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This thesis investigates the deliberative potential in two communicative initiatives resulting from the 2001 government policy in Swedish nature conservation, A coherent nature conservation policy. The two initiatives, which constitute the empirical material in the thesis are, (1) a national competence development programme that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency ran 2008-2011, Dialogue for nature conservation, and (2) the nature interpretation at naturum, visitor centres at national parks and nature reserves. Data was generated through qualitative interviews with nature conservation administrators at county administrative boards; participant observation at dialogue courses and workshops with researchers and nature interpreters; video analysis of recorded nature interpretation sessions at naturums; documentation from naturum exhibitions; and document and literature studies. The thesis draws from critical theory and clarifies rationales behind communicative practices in nature conservation. The analysis shows that the communicative initiatives are dominated by the instrumental state rationality, circumscribing space for communicative rationality. The 2001 nature conservation policy emphasised communication, but the communicative initiatives did not sufficiently integrate democratic aspects. By identifying the role of meaning-making as a central phenomenon in a communicative process, the thesis indicates how to include democratic dimensions in communicative work. The theoretical contribution of the thesis draws from an analysis of modernity, nature alienation and reconciliation. In the thesis, naturum is identified as a communicative forum with an underdeveloped potential for reconciliatory activities, more precisely deliberations on nature in nature. The thesis contributes to the field of environmental communication through highlighting how communicative practices of nature conservation depend on both communication and materiality.

Vem har rätt till naturen, skogen och marken? Hur har äganderätt sett ut i Sverige historiskt, och vad grundar sig vår syn på äganderätt på? Den tidigmoderna äganderätten var inte lika strikt som den moderna – ett exempel på ett självorganiserat utnyttjande av allmänningar var fäbodväsendet. Men dessa allmänningar har minskat i takt med den biologiska mångfalden i jordbruksbygderna.

The European Commission adopted the European (EU) Forest Strategy in 2021, where forests and forest management practises such as closer-to-nature forestry (CNF) are identified as a key in solving the two crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This interview study analyses the attitudes of different forest stakeholders towards CNF and their preferred regulation method of it. Seven stakeholders participated in the interviews, representing three stakeholder groups: forest owners, environmental organisations, and industry organisations. Two environmental organisations and one of the forest owners' organisations had their own definition of CNF, which entailed mainly natural regeneration and an avoidance of clear cuts. Their perceived purpose of CNF was the same as that of the EU Forest Strategy, as a forest management method aiming to promote climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and timber production. Those who did not have a definition, two of the forest owner's organisations and two industrial organisations, explained that the definitions of CNF varied depending on the purpose of using it. The three organisations that had a definition of CNF, were also in favour of an EU regulation of CNF. The four organisations that were opposed, argued that the conditions across Europe vary too much to have a common regulation. Instead, they preferred market solutions and other ways of reaching the same goals. The results might depend on a larger inclination of believing in legislation if you have a clear definition of it, but also on the attitudes towards legislation varying in general between stakeholder types. During the finalisation of this study, the European Forest Institute released a report with seven principles of CNF, which calls for further research.

Sverige kallas ibland för världens mest sekulariserade land. Medlemstalen i de religiösa församlingarna sjunker. Samtidigt söker sig allt fler svenskar ut i naturen för att hitta en plats för kontemplation. Är det så att det är ute i skog och mark som de avkristnade svenskarna möter det som en gång söktes i kyrkan? Är naturen svenskarnas nya religion och hur blev den i så fall det? I Granskogsfolk tecknar David Thurfjell den svenska naturkärlekens religionshistoria, från fornnordiska föreställningar om en besjälad vildmark, via de katolska och lutherska periodernas folktro och troslära, till den moderna tidens exploatering och naturromantik. Det blir en berättelse om vår relation till den natur som vi älskar och är en del av, men som vi samtidigt ständigt söker dominera eller fjärma oss ifrån

In the late 1950's, Merleau-Ponty shifted his research focus from phenomenology to ontology. Such a transition involves the articulation of his previous studies of perception and corporeity with the philosophical unfolding of the postulates of physics and biology from the first half of the century. By reformulating the concept of nature, fostered not only by the sciences mentioned above but also by Whitehead's metaphysics, Merleau-Ponty proposes the admission of nature as a temporal flux of self-producing meaningful expressiveness, incorporating temporality and negativity into the core of being, something that before was exclusive of the being-for-it-self. Merleau-Ponty's flesh, as we shall see, is in harmony with Whitehead's notion of process, pointing to a certain pre-socratic hylozoism in the ontology of both. That being said, the purpose of the paper is to examine Merleau-Ponty's indirect ontology, indicating its convergence with Whitehead's philosophy, so we can finally introduce an incipient critique based on the work of Francisco Varela. It is argued here that the concept of autopoiesis may indicate an alternative to Merleau-Ponty's notion of nature.

In his book Mind and World, John McDowell intends to overcome the oscillation between two approaches that seek to mediate the relationship between the minds and the world, on the one hand we have the myth of the giving saying that thoughts need coercion from the outside world, and on the other side we have the coherentism that presents the idea that only one belief can justify another belief. To defend its approach and naturalize conceptual capabilities, situating spontaneity in nature without reducing it within the realm of law. Human nature would then be a second nature which is not only formed from the abilities acquired at birth but which are also formed from the Bildung. In taking these notions, McDowell brings the discussion of Han-Georg Gadamer's ideas about the experience of openness to the world through language. In this way, the intention of the present article is to discuss about the implications of the notions of Bildung and second nature in the work of McDowell seeking a greater clarification from the influence and the interpretations of Gadamer.

Dennett's theory of personal identity argues that the "self" is no more than a center of narrative gravity. One of the main hurdles to assessing this proposal lies in the fact that it is difficult to understand what the nature of Dennett's concept of "self" is; specifically, what are the ontological and epistemological commitments that can be attributed to the phenomenon in question. In this article we claim that the best way to make an interpretative reconstruction of his notion of "self" is appealing to the distinction elaborated by Reichenbach between three classes of entities, Concreta, Abstracta, and Illata, and understanding the narrative centers of gravity as a case of Reichenbachian Abstracta. We defend that understanding the narrative centers of gravity as Abstracta in the sense of Reichenbach is pertinent and illuminating given that: i) although he does not apply it directly to the problem of the nature of the "self", Dennett does use Reichenbach's distinction in other parts of his work; ii) Dennett explicitly draws an analogy of the "self" with the centers of gravity that are, precisely, one of his examples of Abstracta; iii) this way of understanding the "self" allows us to give sense and better understand certain aspects of Dennett's narrative theory. Besides allowing us to clarify the metaphors used by Dennett in the elaboration of his narrative theory, such conceptual elucidation allows us to better understand the distinction between the three classes of intentional psychology drawn by Dennett (1987) and is useful in suggesting to which of these three types the concept of "self" belongs.

Raitasalo, J.; Sipilä, J.: Reconstructing war after the Cold War. - S. 1-24 Jeppsson, T.: Asymmetrisk krigföring : en aktuell krigföringsform. - S. 25-62 Rantapelkonen, J.: Information power vs military power. - S. 63-82 Mäkelä, J.: Combating terrorism in Nordic countries : a comparative study of the military's role. - S. 83-150 Mohlin, M.: Private military companies : a new strategic tool. - S. 151-164

This paper presents a rational reconstruction of Kropotkin's view on human nature, institutional change and economic development. Kropotkin shows that mutual aid among animals as well as in human society is far more important than recognized by contemporary individualist interpretation of Darwinism on society. His major contribution to political economy is that he offers an endogenous model of why institutions exist. However, his biological determinism and ethical naturalism imply that he disregard historical context, which leads him to de facto apply the perspective of historical idealism. The rise of the modern state, for example, he explains by the spread of the "idea of the state" and not by the economic development. Adapted from the source document.