In this thesis, I argue that the globalization of production has weakened the power and efficacy of labor unions in the United States. I describe the globalization of production as a set of transformations in both the institutional structure of the economy and in the organization of production, and discuss how these transformations have impacted workers and unions in the American economy. The theoretical framework I employ is the social structure of accumulation approach, which emphasizes the importance of the institutional structures of capitalist economies and how their interaction with forms of production organization and systems of labor control helps to determine levels of aggregate economic growth, the profit rates of individual firms, and the distribution of power, resources, and wealth among economic agents. I argue that the globalization of production involves the transition from the social structure of accumulation of segmentation to the globalized production social structure of accumulation, and the displacement of Fordist mass production by lean production as the dominant paradigm of production organization.Lean production and the globalized production social structure of accumulation involve a transformation in the relationship between firms, workers, and the state. The changing circumstances and economic conditions which these transformations have produced, and the failure of labor unions to understand, appreciate, and effectively respond to them, have been responsible for the rapid and sustained decline in the membership, power, and efficacy of organized labor in the United States. Through case studies on the automobile and clothing industries, I show how the way in which these transformations have materialized in the specific contexts of two industries with different competitive conditions, organizational structures, and levels of capital-intensity have produced very disparate and dissimilar outcomes for the workers in these indust ries.

You know that electronic device where you with just a simple click on a button can open a world of knowledge?  This device is the television, the most powerful weapon in the media world. But with all this power comes great responsibility. I am going to study a children program called Rea to see how equal the gender representation is. Who has got the power, men or women? Does the result reflect our society in representation? To do this I have been watching the entire 21:st season of Rea to find out how kids are represented in numbers and what role they play in the program based on their gender. Are the boys in charge and doing all the bold and brave tests and stunts? Are the girls quiet, sweet and nice as the stereotypical picture? Is it time to react and really see what media is trying to say with what they show us? If so, this analysis of Rea is a start.

The aim of this study is to examine how men and women are portrayed in sports in television and to get the answer to whether it is equal or not between the genders. The question examined is: Which stereotypical portrayals of men and women were noticed in the tv-show Superstars? Which stereotypical portrayals in the tv-show Superstars are masculine and feminine? By using a qualitative content analysis and two categories: words and expressions and behavior and context, the author studied one season to find differences. The findings showed that men and women portrayed their opposites. The men were portrayed as sensitive and the women were portrayed as tough in the category: words and expressions. The category: behavior and context showed that both men and women were portrayed as fearful. This result shows that it was equal between the genders.

The First Teacher Reform, implemented in 2013, was part of a reform package to strengthen the profession of teachers, raise teacher salaries and thereby increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Sweden. A first teacher would lead school and subject development and then receive a salary increase. However, the formulationof the reform was unclear which led to a strong skepticism among teachers and damaged its legitimacy. There was also a normative resistance. The purpose of this paper is to understand how normative institutions and organizational structures have influenced the implementation of the reform. The study shows how the first teacher reform collides withthe normative institutions of teachers. The Swedish school's flat organization and the way of looking at development work and collegial cooperation was challenged. This threatened teachers' autonomy, identities, social roles and thus their ontological security. At the same time principals and first teachers stood and still stand between different normative systems where the normative logic differs. When these collide, problems arise during implementation. The conclusion is that, besides making a clearer policy formulation, teachers and principals should be prepared to change normative institutions and the organizational structure of the Swedish school in order for the reform to have an even more positive effect.

Ausgehend von den jüngeren Arbeiten zur Rekonstruktion der späthallstattzeitlichen Gesellschaftsstruktur soll eine forschungsgeschichtliche Einordnung der neoevolutionistischen Modelle von E. Service und M. Fried, die als Analogien zur Deutung herangezogen werden, einige wesentliche Aspekte zur Methodik des analogischen Deutens beleuchten. / Starting from recent research on late Hallstatt social structures which uses the neo-evolutionistic models of E. Service and M. Fried as analogies, the attempt is here made to put these models into their historical context of research and thus to highlight a few methodological aspects of using analogies in interpretation.

Purpose: A central ambition and purpose of the the thesis is to shed light on the social capital within the cluster and how it contributes to the creation of networks, in what turned out to be intertwined relationships between micro-foundations and social structures. Methodology/approach: This research paper used qualitative research methods, more specifically 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted and one mini focus group. The thesis had an abductive approach. Findings: Consistent throughout the process of the thesis, there has been a clear connection between social capital and how this affects and contributes to the creation of networks. The micro-foundations such as trust, network, communication, collaboration, and cooperation are thus intertwined with the social structures of the cluster and its development. Thus, the findings of this paper can be of interest for creating a common understanding and providing key insights to several other clusters. Research Delimitations / limitations: Regarding Delimitations, the researchers did choose to limit the study to ICS. The Narrative review was however not been delimited, as the authors studied other cases in clustering. Regarding limitations, there was a certain level of limited access to the respondents, as the researchers tried to reach out to plenty of members, however, there was a low level of response at first. This did however not affect the outcome. Practical implications: Reviewing the literature has led to the conclusion that there is room for improvement regarding social capital in clusters and its effect on networking. Thus, this paper provides implications for clusters all over the world that struggle with the social capital. Originality: The originality of this paper is that it researched an aspect of clustering that is well under-researched in order to shed light on and provide a comprehensive understanding of the social capital and its effect on networking. Thus, the outcome of this paper provides cluster guidance as to the unique value proposition. / Syfte: Mikrofundamenten och sociala strukturer är sammanflätade, är syftet med avhandlingen att belysa det sociala kapitalet inom klustret och hur det bidrar till att skapa nätverk. Metod/tillvägagångssätt: Denna forskningsartikel använde kvalitativa forskningsmetoder, närmare bestämt genomfördes 10 semistrukturerade intervjuer och en minifokusgrupp. Avhandlingen hade ett abduktivt förhållningssätt. Resultat: Genomgående under examensarbetets gång har det funnits ett tydligt samband mellan socialt kapital och hur detta påverkar och bidrar till att skapa nätverk. Mikrogrunderna som tillit, nätverk, kommunikation, samarbete och samarbete är alltså sammanflätade med klustrets sociala strukturer och dess utveckling. Resultaten av denna artikel kan därför vara av intresse för att skapa en gemensam förståelse och ge viktiga insikter till flera andra kluster. Forskningsavgränsningar/begränsningar: När det gäller avgränsningar valde forskarna att begränsa studien till ICS. Den narrativa recensionen var dock inte avgränsad, eftersom författarna studerade andra fall i klustring. När det gäller begränsningar fanns det en viss nivå av begränsad tillgång till respondenterna, eftersom forskarna försökte nå ut till många medlemmar, dock var det låg respons till en början. Detta påverkade dock inte resultatet. Praktiska implikationer: Genomgång av litteraturen har lett till slutsatsen att det finns utrymme för förbättringar när det gäller socialt kapital i kluster och dess effekt på nätverkande. Sålunda ger detta dokument konsekvenser för kluster över hela världen som kämpar med det sociala kapitalet. Originalitet: Denna artikel syftade till att belysa en mindre forskad aspekt av klustring som ämnade delge en heltäckande förståelse för socialt kapitalet och dess effekt på nätverkande. Resultatet av detta dokument också kan funka som vägledning i linje med frågan och de de valda vinklarna.

This study is a qualitative case study of collaborative learning in two chamber music ensembles in a public high school orchestra program. Collaborative learning, as applied to chamber music education, is a setting in which musicians engage in a common musical task and are accountable to the other members of the group. Using social constructivism as a conceptual framework, I sought to explore student collaboration within chamber music ensembles through social interaction and the development of creative rehearsal strategies. Attention was directed to the way in which students identified problems and developed rehearsal strategies to solve them. The following research questions guided this study: (1) How do students in the selected chamber music ensembles engage in collaborative learning? (2) What are the learning structures that enable collaboration within each group? (3) How do the students interact with each other in the selected chamber music ensembles? (4) What are the social structures that enable collaborative learning within each group? Using Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) I analyzed and interpreted the collaborative learning that occurred in the musical development of these high school chamber musicians. Data collection occurred during one semester of instruction (five months) and included individual interviews, focus group interviews, and observations, which included field-notes and digital video of rehearsals. The research methodology used in this study comprised the “interpretive–descriptive” method and focused on turning the participants’ words and actions into the development of potential themes and implications. My approach used a three-step process to analyze data in which concepts were coded relating to the phenomenon of collaborative and mutual learning as well as sociocultural mediation. In this study, I examined the collaborative learning process among the student participants. My study was further informed by the participants’ perceptions of their own collaborative learning processes. Themes found were learning structures that allowed for collaboration in interpretation and problem solving, and social structures that enabled peer pressure, socialization and a work ethic. Results indicated that when given the opportunity to work in small groups toward pre-determined musical goals, the participants in this study: (1) worked with internal group leaders to identify musical problems and develop creative rehearsal strategies to solve them, (2) used positive and negative peer pressure that created an organic social structure which contributed to team efficacy, and (3) showed a willingness to work harder toward group goals when empowered with the responsibility for their own learning. The results of this study suggest that a collaborative learning environment that includes small groups of heterogeneously mixed students can advance student learning in multiple ways. The traditional teacher centered learning environment may not be the most effective learning environment because it may limit student development in one or more capacities, including decision making and social development. Recognition of the active, purposeful character of human development and respect for the shared understanding (socially distributed knowledge) that enables peers to teach one another ought to shape the music educator’s role and function; to serve as a musical guide, facilitator, and source of social support. Based on the results of this study, it appears that it may be possible to adapt collaborative learning to diverse instructional situations regardless of the heterogeneous makeup of the learning group.

This study examines national identity formation processes among individuals with foreign backgrounds, particularly those from former Yugoslavia who are raised in Sweden. It takes its starting point in the complex phenomenon of identity formation and belonging, drawing inspiration from the question "Where are you from?".  Previous research shows that individuals with foreign backgrounds experience a sense of duality in their identities as they navigate between their parents' culture and the culture in the new country. The study aims to understand the social structures and relationships that shape these individuals’ national identity processes. By exploring their experiences of national belonging and identifying the social structures and social relations that influence their identity construction, the study hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the complex dynamics surrounding national identity formation for this specific group. To achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative approach was employed, involving six semi-structured interviews with individuals aged between 20 and 35, whose parents immigrated from former Yugoslavia and raised them in Sweden. The theoretical framework for this study is based on ethnic identity and national identity as a form of ethnic identity. The results shows that social structures and social relationships influence individuals experiences of national belonging and identity formation. Individuals shape their national identity based on a "we" and "them" structure. Another important conclusion is that societal structures and norms can affect an individual's experience of her national identity. Institutions such as schools, workplaces, and the "Swedish family " can be seen as important social structures that influence the individual. Furthermore, place plays a central role in shaping national identity.

<p>This thesis presents Bayesian solutions to inference problems for three types of social network data structures: a single observation of a social network, repeated observations on the same social network, and repeated observations on a social network developing through time.</p><p>A social network is conceived as being a structure consisting of actors and their social interaction with each other. A common conceptualisation of social networks is to let the actors be represented by nodes in a graph with edges between pairs of nodes that are relationally tied to each other according to some definition. Statistical analysis of social networks is to a large extent concerned with modelling of these relational ties, which lends itself to empirical evaluation.</p><p>The first paper deals with a family of statistical models for social networks called exponential random graphs that takes various structural features of the network into account. In general, the likelihood functions of exponential random graphs are only known up to a constant of proportionality. A procedure for performing Bayesian inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods is presented. The algorithm consists of two basic steps, one in which an ordinary Metropolis-Hastings up-dating step is used, and another in which an importance sampling scheme is used to calculate the acceptance probability of the Metropolis-Hastings step.</p><p>In paper number two a method for modelling reports given by actors (or other informants) on their social interaction with others is investigated in a Bayesian framework. The model contains two basic ingredients: the unknown network structure and functions that link this unknown network structure to the reports given by the actors. These functions take the form of probit link functions. An intrinsic problem is that the model is not identified, meaning that there are combinations of values on the unknown structure and the parameters in the probit link functions that are observationally equivalent. Instead of using restrictions for achieving identification, it is proposed that the different observationally equivalent combinations of parameters and unknown structure be investigated a posteriori. Estimation of parameters is carried out using Gibbs sampling with a switching devise that enables transitions between posterior modal regions. The main goal of the procedures is to provide tools for comparisons of different model specifications.</p><p>Papers 3 and 4, propose Bayesian methods for longitudinal social networks. The premise of the models investigated is that overall change in social networks occurs as a consequence of sequences of incremental changes. Models for the evolution of social networks using continuos-time Markov chains are meant to capture these dynamics. Paper 3 presents an MCMC algorithm for exploring the posteriors of parameters for such Markov chains. More specifically, the unobserved evolution of the network in-between observations is explicitly modelled thereby avoiding the need to deal with explicit formulas for the transition probabilities. This enables likelihood based parameter inference in a wider class of network evolution models than has been available before. Paper 4 builds on the proposed inference procedure of Paper 3 and demonstrates how to perform model selection for a class of network evolution models.</p>

Intresset för hur HR och ledning kan påverka medarbetarnas beteendemönster och den sociala strukturen inom organisationer har gett upphov till denna undersökning. Med utgångspunkt i teorier om komplexa adaptiva system som perspektiv har jag försökt fånga medarbetarnas förutsättningar att nå organisationers vision och därmed förverkliga medarbetarpolicyn i praktiken. Tillsammans med kontaktpersoner från den undersökta kommunen har jag gjort en djupdykning i en offentlig organisation i syfte att förklara byråkratins inverkan på beteendemönstret hos medarbetarna och hur de tillsammans skapar en social struktur vilken speglar organisationens vision. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur det adaptiva systemet fungerar i en byråkratisk organisation och vad det betyder för medarbetarnas möjligheter att förverkliga organisationens vision och medarbetarpolicy. Undersökningen har genomförts på en socialförvaltning i en kommun i mellan Sverige och med en kvalitativ metod och semistrukturerade intervjuer har sex respondenter deltagit i undersökningen. Samtliga respondenter har olika befattningar inom organisationen och bidrar därmed med olika perspektiv på samma fenomen. Undersökningens resultat visar att den offentliga verksamhetens byråkratiska organisationsstruktur bidrar till att det bildas olika adaptiva system inom organisationen, där medarbetarnas beteendemönster bildar en social struktur som leder till att visionen och medarbetarpolicyn inte förverkligas. Undersökningen visar även att de adaptiva systemen inom organisationen inte påverkar varandra, då de inte interagerar med varandra inom organisationen. Det som ligger till grund för hur medarbetarnas beteendemönster etableras inom organisationen är kraven från omvärlden, hög arbetsbelastning och avsaknaden av stabilitet i den organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljön och inte vad tidigare forskning visat; att det skulle vara hög regelstyrning som ligger till grund för beteendemönstret inom den offentliga sektorn. Slutsatsen är att för att medarbetarna ska kunna förverkliga organisationens vision och medarbetarpolicy kräver det att HR, ledning och medarbetare alla ingår i samma adaptiva system. För att det ska vara möjligt behöver HR upprätta strategier för hur samtliga inom organisationen ska interagera med varandra i det dagliga arbetet. Ledningen och medarbetarna behöver även ha goda möjligheter att kommunicera med varandra regelbundet i en större omfattning än vad de gör idag. Konkreta åtgärder för hur det lämpligen bör genomföras presenteras under diskussionen. / The significance of how Human Resources, HR, and management can cooperatively effect the behavioural pattern of co-workers and the social structure within organizations originated this study. With the perspective of complex adaptive systems as the starting point, the purpose has been to establish the requirements for co-workers to implement the organizations’ vison and policies in practice. In cooperation with the contacts of the studied municipality, I made an in-depth study within a public organization to explain the bureaucracy's effect on the behaviour pattern of the co-workers and how they together create a social strucutre reflecting the organization's vision. The purpose with the study is to examine how the complex adaptive systems functions within a bureaucratic organization and its effect on co-workers’ possibilities to implement the vision and policy of the organization. The study was made within a social welfare service in a municipality in Middle Sweden, using a qualitative method and semi structured interviews six respondents have participated, all with different positions in the organization contributing to several perspective of the same phenomena. The results of the study points to the public sector’s bureaucratic organization structure conduces’ of the creating different adaptive systems within the organization where co-workers’ behaviour pattern create a social structure which leads to failure of implementing the vision and policy. The study also presents that the adaptive systems within the organization does not affect each other as they do not interact with each other in the organization. The basis of how co-workers’ behaviour pattern establishes within the organization is the demands from the surrounding world, high workload, and of the lack of stability in the organizational and social working environment and not as the previous research have showed; that high ruling would underlie to behavioural pattern within the public sector. In conclusion, for co-workers to implement the vision and policy of the organization it requires for HR, management and co-workers all are in the same adaptive systems. To make that possible HR needs to form strategies on how all within the organization will interact with each other in daily work. Management and co-workers also needs great possibilities to communicate with each other regularly to an increasing extent. Concrete proceedings for how this should be done most suitably is presented in the discussion.