1.
Arnell, Linda, 1979-
(författare)
Tjejers våld. Våldets tjejer. : en diskursanalytisk studie om våld, kön och femininitet
2019
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
How is girls’ violence constructed and given meaning? In what ways are girls who use violence positioned? This thesis explores how girls’ violence is given meaning within different contexts, with a specific focus on the significance given to notions of gender and femininity. It is based on two studies. The first is based on interviews and creative word-based methods with seven girls/young women aged between 18 and 23. These girls all have personal experiences of acting out and/or using violence. The second study is based on focus group interviews with eleven professionals, three men and eight women. These professionals have various experiences of meeting and working with girls and/or violence. The data from both studies is analysed from a discourse psychological perspective, that is based on interwoven ideas from discourse analysis and social psychology.When the girls and the professionals are talking about girls’ violence the results show that girls’ violence concern more than the issue of violence as a problematic social action. It also concern notions of gender, femininity and girlhood. In most cases girls’ violence is constructed as deviant and different, as an anomaly, which needs to be explained in ways that make it possible to include within understandings of femininity and girlhood. The results also show how notions of gender and femininity are interwoven with class, ethnicity, functionality and ideas about being human. Although a position as a violent girl sometimes appears to be useful or desirable, the girls’ and the professionals’ talk shows that there is a risk that girls who use violence are constructed not only as different and deviant but as so incomprehensible that they will be constructed as “crazy”, or in other words less human, and therefore not possible to help or save. For this reason, it is important to reconsider and deconstruct the current discourses of violence. A wider perspective on girls’ violence would make it possible to understand girls who use violence, those who are exposed to girls’ violence and the help and support that is available from the welfare system in new ways.
2.
Bergmark, Magnus, 1975-
(författare)
Integrerade psykosociala insatser : Policy, implementering och praktik i ett komplext verksamhetsfält
2017
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
InledningAlltsedan psykiatrins avinstitutionalisering tog fart under 1980- och 1990-talen har en utveckling av samhällsbaserade psykosociala insatser förespråkats för att erbjuda vård och stöd till personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning. Insatserna förväntas bidra till att brukarna får tillgång till effektiv vård och stöd, samtidigt som de inkluderas i samhället. Vidare förutsätts insatserna baseras på kunskap och evidens, samt bygga på brukarens delaktighet och stödja dennes återhämtning. En annan målsättning är att vissa insatser ges i form av integrerade modeller, så att personer ur målgruppen får tillgång till sammanhållet stöd från inblandade myndigheter. Även om Sverige räknas som ett resursstarkt land som har kommit långt på området, så förekommer kritik mot utvecklingen. Kritiken har berört både planering och styrning på politisk nivå, men även utförandet av de insatser som erbjuds till brukarna. Kritiken har bland annat handlat om bristande samverkan mellan landsting och kommuner, och om stora lokala variationer i den erbjudna servicens kvalitet. I den här avhandlingen studeras dels utformningen av policy på området, dels implementering av specifika insatser. Syftet med avhandlingen är att undersöka hur svenska policymakare på nationell nivå har hanterat utvecklingen av psykosociala insatser för personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning, samt att analysera möjligheter och svårigheter för organisationer och personal när det gäller att implementera de insatser som förespråkas av beslutsfattare. De frågeställningar som avhandlingen söker besvara är följande:Hur formuleras policy som syftar till att införa samhällsbaserade psykosociala insatser, och vad kan policyns egenskaper innebära för genomförandet av den?Vilka styrstrategier uttrycks i statliga policydokument?Vad hämmar respektive underlättar implementeringen av föreslagna integrerade psykosociala insatser?Hur kan vi förstå vad som påverkar möjligheten att erbjuda integrerade psykosociala insatser, i termer av lokala förutsättningar och strategier för implementering?MetodPolicy på området studerades genom en studie av tre av de övergripande dokument som beslutats på regeringsnivå de senaste 20 åren. Riktade kvalitativa innehållsanalyser baserade på relevant litteratur genomfördes. Implementering av insatser studerades genom att 15 program följdes under 3 års tid. 14 av dessa arbetade med att implementera arbetsrehabiliteringsprogram utifrån modellen Individual Placement and Support (IPS). Under samma tidsperiod följdes ett team som implementerade den intensiva samordnings-, vård- och stödmodellen Assertive Community Treatment (ACT). För att bedöma verksamheternas följsamhet till modellerna genomfördes programtrohetsskattningar av samtliga program. Data avseende programmens målgrupp samlades också in. Tre IPS-program deltog i en fördjupningsstudie där kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med ledare, personal och samverkanspartners. Implementeringen av dessa program analyserades utifrån implementeringsramverket the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Implementeringen av samtliga 14 IPS-program studerades med hjälp av skattningsskalan the Sustainable Implementation Scale (SIS). När det gäller ACT-teamet genomfördes dels kvalitativa innehållsanalyser av djupintervjuer, och dels skattningar av implementeringskomponenter med hjälp av SIS.ResultatPolicy på området har innehållit stora mått av otydlighet och konflikt, både gällande de mål och medel som har formulerats. Regeringen har främst förespråkat så kallade mjuka styrstrategier, vanligen i form av statliga stimulansbidrag. Vissa förtydliganden och konkretioner har skett under tid, vilka ibland går i linje med de internationella rörelserna New Public Management och evidensbaserad praktik. Exempel på försök att strama upp styrningen är målformuleringar som förespråkar riktade och prestationsbaserade stimulansbidrag, samt nationella riktlinjer för att styra utvecklingen mot utvalda specificerade insatser. Trots detta är det fortfarande de berörda myndigheterna som är ansvariga för att välja ut, utforma och implementera psykosociala insatser. På verksamhetsnivå leder detta till att många otydligheter består, vilka ibland är relaterade till svårigheter att avgränsa ansvarsområden och att förändra hindrande regelverk och traditioner. Dessutom förekommer konflikter, exempelvis i form av konkurrerande målsättningar och ojämn resurstilldelning.Studierna av de integrerade modellerna IPS och ACT visar att implementering av dessa är möjlig, även i en sektoriserad välfärdskontext som den svenska. Det finns dock en rad faktorer på såväl organisationsnivå som teamnivå, som försvårar implementeringen. Exempel på dessa är de involverade organisationernas varierande målsättningar och traditioner, regelverkens utformning, samt svårigheter att erhålla långsiktig finansiering. I en del fall beskrivs de arbetssätt som modellerna förespråkar som försvårande, då de upplevs som annorlunda och utmanande för existerande rutiner och uppfattningar om stöd till målgruppen. Ett stort hinder för effektiv implementering är svårigheter att samverka, främst mellan, men även inom inblandade organisationer. De flesta program som lyckades genomföra en hållbar implementering hade personal som var duktiga på att navigera förbi de hinder som orsakades av ogynnsamma regler, och de lyckades även hitta vägar för att etablera samverkan, både horisontellt (med samarbetspartners på samma hierarkiska nivå) och vertikalt (mellan ledning och personal). En verksamhetsledare som har möjlighet att påverka samverkansrelationer i både horisontell och vertikal riktning är gynnande för implementeringen. Andra betydelsefulla komponenter som underlättar implementering är en noggrann planering innan ett program startas, medveten rekrytering av personal, formering av ändamålsenliga styrgrupper, samt att tidigt i processen arbeta strategiskt för att lösa finansieringsfrågan. Även programtrohetsskattningar var betydelsefulla, då de både fungerade som instrument för att identifiera förbättringsområden för programmen, men också hade en legitimerande funktion vid återkoppling till ledningen.SlutsatserDet råder en samstämmighet i övergripande målsättningar som syftar till att utveckla området integrerade psykosociala insatser. På en mer konkret nivå är läget betydligt oklarare, både gällande målsättningar i policy och av vem och hur insatserna ska implementeras. Även om vissa förändringar skett, står regeringen fortsatt för en mjuk styrning vilken lämnar ett stort ansvar till de myndigheter som ska implementera valda insatser. Detta innebär en rad svårigheter för frontlinjepersonalen, vilket leder till att de ofta behöver lägga mycket tid och energi på att hitta vägar för att överkomma dessa svårigheter.I många fall har ledare och personal goda möjligheter att uppnå en hög programtrohet på teamnivå, men för en hållbar implementering krävs det att ett program är väl förankrat både vertikalt och horisontellt. Därför finns ett behov av att forskare och beslutsfattare tar ett tydligare helhetsgrepp, både på området policy och implementering av specifika insatser. Skattningar av programtrohet och implementering kan vara ett stöd i att identifiera vad som fungerar samt vad som behöver förändras i och mellan organisationer. Men för att programmen ska lyckas med en effektiv implementering på organisationsnivå behöver deras legitimitet stärkas vertikalt, och planering för långsiktig lokal finansiering behöver göras i ett tidigt skede.
3.
Bergström, Magdalena, 1973-
(författare)
Att åldras med långvariga alkoholproblem : hur medelålders och äldre kvinnor och män begripliggör sitt drickande, sig själva och sina liv
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze how late middle-aged and elderly women and men make sense of what it means to age with long-term drinking problems.I have conducted life story-inspired interviews with six women and 13 men who have alcohol problems which have been ongoing for at least 20 years. The analysis of the data has been inspired by thematic narrative analysis. For doing the analysis, I have used theories about meaning making and life stories, as well as theories about how people give meaning to their alcohol use. The interview person’s experiences of their present everyday life are connected to their pasts as well as to their expectations for the future. The interview persons make sense of themselves and their lives in relation to metanarratives that provides them with predefined ways to understand their social reality.The interview persons everyday lives can be seen in the light of their past, there the long-term drinking problems have resulted in severe consequences for their social networks, their physical and mental health as well as their financial situations. The alcohol use was often seen as both a solution to, and a cause of, their problems. Considering that most of the interview persons were suffering from severe health problems, several of them did not expect to live much longer. This, together with the fact that they were becoming older, evoked existential questions about how they wanted to spend their remaining time. In order to avoid an alcohol related death, several interview persons had started to question their alcohol use and a few had made actual attempts to overcome their drinking problems. Others had no hope of changing their life situations or cutting down their alcohol use.The interview persons are living in a time characterized by metanarratives about active and successful ageing. Research show, however, that drinking problems among late middle-aged and elderly people are increasing. People aging with long-term drinking problems are often overlooked when it comes to getting access to treatment programs for problematic alcohol use, and they seldom fit into organized activities for elderly people. Social interventions are, however, important for making the everyday lives less difficult for people ageing with long-term drinking problems and to provide added support to those who wish to change their drinking habits.
4.
Ek, Hans, 1966-
(författare)
Psykiatriseringen av skolkaren : BUP och det institutionella omhändertagandet av ungdomar som inte går till skolan
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The main aim of the thesis was to investigate the nature of as well as critically review the institutional care of young people who do not go to school.The thesis consists of four studies. The first three studies are based on different empirical materials such as electronical journals and administrative patient databases, qualitative interviews with social workers at Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP), and with managerial representatives in School, social services and CAP. The fourth study is mainly theoretical and problematizes the results from the first three studies.The results show several problematic aspects in the institutional care of young truants. When young truants enters CAP, a quick, and sometimes without psychological investigation, categorization is made with psychiatric terminology in the form of a diagnosis, and medicines are prescribed as treatment. Further, social workers, who shall have a systemic approach on family and relationships, seem to embrace a psychiatric diagnostic understanding of the problems. At the same time, it appears that school only has extra resources to help the truants if they have a psychiatric diagnosis. Although the idea of collaboration between different professionals is that several different perspectives should be used, the results shows that CAP's psychiatric perspective dominates.The results of what happens to young people who do not go to school is discussed as an example of a special form of medicalization, in which social difficulties and existential problems are referred to psychiatry. It appears that help for them is completely individualised, by focusing on symptoms and diagnosis. What is not visible in this unilateral individualisation, for example, are organisational and educational problems in school, system problems in the family or among friends or lack of social contacts outside the family. By referring the truant to CAP can therefore miss further social circumstances in their life situation, which can have great importance in whether they attend school or not. Therefore, it is important to problematise this process of referring everything to psychiatry and to ask questions about what situations and events have contributed to this cultural pattern, which means that people's difficulties in life are increasingly being solved with diagnosis and medications.
5.
Ekman, Inger, 1959-
(författare)
Självskadande handlingar : ungdomars berättelser: kontextualisering av ett medikaliserat socialt fenomen
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is twofold; to explore adolescents’ own views on self-injuring acts and to analyse the field of research on self-injuring acts. Together, these two aims comprise the overall aim of the thesis; to increase knowledge on self-injuring acts among adolescents.The material for the first study consists of scientific publications from 1913 to 2018. The material for the three following studies consists of adolescents’ Internet published unsolicited first-person narratives on their experience of self-injuring acts.Based on an examination of the research literature over a hundred year period, it was found that self-injuring acts have been medicalized since the beginning of research. Studies in the 1960’s and 1970’s were mainly conducted through observations of female psychiatric inpatients, establishing a picture of the typical cutter as a young, attractive, emotionally unstable woman. Although later research has found self-injuring acts to be common among community adolescents, the dominance of medical and psychological studies has continued to reinforce the view on self-injuring acts as related to intrapersonal difficulties.In the narratives studied, the adolescents described their self-injuring acts as closely related to an unstable social context, consisting of problems within the family, problems at school and the loss of dear ones. The recurrently described lack of access to an arena of comfort, a place or a relation providing trust and security, was found to be significant with respect to the initiation of self-injuring acts among these adolescents.In contrast to the common view on self-injuring acts as an outcome of individual characteristics, the findings point to adolescents’ self-injuring acts as a cognitively motivated and planned strategy to endure otherwise unbearable situations. Due to their adolescent position, their options to act, to take control or make changes are severely restricted.Disclosure of self-injuring acts within the social network was described as met with demands to seek professional mental help. Thoughts on seeking professional help were accompanied by fear of being perceived as crazy or diagnosed as mentally ill, thus causing social stigma. Thus, the medicalization of self-injuring acts was found to have negative consequences for disclosure and help-seeking, thereby limiting the adolescents’ options for finding adequate support. Internet websites were described as value-free and safe arenas, providing an opportunity to disclose self-injuring acts without fear of being stigmatized.The main conclusion is that adolescents’ self-injuring acts are closely related to problems in the social context, and need to be understood and related to the restrictions inherent in an adolescent position. From this perspective, it is the social context, not the self-injuring acts that should be in focus in research and practice. Social work research, focusing on social context and interaction, could develop the research field, broaden perspectives on these acts, and develop knowledge and understanding that goes beyond the established medicalized view of self-injuring acts.
6.
Grell, Pär, 1966-
(författare)
Komplexa behov eller komplexa organisationer? : konsekvenser av specialiserad individ- och familjeomsorg ur ett klientperspektiv
2016
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Even though recent decades have seen a clear trend towards organizational specialization within Swedish personal social services (PSS), there is a lack of knowledge about the consequences of this, particularly from a client perspective. The aim of this compilation thesis is to describe and analyse the consequences of organizational specialization for clients with complex needs. The empirical material consists of a survey and an interview study, both addressing clients whose needs can be considered complex since they entail several parallel contacts with different specialized PSS units. Article one is a research review aimed at summarizing and discussing the research on organizational structures in the social services, and these structures' impact on work with clients. The review suggests that, to function adequately, social service organizations need to combine and balance aspects of both specialization and integration. Article two aims to describe and analyse how clients with complex needs perceive and value the service conditions of the organizationally specialized PSS. The main findings are that clients primarily perceive and value their encounters with the specialized PSS negatively, and that they experience several elements of service fragmentation. The aim of article three is to describe and analyse how clients with complex needs account for their handling of service conditions within specialized PSS. A key finding is that clients combine different approaches (categorized as consensus, resignation, fight, and escape) in a balancing act intended to promote their own best interests. Article four aims to describe and analyse how clients with complex needs perceive the conditions for helping relations in a PSS setting marked by organizational specialization. A lack of system trust, the people-processing dimensions of work, and an organizational and professional emphasis on formal organizational structures and boundaries were found to constitute unfavourable conditions. Conversely, the occurrence of individual trust, the people-sustaining and people-changing dimensions of client work, and the boundary-spanning efforts of both informal organizations and individual social workers constituted favourable conditions. The thesis concludes that there seems to be a substantial lack of fit between the logics and features of organizational specialization on one hand, and the complex and interwoven nature of clients’ actual needs and everyday lives on the other. It is also argued that organizational specialization means that the complexity involved in encounters between clients and the PSS is overlooked or obscured. Further research on the structural arrangements and service conditions that surround encounters between clients and the social services is suggested, especially research that adopts a client perspective.
7.
Gümüscü, Ahmet, 1981-
(författare)
Socialtjänsten och familjen : socialarbetares konstruktion av familj och insatser i familjerelaterad komplexitet
2019
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this dissertation is to describe and analyse how social workers in Swedish social services define “family” and handle complexity when they work with families, and especially “families with complex needs” as the target of their interventions. Whereas families with complex needs can be understood to involve one or more family members having two or more simultaneously occurring needs or problems (e.g. mental health issues, addiction, financial problems, dysfunctionality, child abuse, ageing, disabilities, and family violence), complexity in social work extends beyond that which exists in families. Therefore, to broaden our understanding of these complexities in social work, this research sought answers to the following questions:• How do social workers define and set boundaries around the concept of “family” when they target their interventions? How do these definitions differ between different sectors of the social services – elderly care, disability care, addiction, child welfare, and financial assistance? (study I)• How do social workers involve families and family members in the casework from intake and through the investigation process within different social service sectors? What happens to the conceptualisation of family through an investigation process? (study II)• How do social workers in child welfare services describe and manage complexity in their work generally and when they work with families with complex needs? (study III)• How then do social workers in different service sectors conceive of and manage complexities in their everyday work, especially when it comes to families with complex needs? (study IV)The empirical material in studies I and IV consists of telephone interviews with 60 social workers working in five different sectors in four municipalities. Study II is based on five focus group interviews with social workers working in five different sectors in one larger municipality. Study III is based on focus groups with vignettes with social workers working in child welfare in three municipalities.In the first study findings revealed that different mediating mechanisms were adopted by social workers in what can be understood to be a deconstruction of the family. These mechanisms included legislation (as a control mechanism), household composition (boundary mechanism) and service needs (professional mechanism), which were used in various ways and to differing degrees within each sector. The five unique and sector-specific conceptualisations of families are implicated in how interventions are constructed and work processes targeted at individuals and families.In the second study findings showed that clienthood and family are interpreted in different ways. The family was brought into or kept out of service provisions in ways that were connected to social workers’ construction of the family either as expert, client or non-client. How social workers understood the role of the family changed during the casework process. In the third study, findings showed that social workers were challenged in their everyday work where they focused on immediate conditions for children while avoiding problems that were less amenable to being solved. Social workers tried to manage complexities related to families by either sorting prioritizing or oscillating between different child welfare orientations. In the fourth study, findings showed that there were different types of reported complex needs: deeprooted needs and broad-based needs. Complex family needs were transformed into complex cases by social workers, based on considerations of family composition, relationships between clients and social workers, and organizational contexts of practice. The boundaries between these three domains were not distinct, and the interconnectivity and complexities occurring in and between them contributed to the production of much of the “wickedness” that exists in social work practice.A main conclusion is that the concept of family is understood and targeted differently in different sectors of social work. In some cases, the use of the family concept can be related to the clients' specific needs. Families who social workers meet often have combinations of needs and problems that result in numerous interventions from the social services. When social workers meet these families, they can feel ambiguity and uncertainty because of the complexity of the needs or other complexities. And, in individualised social services, a narrow focus on the needs of individuals can make it difficult to see the situation of the family as a whole. This research highlights the importance of bringing this web of complexities to the forefront of practice.
8.
Isaksson, Cristine, 1957-
(författare)
Den kritiska gästen : en professionsstudie om skolkuratorer
2016
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is to examine the professional role of school social workers in Sweden from the perspective of profession theory, with particular focus on legitimacy, jurisdiction and discretion. The aim has been divided into four research questions, which are examined in four separate studies:How has the school social work profession emerged and developed?How do school social workers experience boundaries to their professional discretion?How are theories of social work practice applied in school social work?How do school social workers and teachers perceive their cooperation with regard to the wellbeing of pupils?The general area of interest concerns professionals operating in organizations where they are the sole representatives of their profession. In addition, these professionals typically have a peripheral position in relation to the core professions in the organization.The four different studies build on empirical material from qualitative interviews with school social workers and teachers, and also from policy and regulatory documents. The theoretical framework guiding the analysis draws on theories from the sociology of professions (Abbott, 1988) and about human service organizations (Hasenfeld, 1983, 2010).A key finding is that school social worker has a specific technology based on well-established practice theories in social work, where a systems approach appears as the most prominent. Although, it was possible to discern such practice theories from the interviews, the school social workers did not explicitly give reference to them and generally struggled to describe their practice in a professional language.A second key finding result is the lack of clarity with regards to the school social worker’s role. This is evidenced in regulatory documents, as well as among social workers themselves and teachers. In theory, this provides school social workers with a high degree of discretion. However, due to legitimacy problems they feel limited in performing their work unless they can rely on support from other sources such strong support from headmasters.A third key finding is that the cooperation with teachers is all-important to school social workers. They spend a considerable proportion of their time working with teachers rather than pupils, not the least by providing informal consultations to teachers. On a rhetoric level, teachers agree with social workers about the value and need of school social work. However, they tend to disagree about the role of school social work when they talk about concrete practice.As an overall conclusion the school social worker appears as a critical guest, drawing on a professional foundation in social work theory that contributes uniquely to pupil health care. This distinguishes the school social workers’ role from other professionals in the school setting.The findings in this thesis indicate the need for both education and research in the discipline of social work to start paying attention to social work in schools and other settings where social workers represents a minority occupation peripheral to the host organisation.
9.
Nilsson Blom, Marcus, 1980-
(författare)
Opioidberoende : en studie om beroendevården och det sociala sammanhangets betydelse
2018
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Opioid dependence is highly associated with health problems relating to physical health (infectious diseases) as well as mental health (depression, anxiety, antisocial behavior). In addition, research has found an association between use of opioids and increased risk of premature death as a consequence of overdose or other circumstances, such as suicide. Furthermore, opioid dependent individuals experience a high level of social exclusion and problems with relationships, housing, income and livelihood. Overall, there is a connection between opioid dependence and physical, psychological and social vulnerability as well as premature death.The importance of social cohesion has rarely been the focus in research on opioid dependence. Therefore, there is a need to further explore whether differences in outcomes (medication assisted treatment, mortality and co-morbidity) in addition to individual characteristics, can be derived from social aspects of the opioid dependent individual’s life.The overall aim of the dissertation is to examine individual and social factors among individuals who are dependent on opioids and how they are associated with outcomes relating to: a) medication assisted treatment; and b) mortality and co-morbidity.This dissertation is based on data from four different registers. The first and second sub-studies use ASI data. The third uses DOK data from the National Board of Institutions (SiS) and the Death Registry (National Board of Health and Welfare). The fourth study is based on both DOKdata and data from the national patient registry (National Board of Health and Welfare).Overall, this dissertation confirms the understanding of opioid dependence as associated with a high level of vulnerability. This dissertation shows that opioid dependence is characterized by extensive care efforts, low levels of employment, and a high level of mental health and comorbidity.This dissertation shows that the characteristics related to the social network (parenting, work and education) are of significance for being in treatment, but also remaining in care (medication assisted treatment), which in turn promotes the individual's health and long-term health development. In that, this dissertation shows that for individuals dependent on opioids, there is an association between being part of a social network and favorable health development.
10.
Paju, Martin, 1956-
(författare)
Hälsingegården i omvandling : en studie av världsarvsprocessen i Hälsingland
2016
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Under våren 2012 väntade ett stort antal människor runt om i landet på ett besked som bekräftade att ett antal jordbruksfastigheter och kulturmiljöer, i Gävleborgs län skulle kunde klassas som världsunika och föras upp på listan över världsarv. En lista vars innehåll styrs av konventionen om skydd av världens kultur- och naturarv, världsarvskonventionen, som är ett av FN-organet Unescos normativa instrument på natur- och kulturområdet.I avhandlingen beskrivs och diskuteras processer och förhandlingar som uppstod i samband med att nomineringen av dessa fastigheter genomfördes. Ett samlande begrepp för denna agrara byggnadstradition är hälsingegårdarna. Med stöd från olika projektaktiviteter skapade enskilda personer, ideella organisationer och myndigheter uppmärksamhet kring gårdarnas kulturvärden. Studien visar på att arbetet med nomineringen till världsarvslistan blir grund för förhandlingar om definitionsrättigheter och positioner i ett socialt fält och att bruk och förvaltning av ett kulturkapital som hälsingegårdarna sker inom ramen för särskilda sociala ordningar.Världsarvsarbetet i Gävleborgs län visar på två olika styrkepositioner. En utvecklingsorienterad där besöksnäringens aktörer, med världsarv som en del av en regionalpolitisk agenda antas kunna driva en ekonomisk utveckling. Här fanns också en position orienterad kring bevarande, där kulturvärden anses utgöra ett symboliskt kapital som inte kan underkastas instrumentella krav. De sociala fält inom vilket aktörerna söker positionera sig är i många stycken formade av formella regelverk som hävdas av en nationell och internationell kulturmiljövård.Diskussioner kring landsbygdens förändringspotential är ofta inriktade på näringslivets utveckling och när världsarvsfrågan i Gävleborg initierades såg många aktörer detta som en möjlighet att artikulera sina ståndpunkter för hälsingegårdarnas och världsarvets roll för regionens ekonomiska framtid.Exemplet hälsingegårdarna visar hur lokal mobilisering kan utvecklas i samband med en världsarvsnominering, där enskilda och organiserade aktörer på lokal och regional nivå möter en förvaltningskultur som för fram och bevakar byråkratiska och formella aspekter på världsarvet.Hälsingegårdarna kom att utvecklas till ett viktigt verktyg för att organisera regionens utvecklingsintressen och blev en konfliktfylld symbol i samspelet mellan deltagande aktörer där varje enskild gård har en egen, unik karriär, som privatbostad, som produktionsenhet eller som en del av besöksindustrin.
