No description available.

Internet har blivit nästintill oumbärligt i dagens värld. Från online-spel till e-handel och från kommunikationskanaler till ett informativt nät, är Internet förmodligen en av de mest framträngande och vitt spridda uppfinningarna av vår tid. Medan säkerheten kring användandet av Internet har diskuterats vilt så har användbarheten av Internet i olika områden inte utforskats till samma grad. Det finns mycket statistik och information om Internethandel men få fokuserar på lokala vanor eller specifika genres inom området. Med den här uppsatsen vill vi undersöka vilka nyckelelement som är de viktigaste när det gäller handel av kläder online, och vi har begränsat vår forskning till människor som bor i Stockholm. Det vi har kommit fram till är en blandning utav överraskningar och siffror som vi gissade oss till innan vi startade, men i sin helhet har det här projektet lärt oss mycket, inte bara om de frågeställningar vi har ställt oss utan även om e-handel i allmänhet och en hel del oväntade faktorer som an leda till framtida forskning i det här området. / Internet has almost become inevitable in today’s world. From on-line gaming to e-shopping and from communication channels to an information web, Internet is probably one of the most penetrated and widespread inventions of this era. While the topic of uses and abuses of Internet has widely been discussed, its usefulness in various sectors has not been widely researched. There are a lot of statistics and information about e-commerce but few focus on local habits and specific genres within online shopping. With this paper, we want to examine what key elements are the most important when it comes to shopping clothes online, and we have limited our research to people living in Stockholm. Our findings are a mix between surprises and numbers that we guessed before we started, but all in all – this project has taught us a lot, not only about the questions we raise at the beginning but also about e-commerce in general and a lot of unexpected factors that might lead us to future investigations in this area.

The aim of this research is the analysis of socio-economic factors that wouldinfluence consumer buying process of electric vehicles in Iceland. The purpose of the researchis to detect the most crucial factors influencing Icelanders decisions for and againstpurchasing an electric vehicle, instead of car with internal combustion engine. This researchverified people‟s opinions and can bring companies closer to real mindsets of Icelandicpotential buyers. Moreover, this paper might give a possibility to eliminate wrong thinkingand barriers by better adjusted marketing. Additionally, analyzed advantages might showwhat the main reason of shifting to this alternative technology is. Moreover, it shows whatmight be the customer acceptance price range.

This thesis presents an analysis of crime trends and social control during the dramatic transformation of Sweden's social landscape in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, set against the background of the modernization process in the country as a whole and the city of Sundsvall and environs in particular. What assumptions about crime were evident in public debate? How did crime levels vary from region to region, and what were the changes over time? What strategies did government and local authorities try for combating crime? Did the joint efforts by government, local communities, and the voluntary sector actually solve the problems that social change was believed to have caused?When it comes to theory, the interpretative framework is based on Anthony Giddens's argument about modernity and modernization, making particular use of a few central points about what the changes meant for the structuration of society. Giddens's ideas about changes in social control are refined with Michel Foucault's and David Garland's work on the increasingly disciplinary trend seen in the exercise of the law and public control. The analysis of modernity's ramifications for the transformation of both social structures and crime alike has also benefitted from Robert Putnam's and Travis Hirschi's insights into the importance of social capital and social bonds for a well-functioning, low-crime society.The process by which Sweden was transformed from an overwhelmingly agrarian country to an urban, industrial society left its mark on crime patterns. To the contemporary mind, industrialization, migration, and urbanization were the underlying causes of the high levels of serious crime in the society. The start of the nineteenth century had seen a rise in criminality, with both petty crime and lethal violence becoming more common. At the same time, there was a heated debate about the socio-economic problems that were such a strain on the structure of society. The analysis finds that there were large differences in prosecutions in the country and between cities. The Sundsvall area was among those that saw a dramatic change in crime in the course of becoming a major industrial region. At the same time, the thesis shows that there were plenty of cities in Sweden, however rapidly they grew, that had low crime rates. However, the widespread fear of industrialization, migration, and urbanization was often unfounded. For example, both lethal violence and public order offences reached their lowest recorded levels in the interwar period. By then, new cures were sought for the social and moral ills of society. The state's sphere of influence had expanded. New social reforms, including a modified crime policy, were launched. The state became even more assertive, and the same was true of civil society. Society would attend to the moral education of a number of different groups. Moral virtues were to be instilled in the workshy, alcoholic, or criminal, in order to produce disciplined and cultured citizens. The attention of social activists, the scientific community, civil servants, and local and national politicians shifted from crime per se to the far broader issue of asociality. Modernization gave the voluntary sector a significant role in the social organization of the day, shaping new forums for interpersonal relationships and strengthening social ties. The thesis makes the case that two distinct periods, each with its specific social structures and crime patterns, can be observed; one belonging to the nineteenth century, the other to the first four decades of the twentieth century.Finally, the similarities between the history of crime in Sweden and, for example, the US or the UK are highlighted. As in Britain and North America, the early industrialization period saw weakened social bonds, and a time of greater violence and disorder ensued. After a while however, the situation stabilized, and crime rates began to drop again. When industrial societies ceased to be 'frontier communities' at the forefront of modernization, and instead became more mature communities, crime levels fell as people's commitment to their communities was renewed.

Not available / text

This dissertation examines the activities and texts of four groups of activists who use culture jamming as a tactic to challenge dominant ideologies as they advocate for progressive social, cultural and economic change. Culture jamming, as defined here, is a practice whereby texts critical of the status quo are created through the appropriation and/or mimicry of the aesthetics and/or language that are a part of popular, or at least widely experienced, culture. Exploring the work of the Yes Men, the Adbusters Media Foundation, the Billboard Liberation Front and the Illegal Art exhibit, I argue that through their culture jamming these activists take critical theory into practice as a part of their goal is to raise the critical consciousness of the public. Confronting the issues of globalization, consumerism, and the political economy of the media in the United States, these culture jammers aim to highlight aspects of domination and oppression in their view results primarily from the corporate control of culture and politics. Using theories of ideology and hegemony developed by Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Stuart Hall, and Raymond Williams to guide my analysis, I trace how each of these groups develop, present, and promote their critique. I steer clear of discussing the effectiveness of these culture jammers, focusing instead on the actions they take and theorizing some of the possible challenges and limitations they face in light of their own experiences. Differing requirements of cultural capital and deeper contextual information for most, if not all, of these culture jamming activities can make them especially complex forms of activism. What becomes clear is that culture jamming may be a tactic best suited to the maintenance of an activist community of people who already hold a critical position, as the jammer’s challenges to dominant culture and ideologies can be lost because of the form of the critique, or marginalized or otherwise ignored by the mainstream media. / text

This thesis analyses how the Swedish forest industry has (re)acted regarding the energy transition and, in particular, regarding the reconstruction of the electricity and forest resources in Sweden during the 1989–2009 period. The thesis consists of four papers that analyse how the Swedish forest industry by means of energy management practices at individual pulp and/or paper mills, in corporate strategies performed by CEOs and boards of directors, and via its industry association, has dealt with mounting political and public demands for the industry to become ‘greener’. At the heart of the thesis are issues related to the industry’s substantial use and management of electricity and forest resources. This thesis focuses on the patterns of conflict and reconstruction that various forest industry representatives (e.g., CEOs) and entities (e.g., mills and resources) have experienced in relation to opposing and/or adjusting to the energy transition. The Swedish forest industry constitutes an illuminating case in a wider research context of how an industry (re)acts regarding increasing environmental and energy-related demands concerning its strategic resources. By using multidisciplinary theoretical concepts when analysing industrial change, this thesis demonstrates the industry’s wider embeddedness in science, policy, and material resources. / Den här sammanläggningsavhandlingen analyserar hur svensk skogsindustri (re)agerat beträffande energiomställningen och särskilt omvandlingen av elektricitets- och skogsresurserna i Sverige, 1989-2009. Avhandlingen består av fyra artiklar vilka analyserar hur svensk skogsindustri, genom energiledning i massa- och pappersbruk, i företagsledningars koncernstrategier, och genom branschorganisationen, hanterat de ökade miljökrav som politiker och allmänhet riktat mot branschen. I centrum för avhandlingen står särskilt frågor relaterade till branschens omfattande användning och hantering av elektricitet och skogsresurser. Mer specifikt fokuserar avhandlingen på de konflikter och förändringar som skogsindustrin genomgått som ett led i motståndet och/eller anpassningen till energiomställningen. Den svenska skogsindustrin utgör ett belysande fall på hur en energiintensiv bransch (re)agerar på ökade miljömässiga krav riktade mot dess energi- och naturresursanvändning. Avhandlingen kan därmed även bidra med kunskap om hur en bransch hanterar förändringskrav riktade mot dess strategiska nyckelresurser. Genom att analysera industriell förändring med multidisciplinära teoretiska begrepp tydliggörs branschens inbäddning i vetenskap, politik, och materiella resurser.

Durant la deuxième moitié du 20e siècle, divers aménagements structurels ont amené l’idéologie du système d’entreprise japonais à être acceptée globalement, non seulement comme un modèle légitime, mais aussi comme un modèle à suivre (et à poursuivre). Figure emblématique de ce système, le « salaryman » – employé masculin régulier des grandes entreprises ou administrations japonaises – s’est imposé au sein de la société japonaise. L’idéologie que véhicule le système d’entreprise a dès lors été interprétée par quelques auteurs comme un discours hégémonique, une image culturellement dominante du travail et de la vie quotidienne au Japon. Aujourd’hui, à la suite d’une conjoncture économique particulière fruit de la crise économique des années 1990, l’image du salaryman s’effrite et son caractère hégémonique tend à se fragmenter pour laisser place à de nouvelles pratiques et à de nouvelles valeurs souvent antagonistes avec les discours et les représentations du travail et de la masculinité qui ont dominé jusqu’alors. Une analyse historique et une enquête de terrain (entrevues semi-directives) nous montreront à la fois pourquoi le salaryman peut être compris comme un discours hégémonique et comment les nouvelles pratiques et représentations des jeunes japonais témoignent du caractère nouvellement fragmentaire de l’image du salaryman en contexte de crise. Ces résultats nous amèneront à considérer plus globalement l’implication des transformations du système d’emploi dans le changement social au Japon. / During the second half of the twentieth century, several structural processes have led the ideology of the Japanese employment system to be globally accepted, not only as a legitimate system, but as a model to be followed and pursued as well. The “salaryman”, the iconic figure of this system – that is the male employee of the big Japanese corporations or administrations – has been imposed into Japanese society as a unique model of masculinity. The ideology conveyed by the employment system has then been seen by a few authors as a hegemonic discourse, a culturally dominant image of work and daily life in Japan. Today, following the economic conjuncture caused by the economic crisis of the 1990s, the image of the salaryman is crumbling and is loosing its hegemonic value to give way to new practices and values antagonistic with the previous discourses and the representations of work and masculinity. A historical analysis and a field survey (semi-structured interviews) would show us how the salaryman can be analysed as a hegemonic discourse and why the new practices and representations of the young Japanese men reflect the newly fragmentary nature of the image of the salaryman within a crisis context. These results will lead us to more broadly consider the implications of the transformations of the Japanese employment system in the social change in Japan.

Michael Cassidy and Albert Nolan both develop their understanding of evangelism and social action within the context of the struggle for a democratic South Africa. This understanding is determined by their own personal contexts and their social analysis of the South African situation. Within these contexts they develop their views of sin and salvation. These underlying issues, contexts and analyses are crucial to and part of their understanding of the relationship between evangelism and social action. This thesis sets out to consider the relationship between evangelism and social action in their theologies by considering the underlying issues that determine this relationship, before finally defining the exact nature ofthis relationship. It considers each theology individually first as each has developed over time in context and needs to be seen as a unified whole as it relates to the . issue of the relationship between evangelism and social action. It then compares their views with each other with insights from other views. Michael Cassidy and Albert Nolan both see sin and hence salvation as personal and social, but Nolan understands these concepts as primarily social. Hence his understanding ofevangelism and social action expressed in evangelization is primarily social. It sees them relating in evangelization in an integrated, holistic way. However, in practice his emphasis on the need to take sides in the struggle and on salvation as primarily in and through the struggle leads to salvation becoming sometimes indistinguishable from human liberation. Thus evangelization also sometimes becomes indistinguishable from the struggle. Cassidy sees these concepts as firstly spiritual and then social and this determines his understanding of the relationship between evangelism and social action. He emphasises these as transforming every level of human relationships, but starting with a right relationship with God. Cassidy achieves a more balanced Evangelical view of partnership in mission but with an emphasis on evangelism and Nolan a somewhat more holistic liberationist theological view of an integrated relationship between evangelism and social action in evangelization but with an emphasis on social action. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

L’objectif de ce mémoire est d’examiner l’accès à l’eau d’un point de vue non pas technologique mais social. Toute société humaine a eu à régler la question de l’accès à l’eau. C’est particulièrement le cas des populations vivant sous un climat aride comme au Sahel, où cette ressource est rare. Le village d’étude est situé au nord du Burkina Faso, dans la région du Yatenga. J’examinerai d’abord la répartition temporelle et spatiale des groupes et des puits sur le territoire, puis la question de la régulation de l’accès à l’eau en tant qu’enjeu politique au sein des structures traditionnelles. Je montrerai qu’il permet tantôt de renforcer les hiérarchies sociales existantes, et tantôt de les dépasser. J’examinerai enfin l’accès à l’eau de différents groupes d’usagers : femmes, hommes, jeunes, vieux, agriculteurs, éleveurs. Je montrerai que leur condition d’accès est implicitement régulée, et limite les possibilités d’expansion économique de certains d’entre eux. Dans cette société en mutation, les usagers désavantagés peuvent développer des tactiques leur permettant de contourner ces contraintes. L’accès à l’eau est alors pris dans un jeu de stratégies antagonistes, celle de la reproduction sociale et celle du changement. / The purpose of this report is to examine access to water, not from a technological but from a social point of view. Any human society has had to cope with the issue of access to water. This is especially true for the people living under arid climates such as in Sahel, where water is a limiting resource. The village under study is located in the Yatenga region, north of Burkina Faso. I will first examine the space and time distribution of wells and of human groups in this territory, then I will question the regulation of access to water as a political issue within traditional structures. I will show that it contributes to sometimes strengthen and sometimes circumvent patterns of social hierarchy. Then I will study access to water in different social groups: women, men, younger and older people, elders, farmers, herders. I will show that their access to water is implicitly checked, thus limiting opportunities of economical improvement for some of them. In this developing society, disadvantaged users may develop tactics to circumvent these constraints. Thus access to water is taken between conflicting strategies, pertaining to social reproduction as opposed to social change.