Redaktören har ordet : Ännu ett sociologiskt bricolage

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologförbundet har ordet : Sabbatstermin och utvecklingav sociologiämnet

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Varför en sydsvensk regionbildning : finns svaret i Ansvarskommitténs utredning?

Den sydsvenska regionbildningen är en förening som tillsammans står bakom en avsiktsförklaring för att slå samman Blekinge, Kalmar, Kronoberg och Skåne till en region med eget utvecklingsansvar. Förslag på att Sverige borde införa regioner med eget utvecklingsansvar lade den statliga utredningen, kallad Ansvarskommittén, fram efter att utförligt undersökt hur Sveriges samhällsorganisation kan förbättras. Efter Ansvarskommittén lade fram sitt förslag diskuterades det kring regionbildningar runt om i Sverige, men dessa diskussioner har en efter en lagts ner, förutom den sydsvenska regionbildningen och denna uppsats vill försöka ta reda på varför. Syftet med denna uppsats utgår ifrån att ta reda på om argumentationen för att bilda region som presenteras i Ansvarskommitténs utredning är drivkraften bakom den sydsvenska regionbildningen. För att ha underlag för att besvara detta syfte utgick jag från följande frågeställning Vilka huvudargument lade Ansvarskommittén i sin utredning fram för regionalisering i Sverige?, Vilka likheter och skillnader finns det i huvudargumenten för regionalisering från Ansvarskommittén i förhållande till den sydsvenska regionbildningens sätt att resonera kring en regionalisering? och Mot bakgrund av forskningslitteratur om regionalism, nyregionalism och regionalisering, i vilken utsträckning kan dessa begrepp kopplas samman med Ansvarskommitténs utredning? För att besvara syftet utgick jag från Ansvarskommitténs utredningsdokument och dokument från den sydsvenska regionbildningen. Genom kvalitativ textanalys i form av idéanalys och argumentationsanalys kom jag fram till att det verkar som att den sydsvenska regionbildningen har sin drivkraft i Ansvarskommitténs argumentation.

Sociologisk Forskning 2008:4

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologisk Forskning 2007:1

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Upptäckten av det globala

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Nya möjligheter för stratifieringsforskning i Sverige : Internationella yrkesklassificeringar och stratifieringsmått över tid

New opportunities for social stratification research in Sweden: International occupational classifications and stratification measures over time The Swedish occupational classifications have in recent years been changed to a version of the international standard ISCO-88(COM), i.e. SSYK 96. As a consequence, a wide variety of internationally well-known stratification measures can be applied to Swedish data sets. In this article some tests of the validity of translation keys between the older national classifications and SSYK 96 are presented. The keys seem to work satisfactorily. Thus, it is possible to create long time-series with ISCO/SSYK and use these well-known stratification measures over time. Hence, the international interest in Swedish data sets, and empirical results based on these data sets, could rise. Moreover, in the article an empirical regularity, which is quite astonishing, is paid attention to; stratification measures based on different theoretical rationales indicate very similar hierarchies of occupations.

Beroende eller oberoende? : En kvalitativ studie av hur äldre hjälptagare ser på att ha hjälp och stöd

Dependency or independence? A qualitative study of how elderly home-help recipients regard having help and support Knowledge on elderly people’s understandings of dependence and independence is relatively scarce even though there is plenty of gerontological research on related topics. Although we know how to define and measure different types of dependency, we know, in fact, very little about how elderly home-help recipients themselves regard their situation in terms of dependency, independence and autonomy. This article aims to shed light on home-help recipients’ understandings of these constructs and on how they make sense of their situation. The analysis is based on 29 semi-structured interviews with people between the ages of 77 and 93. The findings show how these home help recipients differentiate between having help and support and being dependent on other people. Through the separation of aspects of these understandings, such as the reason why they accept help and support and how they regard the situation of being helped and assisted, three ways of regarding the situation have been identified, which stress the variability of the social construction of dependency and independence that these elders uphold. Some home-help recipients construct themselves as independent, others as autonomous and able selves, while a third group construct themselves as powerless.

Överviktens betydelser

Meanings of overweight In societal discourses overweight is defined as a growing individual and a social problem leading to sickness and disability, mental distress, increased use of health care and reduced economic productivity. A strong normative pressure is directed at the overweight but relatively few succeed in reducing their weight. Therefore, the overweight need to manage a double stigma; the overweight body per se and their inability to conform to norms about bodyweight. This article investigates how individuals present their overweight to their social environment. Empirical data was collected as part of an evaluation study of a keep-fit project directed at home-care staff. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 49 participants and 30 of them had either tried or were trying to reduce their weight. The analysis shows that the informants presented a divided self consisting of a biological body, with its own drives, and a mind that is aware of the body and its social meanings. They portrayed their lives as a battle between these two sides. Their presentations of the divided self can be analysed as a defence of their social selves. The overweight can account for the kilos by blaming the biological drives, which leaves the core of themselves – their minds – unblemished. They can express an intention to loose weight and thereby conform to norms about bodyweight. When they fail to loose weight, the responsibility can be attributed to the unruly body.

Redaktören har ordet : Fältet och forskaren

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Recensioner

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologförbundet har ordet

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Sociologisk Forskning 2007:2

Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv

Homosocialitetens kraft : hur unga män ”gör” maskulinitet i grupp och individuellt

The power of homosociality: how young men “do” masculinity in groups and individually Using young men’s narratives, about other men, friends, dates and girlfriends, this article discusses the following questions: Can the interpretation – the understanding of young men’s collective presentations of masculinity as a surface that hides a more complex masculinity – undermine how we interpret young men’s talk about and interaction with other men, as well as with women? Can this disassembling understanding have an impact on how young men interpret and relive the interactions with other men, as well as with women? Can this disassembling of the homosocially created masculinity from the more individually created masculinity shape secondary gains for the young men, such as e.g. a more flexible and stretchable arena of responsibility, as well as more flexible space of acting? Thomas Johansson, Professor of Social Work social work, states that if we only focus the homosocially created masculinity, this will reshape a less nuanced picture of young men’s way of doing masculinity (Johansson 2005). Thus, young men’s vulnerability and difficulties remain hidden. However, this disassembling of the homosocially created masculinity from the more individually based doings of masculinity could possibly also give secondary gains, such as e.g. a more flexible and stretchable field of responsibility, as well as more flexible space of acting. This article shows that using a fragmentised and situated masculinity, as a way of understanding the complexity and the ambivalence in young men’s project of doing masculinity, makes evident – on the one hand – the vulnerability in young men’s process of doing masculinity. On the other hand, however, this view also makes it possible for young men to avoid responsibility for their actions. Instead the situated context – e.g. if in a peer group or alone, and what kind of relations the young man has – will be significant for how the act will be interpreted. The empirical material consists of six individual interviews and one group interview with four men. The age span of the participants is 16 to 24 years old. The overall theme for the discussions is heterosexual practice and relations.

Projekt Norrliden : Om småstadspressens etnifiering och genderisering av en förort

The Norrliden project. Genderisation and ethnification of a low status residential area in the local press Media often contributes to segregation by constructing low status residential areas as “different” from what is “normal” and “Swedish”. Research into media representations of these residential areas often focuses big city contexts. Furthermore, research tends to be preoccupied with the construction of ethnic differences, paying little attention to the relationship between construction processes of gender and ethnicity. This article is a critical analysis of how the local daily newspapers in a medium sized town, Kalmar, construct stereotypes of immigrants and gendered identities in the low status residential area Norrliden. Two newspapers were studied in search for articles related to the area, published during the year 2005. Despite the newspapers’ claim that they want to contribute to a more nuanced and less stereotyped image of the residential area the consequences of their work seem to be the opposite. The representation sof the area are coded with stereotypes suggesting that the area is unsafe and dangerous and that the people who live there are motivated by affect and emotions rather than by successful socialisation. These representations are also characterised by notions of ethnicity and gender, as well as class. Norrliden is described as an area in need of change and improvement, as an unfinished project dependent upon aid from the outside. A reading of the 2005 media representations of Norrliden exposes an example of “symbolic violence” in that texts and photographs repeatedly degrade the area and its inhabitants.