Suchergebnisse

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.

Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. is a troublesome weed, causing economic losses by reducing crop yield, increasing herbicide and tillage costs, and degrading soils due to increased tillage requirements. The major control method for C. arvense is herbicide application, but this poses socio-environmental and herbicide resistance risks. The European Union promotes reduced dependence and sustainable use of herbicides, combined with cultural and mechanical weed control. This thesis assessed the effects of integrated weed control on the population dynamics of C. arvense. For mechanical control, farmers are recommended to act when C. arvense is most sensitive to disturbance, i.e. at the point of minimum belowground weight, coinciding with 7-10 leaves per shoot. However, many farmers believe that this is too late. To estimate the compensation point (CP), defined as the minimum weight of the entire belowground structure of C. arvense, and identify links between initial root weight, planting depth and crop competition, three outdoor pot experiments were performed. For chemical control, farmers are recommended to spray when the majority of C. arvense shoots are 10-20 cm high. To assess the effects of timing and dose of herbicide application (MCPA), and crop competition on growth and development of C. arvense, one outdoor pot experiment and one field experiment were performed. The field experiment also assessed the effects of selective cutting. It was found that CP for C. arvense occurred before 3-leaf stage and that treatment effects were minor (<0.5 leaf stages). Depletion of planted root fragments ceased on average around leaf stage 3-4, indicating that CP occurs at early leaf stages. In the pot experiment, the strongest effect of herbicide treatment was obtained by spraying with the recommended dose in the presence of a crop when the largest C. arvense shoot had 3-4 leaves, corresponding to maximum height 13 cm and median height 6 cm. Crop competition reduced biomass, shoot height and leaf production of C. arvense regardless of herbicide dose. In the field experiment, herbicide treatment at 4-5 leaves or 8-10 leaves gave similar control effects as selective cutting. Herbicide application had a more immediate effect on growth and development of C. arvense while selective cutting depleted the below-ground structures more gradually. The results indicate that mechanical control of C. arvense should be performed earlier than previously recommended, probably before C. arvense reaches 3-4 leaves per shoot. Also early herbicide spraying seems to be as efficient as spraying later in the season.

Design science research was used for the generation, use and evaluation of a model for knowledge sharing in the user community through open educational resources (OER). The focus of interest was on the development process of a model for knowledge sharing that emphasizes the characteristics and the needs of the user community; the empowerment and democratic issues of openness; the collaboration between institutions and dialog with society; and the consideration of quality and sustainability issues. Initially, the community needs were analyzed through surveys and workshops, and the findings used, through negotiations, to formulate the development process. An open-training platform served as an infrastructure and included a repository with OER, a wiki and a discussion forum. The purpose of this article is an attempt to provide universities with a plan and template for integrated knowledge sharing that responds to societal needs. Usability and usefulness has not been evaluated. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This dissertation concerns Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti (SKP) [the Swedish Communist Party] – in 1967 renamed Vänsterpartiet kommunisterna (VPK) [the Left Party – the Communists] and in 1990 renamed Vänsterpartiet (V) [the Left Party] – and the Party's process of coming to terms with history and its communist legacy. The aim of the study is to describe and analyse the SKP/VPK/V's process of coming to terms with history for the period 1956-2006, and to set out and problematise the driving forces and constraining mechanisms of this process. The theoretical framework of the study consists of Gunnar Sjöblom's theory about party strategies of political parties in multi-party systems and Michael Freeden's conceptual approach to ideology analysis. During the period of study the SKP/VPK/V has, like no other political party in Sweden, been ascribed historical guilt regarding its own party history but also regarding the effects of world communism. The Party has thus found itself in a situation where it has had history as an adversary. The process of coming to terms with history has mainly revolved around three issues: independence (1956-1977), international ties (1977-1989) and a broadening beyond the communist tradition (1986-2006). The internal debate within the Party has linked these issues to calls for change aimed at ridding the party of what is considered undesirable elements of the Communist legacy. By analysing the arguments pursued in favour of these calls, it is possible to pick out a number of the driving forces behind the Party's process of coming to terms with history, namely an ambition to obtain vote maximisation, programme realisation and maximisation of parliamentary influence. The urge to distance the Party from certain aspects of its communist past has thus been related to fundamental goals that political parties in multi-party systems seek to obtain. The results of the dissertation show that it is possible to pick out five main constraining mechanisms in the Party's process of coming to terms with history. 1) The safeguarding of Party cohesion. 2) The safeguarding of the distinctive character of the Party. 3) The need to resist external pressure. 4) The desire to avoid unfair apportioning of blame. 5) The safeguarding of the right to define the substance of one's own ideology. The existence of these constraining mechanisms help to explain why the process of coming to terms with history lingered on for several decades, and also why it seems to have been a process of such complexity for the Swedish Communist and Post-Communist Party.

This study deals with the issue of democratization in Latin America during the 20th century, and in particular the role of the left in this process. The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the role of the left as a political actor in the process of democratization toward the deepening of the democratic rule in Latin America. The research questions are: what role did the left have in the transitions to electoral democracies during the 20th century in Latin America? Why did the left have the role it had in the transitions? How does the left's view of democracy affect the transition to electoral democracy, and the further democratization to deepen democratic rule? What structural constraints affect the left's ability to deepen democratic rule? A comparative qualitative method and different theoretical concepts of democracy, democratization, elite perspective, mobilization and organizations have been used, and examples from different Latin American cases are given. One empirical conclusion is that the role of the left in the transitions to electoral democracies varies from participation with active left leaders, collective left actions, to not have any significant role at all. A second empirical conclusion is that in cases where left wing governments have tried to enforce a model of participatory democracy, the result has been " coup d'état" or rebellions conducted by military forces and supported by the economic elite and the United States of America. In other cases when left parties in government instead have remained within the framework of an elite democracy, the result has rather been stabilization of the liberal democratic rule. The main theoretical conclusions are as follows: the theoretical discussion about democratic consolidation and the deepening of democracy have to consider that different actors' (in this study the left) preferences for various models of democracy differ; the actors' view of democracy matter in the game of democratic development and democratic consolidation; and the relations between the elite actors' preferences for different models of democracy determine the outcome of a specific form of democratic model (in this study electoral democracy, liberal democracy or participatory democracy).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate cost-effective climate policy instruments for bioenergy and timber, adapted to the impacts on interdependent forest carbon pools, and applied in the EU climate policy to 2050. We develop a discrete time dynamic model including forest carbon pools in biomass, soil, and products, as well as fossil fuel consumption. The analytical results show that the optimal taxes on forest products depend on the growth in the respective carbon pool. The application to the EU 2050 climate policy for emission trading shows that total costs for target achievement can be reduced by 33 percent if all carbon pools are included, and the carbon tax on fossil fuel can be reduced by 50 percent. Optimal taxes on forest products differ among countries and over time depending on the potential for increased carbon sequestration over the planning period. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In the late 19th century it became possible to utilize electricity in lighting, industrial processes and for traction. To Sweden, which at that time was gradually being transformed from an overwhelmingly agrarian country into an industrialized nation, this was of great advantage because Sweden was a country well furnished with hydro-electric power, but almost completely lacking in other sources of energy. Beginning in the 1890's a number of privately-owned powerstations were built almost all over the country. During the early 20th century, the Swedish Government became increasingly involved in hydropower development. In 1906 the Government decided to make its debut as a power producer. A government bill proposing the building of a power station at Trollhättan was submitted to the Swedish Parliament, and Parliament approved this bill the same year. Two years later the State Power Board was formed, and in 19 10 Parliament approved plans to build a great power station at Porjus, on the Lule River in the north of Sweden. This power station is the main object of my study. The questions 1 shall try to give an answer to in my study are the following. Why did the State build a power station at Porjus? What happened to the industrial visions that initiated this project? On a more general level my dissertation intends to contribute to the understanding of the establishment of modem technological systems in Sweden. 1 shall try to achieve this by means of a model elaborated by Thomas P. Hughes, Professor of the History of Technology at the University of Pennsylvania. In Hughes' model technical systems are regarded as a part of a "socio-technical" or "technological" system. The core of the theory can be expressed in these words: "They are both socially constructed and society shaping." In my study, which consists of four parts, Part 1 is a study in which energy conditions in Sweden at the turn of the century are discussed in order to ascertain whether the prevailing sources of energy and power transmission methods are to be regarded as promotors of, or obstacles to a continued industrialisation. In Part 11 the following question is put in focus. Why did the State build one of its first big power stations in an area of wilderness in the north of Sweden? The answer to that question is given through a discussion in three steps. It starts with a discussion about why the Railway Board wanted to electrify the State railway. When the Railway Board made that decision they had intended to carry out the largescale trial electrification of a railway line in the western part of Sweden. In 1908 these plans were changed and the Railway Board decided to choose the Riksgräns Railway in the north of Sweden instead. The reasons for this change are discussed in a second step, and after that a discussion follows in which the choice of the Porjus Falls is explained. In Part 111 the dimensioning of the Porjussystem is discussed - i. e. the preliminary work that were needed to build the station, the power station, the transmission system and the locomotives. In the discussion problems connected with the locality of the Porjus Falls are emphasized. Part IV contains a discussion on the following theme. What happened with the industrial expectations which were once the main reason for the decision to build a power station at Porjus? ; Godkänd; 1994; 20070426 (ysko)

Raising environmental awareness among farmers is the key to successfully reaching environmental goals. The present study assessed the knowledge development process and the raising of environmental awareness among 30 farmers from Poland exposed to four approaches aimed to reduce phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) losses to water. The farmers were interviewed with open-ended questions on-farm both before and after the project intervention. As hoped, the farmers attempted to adjust their farm practices to the European Union regulations, which are in some cases supported by subsidies. As a complement, the project offered tools for system-thinking based on farm data and support from agricultural advisors: a) a survey of plant-available P, potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and soil pH, resulting in soil maps; b) assessment of nitrogen leaching risks from individual fields; c) compilation of a farm-gate balance. Farmers were positive to soil surveys and maps, but had limited understanding of the nutrient balance concept and calculations. They generally relied on their own experiences regarding fertilization rather than on calculated farm nutrient balances and leaching risks. Farmers' understanding and willingness to adopt new approaches to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce negative environmental impacts are discussed.

The grandiose, but failed, attempts to produce silk in Sweden in the past have been largely ignored by historians. This thesis describes the history of sericulture in Sweden, including three periods of practical trials in 1735-1765, 1830-1898 and 1913-1918. For a long time, the secrets of sericulture were closely guarded in China but by the beginning of the 16th century, knowledge of silk cultivation techniques had reached a number of European countries. The pursuit of domestic silk production was often a costly undertaking instigated by royalty. Since conditions in Sweden and Denmark were partly similar, there was some degree of influence and cooperation between these neighbouring countries. The chapters dealing with attempts at silk production during the 18th century and the history of sericulture in northern Europe are primarily based on printed sources and literature. Several of the 18th century silk farmers documented their experiments, allowing us to follow their efforts and ideas on the feasibility of silk farming in Sweden. The descriptions of the two latter sets of Swedish silk production trials presented in the thesis are primarily based on archive materials, mainly consisting of minutes and annual reports. The history of sericulture in Sweden began in the mid-1730s, when Mårten Triewald conducted experiments and exhaustively described and published these. Carl Linnaeus was a significant influence in Swedish sericulture during this early period. Naturalists were hired as plantation managers and were tasked with supplying the silk industry in Sweden with home-produced raw material. The work was prompted by the desire to find an alternative for the huge Swedish imports of raw silk from China and Southern Europe. However, silk farming never became particularly common, despite the financial incentives available for producing silk and planting mulberry trees during the 1750s in the belief that some 'extravagance' was beneficial for society as a whole. When the 'Hats' position of power ended, so did the financial support for manufacturing luxury goods. Founded in 1830, the Swedish Association for Domestic Sericulture was active for nearly 70 years thanks to foreign influences and the notion that silk farming could be a popular livelihood. Members of the Swedish Royal Family served as patrons and several well-known scientists participated in the projects. The Association furnished mulberry plants and seeds, together with silkworm eggs, most of which were distributed to plantations controlled by the Association or county agricultural societies. However, the Association's annual reports show that many private individuals also planted mulberry trees and some pursued silk farming. Sericulture growing trials were carried out at a number of sites across Sweden, on the initiative of Jacob Berzelius, among others. These trials were mainly funded by Government grants, but numerous wealthy individuals also made contributions to the sericulture venture. Some income was generated by the silk products produced, which were almost solely bought by the Swedish Royal Family. The Swedish Sericulture Association was founded in southern Sweden in 1913 but this third brief foray into sericulture produced few results. All three periods of sericulture trials were initiated by enthusiasts with a firm belief that some silkworm host plants would survive the Nordic climate. There were a number of claims that the white mulberry tree had become acclimatised, but an equal number of cold winters and springs proved the opposite. Ultimately, Swedish sericulture was never economically feasible, since the natural conditions were unfavourable and the output from Swedish silk production was modest, and the cost high, in relation to imported silk. The almost 200-year history of sericulture in Sweden provides an important glimpse into the obsessions and culture of the age, but there were far too many obstacles for the dream of Swedish silk ever to become a reality.

This thesis aims to explain how small states, in this case Sweden, security politics adapts to new circumstances after great conflicts in the 20th century. The analytical model is built by a combination of the opposite theories of international politics, realism and idealism, combined with actor based and structure based perspectives and thus creating a four field analytical matrix. The empirical foundation constitutes of three post conflict periods; post-first world war, post-second world war and post-cold war periods. For every period three cases are analyzed; one foreign politics initiative, one association to an international organization and one defence politics decision. In the post-first world war period the focus is on the Swedish intervention of the Åland archipelago, the association to the League of Nations and disarmament decision in 1925. In the post-second world war period the focus is on the association of Sweden to the United Nations, the Swedish initiative to a Scandinavian defence alliance and the defence decision of 1948. In the post-cold war period the focus is on the Swedish association to the European Union, the Swedish participation in the NATO led IFOR operation in Bosnia and the defence decision in 1996. The main conclusions of these investigations are that small states, like Sweden, both are restricted in their foreign and security politics by international structures and able to use the same structure to promote their interests. Time is a key element for analyzing both structural and actor based aspects of a small states capacity. Also, in the case of Sweden, there tends to be a tension between an idealistic dominated politics and a realistic dominated politics when it comes to foreign and security politics, and that idealism seems to have increased in the latter period.

During much of the 20th century, the national party systems of Western Europe remained largely unchanged. However, beginning in the 1970s, these frozen party systems slowly started to melt. As the number of parties has increased, the question of what explains new party entrance has also attracted more scholarly interest. Despite this increased attention, the study of new political parties still suffers from a structuralist bias. The implication is that the fates of new parties are decided almost exclusively by external factors. Some scholars focus on the institutional environment; others emphasize sociological explanations, such as the formation of new cleavages in society. Yet such non-actor-centred perspectives risk being excessively deterministic. They also struggle to explain why some parties succeed in gaining entrance to legislatures while others, seemingly under the same external circumstances, fail. In this thesis, therefore, a new way to study parties and their path to parliament is proposed. Starting with the notion that external conditions alone cannot explain new party entrance, the thesis takes an agency-based perspective. Three sets of strategies are identified as being important means for a party to influence its chances of getting into parliament. They concern the party's resources, its political project and its external relations. In what ways can supply and management of resources, policies and relations with other parties affect the potential for becoming a parliamentary party? Through four in-depth case studies of new entrants into the Swedish national parliament, the Riksdag, the thesis concludes that there are some important commonalities in their paths to parliament. Especially with regard to their resources and their political project, the empirical evidence supports the initial premise: new party entrance is unthinkable without successful strategic behaviour.

During much of the 20th century, the national party systems of Western Europe remained largely unchanged. However, beginning in the 1970s, these frozen party systems slowly started to melt. As the number of parties has increased, the question of what explains new party entrance has also attracted more scholarly interest. Despite this increased attention, the study of new political parties still suffers from a structuralist bias. The implication is that the fates of new parties are decided almost exclusively by external factors. Some scholars focus on the institutional environment; others emphasize sociological explanations, such as the formation of new cleavages in society. Yet such non-actor-centred perspectives risk being excessively deterministic. They also struggle to explain why some parties succeed in gaining entrance to legislatures while others, seemingly under the same external circumstances, fail. In this thesis, therefore, a new way to study parties and their path to parliament is proposed. Starting with the notion that external conditions alone cannot explain new party entrance, the thesis takes an agency-based perspective. Three sets of strategies are identified as being important means for a party to influence its chances of getting into parliament. They concern the party's resources, its political project and its external relations. In what ways can supply and management of resources, policies and relations with other parties affect the potential for becoming a parliamentary party? Through four in-depth case studies of new entrants into the Swedish national parliament, the Riksdag, the thesis concludes that there are some important commonalities in their paths to parliament. Especially with regard to their resources and their political project, the empirical evidence supports the initial premise: new party entrance is unthinkable without successful strategic behaviour.

The thesis concentrates on Hofors and a local trade union environment between 1917 and 1946, where important parts of the trade union's power were held by parties to the left of the social democrats. The overall aim is to problemize and discuss the issue of what characterised and made possible this deviation from the usual picture of a trade union movement dominated by social democracy. What characterised the conditions in such a local trade union environment and to what extent can local norms and political culture be linked to the conditions and the development in the trade union movement in Hofors? The factors behind the radicalism in Hofors can be found in the local union and political context. The investigation points out the following main reasons: the left-wing local council of the Social Democratic Party and its successors' organisational lead, the local labour council's working method being close to what has been considered "social democratic", their representatives being highly trusted in the local community, and the growth of a local radical tradition. The political culture and the norms that gradually developed were based on a left-wing social democratic tradition. The local council of the Social Democratic Party that left the party in 1917 to join the left-wing social democratic faction was the same local council, despite their names and change of parties in the 1920s and 1930s. It became the local labour movement's bearer of traditions and represented the continuity in the local trade union environment, which contributed to the leftwing socialist project being long-lived in Hofors. The central aspects were the trade union work and the practical-concrete tradition that developed. Primarily through successful trade union work, the local labour council and its trade union representatives gained strong and long-term support from a large proportion of the local trade union movement's members and the population of Hofors. Against this background it may be stated that, even though it was often impossible for the parties to the left of social democracy to maintain a local trade union and political power position that was stronger than that of the social democrats for a lengthy period of time, it was not entirely impossible. It may also be stated that for the trade union member as such, a communist or socialist party affiliation was not a real obstacle in the election of shop stewards. Their focus was primarily put on the would-be representatives' personal qualities and ability to live up to the demands and expectations placed on them by the members, and not so much on their ideological persuasion.

[Twilight of Swedish social democracy]For fear of a supposedly worse result, the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) greeted the outcome in the Swedish parliamentary election in 2018 as a half victory. SAP's poor support among voters, the lowest since an almost general male suffrage was introduced in 1911, underlines the malaise afflicting social democracy's global flagship. In his article, written before the result of the long government-forming process, Göran Therborn charts the background to the election results by examining the SAP-led neoliberalization of Swedish politics since the early 1980s, and the rise of the far-right party Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats) as a political force in the wake of recession and refugee arrivals. To this Swedish translation, Therborn has added a short postscript on the latest development after the January agreement in 2019 that led to the formation of a SAP-led minority government.Publication history: A translation of a, by the author, slightly revised and enlarged version of "Twilight of Swedish Social Democracy" in New Left Review, issue 113 2018 (https://newleftreview.org).(Published 15 April 2019)Citation: Therborn, Göran (2019) "Solen går ner över svensk socialdemokrati", in Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, issue 10, pp. 7–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.10.1 ; Av rädsla inför ett förmodat än sämre resultat hälsade Socialdemokraterna resultatet i det svenska riksdagsvalet 2018 som en halv seger. SAP:s usla stöd bland väljarna, det lägsta sedan en nästan allmän manlig rösträtt infördes 1911, understryker det missnöje som drabbat socialdemokratins globala flaggskepp. I sin artikel, som skrevs före det att regeringsbildningen blev klar, kartlägger Göran Therborn bakgrunden till valresultatet genom att granska den av SAP ledda nyliberala omsvängningen av svensk politik sedan början av 1980-talet, och uppgången för Sverigedemokraterna som politisk kraft i spåren av lågkonjunktur och flyktinginvandring. Till denna svenska översättning har Therborn fogat en kort efterskrift om den senaste utvecklingen efter januariavtalet 2019.Publiceringshistorik: Översättning av en, av författaren, något reviderad och utvidgad version av artikeln "Twilight of Swedish Social Democracy" i New Left Review, nr 113 2018 (https://newleftreview.org).(Publicerad 15 april 2019)Förslag på källangivelse: Therborn, Göran (2019) "Solen går ner över svensk socialdemokrati", i Arkiv. Tidskrift för samhällsanalys, nr 10, s. 7–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.10.1