Suchergebnisse

This thesis focuses on the Márkomeannu festival's contribution to the revitalization of food traditions. The study was conducted on the Márkomeannu festival in Skånland in Troms County, specifically in the Markasami areas in the rural hills of Skånland. The festival was chosen because it is an important arena for expression of indigeneity and culture. Many areas within the Sami community have suffered from assimilation and have afterwards gone through a process of revitalization. The process of revitalization of the culture, language, politics and history has been thoroughly studied and written about, but the revitalization of Sami traditional food has not been studied in detail. Food is an important cultural marker which works as building stones of each cultural foundation. Food can be both symbolic and be a purely practical necessity for a culture. The thesis establishes that some traditional dishes are adopted and adapted from international dishes. The results shows that traditional dishes are used to articulate the Sami culture, and that traditions can be adapted to a modern outlook, and also adapted to fit a Sami cultural profile. Márkomeannu as a cultural arena contributes to revitalization of food by creating a platform for cultural expression which can lead to a stronger Sami identity and a feeling of safety in expressing culture.

Considers the changes which occurred during the 1990s in Swedish universities focusing on the way in which these have affected the work situation for lecturers from a gender, management and organization perspective. Uses in‐depth interviews with male and female lecturers in junior and middle‐management positions at one particular university. Explores the way in which women and men conform to the stereotype of "abstract worker" on which the new public management appears to rely. Suggests that this stereotype has loyalty to the employer as the most important priority with children and family commitments counting heavily against those with career aspirations.

Over the past 20 years, the Swedish government and national authorities have organized a structure for knowledge governance in order to implement an evidence-based practice (EBP) for social services. Since the idea of a knowledge governance has not been implemented as expected, it was considered important to develop regional collaboration and support structures (RCSSs) as a link between national and local authorities. In this article, we discuss changes in ideas on knowledge governance at the national level, and also changes in expectations on RCSSs function in knowledge governance of the Swedish social service. Changes in governance also change the prerequisites for implementation of EBP. Therefore, it is important to further examine and analyse ideas on knowledge governance at the national level and whether they change over time. The empirical data consists of official documents and interviews with representatives of key actors at national level. A qualitative content analysis of the interviews was then performed and also an analysis of the official document was used to describe the changes on knowledge governance. This article shows that ideas on knowledge governance has changed over time, from an emphasis on top-down governance towards a more dialogue-based governance. This shift in governance ideals also appears to have had an impact on expectations regarding RCSSs, through an increased emphasis on their collaborative function in relation to both national and local levels. The knowledge governance and the function of the RCSSs appear to be fragile, as this collaboration is based on voluntary partnership and networks.

The purpose of this article is to examine the gendered politics of social work in the Indian city of Mumbai, locating it in a post-colonial context. In order to do this secondary sources are examined along with empirical data collected by the authors. These are interpreted through the framework of a social constructionist methodology that draws on political sociology as well as elements of post-colonial theory and Foucauldian post-structuralism in order to acknowledge agency within a 'location' marked by both constraints and opportunities. The article explores the circumstances in which politicians and administrators find themselves in Mumbai. In considering gender and developing a strategy of what we term 'political essentialism', it is shown that those involved have been drawing on experiences in civil society and using imagined dualisms of gender to position themselves as shapers of social work in Mumbai. ; Validerad; 2010; 20091105 (elbe)

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the issues for middle‐level social work managers arising from the development of the new public management, with its emphasis on the intensification of work, the measurement of performance in service delivery, and cost efficiencies. This is commonly thought to have affected those working in human services such as social work adversely. This paper explores the nature of these consequences, from the point of view of those centrally placed in its implementation.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted in this paper is designed to acknowledge and explore the perceptions of middle‐level social work managers as they contribute to the social construction of the new public management. This is accomplished through in‐depth interviews with a sample of their number in Sweden and England.FindingsThe findings reveal that social work managers are not only comfortable dealing with budgets but also enjoy the autonomy this affords them in their relationship with their subordinates. The findings also reveal that they appreciate the benefits of the more generalised knowledges of management, used in their work with junior colleagues, who they attempted to lead rather than manage and who they respected as colleagues. This has further implications: the possibility of new career opportunities for these predominantly women managers.Originality/valueThe managers in social work see the knowledges gained from their position as managers as transferable to other areas of the public and private sectors, thereby opening up new career opportunities. They were also found to enjoy dealing with budget issues, contrary to earlier studies.

This article considers change in academe in Sweden and England, focusing on gender equity and the new public management reforms. In drawing on social movement theory, it is argued that public sector agendas in these countries have been affected by the influences of their respective women's movements as well as by the new public management. The article explores these developments through the experiences of a group of employees whose voices are heard infrequently in the literature, those in middle‐level academic positions in universities who are responsible for delivering change. It is argued that the rational, hierarchical, masculine discourses of the new public management offer challenges to women's movement supporters, whose influences and responses are examined. It is contended that the use of social movement theory, as a vehicle through which to conceptualize change, offers a number of insights. These are: the contribution made to gender equity by women who are not self‐defined feminists or strongly committed to equal opportunities, known as femocrats; the contribution made by some supportive men to gender equity; and the potential for future collective opposition to the new public management from women's movements.