This study treats the topic of smallpox prevention in Sweden during the nascent phase of vaccination between 1798–1805. The aim is to examine how Swedish physicians sought to establish trustworthiness for a new medical treatment as well as to analyse the relation between professional physicians and the unlicensed actors involved in the practice, i.e. the clergy and their assistants. The source material consists of pamphlets, articles in daily papers and annual reports written by Swedish physicians. By drawing upon theories on boundary-work and epistemic authority, this study has found that several boundaries were drawn within the medical space by the physicians who strived to retain the elements of the practice that were considered the most crucial, while delegating others. More importantly, the study has found that the physicians attempted to engage the clergy in the dissemination of knowledge due to their influence over the public. According to the physicians, the clergy were able to establish a credibility for the vaccine which could induce the population to undergo the treatment without coercion or laws made by the government.

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Brandmän arbetar i situationer av stark osäkerhet och risk. Ett fungerande lagarbete är en förutsättning för att de ska kunna hantera de faror som förekommer vid olyckor, samordna sin verksamhet, rädda byggnader och fordon, ta hand om drabbade människor och även undvika att själva bli skadade. Blivande brandmän måste alltså lära sig arbetssätt som inbegriper både samordning, interaktion och individuella insatser i en mycket speciell och krävande arbetsmiljö. Denna studie bygger på deltagande observationer och intervjuer inom den tvååriga yrkesutbildningen Skydd Mot Olyckor. I fokus står hur studenterna i komplexa insatsövningar lär sig en praktisk förståelse av lagarbetet i sitt kommande yrke. Studien analyserar hur övningarna organiseras som en samtidig rekonstruktion och simulering av operativa arbetsuppgifter. Skolans övningsverksamhet ses alltså som en del av ett bredare lärandefält och med nära relationer till räddningstjänstens operativa verksamhet. I studien ges en detaljerad bild av hur övningarna genomförs samt av hur studenterna lär sig skapa kontroll. Det gäller såväl över arbetets materiella villkor och tekniska utrustning som över sociala interaktioner i arbetslaget och emotionella reaktioner på osäkerhet och risk. Studien bygger på ett sociokulturellt lärandeperspektiv med emfas på praktik och lärande av praktisk förståelse. I studien kombineras perspektiv från sociologi och från Science-and-Technology-Studies (STS) för att fånga praktikens sociomateriella dimensioner av teknik, social koordinering och emotioner. / Firefighters work in situations of strong uncertainty and risk. A functional teamwork is a precondition in order for them to handle dangers occurring at accidents, coordinate their activity, saving buildings and vehicles, take care of victims and avoid being hurt themselves. Potential firefighters must learn working methods that involve bringing together efforts, interaction and individual achievements in a very special and demanding work environment. The study investigates how students, through their participation in complex reallife simulations of operational work, learn a practical understanding of firefighting practice. The study draws on participant observations and interviews within the two-year firefighter’s vocational training program, Skydd mot olyckor. The study analyzes how exercises are organized simultaneously as reconstruction and simulation of operational tasks. The training program is seen as part of a larger learning field with close ties to firefighting practice. The study gives a detailed account of how exercises are conducted and of how students learn to achieve control in and through work. That includes material conditions and equipment as well as social interaction within the team and emotional reactions on uncertainty and risk. The study uses a socio-cultural learning perspective with an emphasis on practice and practical understanding. Perspectives from sociology and Science-and-Technology-Studies (STS) are combined to capture the socio-material dimensions of the specific practice studied, including technology, social coordination and emotions.

This interdisciplinary thesis studies the diverse multi-stakeholder networks that are constitutive of contemporary water governance. It examines collaborative governance networks from a relational perspective in two case study watersheds in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Collaborative and networked governance approaches are increasingly promoted to address complex water challenges, but relatively little is known about how the everyday collaborative relationships (i.e. collaboration practices) among the multiple actors involved in the development, management and use of water, shape contemporary water governance processes. In this thesis, I advance, based on intensive fieldwork data collection, a conceptual and methodological framework for studying collaboration networks pertaining to watershed management. I examine local collaborative governance networks in two watersheds, in Ethiopia and Tanzania, from a relational perspective, using complementary qualitative and quantitative social network research methods. The thesis explores the opportunities and limitations of such collaborative governance networks in their concrete functioning, thereby contributing to a more context-sensitive, and nuanced, understanding of the role of governance networks and collaborative governance approaches in the management of water and related resources.

Psykisk ohälsa i arbetslivet är ett stort och växande problem i välfärdssamhället. Problemet har flera bottnar och väcker många frågor om vem som har ansvar, vad det egentligen är för ett slags fenomen och hur det bör hanteras. Den här studien undersöker hur arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa hanteras av yrkesverksamma inom vården, med fokus på företagshälsovård och primärvård. Intresse riktas mot hur yrkesverksamma personerna resonerar kring arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa, vilka dilemman de ställs inför och de strategier de har för att hantera dessa. Den söker också svar på ansvarsfrågan kring detta komplexa problem, inte minst i ljuset av privatiseringen av företagshälsovården. I studien används ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv, där begrepp från teknik- och vetenskapsstudier (STS), professionssociologi och organisationsteori kombineras för att analysera olika aspekter av vårdens hantering av arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. Det empiriska materialet bygger i huvudsak på intervjuer med läkare, psykoterapeuter, kuratorer, arbetsterapeuter, psykologer, rehabiliteringskoordinatorer och  beteendevetare, men inkluderar även observationer inom primärvård och företagshälsovård. Hanteringen av arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa i vårdens vardag präglas av att orsaksbilden till problemet är komplext, ansvarsfördelningen otydlig och att psykosociala orsaker till sjukdom är kontroversiellt. I studien diskuteras utmaningarna och möjligheterna kring hanteringen av detta komplexa problem i bred bemärkelse. I analyserna uppmärksammas de yrkesverksammas gränsdragningar kring både ansvar och fenomenet arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. Begreppet kunskapsinfrastruktur används för att förklara och förstå den kunskapsmässiga och materiella struktur som de yrkesverksamma verkar inom. Analyserna visar att de yrkesverksamma har ett pragmatiskt förhållningssätt och använder olika strategier för att skapa sig handlingsutrymme i hur de hanterar arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. / Mental ill health in working life is a major and growing problem in the welfare society. The problem is multifaceted and raises many questions about who is responsible, what kind of phenomenon it is and how it should be managed. This study examines how care professionals manage work-related mental ill health. Focusing on occupational healthcare and primary care, interest is directed towards how care professionals argue about workrelated mental illness, what dilemmas they face and the strategies they rely on in managing them. It also seeks to answer the question of responsibility regarding this complex problem, not least in the light of the privatization of occupational healthcare. The study uses a multidisciplinary perspective, combining concepts from technology and science studies (STS), sociology of professions and organizational theory in order to analyze various aspects of care management of work-related mental ill health. The empirical material is mainly based on interviews with physicians, psychotherapists, counsellors, occupational therapists, psychologists, rehabilitation coordinators and behavioral scientists, but also includes observations in primary care and occupational health care. The management of work-related mental ill health in everyday healthcare practice is characterized by the fact that the cause of the problem is complex, the division of responsibility unclear and that psychosocial causes of disease are controversial. The study discusses the challenges and possibilities of managing this complex problem in a broad sense. The analysis pays attention to the drawing of boundaries by the care professionals regarding both responsibility and the phenomenon of work-related mental illness. The concept of knowledge infrastructure is used to explain and understand the knowledge and material structures that the care professionals work within. The analysis shows that the care professionals have a pragmatic approach and use different strategies to create scope for dealing with work-related mental health.