Freshwater ecosystems are extremely important, both socially and ecologically, in Aotearoa/New Zealand. However, through detrimental practices of land-use change and the introduction of non-indigenous aquatic species, the health of freshwater areas is increasingly under threat. Coarse fish are one group of non indigenous fish that are largely perceived to have a negative effect on freshwater biodiversity and water quality. Despite this, there are people in New Zealand that value coarse fish highly, and consider their lives to be enriched through the practice of coarse angling. This thesis examines the diversity of perceptions and values ascribed to coarse fish by a variety of different environmental managers and resource users to understand how these multiple meanings influence approaches to freshwater biodiversity management in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As coarse anglers are often considered responsible for deliberate translocation of coarse fish, a space for communication and compromise between these stakeholder groups is also identified. Additionally, appropriate and effective educational methods to raise awareness of freshwater ecosystem restoration and non-indigenous invasive fish are discussed. Social factors are often the primary determinants of whether conservation efforts succeed or fail. Grounded in the theoretical perspectives of social construction, environmental perception, political ecology, and critical environmental adult education, this thesis provides an important contribution to the practice of interdisciplinary research by demonstrating the ways in which social science complements scientific approaches to environmental management. Utilising semi structured interviews with multiple stakeholder groups and an internet survey targeted at coarse anglers this research found that, while a multitude of perceptions of coarse fish exist, there is also willingness on both sides to engage in communication and develop effective practices to aid in managing the freshwater environment. A number of suggestions for improving legislation that addresses invasive freshwater fish, and several ideas regarding education and compliance, also emerged.

<p>The aim of this study was to describe how the best interest of the child can be constructed in investigations concerning permission for international adopt, where adequate parenthood is investigated. Qualitative research interviews were used as method. Seven investigators from six different sections of the city of Stockholm were interviewed. The information was analysed on the basis of a sociological approach to law and social constructionism.</p><p>The result showed that adequate parenthood is a condition in the interest of the child. Adequate parenthood is specified as the parent’s qualities and possibility to care for an adopted child. It does not depend on material qualifications, it is principally a matter of personal conditions, which can be defined as self-consciousness and the ability to reflect, feel empathy and manage a crisis. An adequate adoptive parent shall also realize the significance of an adoption. Adequate adoptive parents have a stable and lasting relationship and are surrounded by a stable social network.</p><p>The best interest of the child shall mainly be fulfilled by the qualities of the parents, in other words the adequate parenthood. The adoption has to be in the best interest of the child and thereby fulfil the child’s needs. In a family, children need to develop in their own pace and receive support whenever it is needed. In the investigation undertaken by the authorities, the interests of the child can best be looked after with an investigator that possesses adequate knowledge about children, that investigates thoroughly and feel a responsibility towards the child.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: I konkurrens om morgondagens konsument kommer sannolikt materiella värden inte räcka till. Företag måste också kunna erbjuda immateriella värden genom upplevelser. Ett sätt att göra detta är via produktens design. Den företagsekonomiska relevansen understyrks ytterligare av det faktum att lite forskning finns kring immateriellt värdeskapande och design. </p><p>Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra med förståelse för hur design kan tillföra immateriella värden till en produkt. </p><p>Genomförande: Initialt konstruerades en begreppsapparat, ur teori från vitt skilda discipliner, som sedan genom tolkning av en rad intervjuer med relevanta aktörer utvecklades. </p><p>Resultat: De immateriella värden som tillförs en möbel genom design kan förstås med hjälp av två huvudkategorier: estetiskt och socialt värde. Dessa värdens tillblivelse kan i huvudsak förstås som en social konstruktion uppburen av en rad aktörer i en värdekonfiguration. En historia konstrueras och ger möbeln ett värde. Kunskap har central betydelse för konsumentens/nyttjarens värdeupplevelse. Resultatet torde ha stor generalitet i form av dess språkbildande karaktär.</p> / <p>Background: In the competition for the consumer of tomorrow it is not likely going to be enough to deliver material value. Companies will have to offer immaterial values through experiences. One way of doing this is by the design of the product. The relevance is emphasised further as there is little research available regarding immaterial value creation and design. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to contribute with understanding for how design can add immaterial value to a product. </p><p>Research method: Initially a number of concepts were constructed out of theories originating in widely different theoretical fields. These concept were then evolved by interpretation of a number of interviews with relevant actors. </p><p>Result: The immaterial values that are added to a piece of furniture by design can be understood with the help of main categories: aesthetic and social value. The creationof these values can to a large extent be understood in the terms of a social construction carried by a number of actors in a value configuration. A story is constructed which give the piece of furniture value. Knowledge is of great importance for the value appreciation of the consumer/user. The result should have great generality as it is of a concept creation quality.</p>

<p>The aim of this thesis is to examine the fear of crime in old peoples lives. Notwithstanding that the age category is exposed to crime to a low degree, old people are experiencing a great fear of crime relative younger people. This is the paradox of fear, also recognized in gender studies. The question is how this paradox can be understood. To answer this, twelve elderly men and women have been interviewed and the reports about crime in the local newspaper, Norrköpings Tidningar, has been analyzed, through discourse analysis.</p><p>The discursive construction of fear is here discussed in terms of discourses of a fearful society, and stereotypes of old age. The hegemonic discourse of old age is collaborating with a discourse, in this paper called the discourse of a threatening society. Old peoples fear is produced, through the interplay of these discourses, because they are objectified and seen as victims alongside with a construction of an ever-present threat.</p>

<p>The aim with this study was to examine how social service statement in 3 § social-judgements LVU (Swedish care of young persons act) produce ideas about gender. We have taken an interest in the production of both boys and girls and their mothers and fathers because there are clear differences in the description of these. From a historical perspective, the differences between gender in social assessments occurred despite the fact that discrimination is prohibited by law and despite the fact that social service shall work on the basis of an gender equality perspective. In the analysis and interpretation of the rulings we have been inspired by a critical discourse analysis. 30 social-judgements have been analyzed where of 15 concerns girls and 15 involve boys.  In our study obvious differences between the sexes appear. Gender stereotypical patterns emerged in several cases, for example social service only mentioned sexuality and adolescent self-harm of girls but in non of the boys cases. As regards the mothers are often criticised and clearly described in the judgments while fathers rarely occur.  </p> / <p>Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka om socialtjänstens yttranden i 3 § LVU-domar (Lagen om vård av unga) producerar föreställningar om kön. Vi har intresserat oss för framställningen av både pojkar, flickor, deras mödrar samt fäder eftersom det förekommer tydliga skillnader i beskrivningen av dessa. Ur ett historiskt perspektiv har skillnader mellan könen i sociala bedömningar alltid förekommit trots att diskriminering är förbjuden enligt lag och trots att socialtjänsten skall arbeta utifrån ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. I tolkningsarbetet av domarna har vi i hög grad inspirerats av kritisk diskursanalys. Domarna var 30 till antalet och berörde 15 flickor och 15 pojkar. I vår undersökning kan tydliga skillnader ses mellan könen. Könsstereotypiska mönster framkommer i flera fall, exempelvis nämner socialtjänsten enbart sexualitet och självskadebeteende hos flickor men inte i något fall hos pojkarna. Vad gäller mödrarna är de ofta kritiserade och tydligt beskrivna i domarna medan fäderna sällan förekommer.</p>

Ever since the computer was introduced some 50 years ago, its role in society has been increasing. From being a tool for scientists and technicians, the computer has become a concern for everyone. Different actors engaged in introducing — or denouncing — this technology, have used many strong words for winning others to the cause. The high symbolic value tied to computers and information technology has made the rhetoric used to "sell" these very explicit. This discourse, the language and arguments used, is the object of study in the dissertation. When it became clear that computers could be used also for rationalising administration, the Swedish government started to investigate how this could be done. In the 1960s, this became one of the first big computerisation projects in Sweden. It turned out to be a controversy between two different ways of organising a big administrative system: national contra regional/local or hierarchical contra decentralised. It also turned out to bee a "war" between the suggested computer makes that should equip the County Computer Centres. In the late 70s, when the "PC revolution" was only beginning, the Luxor ABC 80 computer became the best selling micro in Sweden, outscoring TRS-80, Apple II and Commodore PET many times. From 1978 to 1986 Luxor ABC computers were by far the most used personal computers. A decade later, in the early 1990s, the info-highway hype struck Sweden. Giving politicians arguments for a new wave of computerisation, but now less based on technology and more directed towards the use of "information superhighways" which the development within IT had made possible. These three instances in Swedish computing history form the historical background for this study of computer rhetoric, of the discourse that evolves when a new technological frame is being introduced in society. The social construction of artefacts is an outcome of communication between people. Therefore the language used by different actors in the various "texts" they produce is of vital interest if we want to understand technology and our relationship with it. But it is also true that technology helps to set the frames of our minds. A rhetoric of technology must take this relation into account. / The electronic version of the printed dissertation is a corrected version where all spelling and grammatical errors are corrected.

The aim of this thesis is to problematize how and under what conditions organizational performance is constituted in the practices of performance auditing and accounting. Organizational performance disclosure is a world-wide phenomenon for enabling accountability relationships in large organizations regardless of the societal sector they operate in. In constitutive accounting literature, there is a well-established notion that accounting and performance auditing enable “government at a distance” by representing organizational actions and results of those actions, i.e. by constituting performance.  Accounting and performance auditing have been regarded as “technologies of government” that make government from spatial and temporal distances possible by linking political and programmatic ambitions, i.e., the will of a superior, to everyday organizational conduct. However, whereas many previous studies of accounting and performance auditing as technologies of government focus on the discourses over the technologies of accounting and performance auditing, this thesis focuses its analysis on the operationalization of these technologies in local organizational settings. By studying the constitution of performance in the practices of accounting and performance auditing this thesis contributes by problematizing that which supposedly makes government at a distance possible. The thesis is based on two case studies of performance audit and two case studies of performance reporting. On the basis of these papers, the thesis studies the constitution of performance in performance auditing and accounting. Whereas the constitution of performance may seem stable and unproblematic at the level of discourse, this thesis suggests that constituting performance is a complex process of social construction that requires significant organizational efforts and that the ability of accounting and performance auditing to connect political and programmatic ambitions to daily organizational conduct cannot be taken for granted. The thesis suggest that once we acknowledge that performance is a socially constructed representation of organizational actions and begin to pay attention to how performance is constituted in local organizational settings, we can find new ways of addressing the ongoing challenge of constituting performance in accounting and performance auditing and increase our understanding about the ability of these practices to enable government at a distance. / <p>At the time of doctoral defence the following papers were unoublished and had a status as follows: Paper nr. 2: Manuscript; Paper nr. 3: Manuscript; Paper nr. 4: Manuscript</p>

Bakgrund: I konkurrens om morgondagens konsument kommer sannolikt materiella värden inte räcka till. Företag måste också kunna erbjuda immateriella värden genom upplevelser. Ett sätt att göra detta är via produktens design. Den företagsekonomiska relevansen understyrks ytterligare av det faktum att lite forskning finns kring immateriellt värdeskapande och design. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra med förståelse för hur design kan tillföra immateriella värden till en produkt. Genomförande: Initialt konstruerades en begreppsapparat, ur teori från vitt skilda discipliner, som sedan genom tolkning av en rad intervjuer med relevanta aktörer utvecklades. Resultat: De immateriella värden som tillförs en möbel genom design kan förstås med hjälp av två huvudkategorier: estetiskt och socialt värde. Dessa värdens tillblivelse kan i huvudsak förstås som en social konstruktion uppburen av en rad aktörer i en värdekonfiguration. En historia konstrueras och ger möbeln ett värde. Kunskap har central betydelse för konsumentens/nyttjarens värdeupplevelse. Resultatet torde ha stor generalitet i form av dess språkbildande karaktär. / Background: In the competition for the consumer of tomorrow it is not likely going to be enough to deliver material value. Companies will have to offer immaterial values through experiences. One way of doing this is by the design of the product. The relevance is emphasised further as there is little research available regarding immaterial value creation and design. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to contribute with understanding for how design can add immaterial value to a product. Research method: Initially a number of concepts were constructed out of theories originating in widely different theoretical fields. These concept were then evolved by interpretation of a number of interviews with relevant actors. Result: The immaterial values that are added to a piece of furniture by design can be understood with the help of main categories: aesthetic and social value. The creationof these values can to a large extent be understood in the terms of a social construction carried by a number of actors in a value configuration. A story is constructed which give the piece of furniture value. Knowledge is of great importance for the value appreciation of the consumer/user. The result should have great generality as it is of a concept creation quality.

The aim with this study was to examine how social service statement in 3 § social-judgements LVU (Swedish care of young persons act) produce ideas about gender. We have taken an interest in the production of both boys and girls and their mothers and fathers because there are clear differences in the description of these. From a historical perspective, the differences between gender in social assessments occurred despite the fact that discrimination is prohibited by law and despite the fact that social service shall work on the basis of an gender equality perspective. In the analysis and interpretation of the rulings we have been inspired by a critical discourse analysis. 30 social-judgements have been analyzed where of 15 concerns girls and 15 involve boys.  In our study obvious differences between the sexes appear. Gender stereotypical patterns emerged in several cases, for example social service only mentioned sexuality and adolescent self-harm of girls but in non of the boys cases. As regards the mothers are often criticised and clearly described in the judgments while fathers rarely occur. / Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka om socialtjänstens yttranden i 3 § LVU-domar (Lagen om vård av unga) producerar föreställningar om kön. Vi har intresserat oss för framställningen av både pojkar, flickor, deras mödrar samt fäder eftersom det förekommer tydliga skillnader i beskrivningen av dessa. Ur ett historiskt perspektiv har skillnader mellan könen i sociala bedömningar alltid förekommit trots att diskriminering är förbjuden enligt lag och trots att socialtjänsten skall arbeta utifrån ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. I tolkningsarbetet av domarna har vi i hög grad inspirerats av kritisk diskursanalys. Domarna var 30 till antalet och berörde 15 flickor och 15 pojkar. I vår undersökning kan tydliga skillnader ses mellan könen. Könsstereotypiska mönster framkommer i flera fall, exempelvis nämner socialtjänsten enbart sexualitet och självskadebeteende hos flickor men inte i något fall hos pojkarna. Vad gäller mödrarna är de ofta kritiserade och tydligt beskrivna i domarna medan fäderna sällan förekommer.

The aim of this study was to describe how the best interest of the child can be constructed in investigations concerning permission for international adopt, where adequate parenthood is investigated. Qualitative research interviews were used as method. Seven investigators from six different sections of the city of Stockholm were interviewed. The information was analysed on the basis of a sociological approach to law and social constructionism. The result showed that adequate parenthood is a condition in the interest of the child. Adequate parenthood is specified as the parent’s qualities and possibility to care for an adopted child. It does not depend on material qualifications, it is principally a matter of personal conditions, which can be defined as self-consciousness and the ability to reflect, feel empathy and manage a crisis. An adequate adoptive parent shall also realize the significance of an adoption. Adequate adoptive parents have a stable and lasting relationship and are surrounded by a stable social network. The best interest of the child shall mainly be fulfilled by the qualities of the parents, in other words the adequate parenthood. The adoption has to be in the best interest of the child and thereby fulfil the child’s needs. In a family, children need to develop in their own pace and receive support whenever it is needed. In the investigation undertaken by the authorities, the interests of the child can best be looked after with an investigator that possesses adequate knowledge about children, that investigates thoroughly and feel a responsibility towards the child.