Thesis advisor: Gerald M. Easter / This dissertation explores the factors that influence immigrant reception and integration in new immigration spaces like Dublin and Madrid. Through the case studies of Poles and Nigerians in Dublin and Ecuadorians and Bulgarians in Madrid, the thesis provides a response to three research questions: 1) How do Western European receiving societies construct inclusion and exclusion of the immigrant?; 2) Why do immigrants belong or fail to fit in?; 3) How do inclusion-exclusion dynamics and immigrants’ perceptions affect incorporation outcomes? The project contributes to migration scholarship by emphasizing the understudied cultural and local aspects of incorporation and bringing immigrant agency back into the integration equation. The central argument is that culture and identity matter. While acknowledging the significance of material self-interest, social contact, or national policy regimes, the dissertation finds that identity characteristics, both those of the newcomers and their host societies, are primary in determining the welcome or rejection of different ethnic communities in receiving cities. Further, the study shows that migrants are agents who form their own perceptions of belonging or isolation on the basis of cultural identity. These perceptions determine the foreigners’ stake in the host context and what they do with the openings and closures they face. The thesis concludes that political, economic, and social incorporation outcomes are ultimately conditioned on the interplay between the inclusion-exclusion dynamics in the receiving context and the immigrants’ perceptions of welcome or rejection. Analysis of in-depth interviews, survey data, and relevant documents and legislation for all four case studies confirms the main argument. The comparison among European and non-European immigrants in Dublin and Madrid attests to the significance of culture and identity for integration outcomes and contributes to the broader understanding of immigrant incorporation in Europe and beyond. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

Prevention, mitigation and response to large scale disasters is complex. It is widely argued that collaboration is a necessary component of successful disaster risk reduction (DRR). However, there are also significant challenges associated with collaboration for DRR. In this paper I carry out a descriptive, empirical case study of collaboration within disaster prevention and preparation in Sweden at the municipal level. The aim of the study is to identify potentially interesting patterns regarding collaboration and obstacles to collaboration in local disaster risk reduction. The study answers the question: to what extent do Sweden’s municipalities collaborate with other stakeholders on disaster risk reduction? Interesting patterns regarding the stability versus volatility of collaboration are identified. This study lays the foundation for further research on the potential and limitations of collaborative forms of governance for tackling complex societal phenomena that have a high degree of interdependency and uncertainty.

For many regions and local governments, budgetary restraints limit funds appropriated for emergency management activities to inadequate levels, and little guidance exists related to decision factors used by elected officials in identifying budget and ordinance priorities. Using Kwon, Choi, and Bae's conceptualization of punctuated equilibrium theory, the purpose of this case study was to examine how decision factors influenced Hampton Roads, Virginia, elected official disaster recovery policy between 2003 and 2012. Data were collected through review of 1,310 city documents and 10 semistructured interviews with elected officials. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. Data analysis resulted in the identification of 3 decision factor themes that guided post disaster recovery in Hampton Roads: (a) establishing a sense of normalcy in terms of budget appropriations and ordinances for security, safety and quality of services short-term recovery policy, (b) budgetary resiliency to encourage the restoration of infrastructure related to long-term recovery policy, and (c) the development of self-sufficient processes that lead to an anticipatory mindset with issuance of mitigation ordinances and capital improvement appropriations policy. The findings confirmed punctuated equilibrium theory, as man-made disasters triggered short-term recovery policy decisions. Results of the study may affect positive social change by providing local elected representatives with a 'tool kit' of decision factors to consistently address post disaster recovery policy for public safety, security, and stability via the governance mechanisms of strategic planning, appropriation decisions, and assessment.

This thesis examines the connection between technological dependence of mankind and its attitudes towards it. The issue is to what extent technological change in the workplace is a generator of conflict or a creator of consensus? The subject of the study is the Swedish mining company LKAB during the period 1946-1987. The case study concentrates on the approaches to new technology by the local union leadership and the LKAB company management. The analysis is carried out through a classification scheme over job- functions, divided into four functional categories. The classification is ranging from manually inclined work on the end to highly automized work on the other pole. The results show a clear and unquestionable development of mechanization. At the next level of analysis the focus is on approaches and ways of relating mechanization by the two parties took on the question, and how this influenced the relationships between the two parties. The final results show that technological change in general is a creator of consensus. However, at the same time, techno­logical change is an unequeal process because the company commands control over three kinds of power resources; ownership, the legislative right of paragraph 32 and the monopoly of technological expertis. Organized labour can only try to attain technological knowledge and high levels of worker support. / digitalisering@umu

This study examines the effects of civic education (CE) on local level participation among the rural poor. There is little extant knowledge of civic education’s effects among this group, although it represents the majority of citizens in many developing countries. It is important to understand what kinds of effects this little researched tool of democracy promotion has so as to know whether investments in it are worthwhile. Does raising awareness about rights increase citizens’ democratic participation—whether at village meetings, community groups, or in contacting their local representative? Are effects greater on collective or individualized participation? Who benefits the most? Are effects mediated by civic awareness and/or democratic attitudes (efficacy, political interest, and trust in politicians), or are there (also) direct effects on participation? Having gathered novel data of rural masses’ democratic dispositions, the study will be useful for practitioners needing information about the level of civic awareness among this group, and about how civic education may be used to promote this group’s inclusion and empowerment as democratic participants in society. Data consist of semi-structured oral interviews of 280 adult citizens in five villages and one rural town in peripheral areas in Tanzania and Zambia during election year. The study corroborates CE’s positive effects on knowledge—particularly of “first generation” rights and responsibilities—political interest, and some forms of participation. Most affected are contacts with the local elected representative (Ward Councilor) and involvement in community groups—both important for building a democratic (civil) society. Both cognitive and behavioral effects are greatest among women--a reason for optimism for those desiring to enhance women’s public role. Practitioners could thus use civic education to promote communication between citizens and elected representatives and people’s involvement in associations. They could utilize the radio—the most relied upon mass medium in these contexts--and target community leaders, the most sought-after individuals in community related problems. Civic educators should also seek ways to strengthen efficacy and interpersonal trust which were found to significantly promote aggregate participation, with the latter also increasing active involvement at community meetings—likely the first venue of participation for most rural citizens.

A lack of historical perspective sustained the widespread view that participatory initiatives in Brazil represented a marked rupture from traditional forms of political engagement to radically new democratic practices. This view overlooks both incremental steps towards broader political participation taking place throughout the 20th century and setbacks restricting participation in the 1980s. This dissertation offers a historical account of the emergence of participatory democracy in Brazil that challenges this dominant view and calls attention to the importance of structural factors and national-level political-institutional contexts. Three case studies of municipal administrations in the late-1970s and early-1980s shine light on the impact of structural factors in the emergence, design, and outcome of participatory initiatives, and the contrast of these precursory experiences with the internationally known 1990s participatory models shows how participatory ideals and practices responded to the changing institutional context of the 1980s. This dissertation puts forward three central arguments. First, research should not treat citizen participation as a normative imperative but instead examine how it emerges through social and political struggles fueled by structural inequalities. Second, it is unfounded to assume that citizen participation will lead to profound transformations of national-level institutions, but it is equally erroneous to suppose that citizen participation is always intended to strengthen representative institutions; the long-term impact of direct citizen participation is an empirical rather than analytical or normative question. Third, a key challenge of participatory democracy today is to free itself from the inflated expectations imposed on it by its own enthusiastic supporters.

A lack of historical perspective sustained the widespread view that participatory initiatives in Brazil represented a marked rupture from traditional forms of political engagement to radically new democratic practices. This view overlooks both incremental steps towards broader political participation taking place throughout the 20th century and setbacks restricting participation in the 1980s. This dissertation offers a historical account of the emergence of participatory democracy in Brazil that challenges this dominant view and calls attention to the importance of structural factors and national-level political-institutional contexts. Three case studies of municipal administrations in the late-1970s and early-1980s shine light on the impact of structural factors in the emergence, design, and outcome of participatory initiatives, and the contrast of these precursory experiences with the internationally known 1990s participatory models shows how participatory ideals and practices responded to the changing institutional context of the 1980s. This dissertation puts forward three central arguments. First, research should not treat citizen participation as a normative imperative but instead examine how it emerges through social and political struggles fueled by structural inequalities. Second, it is unfounded to assume that citizen participation will lead to profound transformations of national-level institutions, but it is equally erroneous to suppose that citizen participation is always intended to strengthen representative institutions; the long-term impact of direct citizen participation is an empirical rather than analytical or normative question. Third, a key challenge of participatory democracy today is to free itself from the inflated expectations imposed on it by its own enthusiastic supporters.

This thesis investigates local-level environmental activism in faith communities, and aims to understand what explains environmental advocacy by Christian faith communities. It asks why Christian communities are participating in environmental advocacy, and identifies the motivations and practices behind their engagement. Faith-based organisations and faith communities are increasingly active in environmental advocacy, both through high-level interventions, and local-level action. While high-level engagement often attracts widespread attention, as in the case of the Pope’s 2015 environmentally-focused encyclical, the engagement of locally-grounded faith communities is often overlooked, both in academia and practice. This thesis aims to fill that void by exploring faith-based environmentalism from the perspective of the local faith community. It takes an ethnographic approach, based on twelve months of participant observation in three Christian congregations in Edinburgh engaged in environmental action. Building on earlier studies of religion and ecology and religious environmentalism, this thesis argues that environmental engagement is explained by theological motivations, and also by practical factors expressed and experienced in the social context of the local faith community. Theologically, faith communities base their environmental engagement within a broad framework of justice, understanding the natural environment as God’s creation, and aligning a Christian responsibility to ‘care for creation’ with recognition of the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on those least equipped to respond. Yet theology alone cannot explain this advocacy. Engagement is motivated by a sense of community and, more pragmatically, is also explained by everyday issues that reflect the reality of life in a faith community. It is in the social context of the faith community that these factors are brought together. Above all, the research findings emphasise the importance of community, understood both as people and place, as a key underlying factor explaining engagement. By highlighting the central role of community in environmental advocacy, this thesis offers insight into religious environmentalism that prioritises the everyday, ‘lived’ experience of religion, and articulates the importance of the social context in which religion is practiced for understanding engagement.

Over the last three years, Heimstaden, a real-estate company based in Sweden, has gone through a complex process of redefinition of its identity, defining values and principles. This process is especially delicate in one of the neighborhoods managed by the company, Flogsta, where Heimstaden owns and administrates 2014 student apartments. In the context of this identity definition process, this study analyzes the communication strategies and the organizational identity transmission practices within the company, focusing on the local-level employees’ understanding and experience of Heimstaden’s identity and strategies. From a theoretical standpoint, the research parts from Hallahan, Holtzhausen, van Ruler, Verčič and Sriramesh´s (2007) initial ideas on strategic communication, and implements van Ruler´s (2018) approach to the role that communication plays within strategic communication, as well as to the dichotomy between one-way vs two-way strategies of communication. The analysis also incorporates Schinoff, Corley and Roger’s (2016) views of organizational identity. The research consists of 6 semi-structured interviews with Heimstaden employees. In addition to that, participant observations were also carried out daily over a period of 5 months, due to my position as a Heimstaden employee stationed in Uppsala. The findings of the study reveal that many of the one-way communication strategies currently in use within Heimstaden, are failing at making the local-level employees aware and participant of the company’s identity and changes. Consequently, this study identifies great differences in the way that local-level employees relate to the company’s new identity and principles with respect to the way in which top-level employees do. These differences, in turn, generate that the company’s identity and new way of doing things is not projected properly towards the clients, generating, arguably, reputational problems for Heimstaden in the studied area.

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