During the 1980s, an acute and deadly epidemic appeared in the United States. AIDS, a disease that initially affected mainly gay men, required a rapid and effective treatment. Due to tough regulations form government agencies and the stigma surrounding the disease, it would take a long time for a treatment to be developed. To break the silence, demand action and push for changes to combat the AIDS epidemic, the activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed. A network formed around their actions that created an environment capable of developing new treatment methods. Using interviews, articles, and reports, this analysis will draw on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to examine how ACT UP mobilizes lay expertise and navigates conflicts within its network to influence research processes and AIDS treatment. This analysis highlights the mobilization of lay expertise and shows how the constructive management of conflicts within networks can play a crucial role in challenging established research structures, influencing decision-making processes, and ultimately shaping the response to public health crises like the AIDS epidemic.

As a prominent female composer educated at the court of Louis the XIV, Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre already has a notable place in history. Among her compositions are a dozen cantatas based on Biblical texts. As most of her male counterparts primarily composed secular cantatas set to mythological texts, Jacquet de La Guerre’s sacred cantatas stand out as anomalous in the repertoire. Questions arise as to where they were performed and why they were written. The main barrier to this knowledge is the lack of primary sources on her daily life. This study proposes a new methodology to reevaluate Jacquet de La Guerre’s role in developing the French cantata form as a unique genre, further clarify the function and value of her sacred cantatas, and reconsider their place in the canon. Traditional methodologies in historical musicology, though foundational and valuable, by nature obscure relevant insight and appreciation of these works, which defy traditional categorization. To fill in the gaps in primary sources and broaden and deepen our understanding of French sacred cantatas and Jacquet de La Guerre’s work, this study uses Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory, a sociological and philosophical model for describing and assembling information, in combination with Steven Feld’s series of qualitative, ethnographic questions for music evaluation, a sociomusicological and ethnomusicological model introduced in his article “Sound Structure as Social Structure.” In doing so, this study markedly diverges in perspective from traditional musicological and theoretical approaches. The goal of this methodology is to first reexamine Jacquet de La Guerre scholarship as a check for inherited assumptions or unconscious bias in the approach and then proceed with critical inquiry in this fresh space to unpack the function and value of her sacred cantatas. This study sheds light on the relatively rare and currently underperformed sacred cantata form in eighteenth century France, using Jacquet de La Guerre’s sacred cantatas as a case study. It finds that Jacquet de La Guerre’s sacred cantatas were experimental, progressive, and intellectual in form; likely meant for entertainment, edification, and instruction in function; and highly regarded in value. The methodology described and then employed in this study takes considerable strides in reassessing Jacquet de La Guerre’s activity as both a respected intellectual and celebrated composer in early modern France, in highlighting her role in developing the French cantata form, in clarifying the function and value of her sacred cantatas, and in demonstrating how this reassembled knowledge creates more informed and compelling performances of her music. / 2026-09-25T00:00:00Z

IT is often seen as a solution to many problems concerning effectiveness in organizations. Information systems within the healthcare sector is often viewed as medical devices rather than just systems or services. These medical devices are thoroughly regulated by laws, standards and certifications. In this study I participated in an innovative project that aimed to bring new life and use to the old fashioned patient journal by giving it a visual representation through the use of an avatar. I aimed to study the effects of regulators connected with the patient journal as a source of information for the innovative project. I drew upon Actor-network theory as a theoretical lens to trace the patient journal and connect it with regulatory aspects important to innovative projects such as the studied scenario. I also aimed to research the possibilities and obstacles provided with today’s IT-climate in Swedish healthcare. I found that regulatory aspects according to Actor-network theory proved to be an actor that stabilizes the network that is the innovative project. Certain regulatory aspects such as quality management standards provided support for unifying the vision concerning the innovation. Further the regulatory aspects proved to be an actor that can shift power between project developers and external actors. The regulatory aspects did not show any significant effect on the innovation or its original vision. These aspects did however show proof of being a heavy provider of project complexity and experience concerning these aspects was shown to be hard to find. I also found that there are two distinct ways for an innovator to realize a vision within Swedish healthcare, the healthcare way and the patient way, these two ways are represented in a model framework for future research. Last but not least I presented a framework for future IT-architecture based on modern technology and the results found in this study.

Syftet med denna studie är att försöka utreda vilken roll arkitektoniska icke-människor spelar för skapandet av socialt samspel i en ekoby. För att utreda detta utgår studien från ett antal posthumanistiska teoribildningar, främst actor-network theory och begreppet materielldiskursiv. Dessa teoribildningar anser att även icke-människor, så som hus och brevlådor, ska ses som medskapare till världen men att deras agens bestäms av vilka andra aktörer de kopplar ihop sig med i nätverk. Genom observationer och intervjuer med sju boende i en ekoby har material insamlats om det sociala samspelet i ekobyn. Empirin vittnar om att många olika icke-människor spelar en roll för skapandet av det sociala samspelet som uppstår där. Det handlar bland annat om att gemensamhetshus ger plats för gemensamma aktiviteter, att öppna gräsytor möjliggör lek och att brevlådor uppmanar till rörelse. I sig själv skapar dock inte de arkitektoniska icke-människorna socialt samspel. För att de ska få den betydelsen behöver de användas och tolkas av andra aktörer. Svaret på frågeställningen blir följaktligen att de arkitektoniska icke-människorna spelar en roll för att socialt samspel uppstår i ekobyn men vilken roll de spelar är beroende av vilka andra aktörer som de kopplar ihop sig med. / The purpose of this study is to try to investigate the role that architectural non-humans play for the creation of social interaction in an eco-village. In doing this, the study uses a number of post-humanist theories. Mainly actor-network theory and the material-discursive concept. These state that even non-humans, like houses or mailboxes, are to be seen as co-creators of actions, but that their possible roles are decided by which other actors they attach to in a network. Through observations and interviews with seven residents of an eco-village, the information was gathered. The empirical data shows that many different non-humans are taking an active role in the creating of the social interactions that goes on in the eco-village. To mention a few, the community hall gives room for group activities, open lawns create a possibility for child’s play and mailboxes call for physical movement. In themselves, however, the nonhuman actors do not create social interaction. It is only when used by and interpreted by other actors that they gain their active role. The answer to the question would consequently be that the architectural non-humans in the eco-village do play an active role in the creation of social interaction but that the role is dependent on the other actors that they connect to.

Samtidskonsten innebär att en mängd nya sätt att organisera presentationen av konst på har uppstått. Museet för glömska är en mindre samtidskonsthall med starkt idébaserad grund som kan sägas vara allt från ett kulturprojekt till ett idébaserat museum. Denna uppsats belyser vad Museet för glömska är och hur det görs i ett ANT-perspektiv. En del av uppsatsen är också att se hur en organisation som Museet för glömska låter sig studeras. Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen för icke-traditionella museum och samtidskonsthallars organisation. Detta genom att synliggöra de förbindelser och relationer som bildar Museet för glömska. Tidigare studier av har visat att problematiken med samtidskonsten och dess organisering är att konsthallarna står i en beroendeställning till finansiärer varför det kritiska perspektiv som kännetecknar samtidskonsten kan vara svår att åstadkomma. Därför finns det anledning att studera alternativa organisationsformer. Museet för glömska undgår i viss mån denna problematik eftersom verksamheten sker på ideell grund. För att beskriva hur förbindelserna inom Museet för glömska hålls på plats använda begreppet obligatorisk passagepunkt, vilket kan sägas vara ett sätt att belysa hur makten fördelas i en organisation och vilka strategier som används för att bibehålla en maktposition. För att ytterligare beskriva vad Museet för glömska är och hur det görs används också begreppen objektskapande- och rumsligt nätverksperspektiv. Museet för glömska består, i ett ANT-perspektiv, av två kretslopp. Ett litet för varje utställningstillfälle och ett stort som beskriver Museet för glömskas identitet. Det lilla kretsloppet består av delarna utställningsidén, konstnärerna, konstverken, platsen och finansieringen. Det stora innehåller delarna utställningar, Medier utan minne och icke-platsen samt anti-grupperna museer, akademin, media och konstvärlden. Den sammanhållande faktorn för båda kretsloppen är en obligatorisk passagepunkt i form av talespersonerna och en obligatorisk icke-passagepunkt i form av artikeln Medier utan minne. Talespersonernas strategier för att bevara nätverket varierar beroende på vilken aktör i nätverket som ska intresseras. I ett objektskapande nätverksperspektiv är de små kretsloppen och det stora kretsloppet olika, men sammankopplade, objekt som skapar Museet för glömska. I ett rumsligt nätverksperspektiv existerar endast ett litet kretslopp, det som för tillfället är aktivt. När kretsloppet övergår till att inte länge vara aktivt så övergår det till att vara en del av det stora kretsloppets rumsliga nätverksform genom att det då endast existerar på Museet för glömskas webbsida. Jag hävdar genom uppsatsen att Museet för glömska kan ses på många olika sätt men att det i min uppsats ska förstås som en icke-organisation bestående av två kretslopp som hålls samman av en obligatorisk icke-passagepunkt i form av Medier utan minne och en obligatorisk passagepunkt i form av två talespersoner vars kommunikationer med kretsloppens olika delar och utpekandet av anti-grupper är essentiell för att Museet för glömska ska kunna bibehålla sin homeomorfism. Studien bidrar till att öka förståelsen för icke-traditionella konsthallar och museer genom att utvidga vad idébaserade museum kan vara och genom att visa på anti-gruppernas betydelse för icke-traditionella konsthallars identitetsskapande. Utöver detta visar också uppsatsen hur icke-organisationer kan studeras. / The emergence of contemporary art implied many new ways of organizing and presenting art. The Museum of Forgetting is a small and nomadic contemporary art gallery with a strong idea-based foundation. This thesis describes, what the Museum of Forgetting is and how it is made through an Actor Network Theory-perspective. Because of the complexity in what Museum of Forgetting is, it is also relevant to examine how an organization such as Museum of Forgetting can be studied. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of non-traditional museums and contemporary art galleries by displaying the associations with and within the Museum of Forgetting. Previous studies of contemporary art have shown that one problem of contemporary art and its organization is the dependence on external financiers. Therefore, the critical perspective, characterizing contemporary art, can be difficult to achieve. Because of this, there is reason to study alternative organizational forms of presenting and organizing art. This thesis increases the understanding of non-traditional art galleries and museums by expanding what idea-based museums can be and by showing the importance of anti-groups for the creation of the identities of non-traditional art galleries and museums. The empirical and analytical findings show, that the Museum of Forgetting, through an ANT perspective, consists of two cycles. A small one, that is actualized at each exhibition and a large one, describing the identity of the Museum of Forgetting. The small cycle consists of the following units: the exhibition-idea, the artists, the artworks, the place and the financing. The large cycle consists of: exhibitions, the article ”Media without memory” and non-location as well as anti-groups. The unifying factors for both cycles are one obligatory passage point manifested in two spokespersons and one obligatory non-passage point manifested in the article Media without memory. The spokespersons strategies to maintain their position as obligatory passage point varies, depending on which actor to enrol in the network. In essence, according to my findings, the Museum of Forgetting should be understood as two cycles which are coalesced by an obligatory non-passage point, manifested in Media without memory and an obligatory passage point, manifested in two spokespersons, whose communications with the different parts of the cycles and identification of anti-groups, are essential for maintaining the homeomorphism of the Museum of Forgetting.

This study is about information and materiality, more specifically how the different material manifestations of information affects the archivists in the Swedish Court archives. The primary focus is on how materiality affects archivists work with physical and digital information and how materiality affects the archivists themselves. This study uses interviews with archivists within the Swedish court archives as its primary source for analysis. By using primarily Actor-Network Theory and Discourse-theory alongside other scientific texts this study has shown in what ways materiality affects the daily work of archivists and their self-image. This study is relevant in many ways but primarily because there is little to none research of this kind that focuses on the court archives and as a result of that this study is relevant in the way it illustrates the importance and possibilities court archives for a dedicated scholar within archival science and other areas of information science. The results are as follows: materiality have many different ways of affecting the archivists and it does so on many different levels. With the focus on digital and physical information this study has come to the conclusion that materiality is an important aspect that cannot be overlooked. It affects how archivists work, how they think and how they practically handle physical and digital information.

Bilen har en etablerad roll i vårt samhälle och är ständigt central i samhällsplaneringsdebatten. Förutom biltrafikens koppling till ökade koldioxidutsläpp har bilens utbredning skapat utmaningar för att planera yteffektivt i städerna där allt fler bostäder byggs och i samband med detta även fler parkeringar. Det är kommunen som ansvarar för att det ska finnas skäligt med parkering i samband med bostadsbyggande och de skapar parkeringsnormer/policys för att reglera detta. Över tid har många kommuner gått från att ställa krav på ett minimum av parkeringsplatser till att istället arbeta med flexibla parkeringstal, vilka tillåter byggaktören att bygga färre parkeringar än vad normen säger om andra åtgärder för mobilitet implementeras. I denna process har bilpoolen kommit att bli en växande mobilitetsåtgärd som många kommuner erbjuder byggaktörerna att arbeta med för att sänka parkeringstalet. Det har däremot visat sig vara utmanande för kommunerna att få detta att fungera över tid. Det är kommunens uppdrag att ställa krav på parkeringstal och att godkänna eventuella minskningar av dessa om byggaktören väljer att arbeta med mobilitetsåtgärder - men kommunen ansvarar inte för förvaltningen av de tjänster som utlovas som mobilitetsåtgärd vid en avtalad parkeringstalsminskning. Det finns således inga garantier för att åtgärden över tid motsvarar förväntningarna och risken finns att bilpoolen läggs ned samtidigt som ett fåtal parkeringar har byggts. Detta arbete tar avstamp i frågan om vilka hinder och utmaningar kommuner som arbetar med bilpool som mobilitetsåtgärd vid nybyggnation av bostäder står inför i samarbetet med andra aktörer. Undersökningen tar hjälp av Actor-Network Theory för att kartlägga vilka aktörer och samarbeten som är centrala och vilka typer av interaktioner som skapar störst utmaningar i arbetet. Empirin är insamlad både kvantitativt genom enkätundersökningar där kommunerna fått redogöra för sina strategier, och kvalitativt genom djupintervjuer med utvalda kommuner där de har berättat om hur de upplever arbetsprocessen i sin helhet. Många kommuner befinner sig i en utforskande fas när det gäller att implementera och fastställa strategier i arbetet med bilpool som mobilitetsåtgärd, vilket leder till en variation av tillvägagångssätt och beräkningsmetoder. Implementeringen av bilpooler stöter på flera praktiska hinder, såsom otydligheter i regelverk och bristande samarbete mellan aktörer. Men det framgår i arbetet att det främst är de strukturella utmaningarna som måste adresseras för att underlätta implementeringen av bilpooler som en del av arbetet med flexibla parkeringstal. / The car holds an established role in our society and remains central in urban planning discussions. Besides the correlation between car traffic and escalating carbon dioxide emissions, the expansion of car use has presented challenges in efficiently planning urban spaces, particularly as more residences are constructed, resulting in an increase in parking facilities. It falls upon municipalities to ensure adequate parking provisions in conjunction with residential development, and they establish parking norms/policies to govern this. Over time, many municipalities have shifted from imposing minimum parking requirements to instead adopting flexible parking standards, enabling developers to construct fewer parking spaces than the norm dictates if alternative mobility measures are implemented. In this process, carpooling has emerged as a growing mobility solution that many municipalities offer developers as a means to reduce parking requirements. However, sustaining this approach over time poses a challenge. It is the municipality's responsibility to stipulate parking requirements and sanction any reductions if developers opt to integrate mobility measures. However, the municipality is not accountable for administering the services promised as mobility measures in a negotiated parking reduction. Consequently, there are no guarantees that the measure will meet expectations over time, and there exists a risk of discontinuing the carpool while only a few parking spaces have been developed. This study is rooted in the inquiry into the obstacles and challenges municipalities encounter when incorporating carpooling as a mobility measure in new housing construction in collaboration with other stakeholders. Employing Actor-Network Theory, the study maps out central actors and collaborations, as well as the types of interactions posing the greatest challenges in this endeavor. Empirical data is collected both quantitatively through surveys, wherein municipalities outline their strategies, and qualitatively through in-depth interviews with select municipalities, elucidating their experiences throughout the process. Many municipalities are in an exploratory phase concerning the implementation and establishment of strategies in integrating carpooling as a mobility measure, resulting in a divergence of approaches and calculation methods. The implementation of carpooling encounters several practical barriers, such as regulatory ambiguities and a lack of collaboration among stakeholders. However, it is apparent from the study that primarily addressing structural challenges is necessary to facilitate the integration of carpooling as part of the framework for flexible parking standards.

This research examines whether study of the controversial evolution of energy systems and emerging energy technologies can contribute to the debates in energy policy and STS, especially those concerning the ongoing search for solutions to energy and environmental problems through the promotion of low-carbon technologies. The focus of this study is on the emergence and growth of a technological project in the renewable energy sector, Wave Hub in Cornwall, UK. The analysis, informed by actor-network theory, helps to explore the emergence of Wave Hub as a complex socio-technical system and a macro-actor. The case study reveals that the project is associated with various controversies and problematic temporalities. The construction of credibility and viability of the technological project is explored, including the 'public face’ of the project, various meanings attributed to Wave Hub and its symbolic capital. The discourse around Wave Hub is critically reviewed, as regards stakeholder assumptions about the technological feasibility of the project. Consideration is also given to the political dimensions of credibility, including the promissory role of policy discourse. An actor-network theory approach helps questioning the idea of policy as ‘macro context’; the utility of an analytical approach to policy as an actant is thus investigated. I ask to what extent, and in what sense, policy can be understood as an element of an actor-network, not merely a context. Furthermore, this helps to build a critical discussion around the evolution of the actor-network with policy as its active element and critically assess to what extent this approach might help to understand the destiny of a technological project. The politics of expertise in the case of Wave Hub is shown to play a critical role for the ‘credibility-economy’ of the project. Exploring how the expertise is understood and performed in the case of Wave Hub, I consider the question of the self-representation of experts and how the expert knowledge and the expert status are constituted. Studying the contestation of expertise and its categorisation helps to analyse various forms of collaboration formed around Wave Hub, but also antagonism which was revealed between different groups of experts.

During the 1990's high expectations were put on telemedicine technology in health care organizations, which can be seen as a reflexion of the society's interest in IT. The use of tele-medicine is expected to improve the quality and decrease costs of health care services. However, if these expectations are to be attained the visions have to be translated into fields of application in local settings where the technology would be used. This could be seen as an infusion process, which means that the technology would incrementally be used in a comprehensive and integrated manner. In this thesis, four Swedish telemedicine projects are analyzed. The approach used is that of Actor network theory (ANT), which has enabled the development of a theory of the infusion process, implementation of IT-projects, and parts of ANT, e.g. the model of the translation process and the notion of inscription. By using the concept of translation, it is possible to see the infusion process as a process where the generic features of the technology (transmitting sound and pictures in real time) are translated into concrete activities in local settings. These fields of application are realized by the mobilization of different task-based networks, where the roles of the actors are defined by the task to be solved. An iterated mobilization of the network implies further that the network will become stabilized, which is a central dimension in the process of infusion. Another way to understand the process of infusion is to describe it as cycles of implementation, where one cycle symbolizes the implementation of a field of application, which is a result of the translation of the generic features of the technology. The inscriptions in the studied technology allow a high degree of flexibility of use and flexibility of action. The flexibility means that fields of application ought to be developed in interaction between actors in local settings, and supporting programs of action are to be identified, or developed, in order to integrate technology use into daily routines. The considerable numbers of failed of IT-project implementations can be explained by the fact that a traditional planning perspective has been used on technologies, which allow a high degree of flexibility of use and flexibility of action. However, by categorizing inscriptions in technological artifacts, it becomes possible to predict what kinds of implementation strategies are appropriate for different kinds of technologies. By viewing the implementation of open networking technologies as a process of translation, the infusion process will be facilitated and a comprehensive and integrated use of technology will be enabled. / digitalisering@umu

This PhD thesis concerns language and racism. The aim is to explore how racism is reproduced in interaction in public debates on immigration, integration and refugee policy. From a constructivist pragmatic perspective, language is considered as a practice that composes and makes sense of our social world and all the phenomena and individuals that we perceive in it. Racist discourses discriminate against and privilege people by categorising them according to notions of cultural, ethnical, racial, religious and national differences. The thesis has two main themes: 1) the linguistic reproduction of, and response to, racist discrimination and privileging in interaction, and 2) the role of language in various public arenas, and the norms and conditions for participation in these arenas. The thesis comprises five studies. Study I examines racist discourses and conditions for participation in an online newspaper comments section. Study II examines how the phrase “politically correct” is used and negotiated in the same comments section, and how its usage leads to the reproduction and normalisation of racism. Another comments section is the focus of Study III, in which discriminating and privileging categorisations of Muslims, Islam, Swedes and Sweden are analysed. Study IV examines an anti-racist forum on the social networking site Instagram. In the study, the reproduction of norms of whiteness is analysed, as well as power relations that are evoked, sustained and transformed in interaction. Finally, Study V is an analysis of linguistic, visual and material reproductions of political positions and racist discourses in a debate among party leaders on Swedish television. The thesis demonstrates how normalisation of racism is accomplished in interaction, and how reproduction of hierarchically structured difference and bigoted stereotypes are performed, and challenged, through language. The medium, combined with the user’s speech acts, set up the norms and conditions for participation, and for the discursive processes that reproduce the relations and structures of power.