| 1. |
- Berg, Martin, 1977-
(författare)
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Självets garderobiär : självreflexiva genuslekar och queer socialpsykologi
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Det övergripande syftet med föreliggande studie är tudelat. För det första syftar den till att på teoretisk väg etablera en dialog mellan queerteoretisk och socialpsykologisk teoribildning om aktörer och aktörsskap med utgångspunkt i en kritisk läsning av Judith Butler och George Herbert Mead. För det andra syftar den till att på empirisk väg utveckla och fördjupa denna dialog i syfte att demonstrera och resonera kring de möjligheter som uppstår i spänningen mellan dessa teoretiska perspektiv. På detta sätt är avsikten att föra ett bidrag till såväl den queer- och genusteoretiska debatten som dess socialpsykologiska motsvarighet. Ambitionen är att detta sammantaget kan utgöra ett ramverk i vilket möjligheterna med en queer socialpsykologi skisseras. I jämförelsen mellan dessa teoretiska perspektiv fokuseras på frågan om hur människor antas bli till som aktörer och under vilka villkor och genom vilka processer detta äger rum. I centrum för denna diskussion positioneras relationen mellan deras respektive antagande om struktur och aktör samt hur denna relaterar till och förutsätts vara uppburen genom något slags praktik. För det andra diskuteras individens möjlighet att omförhandla sitt förvärvade aktörsskap och genom vilka processer och praktiker detta eventuellt kan göras möjligt. Avhandlingen är uppdelad i fyra delar. Den inledande delen (del 1: Inledande ord) introducerar studiens övergripande bakgrund, teoretiska position, syfte, material och de metodologiska överväganden som har gjorts under forskningsresans gång. Den andra delen (del 2: Teoretiska interventioner) utvecklar i tre kapitel den diskussion om spänningen mellan queerteori och socialpsykologi som påbörjades i avhandlingens första och inledande kapitel. I ett första kapitel fokuseras på Judith Butler för att ringa in och granska några centrala argument och faktorer i hennes tänkande. I ett andra kapitel diskuteras George Herbert Mead för att, i likhet med föregående kapitel, presentera hans övergripande argument och huvudsakliga tankegångar. Avslutningsvis avrundas avhandlingens andra del med ett kapitel som syftar till att summera och utveckla den spänningsrelation som hittas mellan dessa två teoretiker samtidigt som en diskussion förs om de möjligheter en empirisk utveckling av den teoretiska problematiken skulle kunna bidra med. Den teoretiska spänning som lokaliseras mellan Mead och Butler kretsar i första hand kring deras förståelse av relationen mellan aktör och praktik och med utgångspunkt i denna formuleras arbetsbegreppen transaktör och transpraktik som genomgående används i presentationen av det empiriska materialet. Avhandlingens tredje del (del 3: Empiriska nedslag) är i första hand av empirisk karaktär och är uppdelad i två kapitel. I det första av dessa förs en diskussion om hur de självreflexiva genuslekarna inbegriper formulerandet av ett särskilt transgenus och på vad sätt det är möjligt att förstå iscensättandet av genus som en i första hand självkommunikativ praktik. Gradvis demonstreras hur det går att utläsa en önskan om att iscensätta genus tillsammans med andra människor och därför kretsar det följande kapitlet kring en diskussion om betydelsen av social interaktion för detta iscensättande. Med andra ord går det att utläsa en rörelse från självkommunikation till (önskad) social interaktion och detta är ett tema som tydligt ringar in en stor del av den teoretiska problematik som genomsyrar denna studie. I den fjärde och avslutande delen (del 4: Avslutande reflektioner) knyts i tre kapitel de resonemang som hittills har presenterats och diskuterats ihop. Det inledande kapitlet för en teoretiskt orienterad diskussion om den föregående genomgången av det empiriska materialet. I ett därpå följande kapitel fokuseras på olika aspekter av självreflexiva genuslekar i relation till den klädda kroppen för att visa hur den tidigare presenterade praktik- och aktörsproblematiken är avhängig den klädda kroppens genusprägling. I detta sammanhang visas hur det är möjligt att upprätta en relation mellan självets framväxt, subjektivitet och den klädda kroppen. Avslutningsvis förs ett kortfattat resonemang kring avhandlingens huvudsakliga argumentationslinjer och vilka möjligheter ett tänkande inspirerat av queer socialpsykologi för med sig.
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| 2. |
- Burcar Alm, Veronika
(författare)
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Gestaltningar av offererfarenheter : Samtal med unga män som utsatts för brott
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this dissertation, young men's experiences of being victims of crime are analysed. Several kinds of material are considered in this study, but the primary data consist of informal, tape-recorded interviews with ten young men (17 to 21 year's old) who had been assaulted or mugged. Their accounts of their experiences are analysed using a number of constructionist, interactionist, and narrative perspectives. Identity is a central term in the dissertation, and is held to be something we do rather than something we have. The ways the young men talk about themselves, the perpetrators, the crime itself, and victimhood in general, form the core of the analysis. During the interviews, the young men managed their 'membership' of two diverse categories 'young men' and 'victims'. Male identity and victim identity can be seen as conflicting, but the young men present themselves as both by using a more subtle approach; they construe the two identities in such a way as they can co-exist in a characteristic way. The young men formulate themselves in their narratives as active, not as passive. Their own competence and drive are emphasised, while the perpetrator's influence and importance are diminished. The violent event itself is played down. By use of what may be termed 'manly' descriptions, the men defy the usual criteria for victimhood. They claim victim status, but they do not see themselves in line with the standard image of the passive, suffering, and vulnerable victim. On the contrary, this study presents us with a distinctive crime victim, one who is strong, active, and resilient.
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| 3. |
- Eldén, Sara
(författare)
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Konsten att lyckas som par : Populärterapeutiska berättelser, individualisering och kön
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, the expanding discourse of popular therapeutic culture on and for heterosexual couples is analysed. Three case studies have been carried out; self-help books for couples, TV programs with relationship-focus, and web discussion boards connected to the TV programs. The analysis is made in relation to sociological theories of individualization, therapeutic culture, feminist studies of couples and inequality, as well as inquiries of the private/public dichotomy. The thesis argues for a need to critically engage with the effects of individualization on couple relationships and gender. A responsible autonomous couple is constructed in popular therapeutic narratives. This couple is simultaneously autonomous and responsible for doing “couple work”, but also dependent on the experts’ definition of ideals of “the good couple” as well as on guidelines for ways to get there. As a result, the popular therapeutic narrative (contrary to the argument of theories of late modernity) ends up reproducing meaning-constitutive scripts for the heterosexual couple. In addition, the assumption of the responsible autonomous couple enables a reproduction of gendered stereotypes as well as gender inequality in the couple. Swedish popular therapy talks about the couple in gender-neutral terms, but e.g., the generalized “tools” offered to the participating women and men in the TV programs ends up reproducing traditional gender roles: men “take action”, “set limits”, and make decisions, and women “connect with their feelings”, “mirror” their men, and refrain from “controlling”. Furthermore, inequalities related to social structures and cultural norms of gender, such as unequal distribution of housework, cannot be framed as a “couple problem” in the discourse, but is understood in terms of “differences” related to “personality”. Popular therapeutic narratives are, however, challenged by the (mainly women) writers on the web discussion board. Most importantly, gender-neutral characterization of heterosexual couple relationships is questioned in the sharing of individual experiences. Thus, the thesis argues that popular therapy on the couple holds an – indirect – potential challenge of, not just the private/public dichotomy, but also the dichotomy of the personal/political.
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| 4. |
- Henecke, Birgitta
(författare)
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Plan & Protest : En sociologisk studie av kontroverser, demokrati och makt i den fysiska planeringen
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since planning in connection with new building projects frequently generates controversy, it can be seen as a typical form of contentious politics. The aim of this dissertation is to analyze siting controversies, their origin, development and termination, in efforts to explore the problem of legitimacy in planning processes of this sort. The research approach employed is that of a multiple case study analysis. Four different planning processes concerning building projects in southern Sweden in which siting controversies occurred were selected. Two of them concerned housing projects ? a small infill project in a cultural environment and a large housing development project on earlier farmland. The other two concerned infrastructure ? the building of a railroad line and a road construction project. The case studies were based on analyses of public records and on interviews with different participants in the planning process: representatives of the developer, municipal officials and politicians, people living in the vicinity of the projects and representatives of local organisations. Three different theoretical perspectives were used in analyzing the empirical material: 1) theories of controversy for examining the content, structure and effects of the siting controversies, 2) theories of democracy for analyzing the intentions of the Planning and Building Act, the interpretation of these intentions by the actors and the democratic character of their interactions, 3) theories of power for analyzing different dimensions of power in the planning process. Major collides between different institutional logics of market, politics and civil society were evident in all of the cases. Three of the controversies were similar in structure, involving escalation and polarisation of the opposing sides. The fourth controversy exemplified a conflict that persisted without escalation. As my analysis demonstrates, the amount of resources and the possibilities to mobilize these by those negatively affected by the plans were of particular importance for the development of the controversies. However, none of the cases terminated in a complete resolution. On the other hand, resistance and voice entailed that further investigation of the issues occurred, in some cases producing minor changes of the original plans. Both participant and elitist oriented activities were evident in the planning processes. The official discourse of a participant democratic planning process gave rise on the part of those affected to expectations that were seldom met and hence to distress. Rather than reducing the siting controversies, the actual possibilities for public participation tended to reinforce them. Analysis of the power relationships showed the developers to have an especially dominant role. In struggles between the different actors involved, the developers had access primarily to allocative resources, the local governmental officials to authoritative resources, and the residents who were affected to expressive resources. The results of the struggles were partly dependent upon alliances with or support by actors from other spheres of society and of compromises between different institutional logics. The conclusion is that in efforts to achieve legitimacy in the planning process it is important to take account of: the nature of the controversies, the degree of democratic content of the planning process, and the effects of existing power structures.
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| 5. |
- Holmström, Ola
(författare)
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Skolpolitik, skolutvecklingsarena och sociala processer : Studie av en gymnasieskola i kris
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is based on a case study of a series of events at a newly started Swedish high school. The study employs a qualitative methodology comprising of interviews, participant observation and analysis of text documents. The series of events opens with the grand visions of the municipality and the school's principal for the school and concludes with the teachers at the school unanimously acting to dismiss the principal. The purpose of the dissertation is to analyze this series of events in the light of the steering reforms and the optimistic attitudes towards school development in the 1990s. Thus the dissertation focuses on two different levels of the school system: on the one hand it looks at an actual school in crisis, on the other it looks at the policy level, which was predominated by an air of optimism. These two levels are linked in the dissertation via the concept school development arena. This connotes an analytical position towards which all principals and teachers were expected to move. When the school's local actors are in the school development arena they deal with the ?how? questions that the steering reforms turned over to them. If they do not enter the school development arena, the ?how? questions remain untreated and unanswered, resulting in not meeting the aims of the steering reforms. Against this background, a comprehensive drive towards the school development arena took place. This is expressed in the dominant school development discourse of the time that was carried by both school policy and school research. According to the discourse the principal should be a challenging leader, the teachers reflexive practitioners, and the school a learning organization. This dissertation shows that these directives pointed strongly towards the school development arena. The principal of the school in this study made great efforts to get the teachers to move into the school development arena, and this was the starting point for the pattern of social interaction that the dissertation focuses on. The social processes analyzed are interpreted using social psychological theory, symbolic interactionism, and Erving Goffman. Great analytical care is taken underline that social actions are not mechanical. How people act is rather a matter of how they define the situation. When the teachers define the principal's visions as ?nonsense?, they treated these visions as not worth bothering with. When the principal rewarded those teachers who entered the school development arena, his actions were deemed unfair, leading to protest and dissatisfaction. As the principal held steadfast to his course he was defined as autocratic and someone the teachers wanted to liberate themselves from.
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| 6. |
- Kondrup Jakobsen, Klaus
(författare)
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The Logic of the Exception
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Normally, we understand democracy and dictatorship as two separate forms of government. Actually, they are intertwined due to the state of exception and its inevitability for the political constitution. This concession frees of normative pre-conceptions of the political and leads us to the hypothesis that if we study the political beyond ideological skirmishes and narrative constructions we can come to conceive of the political as a sociological object of study. The logic of the Exception suggests that such hypothesis can indeed be verified by sustaining Carl Schmitt’s famous definition of sovereignty: “Sovereign is the one who decides on the state of exception.” In four chapters a thorough discourse analysis is carried out with the purpose of bringing to the fore the complexity of Schmitt’s definition and the difficulties of sustaining it in a modern philosophical climate. Several definitions concerning the elements of the political are hereby produced facilitating the construction of a polity model in a concretist conceptual framework. The analytical framework of concretism has several advantages for studying the political as a sociological object of study. Firstly, it avoids idealist assumptions and utopian preconceptions. Secondly, it contrasts the unending power relation analysis of political realism and comes to terms with the relativism of its conclusions. A third, but perhaps most notable consequence of a turn to concretism is the revelation of the fundamental logic governing the political, a revelation laying the political bare in its naked clarity as authority and dominance. By conceptualizing the logic behind the fundamental mechanism of polity, The Logic of the Exception reveals a discourse free of moralist or cynical assumptions about the political. In light of this new found language, we come to understand the rise of global polity following the international state of exception (1999-2006) through a discussion of modern political sociology.
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| 7. |
- Linné, Tobias
(författare)
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Digitala pengar : Nya villkor i det sociala livet
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It has often been argued that money and modern monetary economies have occasioned a comprehensive rationalisation of society. Money has often been viewed as being socially destructive, while it is said that the modern monetary economy has had inescapable consequences for society, culture, and people’s daily lives. This thesis considers the introduction of computerised systems for handling digital money in daily life - Internet banking. In addition, the creation of Internet banking, and its subsequent recreations, is analysed in the light of its users’ understanding of the technology, and the ways in which they adopt it in their daily lives. The thesis applies a detailed perspective on daily life in order to understand people’s experiences of digital money. Digital money, just like cash, is a medium of exchange, but unlike paper money and coins, it has a more abstract quality that has a direct bearing on how people understand it and use it. This change brings with it many new social opportunities, but also new problems. Three different methods were employed in the collection of empirical data for the thesis: interviews, observations, and text analysis. Internet bank customers, particularly older users, were interviewed about their experience of the changes brought by information technology on the circumstances of their economic relationships. Many of the users who were interviewed were later observed, primarily at the premises of Seniornet, an IT support association. In order to analyse the design of the technical systems for economic transactions over the Internet, qualitative interviews were held with leading figures from the Swedish banks’ Internet businesses. These interviews were supplemented with a content analysis of the periodical Finansvärlden [The Financial World] for the years 1994 to 2001, together with a selection of other published material from various branches of the media. In the light of the empirical analysis presented in the thesis, users’ notions of digital money appear to be contradictory. Digital money is more rational and standardised, but at the same time more socially determined. The greater control offered by Internet banking over personal finances is often emphasised by interviewees, as is the fact that technology can be used to structure the everyday use of money. Yet at the same time digital money is harder to control that cash. Instead of making it easier to manage their personal finances, many with a limited knowledge of the technology’s uses find that Internet banking is a source of concern. The technology is sometimes felt to be complex, insecure, and difficult to handle. Internet banking can make everyday financial transactions more convenient, but also reduces convenience. The adoption of Internet banking varies enormously between different groups. Amongst the younger interviewees, many have taken full advantage of the new opportunities that Internet banking proffers. Amongst the older interviewees, Internet banking is used primarily to pay invoices that they previously paid at their local branch or by postal giro. Many of the older interviewees seem to lack trust in digital money on the Internet. With more user-friendly technology, a greater acceptance of their particular needs in an information technology society, and the construction of social networks to support their Internet use, it would be possible to include older people in the digital society in greater numbers than is the case today.
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| 8. |
- Melén, Daniel
(författare)
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Sjukskrivningssystemet : Sjuka som blir arbetslösa och arbetslösa som blir sjukskrivna
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In 1997 the number of long-term absences due to illness began and continued to rise in Sweden. Traditional explanations of why this is so have been centered on either blaming the individual or blaming the work environment. By focusing on long-term illness of the unemployed, this dissertation suggests that there is a growing residual unemployment within advanced welfare states. The main question this dissertation poses is: “Why are the unemployed in increasing numbers filing for long-term illness benefits and what is preventing them from finding a job and returning to work?” This central question has led to two other questions; “How do street level bureaucrats at the employment agency and the social insurance agency carry out their work to return the unemployed ill back to work?” and; “How do the unemployed ill convey their intention of returning to work?” The main question and the two sub-questions are linked by the simple fact that those that are unemployed and long-term ill stay on sick leave for longer durations than their employed counterparts with similar illnesses. The analytical approach is inspired by phenomenology and ethnomethodology. Focus is on both understanding the street level administrators work and the experienced situation of the unemployed ill. The empirical basis of the dissertation is a combination of observational fieldwork and interviews. Observations were carried out on the day to day working of a coordinated project between the social insurance agency and the employment agency, including observing both administrative meetings between the organizations as well as observing the administrators meetings with the unemployed ill. Interviews were completed with nine unemployed ill individuals. The conclusion is reached through a method of elimination of possible answers to the main question of the dissertation. The author first analyzes and eliminates the meso-level of behavior as the most determining explanation, because the project’s additional resources and methods are still inadequate as administrators are unable to create jobs that are not subsidized through financial support provided by the state. The micro-level of behavior is also eliminated, because it shows that failure to return to work cannot be found in a lack of individual motivation. The conclusion is that the labor market regulates the concept of work ability and that the state adjusts to this definition. State agencies, in their turn, influence the individuals definition of him/her self. The author argues that the primary question of why the proportion of the unemployed who are long-term ill is increasing and what is hindering their return to work, has to be answered at the macro-level of societal change.
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| 9. |
- Rypi, Anna
(författare)
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Välviljans variationer : Moraliska gränsdragningar inom brottsofferjourer
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Voices from within the victim movement express a need for morality to have fixed boundaries between good and evil, right and wrong. However, such a morality is not always easy to define and uphold. It is thought important to consider the victims particular experiences, through another logic and morality than the strictly legally defined. This dissertation studies victim support as a moral definition process. Moral philosophers tend to give the impression that moral questions are something that people consider dispassionately, in solitude. Here a different, sociological, perspective on morality is adopted. . Instead of taking for granted that we know what a crime victim and a humanitarian volunteer is, the study examines the interactions and definition processes around the social phenomenon voluntary victim support. Rather than viewing morality as an abstract system of values, it is showed how morality is practised co-operatively. Such co-operation may equally be emotionally charged and rationally defined, but above all I view it as intimately linked to the practical and daily contacts of the people involved, in this case the voluntary workers. My aim is to investigate the process by which a situation and the people involved are officially named and given meaning. However, a definition process is not only accomplished on the level of social policy and ideology. I study the relationship between two levels of definition: how participants uphold meaning, establishing the crime victims as a group deserving special sympathy and support; and negotiate meaning, defining who should be seen as a victim in terms of their support work, deciding how each individual should be supported, and who is friend or foe in the struggle to define and solve the problem. Definitions are not final, but are part of a continuous negotiation process, a fact highlighted in the interactionist and constructionist analysis I present. I link these sociological perspectives to my qualitative data, mainly drawn from interviews and participant observations, to arrive at something new: a concept of the victim path. The idea of a victim path stems from the changes in identity someone who has been affected by crime is presumed to undergo. However, it also refers to the various roles the support workers supposedly take within the process. I have concentrated on how the moral career of the crime victims is connected to the moral careers of humanitarian volunteers. To become a support worker one has to be screened, given a brief training, and be supervised; all demonstrate a professional control exerted over the voluntary role.
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| 10. |
- Schmitz, Eva
(författare)
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Systerskap som politisk handling : Kvinnors organisering i Sverige 1968 till 1982
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The second-wave women's movement emerged in Sweden with Group 8 in 1968, at the height of the anti-war struggle against the US war in Vietnam. A new generation of women took to the streets to demand free abortion, and free childcare, and to campaign against women's low pay and sexual exploitation. This thesis focuses on a number of women's groups? collective action and organising during a political period of different movements. With this thesis I have tried to show what characterised the new women's movement in Sweden from 1968 to the beginning of the 1980's and what happens when women decide to go out and fight against injustices from a gender and class perspective. Secondly, I hope this thesis will provide a better understanding of the social forces for a change in gender relations that existed in Sweden during the 1970's during a period of parallel gender equality work. It was a movement that shook the foundations of women's role in society. Both the women's group activists and the women employed by ASAB and Algots contributed to this. I argue that the collective actions of the women collectives and their experiences of organising cannot be marginalised. I also hope that this study will provide a broader perspective on studies of social movements and collective actions. The social landscape during the 1960's and beginning of the 1970's facilitated the emergence of the new women's movement. For a radicalisation to deepen it also requires political opportunities and openings. For Group 8 it was the international context ? both the anti-war movement and the Women's liberation movement in the US. Another opening was the class politics of the social democrats, where Group 8 saw an opportunity to make visible the situation for especially low salaried women in capitalist society. Group 8 politics were directed against capitalism and the government, the patriarchal relations were exposed on all levels of society. The possibility to free themselves from the expected role of first and foremost being a wife and mother became the trigger for many women to join the movement. The overall focus in my thesis is women's collective actions and social protests. By doing empirical research on some women's groups in different places in Sweden and some women's struggles at work, I focus on the collective strategies that the movement used to challenge women's situation in production as well as reproduction. The women's movement as an important political force was due to the women's creative and active commitment and their ability to mobilise. It was the possibility to create a collective identity in the small women's groups that led to a feeling of power that in turn inspired to political action. The principle was an anti-hierarchical and anti-authoritative organisation and that the small group should be independent. This organisational structure facilitated the creation of a women's solidarity but also deepened the women's consciousness. The Swedish women's movement was a political force active outside the parliamentary institutions and should be assessed in that context. Women activists pushed for a politics that lay in the interests and needs of the majority of women. I believe the new women's movement will be remembered by its extensive collective actions in the form of demonstrations and meetings combined with the sale of newspapers and petitions to municipal councils. The collective actions were characterised by making women aware of oppression and discrimination. This was done with sensational slogans and catchwords at demonstrations. I believe it was these extrovert activities by women activists in different places around Sweden that led to the reception of the ideas and demands of the women's movement reaching far beyond the members themselves and sympathisers.
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