Assessor: The purpose of this study is to highlight tenants and staff’s perception of user’s involvement and influence in municipal group housing in living by the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS). The study where performed in five small municipalities in the southern part of Sweden. Leading research questions have inter alia been in what way the process of decision-making is shared between the user and support person. Applied methods are mixed between qualitative interpretative modes with a certain quantitative approach. Qualitative group interviews consist of two focus groups with professional employees. One consists of three middle managers and the other one of five caregivers at special housing (LSS). Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with three individual users, i.e. a person who has assistance according to LSS. Twenty-four quantitative questionnaires directed to professionals in varying positions, all with the common feature that they are working with people with disabilities according to LSS. The assembled data was coded and themed into participation, influence, integrity and self-determination, living like others. Findings: Users can influence through board meetings and by legal predecessors and staff. The situational built in asymmetrical power imbalance can be compensated through mutual acceptance.

This master’s thesis investigates how freelancers experience job precarity and asymmetrical power relations which have been established within the media production industry as well as the relevance and value of coworking spaces providing a workspace with the possibilities of knowledge sharing, networking and community building, as a framework in order to challenge their precarious working conditions. Furthermore, the research aims at examining the participants’ experiences in a qualitative manner to explore those rather new concepts of freelancing and coworking spaces as previous research has failed to address the individual experiences of how freelancers deal with the nature of work in the media production industry.Situated in the context of the structural changes within media production towards a project-based nature of work and the decrease of permanent employment, freelancers are increasingly facing precarious working conditions such as uncertainty and instability.Applying the theory of structure and agency as theoretical framework, it is discussed to what extent freelancers are influenced by the established structures, rules and norms within the media production industry and how their agency is enabled within these structures.Using a qualitative research approach, this study is based on an investigation of the experiences and knowledge of eleven freelancers working in the media production industry and who are users of coworking spaces by the means of semi-structured interviews. In summary, this thesis reveals that the majority of the participants experience asymmetrical power relations and precarity to a high degree. Furthermore, freelancers who seek for communities in order to challenge their precarious working conditions, experience coworking spaces as highly valuable concept in order to increase the possibilities for their individual agency. Having investigated those rather novel concepts, this thesis serves as a starting point for examining further research on freelancers’ individual experiences of their working conditions.