodies; their emotions and experiences in relation to fear of violence in public spaces; and the significance of space and place for our understanding of fear. The empirical data of this thesis consist of in-depth interviews with a total of 47 women and men in Umeå.The thesis is based on four empirical studies. The first (Paper I) sought to identify similarities and differences across narratives in terms of the major components of young people’s talk about fear. In their stories women positioned themselves as fearful and in need of protection, while men in their stories positioned themselves as fearless protectors. Men and women reproduced ways of speaking considered appropriate to their gender, thus performing masculinity and femininity through their talk. Paper II, examines consequences of the Haga Man phenomenon on constructions of white masculinities. Three masculine positions; the dangerous stranger, the suspect and the protector were identified. These three constructions of masculinity were not clear-cut or ‘belonging’ to specific men – several of the interviewees articulated various forms of masculinities but stressed them in different ways depending on, for instance, age and/or ethnicity/race. Paper III, focuses on changing perceptions and representations of female and male bodies, and illustrates how a change took place; from a focus on how women should conduct themselves to be safe, towards men’s bodily behaviour in order to present themselves in non-threatening ways. In Paper IV, women’s fear of violence is discussed in relation to Swedish gender equality discourses and contextual constructions of femininity. The results show the difficulties of claiming the official position of a gender-equal femininity. Several female respondents expressed an ambivalent attitude about their own fear; they felt afraid, but also felt that as (equal) women they should be able to do what they wanted, whenever they wanted. Result from this thesis shows that this situation produced a shared approach to fear for women of different ages, classes and ethnicities in Umeå. The similarity in the women’s responses to the threat from the Haga Man is as an expression of a normative femininity. The male respondents did on the other hand express complex emotional positions as they talked about their own fears, women’s fear of unknown men and how they felt they were under suspicion and compared to the perpetrator. As this thesis provides an understanding of how men and women responded and reacted to the threat from the Haga man, it contributes to a better understanding of how fear of violence affects people in their everyday lives.
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