This study investigated the experience of involuntary membership in U.S. and Norwegian prisons. The purpose of the study was two-fold: 1) offer a comprehensive understanding of the construct of membership, and 2) develop a substantive, mid-range theory of involuntary membership (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Merton, 1968; Weick, 1974). The research questions posed were designed to clarify the experience of involuntary membership and included: What facets comprise involuntary membership?, In what ways do individuals describe the experience of involuntary membership?, and In what ways does Norwegian involuntary membership differ from U.S. involuntary membership in a prison setting? In order to answer these questions, I conducted 62 in-depth interviews in the United States and Norway with incarcerated individuals (n = 41), correctional officers (n = 10), wardens (n = 3), and prison teachers (n = 8). The interviews were dispersed across four separate prison facilities. I took a grounded theoretical approach to the data and used the constant comparative method in my analysis. Participants spoke about involuntary membership in relation to 10 distinct facets: Activities, Belongings, Body, Communication, Mind, Organizational Boundary Management, Space, Sound, Relationships, and Time. In addition, the participants in the study described their experience with involuntary membership in relation to their 1) responses to, and 2) outcomes of the phenomenon. Similarities and differences in the experience of involuntary membership between the United States and Norway were also discussed. The three-macro themes in this study came together to create a substantive, mid-range theory of involuntary membership in prisons. In order to explicate this theory, I offered a Process Model of Involuntary Membership and subsequently elucidated the theory using a structurational ontology (see Banks & Riley, 1993; Kirby & Krone, 2002) or worldview (Kilminster, 1991). This study contributes to communication research and theorizing by illuminating and addressing the limitations of previous scholarship. Theoretical implications and future research directions are also discussed. / text

Norway has a high prevalence of sick leave compared to other Nordic countries and has been criticized for offering generous sick leave benefits. This qualitative study aims to explore experiences of graded sick leave and return to work in Norway. Six employees from the private sector were interviewed regarding their experiences of the Norwegian model for earlier follow-up of employees on sick leave. The collected data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results indicated several important aspects of the return to work process which were perceived as both obstacles and opportunities. The possibility of having time to recover as well as finding a balance of a manageable work load with stimulating assignments were seen as essential and communication was crucial to attain the latter.

The thesis represents an attempt to relate and analyse the relations between neutral Norway and the major belligerent powers in the war of 1914-1918. Part 1 consists of an introductory survey of the position of neutrality as a legal status at the outbreak of war, illustrating the illusoriness of trying to regulate the position of neutrality without some measure of foresight into the nature of the coming conflict. The main body of the thesis is chronologically arranged and divided into two parts - Part II and Part III - roughly corresponding to the first and second halves of the war period. The belligerent measures that directly affected Norway, and most othar neutral states as we11, were the attempts of the two parties to interrupt commercial intercourse with the enemy. On the psrt of the Central Powers this aim was chiefly pursued through tue use of mines and submarines The Entente, by their ability to control oversees supplies to the neutral nations around the North Sea, sought to obtain the desired effect through agreements with the neutrals, achieved by economic pressure. The development of the measures referred to was rather slow and hesitant, and their effect on the political relations between the belligerents and Norway did not attain considerable dimensions until after the middle of 1916. Part 11 opens with an account of the foundations of Norwegian foreign policy, as it developed during the nine years between the dissolution of the union with Sweden and the outbreak of the First World War; a period marked by concentration on internal tasks and issues and a consequent lack of concern for international affairs. Also described is the strategic situation of Norway as the constellations of the war were formed at tbe beginning of August 1914, as well as the immediate steps taken by the government to avoid involvement. The economic warfare of the belligerents began on a modest scale through German mine-laying and Allied attempts to control neutral trade with Germany through the visit and search of merchant ships. The resulting inconveniences to neutral trade led the Scandinavian countries to attempt a closer co-operation in defence of their common interests. ln February 1915 the Germans attempted to institute a blockade of the British lsles by submarine. It was met with protests from the neutral governments and its extent was soon reduced both for this reason and because the submarines were insufficient for a blockade of the intended dimensions. The German declaration however provided a point of departure for more extensive Allied measures to prevent trade with the enemy. By using their command of the seas and their control over overseas supplies they sought to convince or press the neutrals to co-operate with their methods of economic warfare. Norway, highly vulnerable to pressure both against her imports and her shipping, was thus gradually brought to acquiesce and in particular to allow agreements to be signed between the British Government and private Norwegian business interests. So far the Entente's economic pressure on Norway was aimed mostly at preventing re-export to Germany of goods received from overseas. Late in 1915, however, the first attempts were made to obtain control of the trade in the country's own products. Germany had by then already shown an increasing interest in the products of the Norwegian fisheries. These functioned mainly on supplies and tackle received from foreign sources under the control of the Entente, and in the sumiaer of 1916 the British by using this control as well as the promise of a purchasing agreement got the Norwegians to consent to a severe reduction in fish exports to Germany. At about the same time the British Government also obtained Norway's agreement not to export her valuable copper and pyrites except in exchange for equivalent amounts of refined copper, most of which could only be obtained via Britain. Both these agreements had been arranged with the connivance of the Norwegian Government, and resulted in radical cuts in German imports of goods that were vital to the German war effort. The political conflicts that ensued from the conflicting demands of the belligerent parties form the subject of the more detailed account in Part III of the thesis, covering the period 1916-1918. In the autumn of 1916 Norway's relations with Germany, already severely tested by the reduction in Norwegian exports, were brought to a critical point as a result of the activities of German submarines in tha Arctic Sea. Replying to public outcries against the sinking of several Norwegian merchant ships, the Norwegian Government by decree banned submarines from territorial waters, and a German protest was followed by strained re- lations through the autumn and winter months. At the same time exports of fish and pyrites from Norway to Germany led the British Government to suspect that a deal had bean arranged in violation of Norway's obligations to Britain. Failing a satisfactory explanation the British Government atopped coal exports to Norway, and bitter exchangee ensued. The crisis between Norway and the two main belligerents was only solved in February 1917. With Germany an understan- ding was reached on the basis of a temporary arrangement of trade relations together with certain changes in the submarine decree. The situation concerning the Anglo-Norwegian dispute had in the meantime been altered by the start of the unrestricted submarine campaign. Tha coal embargo was lifted after the Norwegian Government had agreed to suspend further pyrites de- liveries to Germany. The traffic across the North Sea was now resumed, but with enonormous casualties due to the German submarines. In order to prevent continued losses the Norwegian shipowners with the knowledge of the Norwegian Government arranged with the British for a transfer of tonnage, mostly on charter basis, to British and allied service. The situation in the wake of the submarine campaign, together with other incidents during the spring and early summer of 1917, led to another critical period in German-Norwegian relations. At times the British Government thought a breach was imminent, and appealed for American promises of co-operation if necessary to assist Norway. The crisis, however, passed soon after a coincidental exchange of German envoys at Kris- tiania. To Norway, the main significance of America's entry into the war was the possibility that the blockade might be strengthened, so as to endanger Norwegian imports from the United States. The Norwegian Government sent a Mission of prominent negotiators to Washington, but negotiations were complicated on the Allied side by American suspicions that the British intended to press Norway beyond limits considered by Washington as safe and on the Norwegian side by persistent German pressure against accepting terms that meant too severe restrictions on German imports from Norway. Only after a new Norwegian declaration of neutrality had been issued could a precarious balance be reached, and the trade agreement with the United States was then signed in April of 1918. The final crisis for Norwegian neutrality came in August 1918, when after long preparations the Allied navies were nearing completion of a mine barrage between Shetland and the Norwegian coast. To prevent the German submarines from bypassing the barrage the British Government demanded the mining of adjoining Norwegian sea territory, either by the Norwegian or the Allied navies. After circumspect diplomatic preparation the Norwegian Government at the end of September announced that the minefield would be laid by Norwegian naval vessels.

This thesis concludes that the discourse surrounding the Arctic in the Norwegian press has a prevailing focus on resource extraction and resource demands, and that the term “sustainable development” is rarely being employed. At the same time, there is an increase in the amount of times the topics climate change and environment are discussed in the same articles that discuss oil, gas and resource extraction. This indicates that in the post-petroleum and “green shift” era that Norway has entered, these discourses now demand a joint discussion, rather than two separate discourses and topics. Looking at how Norway might act in the Arctic in the future, this can indicate that these focus areas will lay the foundation for possible action in the region as well. The background of the study was to obtain an understanding of how Norway deals with its conundrum of contradictory roles as an advocate for sustainable development and as an oil and gas producer. This was done through an investigation of how the Arctic, and especially sustainable development in the Arctic, is framed in the Norwegian press. By looking at the media discourse surrounding the topic, it is possible to get an understanding of how the region is framed in Norway, and subsequently how Norway as an Arctic actor will act in the future. Social constructionism, critical discourse analysis, mediatisation and framing theory make up the theoretical underpinnings of the thesis, and content analysis with a sequential process of three steps is employed to analyse the material from a bird’s-eye view to a very specific analysis.

Wage compression was an important goal for Swedish blue-collar trade unions during the post-war period. This was achieved during the period 1956-1982 and is credited by many due to the writings of trade union-economists Gösta Rehn and Rudolf Meidner. However some scholars question the substantial impact that is credited to the program drafted from Rehn and Meidners writings, some mean to say that the market could be equally if not sole creditable or responsible for the Swedish development of wage compression. This paper compares the development of wage compression and dispersion between Norway and Sweden during the said period in order to find out which had more impact: the market or trade union ideology? The result is two-pronged: The market forces put the terms for a similar development during the period, the Swedish wage policies put the terms for the differences.

In late 19th century Norway, a small urban elite chose nature as a distinctive trait to define the young Norwegian nation. Ever since, this constructed nature mythology, based on real nature (dark forests, fjords and high mountains), has been a recurrent symbol equated with Norwegianness in the rhetoric of the nation. While this foundational narrative has been represented in most of the arts, it is depicted in a more complex manner in contemporary Norwegian films. Thus the main question in "Nature, Nation and the Global in Contemporary Norwegian Cinema" is the following. What is the relationship between Norwegian national culture (as established in national Romanticism) and contemporary Norwegian cinema in a globalization context? My hypothesis is that investigating the national category of nature in Norwegian films discloses Norwegian cinema as a transnational cinema. To this day, there has only been one major study on Norwegian nature mythology applied to literature and culture. However, the relation between nature and national identity in Norwegian cinema has not been the subject of a thorough study either in English or in Norwegian. Thus, "Nature, Nation and the Global in Contemporary Cinema" is the first study to investigate the representation of nature in Norwegian cinema in a global context. This dissertation thus fills a gap in providing a study of nature in Norwegian cinema. This dissertation joins other recent studies of a minor national cinema, originating in a small nation, that place their cinemas in a global context. Methodologically, I rely on cultural, genre, global, and transnational cinema studies. Each chapter takes one type of natural geography as a starting point (the wild forest, the sea and the mountain) in order to analyze how, in the film texts, each aspect of nature negotiates the local and the global contexts. Thus, each chapter creates a bridge between cinematic representations, Norwegian national and global culture. As a result, this project has demonstrated that the relationship between cinema and culture is complicated by the relationship both have cultivated with nature. This dissertation has confirmed that as a mode of representation cinema is fundamentally transnational, crossing borders and, thus, contradicts the attempts of national ideologies to contain culture and identities within enclosed borders. At the same time, I have shown that cinema and nature are equally transnational, fluid and porous and that they are places of negotiation between the local and the global.

<p>In this thesis I investigate the cultural differences between Norway and Russia and their impact on the business relationships that Norwegian companies establish with Russian counterparts. The emphasis is on how to take these differences into account in the company’s strategic management processes. The main source of data in this study is the interviews with the Norwegian managers who have the experience of business relationships with Russian counterparts. I have also relied on the various publications on the subject.</p><p>In the first chapter, I suggest that as soon as the company starts the operations in the other country’s market it faces the national culture different from the domestic one: people think, feel and act not the same way. These differences will affect everyday communication and work practices; one of the factors determining the company’s performance on the foreign market will be its ability to accommodate the particular characteristics of the national culture. My argument is that the internationally-operating company needs the knowledge about cultural characteristics of the host countries; this knowledge should be integrated into the company’s decision making and strategy development processes. As the increasing number of Norwegian companies is operating in the Russian market, there is a need for the studies that will provide an insight into the cultural characteristics and the social functioning, will point out the possible areas of the cultural clash and will suggest some way to avoid it. These reflections led me to formulate the initial research questions for the study:</p><p> What are the cultural challenges related to Norwegian-Russian cooperation?</p><p> How can this challenges be considered in the company’s strategy?</p>

In this thesis I investigate the cultural differences between Norway and Russia and their impact on the business relationships that Norwegian companies establish with Russian counterparts. The emphasis is on how to take these differences into account in the company’s strategic management processes. The main source of data in this study is the interviews with the Norwegian managers who have the experience of business relationships with Russian counterparts. I have also relied on the various publications on the subject. In the first chapter, I suggest that as soon as the company starts the operations in the other country’s market it faces the national culture different from the domestic one: people think, feel and act not the same way. These differences will affect everyday communication and work practices; one of the factors determining the company’s performance on the foreign market will be its ability to accommodate the particular characteristics of the national culture. My argument is that the internationally-operating company needs the knowledge about cultural characteristics of the host countries; this knowledge should be integrated into the company’s decision making and strategy development processes. As the increasing number of Norwegian companies is operating in the Russian market, there is a need for the studies that will provide an insight into the cultural characteristics and the social functioning, will point out the possible areas of the cultural clash and will suggest some way to avoid it. These reflections led me to formulate the initial research questions for the study:  What are the cultural challenges related to Norwegian-Russian cooperation?  How can this challenges be considered in the company’s strategy?

The Canadian Arctic is facing new international challenges as global warming melts Arctic ice, opening up new shipping routes and access to untapped, potentially rich resources. As it has in the past, Canada is turning to defense spending to help strengthen its sovereignty in the region. Sovereignty is a multi-dimensional concept which requires a state to demonstrate control over its territory and its citizens. Developing Arctic energy resources is one pathway for Canada to achieve greater control in the region and strengthen its sovereignty claim. This thesis considers realist and liberal policy approaches to the development of Canadas Arctic energy resources. In the past, Canada has used both approaches to encourage the development of its Arctic energy reserves. From the 1950s to the early 1970s Canada relied solely on private companies to explore and produce Arctic resources. Between 1975 and 1984 Canada took a more interventionist approach. In 1975, Petro-Canada was created to help stimulate the development of Arctic resources. One of Petro-Canadas primary goals was to act as a catalyst for private energy companies operating in the Arctic.<p> This thesis seeks to expand upon the literature discussing Canadian Arctic sovereignty. By examining the impact of the two energy approaches on state sovereignty, this study draws a series of conclusion about the role of energy development in improving Canadas sovereignty claim. This thesis argues that government intervention is required to develop working partnerships amongst Canadian oil producers in order to bring Arctic energy reserves online in a timely and efficient manner to help bolster Canadas sovereignty claim.<p> This thesis considers realist and liberal policy approaches to the development of Canadas Arctic energy resources. In the past, Canada has used both approaches to encourage the development of its Arctic energy reserves. From the 1950s to early 1970s Canada relied solely on private companies to explore and produce Arctic resources. Between 1975 and 1984 Canada took a more interventionist approach. In 1975, Petro-Canada was created to help stimulate the development of Arctic resources. One of Petro-Canadas primary goals was to act as a catalyst for private energy companies operating in the Arctic.<p> This thesis seeks to expand upon the literature discussing Canadian Arctic sovereignty. By examining the impact of the two energy approaches on state sovereignty, this study draws a series of conclusion about the role of energy development in improving Canadas sovereignty claim. This thesis argues that government intervention is required to develop working partnerships amongst Canadian oil producers in order to bring Arctic energy reserves online in a timely and efficient manner to help bolster Canadas sovereignty claim.

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