<p>I Sverige har det alltid funnits ett behov av att förhålla sig till Ryssland och Sovjetunionen, uttryckt här i en debatt mellan de båda forskarna Stefan Hedlund och Anders Åslund i dagstidningar och genom litteratur. Min uppgift har varit att granska debatten och se vilka områden som belystes och vem som kom att få rätt år 2007/2008. Kärnan i mitt arbete är inte den faktiska historien utan argumentationen om samtiden. Där debatten om Ryssland är av det slag att den tål granskning mer än ett decennium efteråt. Rent geografiskt är Sverige ett litet land på randen av det ryska imperiet som spänner sig över nästan hela kontinenten, Sverige och de andra nordiska länderna är placerade nästan som en blockad av det ryska imperiets strävan västerut, en strävan som pågått i flera hundra år. Det ryska imperiet som fortfarande finns kvar kom att omvandlas och försvagas åtskilligt under några år i början på 1990-talet. Detta var dock konsekvensen av en enorm statsapparat, enorma militära utgifter och ett defekt ekonomiskt system.</p><p>Jag lyfter fram artiklar och litteratur producerad under de första åren efter Sovjetunionens sammanbrott och relaterar denna till nutiden genom en enkel komparation av debattklimatet. Svaret kan vara att två tydliga vägar urskiljer sig, en där Ryssland utvecklas enligt sina egna mönster och en där Östeuropa utvecklas åt en annan riktning. Idag har Polen, Ungern och Tjeckien inte mycket gemensamt med länder som Vitryssland och Moldavien som är forna Sovjetrepubliker. Det skrivs inte heller några undergångsbeskrivningar av Ryssland, något som producerades tidigare, därför finns en anledning till tillförsikt att det faktiskt inte blev som det beskrivs i några av artiklarna jag studerat.</p>

Introduction:  If a person uses many different drugs at the same time it can be termed “polypharmacy”. Polypharmacy is mostly seen in the elderly and often associated with negative aspects of drug treatment. Some negative consequences of using many drugs are a higher risk of drug-drug interactions and side effects and a lower patient compliance. The number of drugs defining polypharmacy can vary. But what does the number really tell? Aim:  The aim of this work is to get a better picture of the medication of the elderly in Sweden and Germany. Which are the most common drugs used by the elderly with excessive polypharmacy (use of 10 or more drugs) in Sweden and Germany? Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was done using individual based drug dispensing data on elderly 65 years and older from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (1,4 million elderly) and Germany’s (AOK) drug register (5,3 million elderly). Period prevalence for the time interval October to December 2010 was calculated. Results:  Many interesting differences were found comparing the drug treatment of the elderly with excessive polypharmacy in Sweden and Germany. In Sweden the most common drugs for this population were paracetamol (56%), acetylsalicylic acid (52%) and furosemide (42%), in Germany the use of torasemide (35%), simvastatin (35%) and pantoprazole (33%) dominated. Differences between the countries can partly depend on how common a disease is in a country, but also which drugs are available as OTC-drugs, the availability of guidelines/formularies and how physicians in a country follow them and differences in the availability of drugs in the market. Conclusions:  When assessing drug use in terms of polypharmacy, the focus should not lie on the amount of drugs; the importance is which drugs are administered. Through international comparisons strengths and weaknesses of different countries’ drug treatment of the elderly can be found. The countries should support each other and make interventions. Hopefully a better drug treatment will be reached.

<p>In this Bachelor paper, I have studied the field of citizen wage, a revolutionary concept that challenges the current system of welfare, our view of society today, which can have implications on our perception of different spaces and patterns of movement between different rooms. The subject has on an academic level been discussed and accepted however not on a political level.</p><p>Citizen wage is a concept of a broader meaning of a social security system that entails providing the states citizens with economic subsidy without any form of requirements around it. The subsidy should cover all basic costs of living and be collected through taxation.</p><p>The idea is based on principles of human justice, that everyone has the right to a decent living, and the state is therefore obliged to distribute sufficient economic means for living without any conditions, as a right not as a solution.</p><p>The main focus of this study has been to investigate the opinions of citizen wage in Sweden, what the main arguments for or against an implementation of citizen wage is perceived to be. This study is based on a literature study concerning subjects relevant when discussing citizen wage, as well as a quantitative study of a number of articles derived from Swedish press concerning the theme.</p><p>The study resulted in findings that reflect a mostly negative outlook on citizen wage, however the large amount of positive articles indicate that there is an interest of implementing citizen wage in Sweden. Therefore one can ask if it is representative or not, that citizen wage is no longer found on any parties political agenda in Sweden.</p>

<p>The written sources concerning the process of christianization in Sweden has for a long time been limited to two main texts, Rimberts vita of St. Ansgarius and Adam of Bremen´s History of the bishops of Hamburg. This is due to a rigid source criticism in the beginning of the 20th century, which put other material – in particular the norse sagas – out of consideration. The last twenty years however, new questions have been raised concerning the christianization, partly because of new archaeological findings, new interpretations of the significance of runic stones and the recent debate about the formation of the Swedish medieval kingdom. The subject has been discussed from many different angles, and with a lot of scholarly effort.</p><p>This text raises the question whether the christianization of Sweden was a peaceful or violent process, and investigates the possibility of answering the question through an analysis of all the relevant written material available and in the light of recent archaeological findings. There are several methodological problems pertaining to written material from the early middle ages which are raised and discussed. The sources are initially presented from a critical viewpoint, and then the material is analyzed with a matrix construed from the categories Wortmission, Tatmission, and Schwertmission, each with subdivisions drawn from the texts. The author contends that the source material conclusively supports that the christianization was a violent process and also a fairly rapid one.</p>

The overall aim of the thesis was to explore social inequalities in: a) mortality during mid-life, b) health in later life, and c) old-age mortality, from a life-course perspective. The studies are based on longitudinal Swedish survey and registry data. The results from Study I showed substantial inequalities in health, based on social class and gender, among older adults (aged 55+). Moreover, the magnitude of these inequalities did not change during the period 1991-2002. The results from Study II revealed social inequalities in cognitive functioning among the oldest old (aged 77+). Social turbulence and social class during childhood, education and social class in adulthood were all independently associated with level of cognitive functioning in later life. In Study III, social inequalities in mortality during mid-life (i.e., between ages 25 and 69) were explored. The results showed that childhood living conditions were associated with marital status and social class in adulthood and that, in turn, these conditions were associated with mid-life mortality. Thus, the results suggested that childhood disadvantage may serve as a stepping stone to a hazardous life-course trajectory. Study IV explored the association between income in mid-life, income during retirement and old-age mortality (i.e., mortality during retirement). The results showed that both income during mid-life and income during retirement were associated with old-age mortality. Mutually adjusted models showed that income in mid-life was more important for women’s mortality and that income during retirement was more important for men’s. Thus, the results of the present thesis suggest that there are substantial social inequalities in the likelihood of reaching old age, as well as in health and mortality among older adults. These inequalities are shaped by differential exposures throughout the life-course that affect health in later life both through direct effects and through processes of accumulation. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished  and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

Betydelsen av ägarkontroll i företag är, trots stor uppmärksamhet i samhällsdebatten, omtvistad och oklar. En förklaring är att maktaspekter tidigare dominerat ägarforskningens fokus. En annan gemensam nämnare för rådande forskningsinriktning har varit teorins uppmärksamhet mot ägares externa, ofta kvantifierade, företagsrelation. Hur ägarkontroll internt kan omformas i stora företag har emellertid behandlats mer sparsamt. I föreliggande studie kombineras därför, såväl empiriskt som teoretiskt, ägarkontrollens externa aktivering med dess interna utformning. När frågor om ägarkontroll i svenska koncerner vanligen behandlas sker detta utifrån en relativt homogen uppfattning om ägarkontroll. Den föreställningsram, som vuxit fram under det senaste årtiondet, sammanfattas i studien med hjälp av följande teser: Effektivitet i ägandet skall säkerställas genom den "konkurrens" om kontroll som indirekt erbjuds alla aktieägare i börsbolag. När kampen om kontroll väl avslutas och en aktör "uppnått" dominerande kontroll, bör ett "aktivt" ägande utövas. Ägandet bör vidare vara "personligt" och därmed särskilt från centrala och anonyma ägarinstitutioner och samtidigt "långsiktigt". I studien presenteras alternativ av dessa antaganden. Tesen om ägarkonkurrens ställs mot möjligheten för ägare att samarbeta om kontrollen. Tesen om ägarkontroll sett som ett statiskt tillstånd i företaget ställs mot dynamiken i ett koncernföretags interna kontrollmekanismer. Normen om det personliga ägandets effektivitet bör i sin tur ställas mot koncernens möjlighet till intern ägarspecialisering. Teserna om det aktiva och långsiktiga ägandet granskas slutligen i studien med avseende på varierad aktivitetsnivå liksom behovet av differentierad utvärderingstid för olika typer av resurser i företag. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

The thesis is concerned with the history of financial supervision in Sweden during the twentieth century up to the financial crisis in the early 1990s. To this end a theoretical framework is developed which is based on institutional economics, law and economics, theories on bureaucracies, regulatory enforcement and policy analysis. Except for the attempt to propose how financial supervision and supervisors could be understood theoretically, the thesis address problems ranging from the organization of supervision in relation to regulation and the changes of the regulated market, the constraints and abilities put on supervisors in different institutional arrangements and regulatory regimes, and the competence of supervisors. The extensive use of empirical data aims to make the thesis a contribution also to financial history research in general, and the growing research on the histories of financial supervision in particular.

The present dissertation deals with the factors influencing the professional careers of merchants and craftsmen working in the Swedish town of Sundsvall between 1850 and 1900. The most important hypotheses are: To what degree did social origins influence an entrepreneur's opportunities for running his business? How many of the children of these businessmen assumed and maintained their parents' social status upon attaining adulthood? What significance did the entrepreneur's spouse have for his business activities? To what degree were his economic activities influenced by joining local voluntary associations? By combining data culled from the parish registers of the Swedish Lutheran Church, the poll tax registers and the primary source material for national trade statistics, the author has been able to identify the individuals who worked as entrepreneurs in Sundsvall during the period under investigation, what they paid in business income tax each year, the professional titles they possessed and the places in which they and their relatives resided during their lifetimes. The results show that the majority of the most successful younger entrepreneurs active in the town before the introduction of freedom of trade in Sweden in the year 1864 were mostly immigrants from other parts of the country, who had furthermore come from relatively modest backgrounds. However, the social and geographic origins of these entrepreneur's wives has prpven to be of central significance to the success of the business, in instances where she had been raised in a business family from Sundsvall. The profes­sional skill of the entrepreneur together with his wife's familiarity with the town, in all likelihood also combined with her inherited cultural capital, contributed to creating a de­mand from the local populace for the goods or services sold by the company. / digitalisering@umu

This study deals with long distance migration together with the importance of social networks and geographical preferences for the choice of destination when moving. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to analyze and specify the importance of the mover's social contacts when choosing a new place-of residence. In this connection, the social contents of the destination are chiefly focused. It has also been of interest to estimate in what degree these social contents have influenced this choice of destination by the individual. The differences in quality, intensity, dispersion and direction of social contacts is essential for explaining destination decisions. The basic hypothesis claims that the existence of social networks influences the individual's inclination to move and the choice ofplace-of-residence. In this study, empirical material is used, and its base is 2500 "movers" and a group of "stayers" of equal size. Data from public registers as well as data from inquiries have been used as empirical material. Far away moving is defined as moving across the communal boundaries. The examination of the empirical facts provides input paramétrés for a model, where a number of factors might explain the destination. The model work is implemented in three stages. In the multiple regression model, the impact of a number of variables is estimated. In the logistical regression model the probability of moving into a 'network commune' is estimated, i.e., moving to a commune where there are social contacts. In a third stage, the same variables are tested in a multi-nominal model. Strictly empirically, this study reveals, that there is evidence that the social networks influence the choice of destination when moving. Equally important, perhaps is to find out how strong an impact these networks have. Moving to a geographically and socially recognizable place is possibly regarded as having a more positive impact than the structure of the labour market. It can be stated that, in spite of the widespread migration within post-war Sweden, most people maintain some sort of social and geographical relation to the place where they grew up. The increased mobility per se has also implied that the individual, spatial and social contacts have become more widely spread. The place where one grew up is central and could be said to represent the place where there are many social contacts and the place you always refer to. Social contacts connected to relatives constitute one of the most important single factors. Previous place-of-residence is undoubtedly the most important single factor. Migration to a place of previous residence also implies that there already exists a social network. The access to a holiday cottage and the location of this cottage proves to have a great impact on destination- decisions. Many people simply move to the commune, where they own, or have access to, a holiday cottage. Of several plausible explanations two seem to be relevant. One concerns moving into former cottages, for year round residence, the other implies that the cottage could be regarded as the tangible link to the former home area. If there is no possibility of staying on in one's home area, the cottage represents a link to the past. / digitalisering@umu

Mass movement of people over national borders constitutes the major feature of the today's world. Immigration and its implications are widely debated, whereby the term 'immigration', whenever appeared in a text, hardly ever refers to some unambigously defined concept. To deal with the question of immigration is, therefore, to be faced with a variety of definitions and connotations. The thesis constitutes an attempt to understand how the phenomenon of immigration is conceptualized in Swedish mass media debate, and explore the dynamics of the discourse over the last decade. To do so, the study develops a theoretical framework that takes a form of classification of different approaches to immigration, as formulated by major paradigms of international relations (liberal communitarianism, realism, idealism) and as developed within modern economic and cultural studies. Social construction of immigration and its implications for the nation-states serves as the organizing principle for the emerging classification, as social constructivism is adopted as the ontological standpoint of the thesis. The thesis then analyzes over 180 articles that deal with immigration and are published in the major Swedish daily newspapers, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet in the years 1993 and 2002. The aim is to discover common patterns of the debate and link them to the concepts constituting the theoretical framework. The analysis shows that almost all concepts described in the theoretical section can be identified in the mass media discourse, which allows to conclude that the developed classification has proved appropriate for the analysis of the empirical material. The research concludes that, while concepts pointing towards self-interests as determining factors for formulating immigration policies are present in the studied mass media discourse, which is especially clear in 1993, the debate in general is strongly influenced by adherence to international solidarity and humanistic values as the basis for Swedish traditional foreign policy. Additionally, the study highlights the essential changes occured within the debate over the last decade, among which a shift from connecting immigration exclusively to refugee policies towards a more braod understanding of immigration as a consequence of globalization and as a realization of individual right to free movement can be considered the most central.