The Legitimacy Process that Supports the Formation and Development of Cluster Initiatives : The Case of a Tourism Cluster Initiative in Dalarna

Today, large public investments are being made with the aim of creating and developing cooperation between businesses in inter-organizational networks. Such initiatives are commonly denoted cluster initiatives and their underlying purpose are to spur innovation and regional growth. Much research has been conducted in this field, but relatively few studies have examined the process of cluster initiatives. By following the case of a regional cluster project within the tourism industry in the region of Dalarna, Sweden, the objective of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of the formation and development process of cluster initiatives. The investigation has been conducted by examining two main themes; the internal relationships within the cluster initiative and the relationships between the cluster initiative and its external stakeholders, such as funding agencies, regional government and local businesses. The analysis is based on a legitimacy perspective and indicates that the coordinating body of the cluster initiative, the hub, principally deals with a legitimation process. What occurs within the cluster initiative, between the members themselves and between the members and the hub, is legitimation. This also applies to external relationships, between the hub and its external stakeholders. A prerequisite for the realization of its mission is that the hub obtain and sustain legitimacy; legitimacy for itself, for the other members, for the idea, for the different activities and for the industry as such.

Upplysning och gränsdragning : en filosofisociologisk studie av den första generationen analytiska filosofer i Sverige

Enlightenment and boundary work: a study of the first-generation Swedish analytical philosophers from a sociology-of-philosophy perspective The history of Swedish analytical philosophy begins with the writings of Ingemar Hedenius, Anders Wedberg, and Konrad Marc-Wogau, who introduced the country to a new style of thinking that was to become the dominant mode of academic philosophizing in it from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s. The article presents a sociological analysis of how that hegemonic position was claimed and established for it in Swedish philosophy departments. In particular, the critique that Hedenius, Wedberg, and Marc-Wogau levelled in their popular writings against continental philosophy is looked upon in detail. Drawing upon Thomas Gieryn’s theory of boundary work, it is shown how the three strove for epistemic authority by demarcating their own ‘scientific’ enterprise from the ‘unscientific’ philosophy of their competitors. This quest for authority, however, was pursued not solely for its own sake: Hedenius, Wedberg, and Marc-Wogau were also all firmly committed to the ideals of enlightenment and cultural radicalism shaping the Swedish society of their time.