In 2017, the Swedish government took the initiative to conduct a countrywide information campaign with the aim of informing the citizens on what to do in the event of a serious crisis or war. In this article the effects of this information campaign are studied through a unique panel survey with identical surveys sent out immediately prior to the campaign and two weeks after the campaign. Concerning the effect, the level of responsibility for civil preparedness ascribed to different actors increased after the campaign, including the responsibility of the citizens. This effect is significant. However, the study reveals no significant effect on the lev els of trust with the trust in different authorities and their civil preparedness remaining on a midlevel before as well as after the campaign. Moreover, we do not see any general proof of higher risk perceptions or higher fear of threats as a result of the campaign, with the im portant exceptions of fear of measures to destabilise democracy and severe power cuts. In the article it is argued that despite current trends of strong individualisation with effects on media consumption and respect for authorities, the Swedish campaign illustrates that it is still possible to reach the greater part of the population with vital information and also, to at least some extent, affect attitudes.
Considers the possibility of using the Internet as an arena for political deliberation. The Internet provides user anonymity, a feature that can be used & refined to force the participants in a discussion to focus on content & ideas rather than the sender. The systematic use of democratic avatars -- a user-identity that protects the physical identity of the sender but at the same time reveals all messages that the user has sent -- would purify the deliberation & allow dissentient opinions to be expressed without fear, while at the same time forcing the participants to be open & consistent in their argumentation. Adapted from the source document.
This article discusses modern Islam & what is commonly called Islamism. The aim with the discussion is to bring forward different views on the content & emergence of Islamism during the 20th century. The material for this discussion composes of three books each presenting different perspectives on the topic. The books are Olivier Roy's Globalized Islam, Bobby S. Sayyid's The Fundamental Fear, & finally Politics of Piety by Saba Mahmood. The discussion is narrowed down to two themes or questions: a) terminology -- what does one mean when using the word Islamism? b) Islamism & the relation to West -- is Islamism described as a reaction to western hegemony, a product of West, or something else? In the article support is given to Mahmood's attempt at understanding Islamism on a micro-level. Mahmood's analysis is argued to be a fruitful attempt to move away from generalizations & diffuse understandings of Islamism. Adapted from the source document.
This dissertation is about municipal procurement of construction projects. Public procurement is often portrayed as inefficient since public organizations can have several, potentially conflicting, objectives. In this dissertation, I use Uppsala municipality as a case to study how procurement worked during a time when municipal procurement was not regulated by law. The main interest is how the administration balanced procedural and outcome-related objectives and how its choices can be explained. Earlier research has suggested that public organizations use discretionary decision-making and so-called low-powered incentives (negotiations and cost-plus contracts) to a lesser extent than private clients do, making procurement less efficient. Rigid rules and fear of corruption are usually mentioned as explanations. The results of this dissertation show that low-powered incentives and discretionary decision-making became more common when there were more rules and a more bureaucratized administration. It is suggested that the structure and institutions of the construction sector, in combination with government financing policies and the municipality's organizational capability, can explain the pattern. The results have implications for the literature on public procurement as well as on the development of the public administration in Sweden. First, they indicate that the relationship between formal rules and procurement practices is more complicated than previously suggested. Second, they highlight how discussions about the public administrative system can benefit from incorporating the local level as well as informal institutions and practices.
The purpose of this dissertation is to describe, explain and understand how slowness appeared when some decisions were made in the area of welfare policy and how this slowness was eliminated. The study focuses on major changes. It is argued that such changes follow another logic than small gradual adjustments. Four breaking points have been selected for a deeper analysis: the pension policy decisions of 1913 and 1994 and the housing policy decisions of 1935 and 1992. These decisions led to the emergence of fundamentally new institutional structures concerning the relation between the central government and the citizens. The study shows that an established institutional structure within a welfare policy area generated mental constructs and decision rules that governed political decision-making. This governance resulted in slowness in the form of lengthy decision-making processes. The fundamental institutional structure was being altered only when the mental constructs were broken down. A common feature was that the decisions were first made when discontent with the prevailing order became so strong that it overwhelmed the fear of a new institutional structure. The general tendency was also to shape the fundamental changes in relation to the citizens so that the changes could be portrayed as small. The established mental constructs are the determining explanation for slowness. The interest organizations played a secondary role, as their interests are shaped in accordance with the mental constructs. Their resistance was declined at the same time when the mental constructs were broken down. The individuals – agents of change – that constantly worked for the change of system in reality appear to be significantly more interesting than hindering organization. Their influence showed a recurring pattern.
Cultural heritage is not just something from the past, but always also reflects contemporary needs and desires. In the Traces of the Cold War describes the making of a diverse and innovative Swedish military heritage. The book shows how memories and material remains from a period characterized by fear and geopolitical tensions are infused with new meanings when bunkers, decommissioned military facilities and technology are transformed into luxury housing, attractive tourist destinations and museum exhibitions. Through field-visits to military heritage sites across Sweden, the authors examine what material objects, narratives and emotions that today represent the Cold War. These examinations show how military structures and equipment from a time associated with threat and danger become captivating elements of the cultural heritage, while also communicating specific ideas regarding security and protection. In the Traces of the Cold War takes a novel approach to cultural heritage by relating collective memory-making to security policy. Based on theoretical perspectives from critical heritage studies (CHS) and feminist international relations (IR), the analysis focuses on constructions of national belonging and underlines the role of gender and sexuality in narrations of security and protection. In a democracy, the subject of military violence must always be a matter of ethical and political conversations. Setting out from this assumption, the authors critically discuss how Cold War heritagisation produces militarization as "natural" and necessary. The book invites reflection on how history is written as well as on what the requirements are for a safe and secure society. In the Traces of the Cold War presents the results from an interdisciplinary research project. The authors are all researchers at Stockholm University and have written the book together.
In this volume of studies, Animal: Moments of Affect, Moments of Pain, eight ethnologists apply a cultural perspective to people's varied and complex relationships with other species. The contributions focus on wild animals, that is, those that are rarely found in the authors' immediate vicinity. Based on ongoing research, the articles discuss themes such as conflicts and joys in the birdwatching world, charismatic animals in various exhibition contexts, children's fears, morbid animal jokes and the ritual transformation of living animals into edible meat. The texts range from the tender, comical and cute to death and existential vulnerability. The book begins with the editors presenting an overview of how animals have been produced, noticed and studied in a mostly Nordic humanistic research context. Then the articles follow. Based on the idea of affective logic, Elin Lundquist follows the on-site monitoring of the bird hunting that takes place annually in Malta. Mattias Frihammar uses observations at a wilderness gallery with taxidermied animals to reflect on local identity. Lars Kaijser examines the ambivalent and conflicted portrayal of sharks in public aquariums. Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius writes about the death of extinct animals and how this is displayed in natural history museums. Susanne Nylund Skog examines birdwatchers' stories as an expression of collecting and as a way of manifesting status. With lobster cartoons as a starting point, Simon Ekström shows how these depict both animal rights issues and human anxiety. Helena Hörnfeldt investigates animal fear and the diffuse boundary between humans and animals. Proceeding from different depictions of slaughter and the preparation of meat, Michelle Zethson problematizes how some animals are made edible. The volume ends with an epilogue by the editors commenting on the findings.
[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
This thesis aims to create an understanding of how structures affect grain producers' work with sustainability, and to investigate if perennial grains can be part of the future grain production in Sweden. The agricultural sector is facing a dilemma, both to ensure that ecosystem services are kept intact but also to keep up the global food supply for the growing population. Today's efficient industrial agriculture has contributed to increased emissions and the sector needs a sustainability transition. The food and agriculture industry has a strongly institutionalised structure, which means that fundamental changes take a particularly long time. Swedish grain producers are affected by structures from different levels within the sector which affect their possibility to act sustainable within their business. The current cultivation systems with annual grains requires a lot of tillage which contributes to a lot of emissions. Perennial grains are used in other countries but not yet integrated into the Swedish agricultural sector. The ongoing research development of perennial grains in Sweden is to adapt the crop to the Nordic climate and to develop a perennial grain that can be compared with the current yield and profitability of annual grains. The data collection in this thesis has been conducted through semi-structured interviews with six grain producers in Skaraborg, Västra Götaland. The theoretical framework in the thesis consists of structuration theory and sustainability transitions. The concept duality within structuration theory with structures and actions are applied on the different MLP-levels within sustainability transitions to analyse how the selected grain producers are affected by structures from the different levels and how their individual agency is affected. The results reveal that the institutionalised structures affect the grain producers' attitude towards sustainability within their business through both change inertia and the fear of lowered profitability. Joint structural changes within politics, research and development, consumers, and the grain producers themselves; are needed before the respondent perceives an opportunity to act more sustainably within their day-to-day operations. Most of the respondents consider perennial grains to be more interesting if they had better characteristics such as higher profitability, higher yield, and a higher market demand. The attitude towards perennial grains is positive but the perceived risk of low profitability inhibits implementation. By analysing the grain producers' own context with selected theoretical framework: This study shows that a supporting system is needed that enables increased profitability for sustainable initiatives and sustainability through all levels. Researchers and retailers are important actors in creating resources and structures that make it easy for grain producers to act sustainably. The grain producers themselves need to take risks when they are in situations where they have a choice to act sustainably.
Society is facing significant challenges in transforming to a sustainable food system where healthy food is provided, while reducing the negative environmental impact. Yet, it is debatable whose responsibility it is to provide healthy, environmentally friendly food from sustainable food systems. As food retailers have huge power through their supply and placement, it has been argued that they could steer consumers towards sustainable choices. Shifting from nudging- and sustainability marketing initiatives towards retail led in-store choice restrictions have therefore been suggested to enable a sustainable food system but has not been executed to great extent due to the fear of losing consumers. The aim of the study was to explore consumer understandings of and attitudes towards retail led in-store choice restrictions aiming to reduce the negative environmental and health impacts from food consumption. This was assumed to provide insights regarding where the perceived burden of responsibility lies and in what ways food retailers could be a leverage point for shaping sustainable consumption. The study used a qualitative approach where four semi-structured individual interviews with Axfood, Coop, ICA and WWF as well as four semi-structured focus group interviews with consumers were conducted and continuously integrated with a literature review. A content analysis of the collected empirical data was conducted with the help of the theoretical framework following Kahneman's fast- and slow thinking systems, perceptions, the Functional Theory of Attitudes, nudging, choice editing and different types of paternalism. The results indicated that consumers have diverse attitudes towards paternalistic measures. Food retailers' choice editing strategies aiming to reduce the negative environmental impacts from food consumption were highly encouraged and accepted due to a perceived collectivistic responsibility for maintaining our common earth. On the other hand, food retailers' choice restrictions aiming to reduce the negative health impacts met great disapprovals, due to health limitations being perceived as an insult towards consumers' individual body, identity and liberty. However, eliminations contributing to a greater overall health- and well-being was encouraged only if executed by legitimate and trusted authorities with reasonable, non-profitable driving forces where a democratic society was at the foundation. Choice editing is not an easy strategy for food retailers to apply as it interferes with consumers freedom of choice but is necessary as nudging and sustainability marketing are too soft strategies to steer consumer's often irrational decision-making and will not be enough for a global, sustainable transition. However, food retailers alone cannot bear the responsibility- or be the only leverage point as governmental measures are needed. ; Samhället står inför betydande utmaningar när det gäller att omvandla till hållbara livsmedelssystem där hälsosam mat tillhandahålls, samtidigt som negativ miljöpåverkan minskar. Der är oklart vems ansvar det är att tillhandahålla hälsosam, miljövänlig mat från hållbara livsmedelssystem. Eftersom dagligvaruhandeln har enorm kraft genom sitt utbud och placering, har det hävdats att de skulle kunna styra konsumenterna mot hållbara val. Att skifta fokus från nudging- och hållbarhetsmarknadsföring till att dagligvaruhandeln införde val-begränsningar i butik har därför presenterats för att möjliggöra ett hållbart livsmedelssystem, men har inte genomförts i större utsträckning på grund av rädslan att förlora konsumenter. Syftet med denna studie var att förklara konsumenternas uppfattning om detaljhandelsledda konsumtionsval i butik i syfte att minska de negativa miljö- och hälsoeffekterna av livsmedelskonsumtion. Detta antogs ge insikter om var den upplevda ansvarsbördan låg och på vilka sätt dagligvaruhandeln kan vara en hävstång för att utforma hållbar konsumtion. Studien följde ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt där fyra semistrukturerade, individuella intervjuer med representanter från Axfood, Coop, ICA och WWF samt fyra semistrukturerade fokusgruppsintervjuer med konsumenter. De empiriska studierna genomfördes och integrerades kontinuerligt med en litteraturöversikt. En innehållsanalys av den insamlade empiriska datan genomfördes med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket; Kahnemans snabba och långsamma tänkande, uppfattningar, funktionell teori om attityder, nudging, valredigering och olika typer av paternalism. Resultaten visade att konsumenterna har olika attityder till paternalistiska åtgärder. Dagligvaruhandelns valredigeringsstrategier som syftar till att minska negativ miljöpåverkan från livsmedelskonsumtion uppmuntrades och accepteras på grund av ett kollektivistiskt ansvar för att upprätthålla vår gemensamma jord. Å andra sidan mötte dagligvaruhandelns valredigeringsstrategier som syftar till att minska de negativa hälsoeffekterna stort motstånd, då begränsningar som rör den individuella hälsan anses vara en kränkning mot konsumentens kropp, identitet och frihet. Elimineringar som bidrog till förbättrad hälsa och ett ökat välbefinnande uppmuntrades endast om de utfördes av en legitim och betrodd stat med rimliga, icke-lönsamma drivkrafter där ett demokratiskt samhälle fortfarande bestod. Slutsatsen var att valredigering inte är en lätt strategi för dagligvaruhandeln att tillämpa eftersom det stör konsumenternas valfrihet, men är nödvändig eftersom nudging och hållbarhetsmarknadsföring är för mjuka strategier för att styra konsumentens ofta irrationella beslutsfattande och kommer inte att räcka för en global, hållbar övergång. Dagligvaruhandeln kan dock inte ensam bära ansvaret då statliga åtgärder också behövs.
