| 1. |
- Ahmedi, Idris, 1979-
(författare)
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The Remaking of American Strategy toward Iran and Iraq : Outline of a Theory of Foreign Policy Change
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study sets out to develop a realist-constructivist theory of foreign policy change. The theory claims that whenever policymakers believe that the distribution of power favors an expansive grand strategy or necessitates retrenchment, they will act accordingly. Similarly, when policymakers revise their images of other states – that is, whether they view them as hostile or friendly – change in existing strategy will follow.The historical record of the (re)making of American strategy toward the Persian Gulf lends support to the theory. After having relied on pro-American Iran to balance Iraq in the region in the 1970s, Washington “tilted” toward Iraq to prevent post-revolutionary Islamic Iran from achieving victory in the ensuing war between the two regional powers in the 1980s. This offshore balancing strategy during the Cold War bipolar distribution of power gave way to the simultaneous containment of these regional adversaries in the post-Cold War unipolar era. However, some years after the adoption of this new strategy, it underwent a shift. Whereas concerted efforts were made to normalize relations with Iran after the presidential victory of a “reformist” candidate, Mohammad Khatami, the Clinton administration eventually adopted regime change as official policy toward Iraq. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil, the George W. Bush administration endorsed a strategy of forcible regime change and democracy promotion, leading to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.Over time, U.S. strategy toward these two regional powers has become more expansive – from offshore balancing limited to checking their outward expansion, to containment aimed at facilitating alteration in their policies, to outright regime change policy. However, with the erosion of unipolarity and the superpower’s retrenchment in the Middle East, we may witness a return to offshore balancing in combination with containment of a perceived hostile Iran.
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| 2. |
- Angerbrandt, Henrik, 1976-
(författare)
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Placing Conflict : Religion and politics in Kaduna State, Nigeria
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Decentralisation and federalism are often said to mitigate conflict by better meeting the preferences of a heterogeneous population and demands for limited autonomy. But it is argued in this thesis that this perspective does not sufficiently address the ways in which conflict-ridden relations entangle processes across different scales ‒ local, regional as well as national. The aim of this thesis is to explain how it is that while decentralisation may contribute to national stability, it may simultaneously generate local conflict. This problem is analysed through a conflict in Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria where there have been outbreaks of violence between Hausa-Fulani Muslims and Christians of different ethnicities since the 1980s. Christian ethnic groups claim to be excluded from state benefits, while Muslim groups claim that Christians have undue influence over the state bureaucracy. The conflict feeds off ethnic and religious mobilisation. Expanded local political space further fuelled the conflict following the decentralisation that came with the shift from military to civilian rule in 1999. Decentralisation in Nigeria implies that the authorities should be associated with the majority ethnicity or religion in a specific territory. A localisation of politics accordingly raises the stakes in identity-based conflicts, especially as control of local institutions is necessary for inclusion in wider political processes. In Kaduna, this has led to demands for separating the state on a religious and ethnic basis. Actors make use of “scalar politics” to conform to or challenge boundaries set by the state. Social relations are associated with different boundaries. Accordingly, decentralisation triggers conflicts on an identity basis, involving contestation over the hierarchy of scales. While national struggles between ethnic and religious groups may be subdued, conflicts play out locally as decentralisation in Nigeria makes religion and ethnicity a powerful tool for political mobilisation.
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| 3. |
- Bremberg, Niklas, 1978-
(författare)
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Exploring the Dynamics of Security Community-Building in the Post-Cold War Era : Spain, Morocco and the European Union
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to make a theoretical as well as an empirical contribution to the debate on the security community concept in International Relations (IR) by way of conducting a study of the European Union (EU) as a security community-building institution in the case of Spain and Morocco. The security community concept originally sought to define the conditions under which the threat of inter-state war would be mitigated through social transaction and expectations of peaceful change between societies and states. However, in the post-Cold War era, the challenge is rather to understand how security communities emerge and expand at a time when armed conflicts among states have become less frequent compared to other non-military threats and trans-boundary risks (e.g. terrorism, failed states, organized crime, pandemics, climate change). The argument of this thesis is that the role of international organizations and the changing notion of security need to be taken into account when re-thinking the concept. Drawing on constructivism in IR, especially the notion of communities of practice, the thesis suggests a framework to study how security communities work in the post-Cold War era focusing on the mechanisms of crisis management, transgovernmental networks and multilateral venues. The framework is used to study the EU as a security community-building institution in the case of Spain (member state) and Morocco (non-member), and in the fields of trade, security and defence and civil protection. The main finding of the thesis, which carries broader implications for the debate on security communities in IR, is that the EU has contributed to broadening the repertoire of cooperative security practices between Spain and Morocco, not necessarily through fostering collective identity but by supporting the development of communities of practitioners whom increasingly share a notion of military and civilian crisis management to counter non-military threats and trans-boundary risks.
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| 4. |
- Carbin, Maria, 1972-
(författare)
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Mellan tystnad och tal : Flickor och hedersvåld i svensk offentlig politik
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis examines the contestations around the question of how violence against young women from ethnic minorities was articulated in Swedish public policy debates from 1995-2008. One core question investigated in this study is how the “new” problem of co called honour killings is categorised and understood within gender equality policies against violence and policies of immigrant integration. The thesis explores how different discourses compete and negotiate to make sense of the violence and try to stabilise meaning. Another aim of the thesis concerns the construction of available subject positions for young women, and the potential effects in terms of possibilities and restrictions for subjects to speak politically. The research material consists of parliamentary debates, major government documents, official government inquiries into integration and gender equality, as well as documents from the Swedish Integration Board and the County Administrative Boards. The analysis draws upon discourse theory and feminist postcolonial theory to explore what positions are made available to young women in policy discourses. Four competing discourses are identified: a multicultural discourse, a discourse of value-clashes, a discourse of structural discrimination and finally a gender power-discourse. However, in policies against honour related violence the violence is primarily understood as originating in a cultural and value-based heritage of certain immigrant communities. This study furthermore illustrates how girls are required to speak and make testimonies on their situation. The ways the stories of the girls are used make them into boundary markers between Swedish and non-Swedish. It is argued that letting the girls speak and listen to them might make it possible to understand some of the potential problems they face. Nevertheless, it might not form an agenda for changing the bigger political picture.
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| 5. |
- Dahl, Svend, 1975-
(författare)
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Efter folkrörelsepartiet : Om aktivism och politisk förändring i tre svenska riksdagspartier
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The relationship between a party leadership and party activists is often illustrated by the use of John May’s "Law of curvilinear opinion structures in political parties", i.e. the idea that mid-level party activists are assumed to be more radical than both party sympathisers and the party elite. This tension between party leadership and party activists can be assumed to lead to a restriction on the party leadership’s freedom of action. However, in recent years we have seen a number of examples where political parties have made major realignments of their own policies without any substantial internal conflicts. Given the role assigned to conditions for involvement in the formulation of May's Law it appears reasonable to look in that direction when trying to understand these changes. This study covers the Moderate Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party in Sweden. The offer made by the parties to their members can be understood in terms of collective goods, such as ideological and political community, and selective goods, such as elected offices. This thesis shows how the political involvement for the interviewed party activists is intimately linked to selective goods. This finding can help us to understand ideological and political changes in present-day parties. If, as a party activist, one is attracted by the opportunities to become an elected representative or the opportunities to exercise political power, it is reasonable to imagine that one will be more inclined to support actions that increase the opportunity to enjoy these goods. Since both the party leadership and the party activists are attracted by the selective goods offered by the party organisation, the conflict between these groups decreases, as both groups are focused on winning elections and exercising political power. The result of this study therefore provides grounds for questioning the ideas of a tension between party activists and party leaderships.
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| 6. |
- Daléus, Pär, 1979-
(författare)
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Politisk ledarskapsstil : Om interaktionen mellan personlighet och institutioner i utövandet av det svenska statsministerämbetet
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation examines key characteristics and factors shaping the leadership style of Swedish Prime Ministers (PMs). Based on the research of the American presidency, an interactionist framework is developed which draws upon institutional theory and political psychological theory. The analysis is advanced by exploring multiple sources and is based on four cases of leadership styles: two single party Social Democratic PMs, Ingvar Carlsson and Göran Persson, as well as two center/right coalition PMs, Thorbjörn Fälldin and Carl Bildt. Leadership style is studied through a focused comparison of the PMs’ performance of four functions. Thus, the four PMs are studied as staffers and organizers of the cabinet and the Government Offices, decision makers, communicators and crisis managers. The results indicate that the office of the PM is elastic, accommodating a wide-ranging variation of leadership styles. The Social Democratic PMs display the most uniform leadership styles, but, rather surprisingly, they also have the most dissimilar leadership styles among the four cases. The center/right PMs’ approaches differ to a great extent from one another, displaying mixed forms of leadership styles. The analysis explains how the PMs’ leadership styles are shaped based on the interaction between their distinct personal characteristics and surrounding institutions. Thus, the dissertation concludes that leadership theories developed in a presidential setting are largely applicable in a parliamentary setting and that political behavior is not dictated by institutions such as formal structures or norms. The results encourage a reassessment of how personality, as an explanatory factor, is applied in mainstream political science. Furthermore, the analysis highlights the need for reconsidering the presidentialisation thesis and the notion of dominant leadership as there are alternative pathways to prime ministerial influence which are disregarded in the debate.
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| 7. |
- 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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| 8. |
- Eto, Mikiko, 1951-
(författare)
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Women and Politics in Japan : A Combined Analysis of Representation and Participation
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Notwithstanding the country’s socio-economic advancement, Japanese women’s presence in politics lags far behind many less developed countries. They are politically silent as their demands hardly reach the centre of political decision-making. The purpose of this compilation thesis is to find answers to the following questions: why Japanese women’s political status remains low; how they tackle their under-representation; and what difficulties they face in their struggles for political involvement. Focusing both on their presence in legislatures and on their participatory activities within civil society, the thesis attempts to elucidate what impedes Japanese women from entering politics and the obstacles to their political activities. Specifically, the thesis attaches importance to the interplay between women’s representation and feminist movements; that is, women’s collective efforts to demand more women representatives are necessary to significantly improve their representation. The Japanese case demonstrates the inharmonious interplay between these two facets. It sheds light on a negative example, which illustrates that having only lukewarm women’s movements calling for more women representatives contributes to women’s on-going under-representation, which, in turn, discourages women from becoming more involved in these activities. Women’s representation plays a symbolic and substantive role in developing democracy. In other words, with a well-functioning democracy, all members of the political community share power equally. Throughout this compilation, it is suggested that the vicious cycle of under-representation and lukewarm feminist activism is not only detrimental to Japanese women but it also impedes Japanese democracy from progressing further. The thesis is composed of six parts. The first part, as the introduction, aims to give a theoretical framework to the thesis, theorizing the interplay between electoral representation and participatory activities and putting forward my approach in the thesis. The subsequent parts comprise five previously published articles. Although each article has been published separately in different journals, each of them includes Japanese case studies, as well as general perspectives.
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| 9. |
- Fonseca, Max, 1980-
(författare)
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Your Treatment, My Treat? : On Lifestyle-Related Ill Health and Reasonable Responsibilitarianism
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- How should the costs of unhealthy lifestyles be distributed between individual citizens and the state? This study approaches this question by investigating the justifiability of the responsibilitarian idea that people who are responsible for their lifestyle-choices should also be held responsible for the costs that these lifestyle-choices generate.Two main conclusions come out of this investigation. The first is that the basic justification of responsibilitarian health policies can be found in what is called the Civic Blame approach to responsibilitarianism. This approach builds upon a moralized conception of responsibility, accountability responsibility. On this conception, the moral quality of contemporary imprudent people’s behaviour is the essential starting point for establishing that they ‘are responsible’. Consequently, what justifies responsibilitarian health policies on this approach is not that imprudent people cause their own ill health or that they exercise sufficient control over their lifestyle-choices, but that they breach reciprocity-based civic obligations through their health-risking behaviour.The second conclusion is that the emphasis on fairness of blame/differential treatment inherent in the Civic Blame approach imposes two important justificatory constraints. The first is that the response to the breaches of civic obligations must be properly proportional and context-sensitive in order to be fair. This constraint can most likely be handled however, since a response of the right kind can be found by holding imprudent people responsible via Sin-Taxes (rather than via harsher policies). More problematic for responsibilitarians is the second constraint: to show that contemporary imprudent people’s behaviour is morally problematic to begin with, and, thereby, to show that contemporary prudent people’s reactive attitudes to health-risking behaviour are fair.Thus, although the Civic Blame approach outlined in the study provides the basic theoretical building blocks for the justification of responsibilitarian health policies, this approach also provides the tools for critically questioning the justifiability of contemporary health policies of responsibilitarian kind.
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| 10. |
- Gavelin, Karin, 1979-
(författare)
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The Terms of Involvement : A study of attempts to reform civil society's role in public decision making in Sweden
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For the better part of a century, a distinguishing feature of the Swedish democratic model has been the close relationship between organised interests and public decision makers. Yet the first decade of the twenty-first century saw a number of attempts to reform Swedish civil society’s role in decision making, purportedly to make involvement activities more inclusive, reciprocal, flexible and consequential. The aim of this thesis is to describe and understand the motivations behind and the meaning of these reform attempts. Using an interpretive research design, and drawing on constructivist institutionalist perspectives on organisational change, the study asks questions about what has driven the attempted reform, how affected actors have interpreted its meaning and consequences, and how its framing and outcomes have been affected by the fact that it was devised and implemented both in traditional organisations and in networks consisting of local and national actors from civil society and the public sector. The thesis constitutes a contribution to the constructivist institutionalist literature concerned with the micro-foundations of organisational behaviour and to the governance research literature, to which it contributes empirical insights about how governance reforms have been interpreted and rationalised in Sweden.
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