This study seeks to investigate how authority patterns have changed over time in the Indian districts Guntur and Krishna, by focusing on authority patterns as social relationships. Previous research on authority patterns often focuses on authority patterns as regime types, describing whether a regime is democratic or autocratic. This study takes a different approach using Harry Eckstein’s definition of authority pattens as a subset of human asymmetric relationships, relationships constructing the hierarchy in society. Social hierarchies guide human behaviour and predicts well-being and even survival, why it is important to understand their nature. In order to answer the research question of this thesis, a qualitative method and a ”strategy of change” (comparison over time) is used. Three points in time are analysed: the 1960s, 1980s and 2010s. In 1961 political scientist Myron Weiner conducted a field study regarding political participation in five Indian districts, and in 1985 the professor of international affairs Atul Kohli redid his study in order to compare local politics over time. The main contribution of this thesis is to pick up where Kohli left off, and once again analyse contemporary local politics in one of the districts and compare the findings to Weiner’s and Kohli’s. This design offers a unique opportunity to compare local Indian politics, and authority patterns, over the course of nearly 60 years. It is shown that authority patterns have changed over time, mostly because of the intertwined process of changing caste dynamics. However, the findings indicate that authority patterns in itself is an ambiguous concept, why future research is needed to get a deeper understanding of the nature of authority patterns.

The general framework of this thesis is that of ethical Technology Assessment (eTA). Whereas the first essay proposes an inclusive approach to technology assessment by delineating an ethical checklist, the following essays focus on two of the checklist points, i.e. “privacy” and “control, influence and power”, in relation to workspace surveillance. The core idea of Essay I (written in collaboration with Sven Ove Hansson) is that, due to its strong social impact, new technology and novel use of existing technology should be considered from the perspective of ethics. We suggest that assessments should be conducted on the basis of nine crucial ethical aspects of technology. In Essay II an in-depth analysis of the meaning and value of privacy in the realm of work is undertaken. The meaning and value of privacy is explained as well as why it should be protected. It is argued that two dimensions of privacy should be safeguarded; “informational privacy” and “local privacy” for the reason that workers’ personal autonomy is protected thereby. Essay III is concerned with how workspace surveillance requires that job-applicants claim their privacy interests in employment negotiations to a much larger extent than what was previously the case. In most cases however, a dependency asymmetry between employer and job-candidate makes the latter ill-equipped for doing so. This asymmetry serves as the point of departure for an analysis of the conditions under which consent should be considered a criterion on moral acceptability with regard to employment contracting. The analysis suggests ways of rectifying this imbalance, raising demands on the quality of contractual consent. Essay IV discusses the extent to which it should be morally permissible for current or prospective employees to trade off their privacy in employment negotiations. The analysis starts out from, and questions, a libertarian case for voluntary self-enslavement. It is concluded that not even an orthodox libertarian can justify trade offs of a social good like liberty. Neither should employees be allowed to abstain informational privacy for the reason that such a trade-off could harm their future selves. In Essay V a dimensional analysis is proposed as a means to identify actually or potentially privacy invasive surveillance practices. It discusses ways in which different types of surveillance intrude upon employees’ privacy in order to guide the evaluation of such practice. Even though negative implications cannot be avoided altogether, by means of the proposed analysis, minimally intrusive means of monitoring can be identified. / QC 20100902

Questions concerning children's rights and children's place in society have been on the agenda for some decades now. Parallell to this movement questions about children's place in the bible, in the church and in systematic theology have entered the academical conversation. This paper attempts to find a method to investigate whether systematic theology as we know it, has the tools to address these new questions. Axel Honneth's theory on recognition will be important, since the three levels of recognitions he describes are designed to point out the difference between rights and solidarity, between formal recognition and the recognition that sprouts from genuine intrest in shared experience.  The thougths from Honneth are combined with John Wall's argumentation on seeing the child as a full humna being, as a subject. Risto Saarinen's discussion on asymmetrical relations, adds an important perspective. From these three theories, a method is formulated for putting the child in focus on the theological agenda. The gain is not only the recognition of a neglected group, measured to one third of humankind. The new viewpiont shreds its light upon questions important to all of us. The method is a systematic theological tool both useful for pointing out inconsistencies and to suggest solutions to the very same problems.  In the final discussion I show how this could be done by adressing the children's place in the postmodern family project, described by Katarina Westerlund, and children as liturgical leaders with the help of Karin Rubensson's thesis.