Det finns ett missnöje och en kritik riktad mot hur Karolinska Institutet (KI) rekrytering av Paolo Macchiarini gick till och kritiker menar att det var personliga, informella kontakter som styrde istället för de formella kraven. Mot denna bakgrund väcktes ett intresse om hur nätverk inom Karolinska Institutet och forskningsvärlden i stort byggs och vad som skiljer ett professionellt nätverk från ett personligt. För att undersöka detta har denna etnografiska studie gjorts genom deltagande observationer av en forskargrupp på KI. Syftet med studien har varit att undersöka hur forskare på KI bygger professionella och personliga nätverk och hur dessa samspelar med varandra. De frågeställningar som studien utgår ifrån är; Hur bygger forskare på KI nätverk? Hur skiljer sig forskarnas professionella och personliga nätverk åt? På vilket sätt påverkar relationen mellan handledare och doktorand dessa nätverk? För att besvara dessa frågor har Actor Network Theory (ANT) och diskursanalys använts som teoretiskt ramverk. Teorierna ger en förklaring till hur forskare samspelar med varandra och dess omvärld inom en given kontext, samt vilka faktorer som påverkar deras agerande. Resultatet av studien visar på att forskare på KI bygger nätverk på flera olika sätt och är en del av olika nätverk samtidigt. Förutom de personliga och professionella nätverken kunde ytterligare tre nätverk identifieras och skillnaderna mellan dessa belysas. Resultatet visar även på hur relationen mellan handledare och doktorand skiljer sig från andra relationer. Vår slutsats är att det bland forskares vanligtvis rörliga nätverk finns ett mer bestående nätverk av familjär karaktär. Nyckelord: Actor Network Theory (ANT), subjektsposition, nätverk, akademiskt släktskap

Sweden has been praised for its achievements, and promoted as a role model, in sustainable urban development. This thesis, comprising five separate articles and a cover essay, is a critical study of the Swedish urban sustainable imaginary. The first article examines how this imaginary is produced. Using an actor-network theory approach, I view the Swedish pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 as a node in a wider network, arguing that the notion of decoupling GDP growth from CO2 emissions constitutes a central storyline. The second and third papers study the circulation of this imaginary in practice, specifically examining two cases of exporting Swedish sustainable urban planning to Chinese eco-city projects. Few of these plans, I note, were materialised in built form; rather, they contributed to the circulation of a repetitive model of sustainable urbanism, reinforcing a paradoxical idea of urban sustainability as “green islands of privilege”. The storyline of decoupling – and the circulating business of sustainable urbanism into which it feeds – is based on a deficient territorial view of space. In this research, I advocate a political ecology perspective and relational view of space, wherein there are no such things as sustainable or unsustainable cities. Rather, planning should aim for more just socio-environmental relations within and across urban borders. The fourth and fifth papers address the wider question of how planning can foster more socio-environmentally just forms of urban sustainability. Here, I emphasise a consumption perspective on greenhouse gas emissions as an important counter-narrative and analyse two Swedish municipalities’ efforts to lessen citizens’ consumption through policy and planning practice.   This research highlights the need to continuously develop and contest imaginaries and planning practices of sustainability, of who is perceived as “sustainable” and what a socio-environmentally just perspective might mean in practice for policy makers and planners alike. / <p>QC 20170120</p>

Cette thèse étudie les relations entre contrôle et stratégie. Elle vise à enrichir le cadre théorique des quatre leviers du contrôle de Simons (1995) en s’intéressant aux interactions entre les acteurs de l’organisation, autour des dispositifs de contrôle, pour élaborer et mettre en œuvre la stratégie. Mobilisant le cadre théorique de la sociologie de l’acteur-réseau (ANT), ce travail, basé sur une étude de cas, met en évidence un double processus de traduction de la stratégie. D’une part, les dirigeants conçoivent les systèmes de contrôle pour intéresser les cadres intermédiaires à la stratégie globale, d’autre part les cadres intermédiaires utilisent ces mêmes systèmes pour intéresser la direction à leurs propres propositions de stratégie locale. Dans ce double processus de traduction, le levier interactif de contrôle, basé sur des interactions en face-à-face, joue un rôle central. La recherche permet d’identifier deux usages différents du levier interactif : un usage ouvert, permettant l’émergence de stratégie et un usage plus fermé permettant la mise en œuvre de stratégies délibérées. Cette mise en évidence de deux usages différents du levier interactif permet d’expliquer les contradictions apparentes des recherches mobilisant le cadre théorique de Simons et ouvre la voie à de futures recherches sur les liens entre contrôle et innovation / This thesis analyses the relationship between strategy and management control systems. Its aim is to refine Simons’ four levers of control framework in studying the interactions between top and middle managers around management control tools in order to form and implement the strategy of the organization. Using the actor-network theory (ANT) in a case study, this thesis reveals a double process of translation. On the one hand, top managers design management control systems in order to interest their subordinates to the global intended strategy. On the other hand, middle managers use the same control systems to translate their own local strategic intentions. This double translation process is made possible by two different uses of the interactive lever of control, based on face to face discussions. The first one is non invasive, inspirational and allows strategy emergence, the second one is invasive and allows top managers to implement the intended strategy in involving themselves in the decisions of their subordinates. The evidence of two different uses open ways of research on the relationship between management control systems and strategy or management control and innovation

Research on existing actor-networks has focused traditionally on outcomes, achievements and success at the expense of a detailed consideration of their formation and ability to function. In recognition of this lacuna, this study examined the formation and functioning of tourism-related actor-networks involved in environmental protection and the management of tourism in the coastal city of Hurghada, Egypt. More specifically, it applied the actor-network theory (ANT). In particular, the study applied its four moments of translation – problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilization – and used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to analyse the influencing factors, whether positively or negatively, and the degree to which the creation and operations of such collaborations were successful. This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed-methods design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 510 employees of tourism-related organizations involved in managing tourism’s environmental impacts on Hurghada. Also, the researcher conducted fourteen semi-structured interviews with the managers and assistant managers of tourism-related organizations involved in environmental protection and the management of tourism. The SEM’s findings revealed the existence of a number of tourism-related actor-networks which were attempting to safeguard local community livelihoods through environmental protection, and of four key factors – trust, coordination, commitment, and communication – which were damaging their formation, functioning and outcomes. This study contributed to theory since it enhanced our knowledge and understanding of the relationships between four previously unconnected bodies of literature. These were, namely, ANT, tourism-related organizations, environmental governance, collaboration, and environmental protection. The study highlighted, also, the factors, both positive and negative, which influenced the formation and functioning of tourism actor-networks involved in managing tourism’s environmental impacts on Hurghada. In practical terms, this study analysed the role of tourism-related organizations in order to identify their main strengths and weaknesses In addition, the researcher considered how partnership networks could consolidate the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of the tourism-related organizations involved in environmental protection and the management of tourism in Hurghada. Also, this study will help these tourism-related organizations, through such networks, to adopt suitable activities, policies, strategies and laws for protecting the assets relating to the local community’s livelihoods. Therefore, knowing the key success factors of collaborative networks and good governance will help these networks of tourism-related organizations to improve their performance in terms of assisting Hurghada’s local community and the poor people in particular.

Desde meados dos anos 1960 novos temas tornaram-se cada vez mais caros a sociedade de forma global. Dentre esses temas, o relacionamento entre as ações humanas com o meio ambiente passou a ser visto e discutido nos mais diferentes setores da sociedade, o que fez formatar uma nova dimensão de desenvolvimento, que abarcasse outras variáveis além do crescimento econômico, tais como as advindas da área social e ambiental (SACHS, 2009a e 2009b; VEIGA, 2010). Apesar disso, as discussões acadêmicas levantam o fato de que tal termo carece de um quadro conciso de significados, adquirindo um caráter pluridimensional. Dentre deste debate, o Brasil e sua proeminência de caráter mundial no setor de produção de combustíveis alternativos, se constrói enquanto a base desta pesquisa, que teve como propósito tecer relações mais sólidas entre estes dois temas, especificamente, a sustentabilidade e o etanol de cana-deaçúcar. Para isso, procurou-se entender quais são as traduções de sustentabilidade no setor sucroenergético, ou seja, de que forma o tema da sustentabilidade está sendo estrategicamente definido pelos atores que se relacionam de forma direta com o etanol de cana-de-açúcar, e assim realizar um cruzamento com os principais aspectos de sustentabilidade presentes na literatura sobre a questão. Para a consecução dos objetivos foi utilizada a Teoria Ator-Rede como ferramenta metodológica. Nesse sentido, a sustentabilidade se encaixou como o ator principal da pesquisa, pois causa transformações nos mais diversos atores aos quais se associa. Os resultados se destacam pelo fato de que a interdisciplinaridade é incipiente no setor, muito devido às falhas e dificuldades na divulgação de informação e dados e à baixa participação dos diferentes setores nas discussões. Uma das consequências do pouco diálogo entre as áreas se encontra no fato de que o setor traduz a sustentabilidade baseada na abordagem chamada de Tripé da Sustentabilidade. Nesse sentido, a visão mais integrativa, tão importante para este tema, perde relevância, havendo ênfase prático e teórico para uma das três dimensões da abordagem, qual seja, a econômica, que é operacionalizada através de investimentos em inovações tecnológicas. Apesar desta contestação, para o setor tal carência de paradigmas integrativos se assinala de forma negativa. Para que um estado mais desejável deste setor seja alcançado é fundamental que o seu estado atual seja aclarado em seus meandros, permitindo a formulação de ferramentas de sustentabilidade. / Since the mid-1960s new themes have become increasingly matters of concern in global society. Among these subjects, the relation between human actions with the environment came to be seen and discussed in many different sectors of society, which arranged a new dimension of development that would encompass other variables than economic growth, such as those regarding social and environmental areas (Sachs, 2009a and 2009b; Veiga, 2010). Nevertheless, academic discussions highlight the fact that this term lacks a concise framework of meanings, what acquires a multidimensional characteristic. Within this debate, the prominence of Brazil in the production of alternative fuels builds the basis of this research, which aimed to weave stronger relations between these two issues, specifically, sustainability and sugarcane ethanol. Thus, this dissertation tried to understand what are the translations of sustainability in sugarcane industry, ie how the topic of sustainability is being strategically defined by the actors that relate directly to the sugarcane ethanol and, therefore, achieve a junction between this and the main aspects of sustainability in the literature on the issue. To achieve the goals, Actor-Network Theory has been used as a methodological tool. In this sense, sustainability is embedded as the main actor of the research, because it causes changes in several actors to which it associates. The resultsemphasise the fact that interdisciplinarity is incipient in the sector, largely due to failures and difficulties in disseminating information and data and the low participation of different sectors in the discussions. One consequence of the lack of dialogue between the areas is the fact that the sector translates sustainability based approach called Triple Botton Line. In this sense, a more integrative susteinability view loses relevance, as it\'s clear a practical and theoretical emphasis in one of the three dimensions of the approach, namely, the economic, which is operationalized through investments in technological innovations. Despite this challenge the sugarcane sector itself, points this lack of integrative paradgms in a negative way. For a more desirable state of this sector , it is essential that your current state is cleared in its intricacies, allowing the formulation of sustainability tools.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is a symptomatically defined and debilitating condition that presents as a range of physiological and psychological effects. Post-exertional fatigue and ongoing low energy levels are cardinal features. Whilst ME-like conditions have been recognised for at least two hundred years, they have been characterised over recent decades by a fiercely contested debate as to whether aetiology is primarily psychological or physiological. ME sufferers experience profound changes to their self-perception, ability to maintain daily routines and activities and how they are perceived in terms of their capacity to carry out social roles, including illness-status. The contested aetiology results in-part from a climate of dualistic thought and the biomedical model upon which ME is treated and theorised. Whilst the effects of ME on self experience have been investigated from various qualitative and quantitative perspectives, the primary purpose of this thesis is to develop a psychosocial framework from which to explore previously neglected dimensions of the effect of ME on self experience. Developing a psychosocial understanding of ME is in keeping with a turn towards post-Cartesian and non-dualistic thinking. The second interconnected purpose of this thesis is to address the role played by the material environment and objects and to conceptualise their importance and relation to self and how it is affected by ME. This is currently absent in the literature on ME. Developing a psychosocial framework suitable for this purpose rested on a synthesis of Actor Network Theory (ANT) and a psychoanalytically influenced use of metaphor and metonymy. At the heart of this synthesis are the notions of relational ontology (Latour, 1997; DeLanda, 2002) and assemblage (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987; DeLanda, 2002; Hodder, 2012). A relational ontology focuses on the relations between disparate objects such as material artefacts, humans, other organisms and concepts and avoids prioritising any one ‘thing’ as more important than another. The notion of assemblage has emerged alongside ideas concerning complexity, chaos and indeterminacy and informs a vocabulary addressing the problem of causality, determination and the stability of social and psychological phenomena (Venn, 2006). As part of a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial framework these concepts enable an exploration of ME by bringing together disparate aspects such as everyday objects, experiences, symptoms and environments in a non-causal, non-dualistic and processual manner. The psychoanalytic element also enables an exploration of the unconscious and irrational aspects of experience, which is most pertinent with regards to the effects of ME. Thus, the premise of this research was to establish a psychosocial methodology and theoretical basis from which to explore the effects of ME on self experience. Moreover, this methodology was designed to engage with the complex, coincident and entangled nature of the symptoms, discourses, objects, material artefacts, environments and non-human organisms that ME appears to be comprised of. Methods were developed which enabled the researcher to be with and explore the day-to-day life and routines of eight ME sufferers in their everyday environments over a six month period. This involved working with the ME sufferers taking part primarily in their own homes and spaces around their home which they frequented, such as shopping malls and even a cemetery; in itself novel in terms of qualitative research into ME. Of these eight sufferers, three were male [age range 49 – 65; earliest formal diagnosis of ME occurring in 2005] and five females [age range 25 – 63; earliest diagnosis 2002]. Two sufferers were in paid employment, one was retired and five were unable to work due to their ME. Due to the extensive nature of the data, only 3 case studies, two male and three female, were selected for in-depth analysis. Cases selected were those that most clearly illustrated central analytic themes. Data comprised talk, audio-visual material and the affective responses of the researcher. Analytic methods were devised which initially adopted a thematic approach before metaphoric and metonymic equivalences were drawn between what ME sufferers discussed and aspects of the routines, objects and environments they were engaged with. This informed descriptions of how these things became networked, in an ANT sense, and how self experience was implicated. A key finding which emerged is the notion of debilitating spaces. This term captures the manner in which, for certain sufferers, the experience and hence the maintenance of ME was intrinsically enmeshed with their immediate physical environment. Further findings discussed include the way in which seemingly everyday objects such as food blenders can be co-opted by sufferers as a means of enhancing their self-experience in light of ME. Overall, the findings of this PhD are discussed in terms of the success and applicability of that premise and its contribution to the field of psychosocial approaches. The key assertion is that the methodology enhances an understanding of ME and its effects, highlighting the variable yet particular nature of ME and its effect on self experience and in incorporating the hitherto unconsidered range of objects outlined above.

The following thesis presents an empirical investigation of hybrid war in eastern Ukraine, drawing on the insights from Actor- Network Theory and New Type Wars theory. Taking a different route in studying a complex phenomenon of hybrid war, this study focuses on the social-material networks which constitute the hybrid war. This thesis aims to identify the actors and analyse their interactions at different stages of war. Actor-Network Theory will be used in this research to ask the questions, what role do the non-human actors play in hybrid warfare in eastern Ukraine, and how do they affect the dynamics of war. Highlighting the significance of non-human actors, this thesis aims to contribute to the existing literature on hybrid warfare in eastern Ukraine and thus shed light on the peculiarities of this phenomenon.

Carbon is a metric at the centre of contemporary debates. It is invoked to explain responses to climate change and justify political decisions over the economy and environment. Its ubiquity might suggest that the definition of carbon is broadly agreed upon, but along with greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements, articulating carbon as a commodity has incorporated debates over sustainable development (SD). The use of market-based mechanisms to manage carbon quantities results in articulations of the concept that reinforce consumption as a means to achieve public policy aims, but these are also contested. This research examines the concept of carbon to explore what might be taken-for-granted or overlooked when carbon is invoked. The research takes an ethnographic approach to carbon by examining offsetting – paying for reductions in GHG emissions at one location to make up for a continuation or increase of emissions at another. The novelty, complexity and lack of trust in carbon offsetting have resulted in numerous voluntary standards to improve consumer confidence in this commodity. The standard organisations’ position in codifying, measuring and accrediting carbon makes them valuable sites at which to describe the materialities of the concept. I use data collected from the administrative offices of two voluntary carbon offset standards in 2010-11 to explore what is included and excluded within carbon as it was enacted at these sites. Carbon is described in this research as an assemblage and a multiplicity – it is articulated in varying ways by actors within offset markets. Through the work of standards organisations, the “orthodoxies” of offsetting are identified as taken-for-granted features of carbon. In contrast, the position of SD is identified as variable across different articulations of carbon. Using a post-Actor Network Theory approach innovatively combined with Suchman’s typology of legitimacy, this diversity in carbon is not normatively evaluated; instead the focus is on how assemblages of carbon differentiate the legitimacy of SD as a feature of offsetting. Some take SD for granted as an inherent aspect of offsetting, for others it is a desirable feature, but not necessary. Alternatively it could be offered as an add-on possibility without suggesting SD implied better offsetting, and for others offsetting was best enacted without assembling SD concerns. Exploring carbon as an assemblage demonstrates the continuous and flexible constructions of carbon as a commodity and concept. When examined in detail, the marketing strategies and technical rules of different standards produce varying articulations of carbon. Furthermore, this research explores how the work of voluntary carbon offset standards excludes the scrutiny of sites of consumption of offsets. This exclusion, as with the integration of SD, is notable for the differences in how it is articulated by standard staff – challenged by some, taken-for-granted by others but with diverse rationales for each position. These features are informative in relation to the roles ascribed to voluntary standards across other commodities as well as in relation to carbon. Attending to the multiplicity that exists in the daily practices of offset markets suggests possibilities for those looking to stabilise or reform the concept of carbon as well as understanding the activities of voluntary standards.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre o processo de produção da Mídia Ninja tendo por guia teórico-metodológico a Teoria Ator-Rede (TAR). A investigação procurou compreender as redes de mediação e o papel dos objetos técnicos na ação do coletivo, bem como relacionar o tipo de trabalho realizado pela Mídia Ninja com os estudos de comunicação e jornalismo. O método de pesquisa utilizado foi inspirado na etnografia, aplicando a técnica da observação participante em dois momentos distintos (maio e junho de 2015, fevereiro de 2016), aliado à documentação em texto, vídeos, fotos e entrevistas de momentos significativos do coletivo em 2013. Em sua primeira parte, a tese apresenta algumas das principais noções da TAR, como a relação de simetria entre sujeitos e objetos, e as aproxima com a mídia e jornalismo. Na sequência, foi descrito o início da Mídia Ninja como coletivo de mídia estabelecido a partir do Fora do Eixo, uma rede de produção cultural com diversos pontos espalhados pelo país, e tornado mundialmente conhecido a partir da cobertura das manifestações de junho de 2013 no Brasil. Na segunda parte, a análise rastreou três momentos entre junho e julho de 2013 para acompanhar o processo de início do uso de um software de transmissão ao vivo, o TwitCasting, e perceber quais foram os deslocamentos produzidos na produção de narrativas ao vivo no coletivo. Depois, a descrição focou nos fluxos de produção da redação Ninja, realçando os espaços, os modos de convivência e a organização ao mesmo tempo fixa e volátil de seus participantes. Por fim, foi possível perceber alguns objetos técnicos como mediadores determinantes no processo de produção de informação da Mídia Ninja, e a dificuldade de definir previamente o "mosaico de parcialidades" da ação Ninja enquanto jornalismo ou ativismo, já que tudo é performado de acordo com a situação envolvida e o movimento realizado pelos atores. / This thesis presents a study about the production process of the Mídia Ninja having Actor- Network Theory (ANT) as a theoretical-methodological guide. The investigation sought to understand mediation networks and the role of technical objects in the collective action, as well as to relate the kind of work done by the Mídia Ninja with the studies of communication and journalism. The research method used was inspired by ethnography, applying the technique of participant observation in two different moments (May and June 2015, February 2016), allied with documentation in text, videos, photos and interviews of significant moments of the collective in 2013. In first part, the thesis presents some of the main notions of ANT, such as the relation of symmetry between subjects and objects, and approaches them with media and journalism. In the sequence, the beginning of the Mídia Ninja was described as a media collective established from Fora do Eixo, a cultural production network with several points spread throughout the country, and made known worldwide from the coverage of the manifestations of June 2013 in Brazil. In the second part, the analysis tracked three moments between June and July 2013 to follow the process of beginning to use a live streaming software, TwitCasting, and to perceive the displacements produced in the production of live narratives into the collective. Then, the description focused on the production flows of the Ninja newsroom highlighting the spaces, the ways of living together, and the organization that is both fixed and volatile of its participants. Finally, it was possible to perceive some technical objects as determining mediators in the production process of the Mídia Ninja information, and the difficulty to define previously the "mosaic of partialities" of the Ninja action as journalism or activism, since everything is performed according to the situation involved and the movement carried out by the actors.

When producing an interview report the researcher is put to the test of describing the qualitative interview method in terms of assumed orderly steps and procedures taken during the interview process, while at the same time account for a very social dynamic process. In practice, even the most carefully prepared scenario for a qualitative interview study probably does not correspond to the expectations made. What happens between the plans and the actual interview itself? This issue is investigated by contrasting the actual engagement of the participants in an interview project to how these relationships are accounted for in Master thesis from the Swedish School of Library- and Information Science in Borås. Theory and methodology from Actor Network Theory (ANT) have been applied into the area of qualitative interviews. Three theses have been analyzed highlighting accounts of the crucial first contact, where the study is presented to the interviewees, and interactions with individual and collective actors. It is suggested that qualitative interview, by nature, is a method that one learns from practice, by experience or by the study of how experienced practitioners work. It is also suggested that students can learn from one another by discussing interview practices in there theses. / Program: Informationsspecialist