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This thesis examines the question of organization, governance and choice of seeds in Swedish agriculture. It consists of four papers: Paper I investigates the evolution of plant breeding industry in Sweden. The results suggest that the establishment of intellectual property rights (IPRs) schemes creates power in the seed value chain in Sweden and has therefore been a major driver of mergers and acquisitions, together with changes in domestic agricultural policy as well the country´s entrance to EU. Based on nationwide survey among farmers, papers II and III examine the impact of IPRs and specifically the implications of the enforcement of Plant Breeders Rights on farmers´ choice between certified versus farm saved seed (FSS). Paper II uses transaction cost theory and logistics regression to examine empirically the governance structure of farmers choosing certified or FSS. Farmers´ assessment of the quality seed in terms of the genetic purity of each channel has no impact on their choice while personal relations with their upstream partners, investments in the farm as well as delivery contracts affect their procurement strategy. In paper III, spatial autoregressive models are used in order to analyze the transfer of "know-how" between farmers, and the spillover effects of social learning in farmers´ choice of seed channel. Farmers are distinguished between neighbors, based on their relative distance; and peers, based on membership in farmers' cooperatives. The results indicate the existence of spatial dependence on Swedish farmers' choice of seed channel. Paper IV evaluates the impact of farmers' social networks on their decision to be involved in the governance of the agricultural cooperative. The findings suggest a relationship between network characteristics and farmers' involvement in the governance that persists over a long period.

Adaptation research and practice too often overlooks the wider social context within which climate change is experienced. Mainstream approaches frame adaptation problems in terms of the consequences that flow from biophysical impacts and as a result, we argue, ask the wrong questions. A complementary approach gaining ground in the field, foregrounding the social, economic and political context, reveals differentiation in adaptation need, and how climate impacts interconnect with wider processes of change. In this paper, we illustrate how this kind of approach frames a different set of questions about adaptation using the case of Nepal. Drawing on fieldwork and a review of literature, we contrast the questions that emerge from adaptation research and practice that take climate risk as a starting point with the questions that emerge from examination of contemporary rural livelihoods. We find that while adaptation efforts are often centred around securing agricultural production and are predicated on climate risk management, rural livelihoods are caught in a wider process of transformation. The numbers of people involved in farming are declining, and households are experiencing the effects of rising education, abandonment of rural land, increasing wages, burgeoning mechanisation, and high levels of migration into the global labour market. We find the epistemological framing of adaptation too narrow to account for these changes, as it understands the experiences of rural communities through the lens of climate risk. We propose that rather than seeking to integrate local understandings into a fixed, impacts-orientated epistemology, it is necessary to premise adaptation on an epistemology capable of exploring how change occurs. Asking the right questions thus means opening up adaptation by asking: 'what are the most significant changes taking place in people's lives?', along with the more standard: 'what are the impacts of climate change?' Viewing adaptation as occurring between and within these two perspectives has the potential to reveal new vulnerabilities and opportunities for adaptation practice to act upon.

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.

"Same-sex love was forbidden by law until 1944, and in culture it continued to be taboo, but it has always existed there. The prohibition created tensions which art and literature could play with. Narratives about forbidden love show this through well-known authors such as Agnes von Krusenstjerna, Maria Sandel, Karin Boye and Frida Stéenhoff, and less well-known ones like Gertrud Almqvist, Margareta Suber, Lydia Wahlström and the pseudonym Elsa Gille. The book investigates literary narratives about women's love for women and the ideas about the forbidden contained in them. What strategies did the authors use to get round the ban on the mention of the topic? Are there any utopian visions of how everything could be arranged in a different and better way? And how does the literature relate to other theories about same-sex love? Berättelser om det förbjudna: Begär mellan kvinnor i svensk litteratur 1900–1935 ("Stories of the Forbidden: Desire between Women in Swedish Literature 1900–1935") is a free-standing continuation of Kärlekshistoria: Begär mellan kvinnor i 1800-talets litteratur ("Love Story: Desire between Women in Nineteenth-century Literature", 2008). Together the books span over 100 years of Swedish literary history, making them the most comprehensive study available in the field in Sweden and Scandinavia.
Eva Borgström is associate professor of comparative literature and lecturer at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion at the University of Gothenburg. She has formerly worked at the National Secretariat for Gender Research and the Department of Gender Studies. - Samkönad kärlek var fram till 1944 förbjuden enligt lag och i kulturen var den tabuerad längre än så, men den har ändå alltid funnits där. Förbudet skapade spänningar som konsten och litteraturen kunde spela med. Berättelser om det förbjudna visar detta genom välkända författare som Agnes von Krusenstjerna, Maria Sandel, Karin Boye och Frida Stéenhoff, liksom mindre kända som Gertrud Almqvist, Margareta Suber, Lydia Wahlström och pseudonymen Elsa Gille. Boken undersöker skönlitterära berättelser om kvinnors kärlek till kvinnor och de föreställningar om det förbjudna som finns i dem. Vilka strategier använde författarna för att komma runt yttrandeförbudet? Finns det några utopier om hur allt skulle kunna ordnas på ett annat och bättre sätt? Och hur förhåller sig litteraturen till andra teorier i tiden om samkönad kärlek? Berättelser om det förbjudna. Begär mellan kvinnor i svensk litteratur 1900–1935 är en fristående fortsättning på Kärlekshistoria. Begär mellan kvinnor i 1800-talets litteratur (2008). Tillsammans spänner böckerna över 100 år av svensk litteraturhistoria och utgör därmed den hittills mest omfattande studie på området som finns i Sverige och Norden.
Eva Borgström är docent i litteraturvetenskap och lektor vid Institutionen för litteratur, idéhistoria och religion vid Göteborgs universitet. Tidigare har hon bland annat arbetat på Nationella sekretariatet för genusforskning och Institutionen för genusvetenskap. "