This thesis examines the role self-help microfinance Saving Groups play in women’s empowerment in villages in Mbale district, Uganda. Central for the study is to identify the challenges and opportunities that participation in Saving Groups brings in women’s everyday life. The thesis is a result of a qualitative field study in Uganda, where eleven mothers attending Saving Groups in the villages Nashikhaso, Bubuyera and Mulyuli were interviewed. The findings show that loans from the groups have allowed the interviewees to improve their farming and thereby gain an annual income which has led to several life-changing opportunities. The ability to pay for children’s education is recognized as most valued for the women’s self-esteem, self-confidence and hope for a better future. Moreover, the findings show that even though the Saving Group’s function as a financial instrument is important, their function as a center where women can socialize and find support and knowledge may be even more vital for women’s empowerment. Patriarchal structures are affected since the Saving Groups have given women that want to make a change an arena in which to do so. Thus, through the group, women have entered a traditionally men-only zone where they redefine roles and norms.

<p>The economic importance of design-intensive and cultural-products industries has grown in recent decades. One case in point is Sweden, where internationally competitive industries have emerged in areas such as multimedia, fashion, and music. During the 1990s, research in economic geography and related disciplines concerned with the link between geographical location and competitive advantage has found an important source of inspiration in the cluster approach. The thesis examines the relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness by undertaking a series of empirical studies that explore various dimensions of the Swedish music industry. The thesis demonstrates that the Swedish music industry embraces a multitude of actors in a complex, spatially clustered production system characterised by dense social networks, which transcend individual firms. Processes and mechanisms that have enhanced the creation and diffusion of strategic knowledge as well as co-operative competition further promote the competitiveness of this cluster. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that it is necessary to carefully consider the relation between the local milieu and the global music industrial production and distribution system in order to fully understand competitiveness in the music industry. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies concerning cultural industries.</p>

<p>This dissertation examines the role in the migration process between Sweden and Finland of the Swedish-speaking minority group, the Finland Swedes. The causes underlying migration, as well as the integration of the group in Sweden, constitute the main focuses of the study.</p><p>It is concluded that Finland Swedes are over-represented in the total migration process from Finland to Sweden. As such, the process is culturally embedded in the group’s ethnic identity, which causes migration both through the practical minority situation in Finland, and through ethnic affinity with Sweden. Further causes include the substantial, circular networks of cultural, social and economic contacts between Sweden and Finland. </p><p>In the integration process, the transformation of the group’s ethnic identity is the central area of analysis. Initially, the ethnic affinity with Sweden is transformed into strengthened loyalties to Finland. As early as the first generation of migrants, however, the Finland Swedes enter into a process of assimilation in Sweden.</p><p>The migration process reveals the complex identity construction of the Finland Swedes. The ethnic identity is constituted of relations both towards the Finnish-speaking majority group, and towards Sweden as an extended Swedish-speaking area. The ethnic identity is mediated through national and personal identities, which are linked to both Sweden and Finland.</p><p>The findings have been produced within the methodological framework of critical realism, using a multiple-method research design. An individually based, statistical data set focused on the extension of the Finland-Swedish migration pattern, whereas an in-depth interview study was used to analyse the deeper causes of migration and integration.</p>

<p>In four scientific papers, this thesis investigates the processes, in terms of movements of individuals, that have produced, reproduced and transformed patterns of residential segregation in Swedish cities between 1990 and 2000.</p><p>Paper 1 examines processes of immigrant concentration, and the role of the Swedish majority population in these processes. Neighbourhood transition and mobility are described and analysed for a selection of residential areas that have experienced increased immigrant concentration. The results show that low in-migration rate among Swedes, rather than high out-migration rate, has been the main driving force behind the production and reproduction of immigrant concentration areas.</p><p>Paper 2 investigates the hypothesis that distressed neighbourhoods retain their character of distress through selective migration. The socio-economic situations of in-migrants, out-migrants and stayers in the distressed neighbourhoods of Stockholm are analysed and compared, and the results show the hypothesis to be confirmed. The people who move in are more likely to be unemployed and dependent on social benefits, and have on average lower incomes than those who move out and those who remain in the neighbourhoods. </p><p>Paper 3 further investigates the selective character of the out-migration from distressed neighbourhoods. One important conclusion is that the out-migration flow from the distressed residential areas is socio-economically <i>and</i> ethnically selective. When demographic and socio-economic differences are controlled for, the likelihood of leaving the distressed neighbourhoods is much lower for an immigrant than for a Swedish-born person.</p><p>Paper 4 examines the migration flows of a whole city, Göteborg. The paper deals with some of the most common questions within segregation research; the degree of spatial concentration of different ethnic groups, processes of concentration and dispersal, the role of the minority enclaves as ports of entry to the local housing market, and how this differs between ethnic groups.</p>

<p>The thesis includes six self-contained papers that from various perspectives examine place attractiveness and migration in Sweden. </p><p>Paper I provides an extensive overview of Swedish municipalities’ place marketing engagement to attract in-migrants, based on survey responses from 220 municipalities. The results suggest that, although this kind of marketing has become more prominent during the last few years, there is little evidence of any significant effects on migration flows. </p><p>Paper II addresses place marketing campaigns directed towards the Stockholm region carried out by rural municipalities. The results show no general evidence of success, but in a few cases a positive impact of these campaigns cannot be ruled out conclusively.</p><p>Paper III explores the effect of tourism on interregional net-migration in Sweden. The results indicate that tourism exerts a positive influence on migration, and it is shown how its effects vary depending on age group. </p><p>Paper IV scrutinizes recent survey research on migration motives in the Nordic countries. This paper employs a different questionnaire design and surveys a somewhat different migrant population. The findings do not support recent research and the importance of employment-related motives is emphasised. </p><p>Paper V focuses on residential preferences and explores what place attributes people would consider important if they were to migrate. Special attention is given to demographic, socio-economic and geographical determinants. The results show how these aspects influence residential preferences, and make some contributions to methodological issues on researching preferences. </p><p>Paper VI aims at a conceptual framework whereby place attractiveness can be better understood. It is suggested that needs, demands and preferences are central factors and the attractiveness of places increases with the successive fulfilment of these factors. But the more factors a migrant seeks to fulfil in his or her destination selection, the fewer the choice possibilities.</p>

<p>Because of the socioeconomic and ethnic segregation in many Swedish towns, residents with different social backgrounds are often living in separate neighbourhoods. This thesis focuses on children aged between 11 and 14 and explores the spatial extent of their social networks, their spatial mobility and spatial representations. By studying these aspects of children’s daily lives the study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind neighbourhood effects.</p><p>The spatial extension of the daily lives of children in seven adjacent neighbourhoods in a medium sized Swedish town is mapped. By using children’s activity diaries, surveys with parents and children’s maps the study explores to which extent children with different personal characteristics and from different neighbourhoods have friends outside their own neighbourhoods, where they spend time and what kind of activities they engage in and with whom. The study shows that the possibility to get their own direct experience of other neighbourhoods differs between groups of children, much depending on the geographical extension of their social networks, which in turn appears mainly to be a consequence of school reception areas and, indirectly, school popularity.</p><p>By using children’s maps and group interviews children’s perspectives of their own and other neighbourhoods are analysed. The thesis illustrates how children feel about and discuss their own neighbourhoods and other neighbourhoods in town. The children in the study emphasize their own neighbourhood as a good and quiet neighbourhood, irrespective of the neighbourhood’s character and status. One of the neighbourhoods is stigmatised in the public discourse. Among the children there is a living debate in relation to this neighbourhood. In group interviews the children sometimes confirm, sometimes critically question the rumours about this neighbourhood. The children which live in this neighbourhood are aware of the bad reputation and also act and react upon it</p>

<p>Labour mobility can in theory be an efficient channel for knowledge transfer between cluster firms, thus contributing to growth and competitiveness. In the thesis labour mobility in two Swedish ICT clusters is studied. The purpose of the thesis is to develop an understanding of processes of labour mobility in clusters and to investigate whether mobility can be regarded as a cluster advantage. Both interview data and extensive registry data are used in order to analyse processes of mobility at three levels: individual, firm and cluster level.</p><p>The results show that labour mobility can to some extent be considered a cluster advantage for Swedish ICT firms, since cluster firms are likely to experience a higher level of labour mobility. It is also shown how mobility to and from the clusters contributes to the upgrading of formal competencies within cluster firms. However, the firms themselves are shown to rather focus on staff retention than turnover. </p><p>To some degree, labour mobility in the Swedish clusters in focus is presumably constrained by the formal institutional framework, as well as by informal rules and agreements between cluster firms. It is argued nonetheless that the sheer potential for mobility and the viability of informal hiring practices in clusters may be viewed as cluster advantages, besides the actual extent of labour mobility.</p>

Because of the socioeconomic and ethnic segregation in many Swedish towns, residents with different social backgrounds are often living in separate neighbourhoods. This thesis focuses on children aged between 11 and 14 and explores the spatial extent of their social networks, their spatial mobility and spatial representations. By studying these aspects of children’s daily lives the study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind neighbourhood effects. The spatial extension of the daily lives of children in seven adjacent neighbourhoods in a medium sized Swedish town is mapped. By using children’s activity diaries, surveys with parents and children’s maps the study explores to which extent children with different personal characteristics and from different neighbourhoods have friends outside their own neighbourhoods, where they spend time and what kind of activities they engage in and with whom. The study shows that the possibility to get their own direct experience of other neighbourhoods differs between groups of children, much depending on the geographical extension of their social networks, which in turn appears mainly to be a consequence of school reception areas and, indirectly, school popularity. By using children’s maps and group interviews children’s perspectives of their own and other neighbourhoods are analysed. The thesis illustrates how children feel about and discuss their own neighbourhoods and other neighbourhoods in town. The children in the study emphasize their own neighbourhood as a good and quiet neighbourhood, irrespective of the neighbourhood’s character and status. One of the neighbourhoods is stigmatised in the public discourse. Among the children there is a living debate in relation to this neighbourhood. In group interviews the children sometimes confirm, sometimes critically question the rumours about this neighbourhood. The children which live in this neighbourhood are aware of the bad reputation and also act and react upon it

This dissertation is an analysis of the relations between reindeer herding Sami and settled non-Sami in Gällivare parish, Swedish Lapland, 1898-1940. The focus of the dissertation is on the system of skötesrenar, the practice of reindeer belonging to non-Sami being herded by Sami and the subsequent contacts between the two groups. The results presented demonstrate the transformation of the relations between the two groups from mutuai interdependence to mutuai self-sufficiency, and the swiftness with which this change took place. In order to analyse the transformation, reciprocity theory is used. Reciprocity theory concerns the Constitution of relations between different groups, and the basis for such relations. In the early 1900's, the practice of skötesrenar was a well-developed system contributing to the good relations between Sami and non-Sami, as well as to the improvement of the material conditions of those involved. The skötesrenar were important both socially and economically for the persons participating in the system. The huge societal changes that took place during the 20th Century resulted in painful consequences for the relations between the groups. Industrialisation multiplied the number and types of jobs available for the settled non-Sami, while the Sami to a large extent were prevented from partaking of the new opportunities. Industrialisation also caused the decline of the subsistence economy and made the market economy dominant in the locai community. The foundation of the system with skötesrenar had been the mutuai need to meet and exchange goods and services not available within each group; the growth of the market economy altered that. The laws concerning skötesrenar were also changed repeatedly - in 1898, 1917, and 1928 - without regard for the fears by the local community concerning the negative consequences for inter-group relations. Significant changes also took place within Sami society affecting the skötesrenar; the transformation of herding from the intensive to extensive type decreased the participation of women and children in herding, and subsequent erection of permanent residences for Sami families, as well as large annual fluctuations in herd sizes. The present dissertation demonstrates from reciprocity theory that a mutual concern - in this case the skötesrenar - can contribute to the maintenance of a low level of conflict between two ethnically and culturally different parties. Mutual interdependence is a significant factor in upholding a feeling of solidarity. The parties were eager to preserve good mutual relations as conflicts could severely hurt their material conditions. The societal changes taking place meant that by the 1930's the old institutionalised interdependency had ceased to exist. Older people continued the exchanges across group boundaries, but for the rising generation mutuai interaction was replaced by alienation. / digitalisering@umu

The economic importance of design-intensive and cultural-products industries has grown in recent decades. One case in point is Sweden, where internationally competitive industries have emerged in areas such as multimedia, fashion, and music. During the 1990s, research in economic geography and related disciplines concerned with the link between geographical location and competitive advantage has found an important source of inspiration in the cluster approach. The thesis examines the relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness by undertaking a series of empirical studies that explore various dimensions of the Swedish music industry. The thesis demonstrates that the Swedish music industry embraces a multitude of actors in a complex, spatially clustered production system characterised by dense social networks, which transcend individual firms. Processes and mechanisms that have enhanced the creation and diffusion of strategic knowledge as well as co-operative competition further promote the competitiveness of this cluster. Moreover, the thesis demonstrates that it is necessary to carefully consider the relation between the local milieu and the global music industrial production and distribution system in order to fully understand competitiveness in the music industry. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies concerning cultural industries.