This thesis concerns the development of Swedish ice hockey as a national phenomenon during the period 1920–1972. The dissertation explores how the sport of ice hockey in just over half a century was transformed from a rather insignificant North American cultural import to one of Sweden’s most treasured pursuits by and large, and harbouring a national team (known as “Tre Kronor”) that at the height of its popularity in 1970 gathered almost the whole nation (82 percent of the adult population) in front of TV-sets during national game broadcasts. The analytical approach of the study is grounded in the theoretical assumption that “to be Swedish” is something you “learn” on a daily basis, and that an investigation of how “the nation” is constructed as an imagined community must see to the interplay between national rhetoric on the one hand and national practice on the other. This means that the analysis moves on two different levels, where the first is comprised of the sporting practice in itself (teams, games, players etc.), while the other deals with the conception of ice hockey in relation to national identity. The empirical investigation shows that the introduction of ice hockey in Sweden was “launched from above” under the influence of unbridled nationalistic sentiment in Sweden at large at the turn of the 20th century. The study also shows that during the inter-war era the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation promoted the spread of ice hockey in Sweden by stressing the game’s benefits as a more practical sport than the similar and already established winter sport, bandy. It is also argued that in most cases it was not so much a genuine passion for the game itself, but instead prosaic factors (economical considerations, sporting success and maintenance of ice surface etc.) that made sporting clubs take up ice hockey. After World War II the public interest in ice hockey exploded in Sweden. In the cold war era, Tre Kronor came to function as a thermometer of how the so called Swedish model stood up in comparison to the superpowers of the world. The analysis also underlines the importance of the comprehensive organizational and moral rearmament of Swedish ice hockey at large conducted by the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation in the post-war era, since it helped its cultural incorporation in the Swedish welfare state and its connection to Swedish national identity

A new municipal group house is emerging - and intentions are affected. Swedish welfare is described as something that is transforming. This essay is a case study on how a group house for young adults with mild mental retardation and social problems, developed in a municipal. The purpose of the essay is to gain a better understanding of a new group house with the help of theoretical concepts such as internal and external forces in relation to organizational change. The conclusion is that a group house emerges through a complex context where different factors influence the ability to reach or fail intention, where the intention of the group house is to give the residents greater autonomy and hence have less need for welfare. Internal pressure such as the physical design of the home and external pressure such as how different laws are interpreted and followed in everyday situations are examples of important forces.

This thesis analyses the public art competitions arranged by the Public Art Agency Sweden (Statens konstråd) 1937-1970 and the discussions about public art competitions in within the art field of the 1940’s, -50’ and -60’s. The main material for this analysis has been the protocols of the Public Art Agency and the annual paper of the Swedish Artists' National Organization (Konstnärernas riksorganisation). The theoretical and methodological framework is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s understanding of the art field, and institutions as agents within that field. I also use Foucauldian discourse theory as another theoretical tool to understand the power relations between these institutions in the art field. My aim has been to understand why there were competitions for public art commissions – the purposes, the processes, the discussions and how these factors change over the decades. The purpose for public art competition can be understood through the ideology of the Swedish welfare state and the cultural policy of the Social Democratic government in the 1930’s. The public art competitions could support the Swedish artists economically, but was also a way for the Swedish Government, through the Public Art Agency, to control and guarantee that the public artworks were of high artistic quality. This idea of artistic quality became more and more dominant as a purpose for the competitions through the 1950’s and 1960’s.  The artists active in the Swedish Artists' National Organization found the competitions to be of great importance and the competitions were much discussed in the organisations annual paper. Many of the artists that discussed the artist competitions were of the same generation born in the 1910’s or 1920’s and were working with public art commissions to a great extent. For them, the public art competitions gave recognition and a possible income. My analysis also shows that the public art competitions were also connected to the concept of modernism. The status of the competitions changed along with the changing concept of modernism. The competition was at its highest status in the 1930’s and 1940’s, when many artists were engaged in public art commissions. It became less popular among young artists in the 1960’s, when the art field was more politically radical and critical against authorities.

Psykisk ohälsa i arbetslivet är ett stort och växande problem i välfärdssamhället. Problemet har flera bottnar och väcker många frågor om vem som har ansvar, vad det egentligen är för ett slags fenomen och hur det bör hanteras. Den här studien undersöker hur arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa hanteras av yrkesverksamma inom vården, med fokus på företagshälsovård och primärvård. Intresse riktas mot hur yrkesverksamma personerna resonerar kring arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa, vilka dilemman de ställs inför och de strategier de har för att hantera dessa. Den söker också svar på ansvarsfrågan kring detta komplexa problem, inte minst i ljuset av privatiseringen av företagshälsovården. I studien används ett tvärvetenskapligt perspektiv, där begrepp från teknik- och vetenskapsstudier (STS), professionssociologi och organisationsteori kombineras för att analysera olika aspekter av vårdens hantering av arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. Det empiriska materialet bygger i huvudsak på intervjuer med läkare, psykoterapeuter, kuratorer, arbetsterapeuter, psykologer, rehabiliteringskoordinatorer och  beteendevetare, men inkluderar även observationer inom primärvård och företagshälsovård. Hanteringen av arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa i vårdens vardag präglas av att orsaksbilden till problemet är komplext, ansvarsfördelningen otydlig och att psykosociala orsaker till sjukdom är kontroversiellt. I studien diskuteras utmaningarna och möjligheterna kring hanteringen av detta komplexa problem i bred bemärkelse. I analyserna uppmärksammas de yrkesverksammas gränsdragningar kring både ansvar och fenomenet arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. Begreppet kunskapsinfrastruktur används för att förklara och förstå den kunskapsmässiga och materiella struktur som de yrkesverksamma verkar inom. Analyserna visar att de yrkesverksamma har ett pragmatiskt förhållningssätt och använder olika strategier för att skapa sig handlingsutrymme i hur de hanterar arbetsrelaterad psykisk ohälsa. / Mental ill health in working life is a major and growing problem in the welfare society. The problem is multifaceted and raises many questions about who is responsible, what kind of phenomenon it is and how it should be managed. This study examines how care professionals manage work-related mental ill health. Focusing on occupational healthcare and primary care, interest is directed towards how care professionals argue about workrelated mental illness, what dilemmas they face and the strategies they rely on in managing them. It also seeks to answer the question of responsibility regarding this complex problem, not least in the light of the privatization of occupational healthcare. The study uses a multidisciplinary perspective, combining concepts from technology and science studies (STS), sociology of professions and organizational theory in order to analyze various aspects of care management of work-related mental ill health. The empirical material is mainly based on interviews with physicians, psychotherapists, counsellors, occupational therapists, psychologists, rehabilitation coordinators and behavioral scientists, but also includes observations in primary care and occupational health care. The management of work-related mental ill health in everyday healthcare practice is characterized by the fact that the cause of the problem is complex, the division of responsibility unclear and that psychosocial causes of disease are controversial. The study discusses the challenges and possibilities of managing this complex problem in a broad sense. The analysis pays attention to the drawing of boundaries by the care professionals regarding both responsibility and the phenomenon of work-related mental illness. The concept of knowledge infrastructure is used to explain and understand the knowledge and material structures that the care professionals work within. The analysis shows that the care professionals have a pragmatic approach and use different strategies to create scope for dealing with work-related mental health.