This project deals with the experiences of asylum-seeking persons in their struggle to receive protection in different European countries, exploring how the sense of belonging is shaped during fragmented migration journeys. Conducting biographic-narrative interviews with five persons I met while working in a community centre in Greece, the research shifts the gaze from exclusionary citizenship regimes to migrant agency, revealing the distinct tactics, perceptions and performances of belonging on the move. The findings highlight the dynamic nature of belonging, challenging the notion that migration necessarily implies a rupture with significant attachments. Encounters with state and asylum authorities and regulations are experienced as renewed instances of insecurity, hindering belonging, whereas the community centre offers solace and alternative membership. The research partners express a pragmatic sense of “elective belonging” in Germany and Switzerland, based on long-awaited security and existential mobility, despite weakened community ties and the constraints imposed by European migration policies.

No description available.

Bakgrund: Substansmissbruk är ett globalt problem och leder till negativa konsekvenser både för personen och samhället. Antal patienter som vårdats för substansmissbruk inom hälso- och sjukvården i Sverige har ökat de senaste åren. Tidigare forskning visar att substansmissbruk kan grundas i och leda till lidande. Psykiatrisjuksköterskor ger ofta omvårdnad till patienter som har substansmissbruk. Kommunikation mellan psykiatrisjuksköterska och patient sker vanligen via samtal. Forskning har visat att vårdande samtal kan lindra lidande. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att beskriva psykiatrisjuksköterskors erfarenheter av vårdande samtal med patienter som har ett substansmissbruk. Metod: Semistrukturerade narrativa intervjuer via telefon utfördes med elva psykiatrisjuksköterskor. Data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen mynnade ut i elva subkategorier och fyra kategorier. Kategorierna var drogfrihet som ambition, följsam närvaro, genuin människokärlek och att möta och lindra lidandets olika skepnader. Slutsats: Vårdande samtal kan ha potential att lindra patientens lidande samt tillfrisknande från substansmissbruk. Psykiatrisjuksköterskan behöver ha ett professionellt och personcentrerat förhållningssätt. Det vårdande samtalet beskrivs vara ett samtal mellan två människor vilket för psykiatrisjuksköterskan innebär utmaning i balans mellan närhet och distans till patienten. / Background: Substance abuse is a global problem that leads to negative consequences both for the person and for society. Healthcare in Sweden has the last couple of years taken care ofan increasing number of patients with substance abuse. Research shows that substance abuse can both lead to and caused suffering. Psychiatric nurses often give nursing care to patients who have substance abuse. Communication between the psychiatric nurse and the patient is often done by conversation. Research has shown that caring conversations can alleviate suffering. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe psychiatric nurses’ experiences of caring conversations with patients who have substance abuse. Method: Semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted by phone with eleven psychiatric nurses. Data is analyzed according to qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in eleven subcategories and four categories. The categories were drug freedom as ambition, compliant presence, genuine human love and to meet and alleviate the various forms of suffering. Conclusion: Caring conversations can have the potential to alleviate the patient's suffering as well as recovery from substance abuse. The psychiatric nurse needs to have a professional and person-centered approach. The caring conversation is described as a conversation between two people, which for the psychiatric nurse means a challenge in balancing closeness and distance to the patient.

Set within discussions of gender, migration and social practices, this thesis explores the ways in which Thai women migrants to Sweden build connections between rural areas through their daily activities. Arriving in Sweden primarily through marriage ties, Thai women migrants are more likely to live in Swedish rural areas than in urban areas. Rural areas are typically not seen as a site of globalization or as receivers of international migrants. In contrast to these perceptions, the case of Thai women migrants in the Swedish countryside reveals a complex and vigorous set of social practices that connect rural Sweden across spatial and temporal scales. The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which Thai migrant women construct and implement social practices spatially and temporally. Drawing on the life stories of 16 Thai women living in Sweden, along with other sources of empirical data analysed within feminist epistemologies, this thesis discusses: In what ways does gender shape migrant social practices? How are social practices constructed within individual migrant micro-geographies? By what means are migrant social practices contextualized by spaces and places? Thai women migrants are gendered agents of these social practices and are utilizing specific resources, objects and networks to bridge the distances found in their daily lives. The empirical material examined in this thesis points to the importance of women’s everyday social practices in connecting and linking rural areas globally at different spatial and temporal scales. The results highlight the importance of a translocalism perspective to understanding gendered social practices. This study adds to the translocal discussion by demonstrating that social practices are embedded in multiple geographic sites and scales. Thai women migrants, in this study, emerge as significant actors in global countrysides and do the functional work of bringing spaces and places together daily and through their life course. This thesis consists of an introductory chapter and five papers. The introductory chapter outlines the context and theoretical approaches to understanding Thai migration flows to Sweden. The papers share an emphasis on local sites: homes, workplaces and community. They examine different ways that women construct and build social practices – for example, through food, community projects and in developing their businesses. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Submitted. Paper 5: Submitted.</p>

With a projected increase in electricity demand and low-carbon energy generation in the UK, expansion of the existing transmission grid network is required. In going beyond the NIMBY concept, Devine-Wright (2009) posited a place-based approach that highlights the roles of place attachment and place-related symbolic meanings for understanding public responses to energy infrastructure proposals. This PhD research investigated two overarching and interrelated research aims. The first sought to enlarge our understandings of the processes of attachment and detachment to the residence place by investigating the dynamics of varieties of people-place relations across the life course (people's 'life-place trajectories'), thus addressing the limitation of studies adopting a 'structural' approach to the study of people-place relations. This research, in a second instance, sought to better understand the role of people's life-place trajectories and a range of project-based factors (i.e. procedural and distributive justice) in shaping people's responses to a power line proposal. This research focussed on the Hinckley Point C (HPC) transmission line proposal and residents of the town of Nailsea, South-West England. A social representations theory framework was usefully applied to this research by acknowledging that people's personal place relations and their beliefs about proposed place change, are situated and embedded within wider social representations of place and project. A mixed methods approach was employed comprising three empirical studies. The first consisted of twenty-five narrative interviews, the second a set of five focus group interviews, and the third a questionnaire survey study (n=264) amongst a representative sample of Nailsea residents. Triangulating findings across the three studies produced a novel set of key findings. By elaborating five novel 'life-place trajectories', this PhD research moved beyond structural approaches to the study of people-place relations and made a novel contribution to our understandings of the processes and dynamics of attachment and detachment to the residence place across the life course. This research further confirmed the existing typology of people-place relations and revealed a novel variety termed 'Traditional-active attachment'. Life-place trajectories were instrumental in informing divergent representations of the nearby countryside which were more or less congruent with objectified representations of the HPC project. Future studies investigating place and project meanings should be sensitive to these trajectories. Interestingly, place as a 'centre of meaning' rather than a 'locus of attachment' (or non-attachment) emerged as particularly salient for understanding responses to the project. Project-based factors were salient in informing participants' responses toward the project. A perceived imbalance between high local costs and an absence of local benefits was seen to result in distributive injustice and opposition toward the project. However, improved perceived procedural justice following National Grid's announcement of siting concessions in the spring of 2013, was seen to ameliorate local trust in the developer and project acceptance.

MA, Forced Migration Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011. / Rationale: Urbanization is rapidly taking place in Africa: fifty percent of the continent‘s population is expected to be living in urban areas by 2030 (Kok and Collinson in Vearey 2010b). Both internal1 and cross-border migrants2 are moving into South Africa’s urban centers at a faster rate than her neighboring countries; approximately 60 percent of the population is estimated to be urban (ibid). The worldwide increase in urbanization requires that research recognize the trajectories of people moving into these urban spaces, as well as the experiences that people encounter as they navigate urban centers (Kihato, 2010, Landau 2006a, 2006b, Vearey 2010a, 2010b, Venables, 2010). Many migrants in inner-city Johannesburg engage in unconventional survival strategies, including sex work (e.g. Richter 2010). Although sex work is considered an informal livelihood strategy, it is currently illegal in South Africa (UNAIDS, 2009). Research on sex work in South Africa is limited; however, there is significant evidence that sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg experience unsafe, unhealthy- often times violent- working and living conditions (e.g. Nyangairi, 2010, Richeter, 2010). This research is primarily interested in exploring the ways in which “marginalized” urban migrant groups choose to represent themselves versus the incomplete (re) presentation that is often relegated to them. A focus on representation will provide an opportunity for policy makers, programmers and academics to gain insight and better comprehend the experiences of migrant urban populations. In this case, the researcher is looking specifically at migrant women who sell sex as an entry point into the larger issues of (re) presentation among individuals and communities who are often described as “vulnerable” and/or “marginal”. Aim: The aim of this research project is to explore how migrant women who sell sex in Hillbrow, Johannesburg (re) present themselves, and how (or not) urban space affects these self- (re) presentations. Methods: The epistemological framework for the methodologies used in this study was Participatory Action Research (PAR), and the primary data collection methodology used consisted of an eleven-day participatory photo project where the research participants were given digital cameras and asked to photograph the “story” that they would like to share. Upon completion of the participatory photo workshop, five research participants were randomly selected to participate in 2-3 sessions of in-depth, semi-structured narrative interviews where the researcher explored the choice of photos taken, as well as the reasons why the photos were selected to (re) present themselves. Conclusion: This study has shown that use of Participatory Action Research as an epistemological framework is both conducive and appropriate when researching ‘hard to reach’ groups of people residing in complex urban areas. Furthermore, this research signals the need for greater inclusion of participants in studies aimed at understanding individual/group experience, especially when working with marginalized communities. This study also reveals a host of future research opportunities for those interested in exploring: (1) identity in urban space/urban health, (2) livelihood experiences/strategies of people living in densely populated urban spaces, (3) issues of belonging and access to health care, (4) impacts of structural violence on the lives of migrant women sex workers, (6) ways that perceptions and representations are impacted in group settings, and (5) the use of ‘innovative methodologies’ as a viable tool in social science research.

If one takes a snapshot of Romanian migration, the first observation might be that the home villages or communities are very different. This is also the conclusion that Massey et al. (1994) first reach when comparing Mexican communities. However, if one compares migrant communities in a longitudinal manner, it can be seen rather that they are converging towards similar migration patterns rather than diverging. To explore this, I conducted fieldwork research in two villages from different socio-cultural regions of Romania, and for the second phase of the research followed the migrants to their destinations in Spain. In total I conducted more than 50 biographical narrative interviews with migrants and fifteen in-depth interviews with representatives from local authorities and other key informants on rural Romanian life. The biographical narrative interviews allowed me to take a longitudinal perspective on the migration from the two villages. The aim in comparing the two villages was to understand the internal logic of migration and examine to what extent two different villages showed any syncretism through cumulative structural effects. Analysing migrants’ projects, the family migration and the general migration from the two villages – each accounting for different levels of analysis – allowed me to specify the stages of migration. In the thesis, firstly I explain the socio-economic, cultural and geographical context in the origin community which shapes migration. Secondly, I compare the migration patterns of two families from the two villages, and thirdly I abstract three migration projects specific to the two communities. All these allow me to show that the two villages are at different stages in the migration process (Massey et al. 1994) and also to explain the mechanism of passing from one stage to the next. So far, the literature on migration policies has looked at the receiving countries. Few references are made to the origin countries, and these refer to Mexico, the Philippines and some of the Northern African countries, countries which have an active policy of promoting migration. Literature with regard to the European cases – for example Serbia, which has a Ministry of the Diaspora, or Poland, a country with a very long history emigration – is absent. Moreover, topics such as grounded migration policy making or the local dimension of policy making are still new in the reflexion of scholars. The thesis fills this gap with respect to migration policies of bonding migrants and involving them in development in the home community. The theory that holds together all these components is Luhmann’s systems theory (1995), in the way it was adapted to migration research by Bommes (2005) and Bommes and Tacke (2006a, 2006b). Using systems theory allows me to perform a critique of concepts like migration networks and transnationalism, which are very often used in the analysis of migration.

German text / Die Alkoholabhängigkeit ist die am stärksten verbreitete Abhängigkeitserkrankung in Deutschland. Unbekannt ist die Zahl der betroffenen Angehörigen. Nach Erarbeitung not-wendiger theoretischer Grundlagen und Vorstellung aktueller Forschungsergebnisse stan-den narrative Interviews mit Frauen von alkoholabhängigen Partnern im Mittelpunkt der Forschungsarbeit. Durch Datenanalyse und Dateninterpretation mit Methoden der rekon-struktiven Sozialforschung wurde ein tieferes Verständnis für die Lebensgeschichte der beiden ausgewählten Biografinnen gewonnen. Risiko- und Schutzfaktoren konnten diffe-renziert erfasst und resilienzfördernde Maßnahmen für Seelsorge und Beratung abgeleitet werden. Besondere Beachtung fand die Bedeutung des christlichen Glaubens als Resilienz-faktor. Weitere Beobachtungen durch Einbeziehung aller Interviews als Datenmaterial wurden als Hilfen für das Verständnis der Gesamtproblematik ausgewertet. Aus der Dis-kussion der Ergebnisse ergaben sich Handlungsempfehlungen für die christliche Gemeinde und richtungsweisende Impulse für Seelsorge und Beratung. Schlüsselbegriffe: / Alcohol dependence is the most widespread addictive disease in Germany, the number of affected relatives unkown. After acquiring theoretical foundations and current research results, my research focused on narrative interviews with wives of alcohol dependent part-ners. By the use of reconstructive social research methods, data analysis and interpretation a deeper understanding of the life history of the two selected biographers was obtained. After detecting risk and protective factors, resilience promoting factors for pastoral care and counselling could be derived. Special attention was paid to the importance of Christian faith. For an understanding of the overall problem, all interviews were included as data material and evaluated. From the discussion of the results, recommendations for the Chris-tian Church and impulses giving direction for pastoral care and counselling were derived. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

German text / Die Alkoholabhängigkeit ist die am stärksten verbreitete Abhängigkeitserkrankung in Deutschland. Unbekannt ist die Zahl der betroffenen Angehörigen. Nach Erarbeitung not-wendiger theoretischer Grundlagen und Vorstellung aktueller Forschungsergebnisse stan-den narrative Interviews mit Frauen von alkoholabhängigen Partnern im Mittelpunkt der Forschungsarbeit. Durch Datenanalyse und Dateninterpretation mit Methoden der rekon-struktiven Sozialforschung wurde ein tieferes Verständnis für die Lebensgeschichte der beiden ausgewählten Biografinnen gewonnen. Risiko- und Schutzfaktoren konnten diffe-renziert erfasst und resilienzfördernde Maßnahmen für Seelsorge und Beratung abgeleitet werden. Besondere Beachtung fand die Bedeutung des christlichen Glaubens als Resilienz-faktor. Weitere Beobachtungen durch Einbeziehung aller Interviews als Datenmaterial wurden als Hilfen für das Verständnis der Gesamtproblematik ausgewertet. Aus der Dis-kussion der Ergebnisse ergaben sich Handlungsempfehlungen für die christliche Gemeinde und richtungsweisende Impulse für Seelsorge und Beratung. Schlüsselbegriffe: / Alcohol dependence is the most widespread addictive disease in Germany, the number of affected relatives unkown. After acquiring theoretical foundations and current research results, my research focused on narrative interviews with wives of alcohol dependent part-ners. By the use of reconstructive social research methods, data analysis and interpretation a deeper understanding of the life history of the two selected biographers was obtained. After detecting risk and protective factors, resilience promoting factors for pastoral care and counselling could be derived. Special attention was paid to the importance of Christian faith. For an understanding of the overall problem, all interviews were included as data material and evaluated. From the discussion of the results, recommendations for the Chris-tian Church and impulses giving direction for pastoral care and counselling were derived. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

La recherche s'est occupée des liens de solidarité qui se créent à partir d’actions bénévoles spontanées au sein d’une communauté territoriale. L’ensemble de ces liens a été traité telle une ressource sociale conceptualisable par la notion de « capital social solidaire » et ce dernier a été considéré comme un bien public pouvant favoriser le bien-être social d’une société locale. De cette ressource, nous avons tenté d'en comprendre : 1) ses spécificités ; 2) son processus de micro-fondation ; 3) ses implications théoriques pour une théorie de la société. Le premier but a été atteint en dressant la carte des actions bénévoles mises en place dans deux provinces du nord-est de l’Italie (Trente et Trévise). La carte a montré un cadre hétérogène et diffus d’actions mises en place par les principales catégories d’acteurs de la société locale. Pour analyser le processus de création, les raisons des promoteurs ont été identifiées grâce à une série d’entretiens biographiques Les résultats des entretiens montrent une pluralité de motivations qui soutiennent ces actions et les limites de la théorie du choix rationnel à les expliquer. En ce qui concerne le troisième but, la réflexion a essayé d’éclaircir la nature de bien public du capital social et son utilité pour les débats sur la société civile et sur la cohésion sociale. Cette recherche a mis en évidence, d’une part, la contribution du capital social solidaire dans la valorisation du lien social et, de l’autre, l’utilité de la notion dans les analyses du courant associationniste de la société civile et dans les modèles individualistes de type communautaire de la cohésion sociale. / The research work presented in this doctoral thesis analysed the solidaristic bonds generated by spontaneous voluntary actions within a territorial community. Such bonds form a distinctive social resource conceptualized as “solidaristic social capital”, meant as a public good that benefits the social well-being of a local society. Three main aspects of this resource were investigated: 1) its specificities; 2) the process of its micro-foundation; 3) its theoretical implications for a theory of society. As for the first aspect, a survey of voluntary actions was conducted in two provinces in North-Eastern Italy (Trento and Treviso). Data showed a variety of types of actions producing solidaristic bonds, carried out by a heterogeneous set of social groups. In order to explain the generative process of social capital, a series of biographical interviews were conducted, which shed light on the life stories of promoters of voluntary actions, as well as on the limitations of the rational choice theory in accounting for the complexity of their motivations. Finally, the main theoretical implications of the notion of social capital were discussed, focusing on its nature as a public good and on its contribution to a theory of civil society and social cohesion. On the one hand, the solidaristic social capital emerged as a source that helps strengthen social bonds. On the other, this notion might play a crucial role in the theoretical elaborations based on the associationalistic approach to civil society and on individualistic models of community type of social cohesion.