| 1. |
- Djurfeldt, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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Avoiding the counterfactuals: Research design in assesing the impact of agricultural research
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Two things strike the eye in the literature and debate on the impact of agricultural research. Firstly, it is not unsurprisingly dominated by economists using cost-benefit analysis. Secondly and more surprisingly, much space is devoted to the discussion of counterfactuals, i.e. by an argument of the type: “If this research had not been made, yield development (or whatever indicator) would have been less than it currently is.” Counterfactuals are shunned by historians but crop up in the literature on impact assessment for a simple reason, viz. that assessment is made ex post and without careful benchmarking having been done ex ante. This paper argues that historians are right, that counterfactual arguments in principle are dubious, at least in social impact assessment and that alternative research designs, more useful for causal attribution should be aimed for. In the first section follows a review of previous CGIAR work in impact assessment and a general methodological discussion. This is followed by a review of the methodologies, first for social impact assessment followed by an examination of environmental indicators. In the concluding section we propose a selection of case studies in which it would be possible to apply the methods and indicators suggested.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Fredholm, Axel
(författare)
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Beyond the Catchwords : Adjustment and Community Response to Participatory Development in Post-Suharto Indonesia
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The emphasis on people-centred development is distinctive in today’s development discourse. This is noticeable in catchwords like democratic decentralisation, participation, and empowerment, which are highly esteemed among NGOs, donors, and policymakers in recipient countries. The benefits of participatory approaches are several. When people influence the process of development, policies and projects become more effective since they reflect beneficiary perspectives on local needs and utilisation of resources. In the political field decentralisation is believed to have similar advantages. When power is relocated from central to local level and citizens are allowed to elect local representatives, decentralised decision-making may raise the level of accountability and induce institutional responsiveness to local needs. While this assumes that people are predisposed to reap the benefits of participation and take part in politics and planning without restraint, the capacity and willingness to participate is a debated issue. There is evidence that the utility of participation is difficult to integrate with the conditions at local level and that the behavioural assumptions are unpredictable. The concept is allegedly a utopia that takes for granted that all human beings are inclined to capitalize on participatory programmes and policies. With reference to Indonesia, this study explains what happens when people participate in irrigation management and community-driven development. Based on interviews and field observations in Bantul Regency, Java, it examines the extent to which farmers, water users, and rural dwellers fulfil the behavioural assumptions. It also highlights how participation influences agriculture and rural development in material terms, e.g. how it affects water distribution, cultivation techniques, road constructions etc. The study concludes that the residents in Bantul make the most of the opportunity to participate. As a result, water management, agriculture, and community development work efficiently. The participatory spirit may be explained by the prevalence of reciprocal attitudes towards community development at local level. Further explanations are the ecological foundations of irrigation which create incentives to participate, and the impact of supportive elements in the organisational approach to participation. However, the enthusiasm may also be a consequence of the authoritarian legacy in Indonesian politics. Since participation in community development was compulsory under Suharto, it is difficult to know if people participate to appease the authorities or if they do it on a voluntary basis. Taking this into consideration the outcome is contradictory and may undermine the capacity of autonomous decision-making.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Fredholm, Axel
(författare)
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Reconsidering school politics : Educational controversies in Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: The Curriculum Journal. - : Wiley. - 1469-3704 .- 0958-5176. ; 28:1, s. 5-21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- School politics in Sweden has recently moved in a conservative direction, emphasising the importance of conventional school subjects, stronger teacher authority and more discipline in the classroom. At the same time, consensus on the utility of such measures is lacking in the school debate. The conservative approach is often criticised as misleading and behind the times in relation to contemporary knowledge demands. This article examines and discusses the relevance of this critique. The main argument is that the conservative approach has a better matching with a previous phase in the history of Swedish school politics and that conventional schooling is difficult to combine with two of the major goals of schooling today – the diffusion of democracy and multipurpose skills. From this perspective, the political notion of schooling seems decoupled from the broader domain of public demands on education. To alleviate this problem school politics should draw less on the pedagogical ideas of essentialism and more on the historical legacy of progressivism in the Swedish education system.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Frödin, Olle, et al.
(författare)
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Integration, cultural preservation and transnationalism through state supported immigrant organizations : a study of Sweden’s national ethnic associations
- 2021
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Ingår i: Comparative Migration Studies. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2214-594X. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores the activities of Swedish state supported ethnic associations (most of which are immigrant organizations), thus shedding empirical light on how immigrants organize with the help of state support, both nationally and transnationally, in a welfare state context. The paper is based on a study of annual reports of 52 state supported national associations, representing more than a thousand (1046) local immigrant organizations, as well as 17 interviews with representatives of the said organizations. The findings indicate that the welfare state did not crowd out civil societal integration-promoting initiatives, but the state supported immigrant organizations came to occupy a niche in which they primarily offered complementary services with the aim of helping members to navigate the public welfare system. Neither did state support directly shape the content and direction of the political activities of the said organizations. However, the state support seems to have generated welfare channeling effects, in that more immigrant organizations came into existence than would have been the case in the absence of grants. The paper comes down in favor of the thesis that state support in some circumstances can promote political incorporation through immigrant organizations (with a few caveats). Finally, the paper proposes a hypothetical mechanism, homeland-oriented integration, for political incorporation through immigrant organization.
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| 9. |
- Frödin, Olle, et al.
(författare)
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Transnationalism, integration och etnisk organisering : En studie av svenska etniska organisationer i ljuset av civilsamhällets omvandling
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sociologisk forskning. - Huddinge : Sveriges Sociologförbund. - 0038-0342 .- 2002-066X. ; 58:3, s. 311-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transnationalism, integration and ethnic organizations. A study of Swedish ethnic organizations in light of the transnationalization of civil society.This article explores the activities of Swedish ethnic organizations. More specifically it explores how this organizational field has changed in light of more wide-ranging transformations of the Swedish civil society. The article is based on a study of the annual reports of ethnic organizations (N=52) that received a grant from the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF) in 2017, as well as 17 interviews with representatives of the said organizations. The study found indications of both path-dependent continuity and change. The ethnic organizations had maintained a longstanding focus on cultural activities of various kinds. Moreover, the influence of the study associations (studieförbund), and thus, the popular movement model (folkrörelsemodellen), was still substantial. In terms of change, in order to promote integration, some organizations appear to have taken on the role of service-producer, primarily to help members to navigate in relation to various Swedish public authorities. In addition, the study found that some ethnic organizations had become involved in new types of transnational governance networks with Swedish authorities, sending states, transnational migrant organizations and aid organizations. There are also indications of a “transnationalization” of opinion formation-activities in that some of them are aimed at a broader, international audience.
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| 10. |
- Sandberg, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Immigrant Organizations and Labor Market Integration: The Case of Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of International Migration and Integration. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1874-6365 .- 1488-3473. ; 24:3, s. 1357-1380
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In line with recent trends in sociology of migration, the paper presents majorresearch findings on Swedish immigrant organizations (SIOs) and their labor marketintegration activities. Analyses of engagement in these activities are particularlyimportant as Sweden wrestles with significant problems of labor market marginalization, particularly among non-European migrants. Drawing on official dataand interviews, we find surprisingly low incidence in direct labor market supportbut quite active indirect support. Our regression model shows significant correlationbetween region of origin and labor market activities, and further analyses usingregional typologies indicate that SIOs’ activities are partly driven by members’ different modes of incorporation and relative integration, where Middle-Eastern SIOsstand out as particularly active. Our findings further indicate potential for scale-upof SIO-assistance in the Swedish Government’s efforts towards increased immigrantlabor market integration.
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| 11. |
- Sandberg, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Welfare conditionality and policy contingencies of school-allowance retractions in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: Social Policy and Administration. - 1467-9515. ; 58:1, s. 175-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article analyses policy contingencies and welfare conditionalityof school allowances in Swedish upper-secondaryeducation. In contrast to most countries' use of positiveincentives toward school attendance through added cashbenefitsfor targeted students, Sweden employs sanctionson a universal study allowance that in essence constitutesan age-extension of the universal child benefit. We analyseregister data from 2012 to 2018 and find significant discrepanciesin required school-reporting when controllingfor school populations and key official school-parameters.These results indicate that negative conditioning throughsanctions constitutes an often-forfeited measure againstthe rather complex interplay of factors driving truancy,while enforcement of conditionality seems largely contingentupon schools' different reporting strategies and processes.We identify a set of veto points whereby schoolofficials may opt not to enforce conditionality, and furtherproblematize additional findings that the overwhelmingmajority of students with retracted allowances fail to returnto school and complete their educational cycles on time.Our findings contribute to ongoing research on welfare conditionality,hitherto largely dominated by studies on labourmarket activation policies and social services.
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