The aim of this study has been to analyse the effects of state subsidies within agriculture. The goal of these policies was to build up long-term sound and profitable farms by means of both general and selective support measures. The investments affecting structure gave rise to the following questions: (a) What were the effects on a farm of a given type of aid? (b) How were the farms and the surrounding community affected? (c) In what respect was a desirable effect achieved, and in what respect were the results problematical? The investigation was carried out in three municipalities in Norrland, and considered three different forms of subsidy (SR-, A- and B-support) which were utilized during the years 1961-1978. In addition to these so-called "subsidized farms", a similar number of "comparative farms" that had not received support were selected. In all, 650 farms were investigated. The evaluation was mainly divided into five areas of interest: (a) Farm reconstruction, (b) Farm development, (c) The farmers, (d) Economic effects, (e) Social effects in the locality. The principal findings were as follows: (1) SR- and A-supported farms were characterized by farmers who were relatively young, had good education and who used a portion of their working-hours for carrying out organizational measures. The comparative farms were distinguished rather by older farmers with less education and with a higher degree of employment outside the farm. (2) All of the SR-and B-supported farms had survived. Some A-supported farms were abandoned, while the number of comparative farms was greatly reduced. (3) All types of subsidized farms exhibited growth in their areas of arable land and forest and in their stock of milk cows, whereas the comparative farms were relatively unchanged. (4) Improved production results within crop husbandry could be derived simultaneously from the increased use of pipe drainage, shorter periods between ploughing, new methods of harvesting, etc. Within all these areas the subsidized farms had higher proportions of improvements than the comparative farms. (5) Since SR-farms in particular (but even A-farms) financed their rationalization measures by means of bank loans, they all became extremely sensitive to risks. In thi s way they all too easily ended up with economic difficulties when major increases in interest rates or changes in costs or revenues occurred. (6) In the short term the rationalization of the size of subsidized farms had little effect on outmigration from the areas concerned. (7) The households were larger on subsidized farms than in the comparative group. This meant that the subsidized farms, which were increasing their relative share of the population, also comprised a stabilizing factor in a locally-dependent service sector. / digitalisering@umu

While previous research into understandings of climate change has usually examined general public perceptions and mainstream media representations, this thesis offers an audience-specific departure point by analysing climate change frames and frame formation in Swedish agriculture. The empirical material consists of Swedish farm magazines’ reporting on climate change, as well as eight focus group discussions among Swedish farmers on the topic of climate change and climate change information. The analysis demonstrates that while Swedish farm magazines frame climate change in terms of conflict, scientific uncertainty, and economic burden, farmers in the focus groups tended to concentrate on whether climate change was a natural or human-induced phenomenon, and viewed climate change communication as an issue of credibility. It was found that farm magazines use metaphorical representations of war and games to form the overall frames of climate change. In contrast, the farmers’  frames of natural versus human-induced climate change were formed primarily using experience-based and non-experience-based arguments, both supported with analogies, distinctions, keywords, metaphors, and prototypical examples. Furthermore, discussions of what constitutes credible climate information centred on conflict-versus consensus-oriented frames of climate change communication along with different views of the extent to which knowledge of climate change is and should be practically or analytically based. This analysis of climate change communication in the Swedish agricultural sector proposes that the sense-making processes of climate change are complex, involving associative thinking and experience-based knowledge that form interpretations of climate change and climate change information. / Den här avhandlingen studerar uppfattningar om klimatförändringar och bidrar med sin målgruppsorienterade utgångspunkt till tidigare forskning kring hur klimatförändringar kan förstås och uppfattas. Avhandlingen studerar klimatkommunikation inom den svenska lantbrukssektorn genom analyser av 10 års klimatrapportering i tidningarna ATL samt Land Lantbruk, samt åtta fokusgruppsdiskussioner med svenska lantbrukare. Analysen visar att medan svensk lantbruksmedia ramade in klimatförändringar som en fråga om konflikter, vetenskaplig osäkerhet och ekonomisk börda, rörde lantbrukarnas diskussioner om klimatförändringar (i) dess orsaker; naturliga eller antropogena, (ii) olika faktorer som påverkar huruvida klimatinformation anses trovärdig. Därtill visar avhandlingen att lantbrukstidningar använde krigs- och spelmetaforer för att gestalta klimatförändringar medan lantbrukarna formade klimatinramningar genom analogier, distinktioner, nyckelord, metaforer och prototypiska exempel. Tillsammans med lantbrukarnas upplevda erfarenheter bildade dessa kommunikativa verktyg olika gestaltningar av klimatförändringar. Lantbrukarna visade på olika uppfattningar kring trovärdighet och klimatinformation. Vanligen efterfrågades ett informationslandskap karaktäriserat av en mångfald av perspektiv. Återkommande i materialet var också uppfattningen att kunskap om klimatförändringar borde vara praktiskt baserad snarare än teoretisk hållen för att öka i trovärdighet. Denna avhandling kring klimatkommunikation inom den svenska lantbrukssektorn pekar på komplexiteten i tolkningsprocesser och visar att associativt tänkande och erfarenhetsbaserad kunskap tillsammans utgör grunden för hur klimatförändringar och klimatinformation uppfattas.

This master thesis is about one of the first female in the Swedish Parliament, Elisabeth Tamm (1880–1958), and her political articles in the magazine Tidevarvet. The aim of this study is to find similarities with Tamm’s political thoughts with the Ecofeministic theory. Due to women’s right to vote 1919 women citizenship was in a political debate. Tamm was one of many speakers and she combine the question with the Swedish agriculture and farming. Ecofeminism generally believe that women and nature are subordinate by the capitalist, patriarchal and Western society. This master thesis examine the degree to which Tamm’s political view coincides with the Ecofeministic perspective. The results which have been obtained through this study are that Tamm share a lot of the Ecofeministic view points and was before her time with these ideas. She also has the same belief concerning women and nature subjugation. The main difference between Ecofeminism and Tamm is the view of nature; Ecofeminism perceive nature as its own subject and not for human to control while Tamm view nature as something which human shall cultivate and cherish for future generations.   This study gives contribution to new knowledge for different interested parties. Ecofeminism is relatively new in science and I hope this conducted thesis has usability and will open up for future research and learn people of today more about our idea of nature and gender.