| 1. |
- Bay, Thomas, 1958-
(author)
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AND ... AND ... AND ... : Reiterating Financial Derivation
- 1998
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This essay is an attempt at examining the general logic of derivation, the organisational geno-practice of financial derivationówhat I have called: reiterative derivation. I will endeavour to reiterate, to repeat otherwise, to displace the derivative distinction which apart from providing the financial markets with ever new business opportunities, makes financial instruments like options and futures the potential turning point, the crisis, the utmost risk, the pure possibility, of any economic reality. Stated another way, reiterative derivation is the opening of economy, the economyís way out, its line of flight, its passibility, the invention of its future. A derivative is a financial strategy designed to handle price risks, value fluctuations in its underlying economy; it performs this task by acting simultaneously as either an instrument or a marketable commodity. Offering itself not only as a forceful appendage, a financial device, but as the possibility to deterritorialise displace unsecure uproot its underlying economic reality, the derivative displays an extremely creative approach to the economic world. What I would like to indicate in and through the present essay, then, is how financial derivation works. Not so much, perhaps, in the instrumental sense, but rather as a vehicle allowing one to create and travel into economic worlds, or, perhaps better, economic assemblages, economic ensembles so complex and complicated that they can no longer be understood as either this or that, either, for instance, real or imaginary, but should rather be interstood as imaginary economic realities, either or ... or ... or ... both and ... and ... and ...Abstract, as I use it here, should not be understood in its (perhaps) most common or ordinary sense, as a summary or epitome, as something that presents the point, comprises or concentrates the essence of my essay and thereby facilitates its comprehension. It should rather be interstood as, at one and the same time, a deviation, a diversion, an attempt to draw your attention away from the textual strategies employed (the word abstract derives from the Latin verb abstrahere, to draw away, withdraw); to ìguideî your reading, that is to say, to lure you into the textís own protocols of reading, sheltering thereby the text from being conceived too generously, a way of inviting you to invent your own reading, to write while reading, to proceed with a Deleuzean restrained step, to decide without choosing, to hold while letting go, to grasp while leaving be, to open yourself up to what is still to come, to not knowing what will happen before it happens, to the possibility of nothing happening, towards that which is (always) in the process of coming about, to adventure, the future, to the theme of this essay: the experience of financial derivation, the geno-practice of financial derivation, the economyís monstrous other, the economic futureóto, in short: reiterative derivation.
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| 2. |
- Schultz Nybacka, Pamela, 1971-
(author)
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Bookonomy : The Consumption Practice and Value of Book Reading
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In contemporary society, book readers are increasingly being valued as consumers. Literacy and reading are often subjected to an economic logic and seen as constituting economic operations in themselves. The overall research objective is to explore whether and to what extent book reading as consumption practice belongs with traditional understandings of economy and culture, consumption and value. This entails studies on different levels: theoretical, methodological and meta-theoretical. The main thesis is that we need to envision another mode of economy related to books and reading, captured in the concept of “bookonomy”.The methodological problems connected to the empirical study of consumption practice can be dealt with constructively if we engage consumers in complementary experimental activities. Visual sessions can contribute directly by: 1.) contextualizing practices in everyday life; 2.) exhibiting visible, material aspects, etc.; 3) uncovering invisible aspects such as the art and logic of practice. Using an abductive approach to science and several types of qualitative data, the study puts consumption practice in a new light.Several logics of book reading are uncovered: distributive, encompassing, additive, geometric, accounting, erosive, and depository. These logics of practice are better understood as consummation, rather than consumption. The meta-theoretical study suggested that unlike economic theory that teaches the allocation of scarce resources to meet infinite needs, bookonomy denotes an underlying pattern of complementary logics that gather together and distribute surplus, both historically and as driver into industrial mass production and post-scarcity. Where economic theory distinguishes between value-in-use (utility), value-in-exchange (value) and value-in-money (price), bookonomic value is an epiphenomenal type of value that simultaneously draws on, takes hold of, and deals out surplus. It is a surplus-to-surplus value-in-store, with a distributive logic at heart.
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| 3. |
- Beckius, Göran, 1948-
(author)
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Företagsetik : En studie av etiskt organiserande i några svenska företag
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Although research in business ethics has of late received increased attention from researchers and practitioners, little has been written on the practical effects of its implementation.The aim of the present study is, therefore, to explore the meaning and implications of business ethics from a practical perspective. To these ends, a qualitative study, mainly based on a grounded theory approach, has been carried out. The target of analysis is a corpus material derived from informants from 9 companies ranging from different sectors: 2 from the manufacturing sector, 1 company from the pharmaceutical sector and 6 companies from the financial sector.The results show that almost all the companies under consideration have set up some ethical structures for implementing their ethical practices, and lived up to the embraced ethical values in their business conduct. The results also indicate that the companies have actually responded favorably to the requirements and demands of various stakeholders.Furthermore, the emerging structures constitute the basis of a fully operative concept for organizing and implementing an ethical business conduct in organizations. This concept mainly consists of the following categories: ethics, rules, institutionalization, observing and abiding. These can all be applied separately or as a whole and as such be an instrument for measuring an organizations ethical level.
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| 4. |
- Digerfeldt-Månsson, Theresa, 1964-
(author)
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Formernas liv i designföretaget : Om design och design management som konst
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Design management has become strongly associated with strategic management of creative resources or immaterial assets within the creative economy. It is a development that has involved a growing interest in the way innovative and aesthetically oriented design companies use design as a resource. They constitute a category of companies that claim to represent a unique way of looking upon design itself and also a more intuitive and entrepreneurial design management philosophy. The research concerns Swedish so-called “radical design innovators” who are active in the furniture and interior decoration industry. The study is based on in-depth interviews with leaders, and the aim has been to gain greater insight into how they look upon design as a resource. The study was done from an art point of view. Since design management, due to its alliance with creative economy, has incorporated aspects traditionally associated with the artistic sphere, the aim of the study has also been to improve our theoretical understanding of how art broadens the way by which design is looked upon as a creative resource. Art is represented by Henri Focillon and his notion of “form as life”. Art is understood as something that belongs to knowledge and reality directly at a basic level. The study shows that the design leaders perceive design-form as a poetic image, i.e. as a “lived” quality that escapes verbal definition as it appears as a movement in space, matter, mind, and time. It also shows how their intuitive design management philosophy can only be understood if we look upon design as an artistic process, i.e. a process based on the dynamic relationship between seeing, doing, and bodily being-in-the-world. To sum up the study shows the importance of conceptualizing radical design innovators as aesthetic actors - and not only as innovative ones - if we are to achieve a fuller understanding of where their creative potential resides.
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| 5. |
- Forslund, Dick, 1953-
(author)
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Hit med pengarna! : Sparandets genealogi och den finansiella övertalningens vetandekonst
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Idag pågår i hela västvärlden försök att finansiellt utbilda allmänheten. Vi möts överallt av finansiell reklam. I de nya budskapen om bra finansiellt beteende finns en ny slags moralism – det är tesen i denna avhandlings kritiska genealogi över penningsparandets påbjudna sanningar, moral och känsloliv under två århundraden. Vilka är de nya sanningarna? Men framför allt: Vilka är det rätta känslorna för den enskilde att idag odla i förhållande till det finansiella systemet? Maktutövande övertalning-undervisning i privatekonomiska frågor inriktas på det mottagande subjektets känsloliv. Avhandlingens styrande fråga är: Hur känns mötet med dagens finansiella reklam och folkbildningsförsök? Frågan överskrider analyser av maktutövning i och med språket som, i Michel Foucaults efterföljd, inriktas på tänkande och rationalitet.Ett kvantifierande system grundas i känsla som ytterst styr dess tolkningssystem: systemets subjektiveringssida. Ett generiskt subjekt är tolkningssystemets optimerande ledare. Vår relation till det präglas av ett tillkortakommande. Avhandlingen talar ofta ur detta imaginära subjekts mun, i inkännande tolkning av ”jag” i nutida reklam och folkbildningstexter.I det nya talet om hushållsekonomi framhålls finansiell stoicism som ett ideal. Det finansiella systemet är inte amoraliskt. Det är ett centralt moraliskt system i våra samhällen. Pengar är samhällets viktigaste organisationsmedel, hierarkiseringsmedel och uppfostringsmedel. I avhandlingen framträder till slut utropet, kravet och rådet ”Hit med pengarna!” som det undersökta tolkningssystemets kärnutsaga.
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| 6. |
- Ihrfors, Robert, 1969-
(author)
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Spelfrossa : Spelets makt och maktens spel
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In Sweden, there has been a major change in the role of gambling during the 20th century. Gambling used to be morally and ethically unjustifiable and something to be fought, whereas gambling today is seen as a normal activity, not only accepted by the society, but in some situations something to be en-couraged. The attitude towards gambling is that it stimulates, motivates, encourages creativity, and also brings pleasure and excitement. It generates national incomes, supports organizational activities and has become an im-portant factor in the Swedish regional planning. Today our values concern-ing gambling are governed by the possible immorality that can arise around it, such as risk with illegal activity coupled to gambling and the increasing debate around problem gambling. The ‘normalisation’ of gambling creates new boundaries for what is to be seen as, and what is an acceptable level, of gambling. As a consequence each individual has been given the responsibil-ity to respect this level. New boundaries create series of conflicts associated to what is normal and what is not, and our society has to find an acceptable balance. We have to respect the individual, our individuality, our right to spend our money and leisure time in a way that suits us. On the other hand, the society has a responsibility towards its citizens to make sure gambling will have no negative social consequences. This dissertation studies Swedish parliament documentation on gambling applying Michel Foucault’s method of genealogy. Starting from his theory of power a description of the development of the Swedish debate on gambling is given. It thereby sheds light on the game of truth within a discourse as well as the disciplinary impact discourses have on society.
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| 7. |
- Kylsberg, Gösta, 1956-
(author)
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Kunglig kommunikation - körkonst och tradition : En autoetnografi om autenticitet i ett kungligt konstföretag
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Event marketing has developed in the era of the experience economy. But the rapid growth of the event industry has led to an overflow of events on the market competing for the attention of potential audiences, and events face the risk of becoming non-events or pseudo-events. As a consequence, the demand for experiences has developed into a demand for real and meaningful experiences. This study focuses on a certain category of special events, namely state ceremonies in Sweden. Special events ca be characterized by such qualities as uniqueness, rarity, high quality, traditions, symbolism, authenticity, generosity and can be defined as a unique moment in time celebrated with ceremony and ritual to satisfy special needs. The thesis is an autoethnography, where the Royal Mews, which is the royal transport organization, is looked upon as an art company. The aim of the study is to gain understanding of why horse-drawn carriages are used and what makes them special and effective. The analysis and interpretation of this study are based upon artistic aspects and aesthetic theory. The main contribution of the thesis is within the area of marketing communication, where the concept of rich authenticity and its architecture is understood as a way of analyzing and understanding what makes the Royal Mews special and effective. Rich authenticity is an holistic view where the aspect of a double reality, combining practice and aesthetics is used. State ceremonies using horse-drawn carriages, as special events, create aesthetic experiences through the quality of rich authenticity, which is built upon Vitruvius classic concepts of architecture. A rich, authentic, Royal Mews appears with this perspective to be a Royal Mews of continuity (firmitas), of art practice (venustas) and of communication (utilitas). Aesthetics is an omnipotent distributor of roles between these three pillars that make up the rich authenticity.
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| 8. |
- Svendsen, Jens Martin, 1953-
(author)
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Gör som jag säger! igen och igen : om lojalitet och lek i marknadsföringen: en beskrivning av legitimeringssystematik
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Marknadsföring bildar ett system av kompetenser baserade på kunskap om förfarande. Beroende på hur förfarandet är beskrivet så faller kunskapen ut. Genom att undersöka beskrivningarnas systematik, både vad gäller meningsinnehåll och sammansättning, undersöker texten beskrivningarnas system för legitimering av handlingsalternativ och handlingsrekommendationer: hur denna systematik bildar sambandet mellan är:et och bör:et behandlas. Avslutningsvis ställs en beskrivning av repetitivt förfarande mot en annan beskrivning av samma förfarande – leken. Genom denna kontrasterande beskrivning blir Forskarens (Rekommenderarens) och Hanterarens roller tydliga: beskrivningarna bestämmer de möjliga handlingsalternativen och legitimerar dem, beskrivningarna bestämmer också implicit vilken roll som Forskaren och Hanteraren liksom Kunden (Konsumenten) och den Anställde får. Beskrivningarna bildar – förutom att vara en beskrivning av vad som finns i världen i termer av ting, händelser, egenskaper och rättigheter – också en slags tillskrivande av roller, möjligheter och legitimitet.
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| 9. |
- Wallmon, Monika
(author)
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A Manifesto for Anarchist Entrepreneurship : Provocative Demands for Change and the Entrepreneur
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This manifesto takes a broad and critical approach to entrepreneurial research. The author consciously uses a provocative way of arguing for the importance of challenging received academic wisdom about entrepreneurship.It is a manifesto that spells out why we should question the idea that entrepreneurship research is neutral. It is the academic's privilege to ask questions; hence the appeal here to critical theory, familiar from other traditions than business management, and a useful corrective when considering the dominant and hegemonic perspectives in entrepreneurship research.The manifesto presents entrepreneurship as something that goes far beyond market-oriented business to an enterprising spirit that could keep society self-reflecting and self-critical by questioning what it takes for granted; mobilizing the entrepreneurial energies of those who voluntarily marginalize themselves–individuals and groups who are not afraid to stand out, channeling their self-confidence to defend values that contrast the dominant ones. They are to be found among performance artists practising social art, "extreme" entrepreneurs, and creative anarchists who take society itself as their target when trying to instigate change.When the entrepreneurial focus is not the market per se, but rather the social norms and values in which economic activity is embedded, the entrepreneur's task becomes to challenge whatever is taken for granted–an incitement that is as much social as economic. Thus, the entrepreneur as a provocateur takes on the most established institutions, her only guiding principle being to question whatever principles that society unthinkingly espouses, whatever is taken for granted. Unlike market entrepreneurs, who appreciate institutions since they provide an otherwise unknowable environment with basic "rules of the game", provocative entrepreneurs question even the most formal, long-standing institutions. Their motivation is a generic obstinacy, and their vision is to be recognized for making people aware–and for their actions, even as they rub saltpetre in society's wounds.Entrepreneurship in the form it is presented in this manifesto asks the awkward question or presents the uncomfortable truth, forcing all to take a long hard look at themselves in a cold, self-critical light. The essays here cover a variety of forms of anarchist entrepreneurship–all with a strong driving spirit. The manifesto aims to stimulate entrepreneurs and researchers, as well as politicians and citizens, to engage, to initiate, and to act, all in the name of the society.
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| 10. |
- Ferdfelt, Henrik, 1963-
(author)
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pop
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- How do pop musicians manage on fields of tension between Homo Economicus and Homo Creatus? How do they organize themselves and their worlds combining creativity and commerce? This way of addressing the question assumes pop to be performed on a borderline between culture and commerce. Pop musicians´ comments do however not support the much favoured idea of art and business as dichotomous forces. They rather reveal an indeterminate interrelatedness that attracts and affects. Do dualisms get stuck in “either-or” and “right-or-wrong” positions unfit to understand the social events pop artists both shape and get defined by? Do dichotomies obstruct creative inventions while a “this-and-that” attitude preconditions lines of flight and forces of invention more suited to a pop existence?Trying to grasp how pop musicians cope with organizing, creating, marketing, financing and managing means confronting a complex muddle of continuous unravelling, disentangling and elucidating social spaces. Pop manages expression and money, both individually and collectively, whilst organizing with others that may or may not share their inspirations and ideas. In this a-dichotomous attempt to understand the potentialities of pop, both Homo Economicus and Homo Creatus fade away leaving the stage to Homo Intermezzo - a nomad navigating on vague fields in constant flow.
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