The aim is to offer an overview in queer theory designed for political scientists. First of all queer theory is placed in a context of feminist studies, gay and lesbian studies, the discursive turn in social science, postmodern approaches to identity, postcolonial theory and Foucault's ideas of power. Then I highlight the political theorist Shane Phelan and her considerations in citizenship. Taking a critical stance against the Modern use of binaries, Phelan argues that acknowledgement of strangeness/strangers should be given priority in ethical aspects of citizenship. In the third section I refer to Butler's theories about gender performativity and the heterosexual matrix, Sedgwick's approach to the concept of homosexuality as well as Rubin's theory about sexual hierarchies. Finally queer theory is neither antifeminist nor profeminist. Yet this theory may support feminist goals. Adapted from the source document.
In a review of Mikael Sundstrom's Connecting Social Science and Information Technology. Democratic Privacy in the Information Age, Sundstrom's account of a theoretical framework that may serve to simplify information technology environments, with a particular emphasis on the importance of privacy (as defined in liberal democratic societies) is critiqued on the grounds that it is reductive in some ways: the concept of a 'grand base' for information technology innovation that attends to access time, information sequentially, interactivity, pervasiveness, real-time transfer, recipient anonymity, sender anonymity, recipient transfer cost, recipient enabling cost, recipient verification of sender authenticity, & search & retrieve ability, while laudable, is not matched by an attention to practicality or cost of implementation. In his response, Sundstrom claims that he has been misunderstood, particularly in his account of the 'grand base,' whereas the author, in his reply, disputes this. 4 References. A. Siegel
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge. (2) One cannot generalize from a single case; therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development. (3) The case study is most useful for generating hypothesis, while other methods are more suitable for hypothesis testing & theory building. (4) The case study contains a bias towards verification. (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains & correct these misunderstandings one by one & concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, & that a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more good case studies. 1 Table, 59 References. Adapted from the source document.
In Karl Popper's famous book, The Open Society and Its Enemies, appears the formulation social engineering. That is an unfortunate wording. There is nothing mechanical in Popper's political strategy. The keywords are rather piece-meal & trial & error. It is even possible to characterize Popper as -- up to a point -- anti-rationalistic. His warning that we should not think too much of our knowledge of the functioning of the social world & of our ability to make forecasts, reminds one of what a critic of the French Revolution like Edmund Burke had to say. We should start with the delivered institutions, diagnose what is working badly &, aware of possible error, try to improve it. That said, one is not surprised of meeting a strain of antipolitics in Popper's philosophy. Although Popper welcomes measures to clear away suffering & distress, it is uncertain how he would balance his negative utilitarianism against individual freedom. He is distrustful of political power. The idea that democracy gives the people the instrument of governing is an illusion. Democracy's point is to make it possible to dismiss a government (notice the parallel with his methodology, a government is a kind of hypothesis, the election an opportunity for falsification.) However, it is not Popper's political philosophy in a substantial meaning that makes him worth studying, but his theory of the critical discourse, a theory that is very relevant for a reformistic political strategy. The idea of the Popperian discourse is not to get the parties closer emotionally, not to reach a compromise, not even to convince, but for me to listen to & learn from the criticism of my hypotheses. People with divergent standpoints should not be kept out of the discourse, they should be welcomed. Popper admires Greek culture up to Socrates & he emphasizes its openness to influences from other cultures along the shores of the Mediterranean. That is in keeping with Popper's antinationalism. Nationalism fattens stupidity & is often the cause of devastating violence. In his later works Popper regularly uses an evolutionary model & his theory of language is no exception. He sets forth how the development of describing, language's third function besides expressing & warning, created the possibility of storytelling. Now, stories can be true & false, & that makes language's fourth function necessary, the function of argumentation, of proving or disproving of what has been said. Lying, however, is a wonderful invention. To lie, to say what is not, but could be true, is a nursery for fantasy & creativeness. 33 References. Adapted from the source document.
The formation of a green party in Sweden, "Miljopartiet De Grona", in 1981, can be explained as a result of the established party system's failure to handle a change of zeitgeist in an ecological direction, & most of all the political trauma arising from the focal point of Swedish environmental protest, the popular referendum on Nuclear Power 1980. Initially, Miljopartiet De Grona originally was organized as an alternative, non-hierarchical party, without a distinct party leadership & an with an ultrademocratic ideal. The party failed to achieve the 4 percent necessary to enter parliament in the elections of 1982 & 1985, but in 1988 it finally established itself in the Swedish Riksdag. Since then, Miljopartiet has step by step changed in the direction of a more "normal" political party. In 2002 they were allowed as a semi-coalition partner of the Social Democrats & the formerly communist Left Party. Still eager to be an alternative party, Miljopartiet will, perhaps, enter a red-green government after the election in autumn 2010. If so, they have in 30 years managed to move from "alternative exclusion" to what may be labeled "included alternativism.". Adapted from the source document.
I "Pennskaften inifrån - ideologiska krafter om modern funktionshinderspolitik i Finland och Sverige" skildras såväl samtida som historiska röster och perspektiv på funktionshindersdebatt, mänskliga rättigheter och opinionsbildning i sociala frågor. Även klassperspektivet i Finland och Sverige tas upp
As a consequence in internationalization and general trends in publishing, compilation theses, a form of publication relatively new to the political science field, are likely to become increasingly common. Those specializing in social sciences disciplines such as psychology and economics have had more experience in dealing with this type of publication. Based on their experiences, it is possible to unite on certain guidelines when evaluating publication quality. A compilation thesis should typically include from three to five scholarly contributions. At least one contribution should be self-authored. It should be clear what portion of the writing has been contributed by the doctoral candidate. Contributions should deal with a common overall theme. The beginning summary of the thesis should be carefully evaluated for its effectiveness in pointing out gaps in earlier research on the topic under discussion and for the pulling together of contributions. Esaiasson discusses how some years ago teaching staff at the Goteborg Institute developed a set of evaluation guidelines but notes that the institute hasn't produced compilation theses in recent years, so the guidelines havent yet been tested in actual practice. Further discussion is needed concerning the criteria for evaluating this emerging type of publication. Adapted from the source document.
The objective behind this article is to study the proliferation of the politics of information technology (IT) in Sweden, 1994-2003, based on a discourse analysis. The article argues that the Swedish IT political discourse is characterised by a guiding rule according to which there exist an autonomous & inevitable historical path towards the "information society." Swedish citizens are defined as dependent subjects, without any means to influence the advent of this new society. Instead they have to comply with new requirements in terms of swift social adaptation & life-long learning. In addition, the IT-political discourse is distinguished by nationalist optimism, as well as democratic ambitions. This also gives rise to peculiar contradictions within the discourse, for instance in the educational arena where there is a clash between individualist pedagogical doctrines & collective compliance to the information society. The author concludes that Swedish IT politics have hitherto mainly focused on affecting definitions & perceptions through the persuasive use of a model of steering which the author labels "visionary governance," ie, the establishment of an authoritative definition of the future by certain experts or "visionaries." Discursive power within such a model consists in making all actors addressing the political issue unanimously. 24 References. Adapted from the source document.
Varför förvaras Carl XVI Gustafs använda servett i Livrustkammarens magasin? Varför är det så vanligt med porträtt av kungligheter på dass, och vad betyder det? Hur hanteras kungliga föremål i människors hem? Vad händer om kungen och drottningen kommer på besök i en kommun? Hur blir man en modern undersåte?00Monarkin i Sverige är en hållbar och populär företeelse, trots att den utmanar moderna ideal om alla människors lika värde. I centrum för denna paradox står den kungliga statusen. De kungligas jobb är att vara vanliga på ett alldeles ovanligt sätt. I den här studien visar Mattias Frihammar att kunglighet är en social konstruktion, en strålglans utan källa, som får mening genom människors agerande och tänkande. Vi ger kungligheten dess betydelse för att vi behöver dess upphöjdhet.00Studien bygger på ett brett etnografiskt material. Författaren har bland annat under drygt ett år följt förberedelsearbetet i en kommun inför ett kungligt besök. Han har närvarat under firandet av kungliga födelsedagar på borggården vid Stockholms Slott, under den så kallade Victoriadagen på Öland och på gudstjänsten i Storkyrkan som föregår riksdagens öppnande. Den kungliga medverkan vid nationaldagsfirandet på Skansen ingår i studien liksom några mediehändelser och enskilda människors berättelser om monarkin och kungahuset.00Ur svenska hjärtan djup är en saklig studie som tar seriöst på ett samhällsfenomen som ibland beskrivs som oförargligt, men som alltid väcker starka känslor: kungligheten i vår tid. Mattias Frihammar är etnolog vid Stockholms universitet
While the Right has, since the turn of the cent, seen the number of its voices & seats in the 2 chambers of the Swedish Parliament diminish regularly, 1928 seems to be exceptional for the success of this party in the elections for the second Chamber. The propaganda that was used may explain this revival. The study was made using 3 conservative journals which are considered to be representative. Pol'al & soc events of 1928 were presented as evidence of collusion between the socialists & the Swedish & Russian Communists. The question of royal succession, the opposition of the socialists to gov projects for labor legislation, the strikes in the pulp paper industry & in the mines (the latter supported by Russian unions), the issue made by the socialist of the mobilization of dockworkers, & the attitude of the socialists in matters of national defense-all of these were stressed in the 3 journals. All of them were used as evidence of the close regard for Sweden of the Soviet regime. During the election campaign, this attempt to magnify the issues took 3 forms: (1) the cooperation between socialists & Communists was violently denounced, (2) a social-democratic victory was considered to be a means for Communists to control the gov, & (3) the other bourgeois pol'al parties were also attacked because of their attitude in the preceding legislature. Tr by J. A. Broussard from IPSA.
FÖRORD 9 INTRODUKTION 13 Syfte och problem 16 Undersökningsmaterial 19 En analys av luthersk etik 25 En rimlig utformning av luthersk etik 30 Tidigare forskning 34 Disposition 37 1 LAG OCH EVANGELIUM I LUTHERS ETIK 41 Om lag och evangelium 43 Läran om rättfärdiggörelse 46 Läran om goda gärningar 48 Etikens innehåll 52 En skapelseförankrad etik 56 Läran om de två regementena 59 Etisk dualism och hierarkisk samhällssyn 63 Konklusion 68 2 POLITISK ETIK I LUTHERSK TRADITION Jl En patriarkal politisk etik 73 Överhetstanken och läran om skapelseordningar 77 Staten som skydd mot det onda 81, En kritisk skapelseordningsteologi 87 Luthersk teologi som nazistisk ideologi 92 Evangeliets roll i luthersk politisk etik 99 3 LÄRAN OM GUDS ORDNINGAR 105 Spänningen mellan lag och evangelium 107 Skapelsen, synden och lagen 109 Kritik av naturrätten 112 Ordningar inrättade av Gud 115 Etik i en konfliktsituation 118 En realistisk politisk etik 122 Den minimala staten 126 Överheten i ett demokratiskt samhälle 128 Ett hierarkiskt rättviseideal 131 Konklusion 134 4 SKAPELSEN OCH LAGEN 137 Motsatsen mellan lag och evangelium 140 En skapelseförankrad etik 144 Kravet på omsorg 148 En etik för alla människor 152 Läran om de två regementena 156 En politisk etik utan kristologi 161 1 Kritik av makten 165 Politisk etik utan ideal 169 Konklusion 172 5 MÄNNISKANS DYGD OCH GUDS NÅD lj$ En dygdetisk teori 177 Naturlig och kristen kärlek 182 En naturrättslig teori 186 Människan som syndare och rättfärdiggjord 189 Lag och evangelium 193 Politikens begränsade värde 197 Kristen kärlek och politiskt handlande 202 Människovärde och social hierarki 205 En dygdetik utan samhällskritik 208 Konklusion 211 6 EN UDDLÖS POLITIK 215 Luthers patriarkala etik 218 Luthersk etik och tysk nazism 222 Den minimala staten 227 Ett krav utan innehåll 231 Politikens begränsade värde 236 Luthersk etik som politisk liberalism 242 Evangeliets betydelse för etiken 246 7 KRISTOLOGI SOM SAMHÄLLSKRITIK 251 Tre modeller för kristen politisk teologi 253 En etik förankrad i kristologin 258 Motstånd i Kristi efterföljd 263 Korsets teologi som hopp om befrielse 267 En etik förankrad i skapelsetanken 270 Eskatologi som kritiskt perspektiv 275 Evangelium som etisk vägledning 279 Socialetik utan tvåregementslära 283 LITTERATUR 287
