<p>In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the <i>Norrland</i> region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in <i>Norrland</i> was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, <i>Norrland</i> had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to <i>Norrland's </i>peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.</p>

<p>Under åren 1977–89 bedrev arkeologiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet en forskningsundersökning av en boplats från äldre järnålder på Genesmon i Själevad socken, norra Ångermanland. Under åren 1991–99 rekonstruerades delar av gården i Gene fornby, ett hundratal meter därifrån. Denna avhandling behandlar uppbyggnad och inredning av ett av gårdens långhus, hus II, samt den treskeppiga byggnadstypens konstruktion och funktion i en större kontext. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva växelverkan mellan teori och praktik i rekonstruktion, att beskriva rekonstruktionsarbete som en föränderlig förklarings- och förståelseprocess samt att undersöka om rekonstruktion kan bidra till ökad förståelse av arkeologiska huslämningar. Efter nära 5000 års dominans i södra och mellersta Skandinavien upphör långhusen att vara det allmänna byggnadsskicket i slutet av yngre järnålder. Varför detta sker blev en viktig fråga för förståelsen av byggnadstypen.</p><p>En hermeneutisk modell används för att beskriva hur tolkningarna under rekonstruktionsarbetet kom att inverka på varandra i en serie av samverkande eller motverkande förklaringar till den arkeologiska lämningen. Utifrån arkeologiska och skriftliga källor beskrivs därefter indelning och inredning av långhuset i sju rumsfunktioner som kan benämnas bur, önd, skåle, fjös, stall, lada och eldhus. Eldens roll, hedersplatsens placering och byggnadstypens förändring i Island blev viktiga delar för att förstå byggnadens ideologiska betydelse. Genom flera experiment med uppvärmning har lösningar sökts på problem med en rökig bostadsmiljö. Erfarenheterna leder slutligen fram till ett förslag på lösning som också illustrerar hur påtagligt förebilden kom att styra tolkningsarbetet.</p><p>Rekonstruktionsarbetet ledde till resultat av olika karaktär: dels erfarenheter om konstruktion, funktion samt material - och tidsåtgång för uppförande av den specifika huslämningen hus II och dels nya generella frågor och ny kunskap som ökar förståelsen kring den treskeppiga byggnadstypen. Långsträckt form, takbärande stolpar, mitthärd och relation till kult och ideologi föreslås som karaktäristiska element för byggnadstypen över tid och rum och byggnadens relation till ideologi föreslås som en av förklaringarna till varför långhusen försvinner i samband med kristnandet. När övergången till ett nytt byggnadsskick med ramverkshus sker under vikingatidens slutskede diskuteras den politiska och kyrkliga makten som styrande till dessa genomgripande förändringar.</p> / <p>During the years of 1977-89 the Department of Archaeology at Umeå University conducted a scientific investigation of an Early Iron Age settlement at Genesmon in the parish of Själevad, northern Ångermanland. Subsequently, during the years 1991-99 parts of the farm were reconstructed at Gene Fornby, a couple of hundred meters away from the site. This thesis deals with the construction and furnishing of one of the farm’s longhouses (House II), and the wider context of the construction and function of the “three-aisled” building type. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the interaction between theory and practice in reconstruction, to describe the reconstruction process as a constantly changing process of explanation and understanding, and to investigate as to whether reconstructions can contribute to an increased understanding of archaeological house remains. At the end of the Late Iron Age, after nearly 5000 years of dominance in Southern and Central Scandinavia, the longhouse ceases to be the dominant form of construction. Understanding why this happened became an important problem in this work. </p><p>During the reconstruction work, different interpretations influenced one another in a series of positive and negative feedbacks into the explanations of the archaeological remains. A hermeneutic model is used to describe this phenomenon. From archaeological and written sources, division and furnishing of the long-houses can be described in terms of seven room functions. These can be classified as storage bur, porch önd, living room skåle, byre fjös, stable stall, barn lada and rough kitchen eldhus. In order to understand the ideological meaning of the buildings the role of the fire, the placement of the seat of honour and the change in the type of building in Iceland became important parts of this study. Numerous heating experiments have been undertaken in order to try to solve the problem of excessive smoke within the building. The experiments finally led to a possible solution that also serves to illustrate just how the model itself came to influence the process of interpretation.</p><p>The reconstruction work led to results of different character: partly data on construction, function and materials – and the time frame for the construction of House II from its archaeological remains; and partly knowledge and new theories which increase our understanding of the three-aisled building form. The elongated form, roof supporting poles, central hearth and a close association with ritual and ideology are suggested as characteristic elements for this type of construction, throughout its chronological and spatial extent. The relationship between the building and Norse ideologies is suggested as one of the explanations for the longhouse’s dissappearance with the introduction of Christianity. At the end of the Viking Age, there is a transition into a new framework based method of construction, and the political and ecclesiastical authorities are discussed as having governed these widespread changes.</p>

In this dissertation the construction of two coastal railways, the East Coast Line and the Bothnia Line, in the Norrland region of northern Sweden is used as a case study of how regionally based interest groups are formed, and how they gain access to decision-making processes on a national level. In periods when a number of preconditions were in place, a window of opportunity opened for the coastal railway that the regional elites could exploit. Among these was the ability to form a coherent regional interest group, through institutions that created platforms and power-bases that enable regional elites to co-operate and act on regional and national levels.The existence of an institutional framework that was adapitve towards regional railway promotion was also important. The study shows that the coastal railway had a very flexible role on the agenda, as it provided a fixed solution against which actors could pin a multitude of different problems. An important factor for explaining the development of the coastal railway question in Norrland was the ideological notion of the region itself. Being a vast, resource-rich and sparsely populated region, Norrland had almost always received special consideration in both public opinion and national policy making. It also created a remarkable stubbornness among the regional actors in working for the coastal railway. Regional interest groups had also learnt that linking their claims to Norrland's peripheral position had high legitimacy on the national arena, by claiming the need for regional fairness and/or the national importance of the regional export-intensive industries. This was instrumental in justifying the repeated exemptions from the national railway policy regimes that ultimately were decissive in making the regional elites successful.

Under åren 1977–89 bedrev arkeologiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet en forskningsundersökning av en boplats från äldre järnålder på Genesmon i Själevad socken, norra Ångermanland. Under åren 1991–99 rekonstruerades delar av gården i Gene fornby, ett hundratal meter därifrån. Denna avhandling behandlar uppbyggnad och inredning av ett av gårdens långhus, hus II, samt den treskeppiga byggnadstypens konstruktion och funktion i en större kontext. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva växelverkan mellan teori och praktik i rekonstruktion, att beskriva rekonstruktionsarbete som en föränderlig förklarings- och förståelseprocess samt att undersöka om rekonstruktion kan bidra till ökad förståelse av arkeologiska huslämningar. Efter nära 5000 års dominans i södra och mellersta Skandinavien upphör långhusen att vara det allmänna byggnadsskicket i slutet av yngre järnålder. Varför detta sker blev en viktig fråga för förståelsen av byggnadstypen. En hermeneutisk modell används för att beskriva hur tolkningarna under rekonstruktionsarbetet kom att inverka på varandra i en serie av samverkande eller motverkande förklaringar till den arkeologiska lämningen. Utifrån arkeologiska och skriftliga källor beskrivs därefter indelning och inredning av långhuset i sju rumsfunktioner som kan benämnas bur, önd, skåle, fjös, stall, lada och eldhus. Eldens roll, hedersplatsens placering och byggnadstypens förändring i Island blev viktiga delar för att förstå byggnadens ideologiska betydelse. Genom flera experiment med uppvärmning har lösningar sökts på problem med en rökig bostadsmiljö. Erfarenheterna leder slutligen fram till ett förslag på lösning som också illustrerar hur påtagligt förebilden kom att styra tolkningsarbetet. Rekonstruktionsarbetet ledde till resultat av olika karaktär: dels erfarenheter om konstruktion, funktion samt material - och tidsåtgång för uppförande av den specifika huslämningen hus II och dels nya generella frågor och ny kunskap som ökar förståelsen kring den treskeppiga byggnadstypen. Långsträckt form, takbärande stolpar, mitthärd och relation till kult och ideologi föreslås som karaktäristiska element för byggnadstypen över tid och rum och byggnadens relation till ideologi föreslås som en av förklaringarna till varför långhusen försvinner i samband med kristnandet. När övergången till ett nytt byggnadsskick med ramverkshus sker under vikingatidens slutskede diskuteras den politiska och kyrkliga makten som styrande till dessa genomgripande förändringar. / During the years of 1977-89 the Department of Archaeology at Umeå University conducted a scientific investigation of an Early Iron Age settlement at Genesmon in the parish of Själevad, northern Ångermanland. Subsequently, during the years 1991-99 parts of the farm were reconstructed at Gene Fornby, a couple of hundred meters away from the site. This thesis deals with the construction and furnishing of one of the farm’s longhouses (House II), and the wider context of the construction and function of the “three-aisled” building type. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the interaction between theory and practice in reconstruction, to describe the reconstruction process as a constantly changing process of explanation and understanding, and to investigate as to whether reconstructions can contribute to an increased understanding of archaeological house remains. At the end of the Late Iron Age, after nearly 5000 years of dominance in Southern and Central Scandinavia, the longhouse ceases to be the dominant form of construction. Understanding why this happened became an important problem in this work. During the reconstruction work, different interpretations influenced one another in a series of positive and negative feedbacks into the explanations of the archaeological remains. A hermeneutic model is used to describe this phenomenon. From archaeological and written sources, division and furnishing of the long-houses can be described in terms of seven room functions. These can be classified as storage bur, porch önd, living room skåle, byre fjös, stable stall, barn lada and rough kitchen eldhus. In order to understand the ideological meaning of the buildings the role of the fire, the placement of the seat of honour and the change in the type of building in Iceland became important parts of this study. Numerous heating experiments have been undertaken in order to try to solve the problem of excessive smoke within the building. The experiments finally led to a possible solution that also serves to illustrate just how the model itself came to influence the process of interpretation. The reconstruction work led to results of different character: partly data on construction, function and materials – and the time frame for the construction of House II from its archaeological remains; and partly knowledge and new theories which increase our understanding of the three-aisled building form. The elongated form, roof supporting poles, central hearth and a close association with ritual and ideology are suggested as characteristic elements for this type of construction, throughout its chronological and spatial extent. The relationship between the building and Norse ideologies is suggested as one of the explanations for the longhouse’s dissappearance with the introduction of Christianity. At the end of the Viking Age, there is a transition into a new framework based method of construction, and the political and ecclesiastical authorities are discussed as having governed these widespread changes.

This thesis aims to shed light upon three related research areas with the medieval period at their core: medieval Europeanization, the historiography of medieval places, the importance of the cultural environment and medieval period for the present day. By these means several current research angles are integrated within medieval research, the history of science and cultural heritage research. Six investigations of medieval central places in Ångermanland and Medelpad in northern Sweden are used to exemplify these issues. The use of hermeneutic theory emphasises the relationship between the present day community, the individual and the interpretation of history. The sites presented in the thesis represent the entire medieval period from the 11th Century to the start of the 16th Century. Two of them – Kvissle chapel and “Skelettåkern” (=The Skeleton Field) in Björned – functioned as private Christian churches or graveyards; two were important harbours – Sankt Olofshamn (=Saint Olof’s Harbour) and Kyrkesviken (=Church bay); two functioned as military castles or fortifications – Styresholm/ ”Pukeborg” and Bjärtrå stronghold. In addition to these, four medieval stone parish churches have been examined: the old church at Alnö in Medelpad, and the churches of Torsåker, Boteå and Grundsunda in Ångermanland. The Europeanization of Norrland is discussed with reference to aspects such as religious transition and parish formation, monetarization and changes in household structure, trade specialization and administrative territorialization. Central places have played an important role in this process. Historiography illuminates how, and in which contexts, knowledge and understanding of history and medieval central places has developed and been communicated. This includes the use of place names and the oral narration of history, authorship and scientific research into local history. A number of primary school teachers, adult education college (‘folk high school’) teachers and priests were particularly important for the growth of local historical research around the turn of the 20th century. The use of cultural heritage is illustrated with a discussion of how the medieval cultural environments in Ångermanland and Medelpad have been interpreted and used in recent years. This includes aspects such as signposting, teaching and research activities, mass media attention, amateur history plays and similar performances, and the formation of various types of society. These three aspects of Norrland’s medieval period, together with the use of a cultural heritage perspective, form a broader holistic picture of the social role of scientific research and the cultural environment, where local interest in history is important for regional development.

Hunting ground graves were distinguished as a separate category during the 1930s.         There is however no clear definition of what a hunting ground grave is. They have been constructed over a large area over a long period of time (200 BC-1200 AD) and their morphology varies. This paper investigates how the archaeologists have discussed the hunting ground graves since they were distinguished as a separate category until today. It investigates what concepts that have been used to define and categorize the graves as a group. It also investigates if the choices of concepts are depending on a broader societal perspective. To find the answers to these questions two surveys have been done. In the first one, texts about the hunting ground graves, written by scientists from 1931 to 2009, are analyzed. The second survey is a questionnaire sent to archaeologists working at museums and at the County Administrative Board in the regions of northern Svealand and Norrland.     The source material in both surveys is mainly studied qualitatively, where phrases and choices of words are analyzed using the concepts and methods derived from the research tradition of conceptual history. In the second survey quantitative elements is also analyzed, which aims to show how different views on the hunting ground graves are spread over different counties. The results of the surveys show that the concepts used to define the graves contain locked dichotomies concerning location, economy and ethnicity. The research from the twenty-first century is however increasingly thinking about hunting ground graves as an expression of meetings and mixtures of cultures. The second survey shows that there is no clear consensus on the concept of lake graves (the concept lake graves was used in the questionnaire) among the archaeologists answering the questionnaire. On the contrary, they consider the concept unclear and difficult to use.

Denna studie undersöker temat ”hembygden” i Helmer Grundströms tidiga diktning. Metodengrundar sig på en kombination av hermeneutisk tematik och ett biografiskt material, för att på så viskunna sammankoppla författarens liv med hans diktning. Tematiken härleds ur avsnittet kallat”Mallarmés poetiska universum”, ur Jean-Pierre Richards L'univers de Mallarmé, men avviker fråndenna på vissa punkter. Detta grundar sig dels på den biografiska aspekten i min studie, vilket intetäcks in av nämnda text, men också på grund av att jag väljer att endast fokusera på ett enda tema.Helmer Grundströms norrländska bakgrund har i hög grad färgat av sig på de texter som han senareskrev, och dikterna speglar därför till viss del de komplicerade känslor som han hyste införhembygden. Därför förväntas det biografiska materialet förstärka mina påståenden och antaganden.    I uppsatsens analys uppmärksammas olika detaljer i texten, och dessa detaljer diskuteras sedan iförhållande till liknande inslag. Utifrån dessa mindre delar urskiljs olika motiv i diktningen, somtillsammans bildar den tematiska helhetsbilden. En stor del av motivurvalet i Grundströms diktningkretsar också kring hembygden. Huvudmotiven är, enligt min uppfattning, de kontrasterandeaspekterna hemlängtan och behovet av att ge sig av, vilka båda inryms i hembygdens tematiskahelhet. Dessa motiv utvecklas och diskuteras utifrån textexempel, och kompletteras med utsagor omförfattarens samtida livssituation. Även andra motiv urskiljs i diktningen, för att sedan knytas an tilltemats två redan nämnda huvudaspekter. Sammanfattningsvis kommenteras temat sedan i sinhelhet. Det utgör således huvudmålet i min studie: att se det stora genom de små detaljerna, vilketRichard också förespråkar.

The thesis studies the representation of prehistory as a part of the making and remaking of ethnic identities in Northern Sweden from the end of the 19th Century until today, thus dealing with archaeology and prehistory in relation to issues such as identity, memory and politics. The thesis takes as its point of departure the constitution of a Swedish national identity and memory in the late 19th Century and subsequent decades, followed by studies of, mainly later, representations of Sámi, Kvenish (“Kvänsk”) and North Bothnian (“Norrbottnisk”) collective identities. The study material consists of texts, primarily analyzed through discourse and narrative analysis. The thesis demonstrates how the constitution of a Swedish national identity in Northern Sweden constructed a dichotomy between an imagined civilized “Swedishness”, belonging to the future, and an imagined primitive Sámi Other, belonging to the past. It is argued that this discursive boundary work has not just situated some persons and their everyday life in a marginal position as a visible Sámi Other, but has also situated a substantial number of the inhabitants of Northern Sweden more or less in liminality and marginality in relation to the national identity structure. This has created a need for people to officially represent a more satisfactory collective identity, which includes a rewriting of the prehistory of the area. The last chapter relates the results to studies of similar cases in colonial and postcolonial contexts outside Europe. The essentialist view of identity and history present in several of the studied representations is also discussed. The thesis emphasizes the importance of a more nuanced view of relationships of ethnicity, domination and subordination, and the associated formation of collective memories, in Northern Sweden. Discourses of ethnicity and domination often function through simplifying dichotomies, but dichotomies alone cannot explain real conditions and consequences of these matters.

As a consumer often chooses product or service to satisfy the specific needs or desires. However, there is more often than not several brands that manufacture the same product, which means we also have to choose between these brands before we can calm our needs. This choice is usually an active decision. We choose a brand that we are familiar with, or a brand whose identity appeals to us. The brand thus has a major impact on both consumers' decision-making in connection with the purchase, but also for business success. The brand identity is an important aspect that most will affect the brand's popularity. This identity consists of name, logo, packaging, design and personality, and all the associations that consumers connect to the name itself. Due to this unique identity stands out against other brand and attract consumers. To get an insight into how to work with clear brand images and brand identities we have analyzed two brands' commercials. We have analyzed the brands Norrlands Guld and Mariestads to investigate how brand identity is produced and what differences there are in the petitions of these. Both Mariestads and Norrlands Guld is owned, produced, distributed and marketed by Spendrups Brygeri AB. The interesting thing to look at brands with the same owners is that brands in this context is the extra strong need to differentiate as much attention as possible to not out-compete each other. Previous research revolves around the importance of distinct brands. Essay task was thus to exemplify how work and communication with a clear brand can look. In the final analysis the thesis presents for the various tricks that Spendrups uses to give the consumer an idea of ​​brand identity. All this is analyzed by previous research and theories of consumer culture, marketing and the role of advertising for the brand. / Som konsument väljer man ofta en produkt eller en tjänst för att stilla att visst behov eller begär. Dock finns det allt som oftast flera olika varumärken som tillverkar samma produkt, vilket gör att vi även måste välja mellan dessa varumärken innan vi kan stilla våra behov. Detta val är oftast ett aktivt beslut. Vi väljer nämligen ett varumärke som vi är bekanta med eller ett varumärke vars identitet tilltalar oss. Varumärket har alltså en stor påverkan för både konsumenters beslutsprocess i samband med köp men också för företagens framgång. Varumärkets identitet är en viktig aspekt som i allra högsta grad kommer att påverka varumärkets popularitet. Denna identitet består av namn, logotype, förpackning, design och personlighet samt alla de associationer som konsumenten kopplar till själva namnet. Tack vare denna unika identitet urskiljer sig varumärket gentemot andra samt lockar till sig konsumenter. För att få en inblick i hur man kan arbeta med tydliga varumärkesprofiler och varumärkesidentiteter har vi analyserat två varumärkens reklamfilmer. Vi har analyserat varumärkena Norrlands Guld och Mariestads för att undersöka hur varumärkenas identitet framställs samt vilka skillnader som finns i framställningarna av dessa. Både Mariestads och Norrlands Guld ägs, produceras, distribueras och marknadsförs av Spendrups Bryggeri AB.  Det intressanta med att titta på varumärken med samma ägare är att varumärken i detta sammanhang är i extra stort behov av att skilja sig så mycket åt som möjligt för att inte konkurrera ut varandra. / Ida Svensson

In 2003 the libraries of ten municipalities in the northern part of Sweden were each given 10 000 (SEK) by the BIN-project to purchase books on demand instead of making inter-library loans. This attempt was called Köpa på efterfrågan (Purchasing on demand). The purpose of this master thesis is to evalutate Köpa på efterfrågan. The results of the evaluation show that the books purchased on demand were quite popular. Almost all the purchased books were non-fictional with most books being bought within the field of medicin. There is also a correspondence between the education held in the participating municipality and which subject the purchased books belonged to. The libraries have all made rather similar purchases regarding subject, with the exception of Robertsfors. The most expensive subject was medicin, both per book and overall. The libraries have mostly bought their books on Internet bookstores due to their low cost and swift delivery. Purchasing on demand entails more benefits than inter-library lending, as it is less expensive, and a book, once bought, is available on the shelf for others to borrow it, although the increase of the library’s collection demands more thorough media-planning.