The period around the end of the First World War saw the organization of tech­nological research in Sweden. It was at this time that work began at the Wood Pulp Research Association, at the Swedish Institute for Metals Research and at the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. The latter organization had as its basic aim the promotion of technical and scientific research and thereby the support of Swedish industry and the utilization of natural resources. The disser­tation is concerned with the background of these institutions. The indirect cause of the founding of the Academy was a parliamentary motion in 1916 which resulted in an enquiry into an institute responsible for energy and fuel matters. The enquiry led to the conclusion that there existed a need for a central institution for technological research as a whole. Other issues which played a part in the sequence of events that led to the founding of the Academy, were the demand from industry for a modernization of Swedish government administration and the conflict that existed between scientifically- oriented engineers with roots in civil service traditions and the »modern» engine­ers who emphasized the role of the engineer as an industrial manager trained in economics etc. The Academy came into being with the aim of bridging this conflict and of establishing a state agency corresponding to the older Swedish Academy of Agriculture. The Wood Pulp Research Association was founded by the pulp industry, which originally had not been based on any systematic research or development work. After the turn of the century, interest in the chemistry of wood and other related substances began to increase. All early research efforts had one aim in common: the utilization of waste material from the forestry industry. The Asso­ciation was established at the end of 1917 and was jointly owned by a majority of the larger pulp companies. Due to an economic crisis in the pulp industry, the organization was abolished in 1922. The Swedish Institute for Metals Research was originally a metalographic research laboratory established as a result of cooperation between State and industry. The Institute was engaged primarily in basic research, dominated by work based on advanced X-ray spectroscopy. / digitalisering@umu

The object of this dissertation is to describe the opinions about the limits of natural science in their social and cultural context There exist two antagonistic positions to this matter restrictionism and expansionism. Restrictionism assumes that the natural sciences have no influence on metaphysics. Expansionism, on die other hand, argues that the natural sciences can legitimise the positions of beliefs and values. During the 1870b a restrictionist attitude on scientific knowledge established itself among influential German and British scientists. Emil Du Bois-Reymond, Rudolf Virchow, Hermann von Helmholtz and Thomas Henry Huxley were some of the famous scientists who rejected attempts to adduce science in religious and metaphysical matter. This restrictionism was rejected by other scientists and philosophers who believed that the modern natural sciences constituted a complete Weltanschauung, hostile to obsolete Christianity and philosophy. The thesis primarily deals with the debate on the limits of scientific knowledge in Sweden. We follow the development of the discussion from the 1870's to the years after the First World War. At the end of the 19th century Swedish scientists freed themselves from dominant natural philosophy and natural theology. Restrictionism was later on supported, in different ways, by recognized scientists, theologians, conservative critics, and philosophers. At the turn of the centuiy the restrictionist view of science was turned against metaphysical materialism, monism, naturalism, and an emergent, radical counter-culture. The controversies continued as long as the mechanical world picture dominated the natural sciences. With social and cultural changes, and the new physics of Rutherford, Einstein, Bohr, and Heisenberg, the debate slowly faded. / digitalisering@umu

When Sven Jerring passed away in 1979, he had been broadcasting for more than 55 years. He was the first true announcer; the first radio reporter. For decades, almost all important public events were broadcast to the Swedish public by Sven Jerring.The main object of this study has been to study Sven Jerring's broadcasting language over a period of some forty years in three different types of programme, thus to establish whether his use of language changed during that time, and whether differences exist with regard to the type of programme. Does his language progress from a more literary style to one of a more colloquial nature? The answer to this question was sought through the study of such aspects of usage that have traditionally been regarded as denoting a literary usage, and also through the study of usage in which a conflict exists between regional usage and Standard Swedish.The study of Jerring's language has been undertaken in the light of his own statements concerning language and the correctness of language. In an introductory chapter, his broadcasting language has been set against the general view of language in broadcasting circles.The study material consists of recordings taken from three types of programme that comprises elements of Jerring's repertoire over a long period: Barnens brevlåda (Bb) [Children's Letterbox], a programme in which Jerring reads from children's letters and in which children sing and perform; Vasaloppet (Vip) [The Vasa Race], a well-known cross-country skiing race held every year in Sweden; and football commentaries (Fo).The language used by the first radio announcers was correct and formally irreproachable. The announcer's pronunciation was regarded as being of great importance. Special haüäprov, voice tests, were employed as a means of ensuring that candidates for the job adhered to the accepted standard. New announcers seem not to have received any language councelling, whereas guest speakers did. The use of a script was the rule in all types of programme. Jerring was regarded highly by his colleagues for the painstaking preparatory work that he always did. The majority of his colleagues maintained that Jerring used key-words and occasional notes. His ability to improvise without losing the thread was stressed.In his statements concerning language, Jerring consistantly rejected vulgar forms, incorrect usage, and careless language usage.At first, Jerring used two pronunciation forms for the pronoun honom 'him': hânnâm (pronounced 3honom* with two short vowels) and honåm (pronounced 'huntom' with one long and one short vowel). The latter pronunciation does not appear in the material after 1944.The much-discussed subject pronouns de, di (pronounced 'dee*) and dom 'they' caused much trouble in broadcasting, the pronunciation dom being much questioned, despite the strong trend in colloquial usage to move from de to dom. Jerring was, during his entire career, a consistant di-user. The pronunciation of the object pronouns dem and dom 'them' both appear in his broadcasts from the 30's and 40's, whereupon dom becomes the only pronunciation.Jerring used to a surprisingly high degree the -es form of the present tense passive instead om the -s form. It is possible to discern a tendency in Jerring towards a gradual swing towards the -s form. Jerring often omitted the auxiliary verb ha 'have' in subordinate clauses. In the later material, the use of ha as auxiliary verb in subordinate clauses increases in the programme types Bb and Vip. Fo differs from Bb and Vip in the high frequency of incorrectly-constructed sentences (FelM). The incorrectness of these cases of FelM consists of the omission of the subject, which constitutes a natural economy with words in the style of commentary. Bb and Vip have a higher frequency of interjection macro-syntagms (IMS) and vocative macro-syntagms (TMS) than Fo.In conclusion, it may be stated that Sven J erring's broadcasting language did in some respects alter; the shift being towards a more informal and everyday usage. / digitalisering@umu

Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2006.

This thesis presents an analysis of crime trends and social control during the dramatic transformation of Sweden's social landscape in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, set against the background of the modernization process in the country as a whole and the city of Sundsvall and environs in particular. What assumptions about crime were evident in public debate? How did crime levels vary from region to region, and what were the changes over time? What strategies did government and local authorities try for combating crime? Did the joint efforts by government, local communities, and the voluntary sector actually solve the problems that social change was believed to have caused?When it comes to theory, the interpretative framework is based on Anthony Giddens's argument about modernity and modernization, making particular use of a few central points about what the changes meant for the structuration of society. Giddens's ideas about changes in social control are refined with Michel Foucault's and David Garland's work on the increasingly disciplinary trend seen in the exercise of the law and public control. The analysis of modernity's ramifications for the transformation of both social structures and crime alike has also benefitted from Robert Putnam's and Travis Hirschi's insights into the importance of social capital and social bonds for a well-functioning, low-crime society.The process by which Sweden was transformed from an overwhelmingly agrarian country to an urban, industrial society left its mark on crime patterns. To the contemporary mind, industrialization, migration, and urbanization were the underlying causes of the high levels of serious crime in the society. The start of the nineteenth century had seen a rise in criminality, with both petty crime and lethal violence becoming more common. At the same time, there was a heated debate about the socio-economic problems that were such a strain on the structure of society. The analysis finds that there were large differences in prosecutions in the country and between cities. The Sundsvall area was among those that saw a dramatic change in crime in the course of becoming a major industrial region. At the same time, the thesis shows that there were plenty of cities in Sweden, however rapidly they grew, that had low crime rates. However, the widespread fear of industrialization, migration, and urbanization was often unfounded. For example, both lethal violence and public order offences reached their lowest recorded levels in the interwar period. By then, new cures were sought for the social and moral ills of society. The state's sphere of influence had expanded. New social reforms, including a modified crime policy, were launched. The state became even more assertive, and the same was true of civil society. Society would attend to the moral education of a number of different groups. Moral virtues were to be instilled in the workshy, alcoholic, or criminal, in order to produce disciplined and cultured citizens. The attention of social activists, the scientific community, civil servants, and local and national politicians shifted from crime per se to the far broader issue of asociality. Modernization gave the voluntary sector a significant role in the social organization of the day, shaping new forums for interpersonal relationships and strengthening social ties. The thesis makes the case that two distinct periods, each with its specific social structures and crime patterns, can be observed; one belonging to the nineteenth century, the other to the first four decades of the twentieth century.Finally, the similarities between the history of crime in Sweden and, for example, the US or the UK are highlighted. As in Britain and North America, the early industrialization period saw weakened social bonds, and a time of greater violence and disorder ensued. After a while however, the situation stabilized, and crime rates began to drop again. When industrial societies ceased to be 'frontier communities' at the forefront of modernization, and instead became more mature communities, crime levels fell as people's commitment to their communities was renewed.

On the basis of case studies of 19th and early 20th century Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, I address the question of how and when incumbent right elites reformed electoral systems under a rising political threat from the left. Some states adopted proportional representation (PR) earlier than others. Why did different states adopt PR at different times? One important factor was the existing electoral system before the adoption of PR. This has been missed in academic research since most scholars have assumed that the electoral system in place before the adoption of PR in most Western European states was single-member plurality (SMP). I show that the system in place prior to PR in most Western European states was not SMP but a two-round system (TRS). TRS effects are still poorly understood by political scientists. I argue that both PR and TRS were used as safeguards by the parties on the right against an electoral threat from the left, which originated from the expansion of suffrage. PR was used as a last resort after other safeguards had been exhausted. I state that in the presence of a strong left threat, countries with TRS could wait longer to implement PR than countries with SMP in place. Under TRS, the adoption of PR was considerably delayed since electoral coordination between parties could be applied more effectively than under SMP systems. This was largely due to the increase of information and time after the first round of TRS elections, which was used by right parties to coordinate votes around the most promising candidate before the second round. First round results under TRS were used as an "electoral opinion poll". Based on these results, the right could react more effectively than the left in order to improve outcomes in round two.

This thesis is a study of spatial practice and literary depictions of homes in novels by Elsie Johansson, Kerstin Thorvall and Kristina Sandberg. The theoretical perspective is based on Henri Lefebvre´s view on social space, and on the concept of spatial practice. Research questions are: What homes are depicted? How does spatial practice function in the texts? How does the depictedspatial practice relate to norms and ideals? The novels, published 1993-2014, depict an interesting period in Swedish history (cirka 1920-1970) when politics and society at large was deeply involved in reshaping the homes and lives of Swedish citizens. The aim was to turn the citizens into new, healthy and rational parts of the new and rational society. Housewives where put in a position where the new rational housekeeping clashed with the standards and practices of earlier generations. Class is found to be a crucial factor in performing and experiencing domesticity in the studied novels. Housewive characters in the Thorvall and Sandberg novels, raised in working class families, struggle in adapting the spatial practice of home in their new middle class environments.Part of the thesis is a discussion on domesticity seen as an adaptive pracitce – catering to the needs of husbands and children. The novels show this, but also depict housework being used as a way to escape unpleasant conversations or forget ones unpleasant feelings. Another task with complex connotations and uses is cleaning. Cleaning in these novels have a strong connection to positive feelings like pleasure and pride, but also to negative feelings of shame and a loss of control. Acting normal to achieve a state of normality within the home and family is a common strategy for the housewives. The material is found to support Lefebvres idea on the importance of spatial practice - sense of home, for the studied housewife characters, is found to be more dependent on spatialpractice than on the home itself.