Presents a research design on why and how states should manage cultural diversity with the emphasis that different combinations of neutrality and recognition work better depending on the circumstances. The concept of difference, reason for toleration, the concept of harm and the ends of toleration are discussed. Research design from case selection to material is briefly brought up. L. Pitkaniemi
In a comparative perspective, Sweden is a society with high social trust, corruption, law and high political trust. Research shows that the presence of social trust in society is crucial for economic growth, corruption, law and functioning democratic institutions. A society with high levels of trust leads to positive effects of increased security, more economic equality, more tolerance, better health and increased ability to solve social problems of various kinds. Adapted from the source document.
Since the 1990s, the Swedish school system has become increasingly more diversified. Decentralization, the introduction of private schools, the challenge of globalization & increased ethnic diversity among pupils have contributed to an increasing heterogeneity. This project analyses the prospects for civic education in different institutional settings & contexts, in both public & private schools. Using unique survey data 1999 & 2009 we ask which effects different institutional settings have on "citizen competences," i.e., civic engagement, political efficacy, knowledge about democracy & political issues, & democratic values & tolerance. The project breaks down into three distinct but interrelated parts. The first deals with changes over time in young Swedes' civic competences. The second subproject focuses on the way & consequences when controversial issues are taught in different schools & institutional settings. The third sub-project adds a comparative perspective by analyzing similarities & differences among young people & schools in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland & England. Adapted from the source document.
In light of Sweden's exceptionally high levels of generalised trust, a widely argued view is that this country is well equipped to counterbalance contemporary challenges of xenophobia and build trust between diverse groups. However, while trust remains at high levels in Sweden, the same, somewhat paradoxically, goes for xenophobic attitudes. Therefore, the main question addressed in this article is why many Swedes report that they trust 'most people in general' while simultaneously displaying high levels of xenophobia. Drawing on unique survey-data, the article presents three main answers. First, the article shows that Swedish respondents place much more trust in their cultural in-group – which they tend to equate with 'most people' – than in their cultural out-group. Second, when relating these different measures of trust to respondents' degree of xenophobia, on the one hand, and their party preferences, on the other hand, the article shows that an overwhelming majority of the electorate report that they trust people from Western Europe, while only a minority report that they tolerate and trust non-Europeans. Third, and most crucially, the article finds that high trust in the cultural out-group is associated with tolerance, whereas high trust in the in-group instead appears to breed xenophobia.
In light of Sweden's exceptionally high levels of generalised trust, a widely argued view is that this country is well equipped to counterbalance contemporary challenges of xenophobia and build trust between diverse groups. However, while trust remains at high levels in Sweden, the same, somewhat paradoxically, goes for xenophobic attitudes. Therefore, the main question addressed in this article is why many Swedes report that they trust 'most people in general' while simultaneously displaying high levels of xenophobia. Drawing on unique survey-data, the article presents three main answers. First, the article shows that Swedish respondents place much more trust in their cultural in-group – which they tend to equate with 'most people' – than in their cultural out-group. Second, when relating these different measures of trust to respondents' degree of xenophobia, on the one hand, and their party preferences, on the other hand, the article shows that an overwhelming majority of the electorate report that they trust people from Western Europe, while only a minority report that they tolerate and trust non-Europeans. Third, and most crucially, the article finds that high trust in the cultural out-group is associated with tolerance, whereas high trust in the in-group instead appears to breed xenophobia.
Etablerade partiers strategiska bemötande av radikala högerpopulistiska partier(RHP-partier) står i fokus för avhandlingen. Syftet med avhandlingen ärrekonstruktion och analys av innehållet i de etablerade partiernas strategiskabemötande av partier som anses utmana centrala principer inom den liberalademokratin, såsom pluralism och tolerans, och vars närvaro också anses skapa ettdemokratiskt dilemma. Syftet har operationaliserats inom ramen för en svenskkontext med fokus på Socialdemokraternas och Moderaternas strategiskabemötande av ett svenskt RHP-parti i form av Sverigedemokraterna. Detmetodologiska ramverket utgår från ett kvalitativt perspektiv med fokus påintervjuer med representanter för de två etablerade partierna ochSverigedemokraterna. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats med hjälp av PSOteorin(Position, Salience and Owner-ship theory). Teorin visar hur de etableradepartiernas strategiska bemötande av RHP-partier kan relateras till 1) den specifikasakfråga RHP-partiet politiserar och 2) till vilken grad RHP-partiet hotar deetablerade partierna i fråga om väljarstöd. Avhandlingens resultat visar attinnehållet i de etablerade partiernas strategiska bemötande avSverigedemokraterna har förändrats sedan valet 2006 och att den sakfråga somSverigedemokraterna politiserat, flykting- och invandringsfrågan, är central förutformningen av de etablerade partiernas bemötande av partiet. ; The strategic approaches towards radical right-wing populist parties (RRP-parties)are in focus for the thesis. The aim of the thesis is reconstruction and analysis ofthe content of the established parties' strategic approaches towards parties thatchallenge central principles of liberal democracy, such as pluralism and tolerance,and who´s presence are creating a democratic dilemma. The aim has beenoperationalized within a Swedish context with focus on the strategic approachesused by the Social Democratic party and the Conservative party towards theSweden Democrats, a Swedish RRP-party. The methodological framework is builtupon a ...
Heritage cereals, a group of cereals that have not been subjected to modern crop breeding, have been getting attention due to their generally high genetic diversity, traits like high drought and disease tolerance as well as high nutritional values. Knowledge about how consumers relate to heritage cereals in Sweden is limited, and therefore this thesis aims to, firstly, explore acceptance, awareness and preferences among a specific consumer group; students in the agriculture program at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and, secondly, quality perception in relation to heritage cereals among consumers, bakers and retailers, in a Swedish context. The thesis used a mixed-method approach, and is based on quantitative data from a survey to capture perspectives from the student consumer group and semi-structured interviews with bakers and retailers to gain additional perspectives about food quality. The findings from this study suggests that the awareness of heritage cereals is high among the specific consumer group. Bread and pasta make up the most preferred food products, and supermarkets were the most preferred shopping location. Gender had some influence on differences within the group, while high similarities were found between the different educational backgrounds. Results from the survey indicate that taste and Swedish food production are two very important food quality aspects for heritage cereals. Additionally, quality aspects like health, environmental impact, organic and local production were also found to be important to consumers, bakers and retailers. Consuming heritage cereals can also be seen as a tool to support sustainable food systems and different political discourses, avoiding risks associated with industrial farming and express belonging to certain cultural identities. These were also important dimensions of heritage cereal food quality. ; Kulturspannmål, en grupp av spannmål som inte genomgått modern växtförädling, har under de senaste åren fått allt mer uppmärksamhet på grund av ...
The so-called Swedish model of trust is characterised by strong public support for the idea of an individual-based and extensive welfare state, well-developed state individualism, high levels of social trust, widespread appreciation of the judiciary, openness, tolerance, and a free and independent press. Today, Swedish society faces several challenges. Will the Swedish model of trust be eroded or is it relatively resilient to stress? A Novus survey from 2019 found that a total of 74 percent of the Swedish population were very or quite worried about Islamic extremism, 66 percent very or quite worried about right-wing extremism and 46 percent very or quite worried about left-wing extremism. Other surveys show that the public is also concerned about the deterioration of the welfare state, social gaps, the increased number of refugees to Sweden and xenophobia. Moreover, the Novus survey shows that 65 percent believe that violence-promoting extremism will increase in Sweden in the coming ten-year period. 22 percent indicate that they have become suspicious of people they have encountered in everyday situations and 15 percent have avoided large crowds, e.g. shopping malls, pedestrian areas and subways. When asked which measures are good for increasing security in society, common answers were to reduce social exclusion, increase camera surveillance in public places and provide more information on democratic principles and values. These answers indicate that Swedish public opinion has a relatively balanced view of public measures against violent extremism, which is consistent with the Swedish model of trust. In general, the public does not propose the implementation of overly excessive measures against violent extremism. However, given continued public concern over the development of violent extremism, the long term stability of the Swedish model of trust remains in question.
The strategic approaches towards radical right-wing populist parties (RRP-parties) are in special focus for the thesis. The aim of the thesis is reconstruction and analysis of the content of the established parties' strategic approaches towards parties that are seen as challenging central principles of liberal democracy, such as pluralism and tolerance, and who´s presence are creating a democratic dilemma. The aim has been operationalized within a Swedish context with focus on the strategic approaches used by the Social Democratic party and the Conservative party towards the Sweden Democrats, a Swedish RRP-party. The methodological framework is built upon a qualitative perspective with focus on interviews with representatives for the two established parties and the Sweden Democrats. The empirical material has been analyzed with the PSO-theory (Position, Salience and Owner-ship theory) as point of departure. The theory shows how strategic approaches used by the established parties are related to 1)the specific political issue raised by the RRP-party and 2) the degree of threat posed by the challenging RRP-party towards the established parties. The results generated from the thesis show that the content of the strategic approaches from the established parties towards the Sweden Democrats have changed since the election 2006, from a common dissmissive strategy to a strategic approach marked by tendencies of divergence (the Social Democratic party) and vauge tendencies of convergence (the Conservative party). The thesis also shows that the specific issue politicized by the Sweden Democrats, i.e. the immigration- and refugee issue, is central to the way the content of the strategic approaches used by the two established parties has been shaped. The thesis indicates that the presence of RRP-parties have caused a situation where the democratic dilemma have become subordinated to a strategic dilemma. The established parties need to relate to the goals they are striving towards through the strategic approach of the RRP-party (such as maximation of votes) at the same time as they relate to the strongly value-charged political issue monopolized by the RRP-party.
Three tense events involving the US Army and the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache nations in Oklahoma in the decades after the end of the Great Plains Wars seemed destined to end in violence: The Ghost Dance in 1890−91, the death of three Kiowa boys in a blizzard in 1891 and the transfer of Geronimo and around three hundred Chiricahua Apache Indians to Oklahoma in 1895. In all of these events a US Cavalry officer, Hugh Lenox Scott, played a key role as a soldier-diplomat. Through his linguistic skills and inter-cultural competence, Scott, assisted by Iseeo, a Kiowa army scout and close friend of Scott's, managed to prevent the three situations from erupting in violence. These outcomes are in stark contrast to what happened around the same time in the Northern Plains, where violence erupted on several occasions, most conspicuously at Wounded Knee in December 1890, when US troops killed between 150 and 200 Lakota Indians. The purpose of this micro historical study is to highlight how the military, in concrete action, could promote peace and development in their dealings with American Indians and to explore the significance of personal relations, tolerance and trust for the maintenance of peace. These factors were crucial for the more peaceful development on the Southern Plains compared with in the north. In promoting peace, moreover, Scott not only acted as a diplomat in relation to the Indians; he also successfully advised his superior commanders not to send troops into the field in order to uphold order and quell any possible unrest. Such deployment of troops, Scott was convinced, was like putting a keg of gunpowder in front of an open fire and risked sparking uncontrolled and lethal violence between the soldiers and the Indians, to the detriment of the latter, as happened at Wounded Knee. Based on his long service as a soldier-diplomat, Scott later in life developed a general theory about the military as a peacemaking institution. According to Scott, it was politicians and the people who made war and the task of the military was to conquer the peace. His styling of the US soldier as the "harbinger of peace and mercy", however, depended on Scott ignoring the many instances when the US military had failed to maintain peace and order, both in relation to the American Indians and in colonies overseas. ; Förmedlare i imperialistisk expansion: Möten och kontakter i USA:s gränsland (1876−1916)
This report is based on the results obtained from two questionnaire studies carried out during 1999 and 2007. The aim of the studies is to increase our knowledge about the attitudes and approach of the police to traffic safety work and how these attitudes have changed with time. In the first study 729 randomly chosen police officers completed the questionnaire and in the second 1,022. The results show that the basic attitude among the police towards traffic surveillance has become more positive. The attitudes towards the directives from the governing bodies and their ability to participate in decision making have improved slightly from the first measurement to the second measurement. However, it is characteristic that a fairly large proportion still is dissatisfied with the same. The attitude of the police towards their own reporting of accidents has not changed appreciably at all. On the other hand, the understanding that a certain amount of statistics shall be reported is slightly greater in 2007 than in 1999. The attitudes towards automatic surveillance have strongly improved although a well-visible policeman is still advocated. The need to reinforce the surveillance of professional traffic is considered to be greater in 2007 than in 1999. According to the police, the attitude amongst the public towards speeding offences has become more negative than it was before. Nevertheless, a relatively high proportion still believes that it is a relatively minor offence. In 2006, the tolerance level for speeding offences was lowered at the same time as the fines for traffic offences were raised markedly. The results of the questionnaire show that the police are neutral towards whether or not these measures will influence the public's acceptance of the traffic safety work, which could indicate that they have not yet defined their attitude regarding the question. More than half of all police officers in 2007 do not believe that the public are aware of the possibility of having a time for consideration with respect to the acceptance of a fine for a breach of regulations. Finally the results show that in 2007, more controls were carried out than before. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from these results are that the police have developed a more positive attitude towards the traffic safety work and that, at the same time, more traffic controls are being carried out. But there are also many who still do not feel that they are able to influence their work. Furthermore, many are dissatisfied with the governing body's directives regarding traffic safety work. Such a dissatisfaction can influence the psycho-social work environment and the motivation for carrying out good work, but concretely the results show that such a dissatisfaction influences, both directly and indirectly, how many traffic controls one carries out.
