The idea of capturing recent transformations of Southeast Asia through vignettes about familiar yet idiosyncratic individuals is brilliant. The everyday experiences and aspirations of people trying to make sense of their lives and dreams convey a complex and often surprising view of contemporary cross-currents, upheavals, anxieties, and struggles in a volatile region. This volume offers a great way for students to understand and empathize with ordinary people and nations in rapid motion.

Global forms and changes affect all spheres of human life-worlds; not least how we interpret and create systems of meaning in our respective habitats. A merging of global and local reflections and actions often causes ideological transformations and discursive shifts. Issues of race and the plight of the Afro-Brazilian population, for example, have come to the forefront of public debate in Brazil during the last decade. One of the main architects behind this discursive shift is the Afro-Brazilian movement, which by and large is comprised of numerous so-called NGOs. The Afro-Brazilian movement writ large, is greatly affected by the transnational flow of financial resources, information and people emanating from Western donors and the transnational Afro-Diaspora network. Ideologies of race and ethnicity are re-contextualized, replacing the previous focus on class in Brazil, and thus creating new frameworks of interpretation at national and local levels. This dissertation is focused on three NGOs in the city of Salvador, each situated on a different socio-economic level within the Afro-Brazilian movement. It is argued that the articulation of Afro-Brazilian identity and authenticity is very much in the ascendant, spurred by the dynamic interaction among organizations within the Afro-Brazilian movement on the one hand and by the relationships these movement organizations develop with external actors - state agencies, donors and foreign activists - on the other. Of particular interest is how each of the organizations is affected by and reacts to questions related to class, gender, location, donors’ expectations, leaders’ ambitions and interventions by foreign activists.

This thesis is about the socialisation of schoolchildren and how normality is learned and managed in two Swedish school classes. The Swedish school is, according to the "Curriculum for the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and the leisure-time centre", the Lpo94, based on democratic values and respect for the individual. In accordance with these values socialisation of the pupil is, as the thesis argues, accomplished through “benevolent government” by the teachers. To enable this governmentality, the pupil needs to learn how to be him or her “self” according to norms about how the “self” is to be expressed. The pupil also needs to learn how to balance multiple relations in school and the different aspects that constitutes the social person. Benevolent government is here used as a description of a certain kind of teacher-hood dependent on a certain kind of pupil. The pupil-subject that is constructed is a subordinated, self inspecting, positive, empathic person who will approve of being governed by the teachers through the governing of them selves.

The study is based on fieldwork with one pre-school class and one fifth grade class in the Swedish compulsory school during the period from August 1999 to June 2002.

Ireland has long been famous for its rich traditional music. Yet the recent global success of Irish pop, rock and traditional music has transformed the Irish music scene into a world centre attracting musicians, tourists, fans and the music industry from both Ireland and abroad. This ethnographic study of young musicians in Dublin and Galway in the late 1990s analyses the Irish music scene in terms of identity, authenticity and transnationality contextualised in contemporary Ireland.

The study explores the making of Dublin and Galway into central places in the Irish music scene. It identifies musical links between the cities, and how for the young musicians, Dublin has become a 'springboard' and Galway a 'playground'. These cities provide the local arenas where young folk and popular musicians negotiate individual and collective lifestyles, identities and musical genres. By developing the concept of 'musical pathways', the study shows how these mobile musicians constantly interact with different musical sounds and scenes.

The idea that Irishness has to emanate from traditional music is challenged by a diversity of musical genres and pathways of the musicians. Some musicians embrace a certain construction of Irishness while others reject it, but they are all involved in this process in one way or another. Contrary to older generations of traditional musicians, a global awareness is more important among the young musicians than a 'restricted' view of Irishness. As the young musicians are interested in multiple musical ideas and influences, they are often reluctant about a 'narrow nationalism'. They make use of the fact that the musics of the contemporary world are very much interconnected.

This study discusses transnational processes of the Irish music scene in the late 1990s primarily on local and national levels in Ireland. This reveals how globalisation has contributed to the popularity of Irish music, yet without controlling its pathways completely. In Ireland the past is still in the present.

This study makes use of a dataset which contains material relating to young Swedish people who have recently completed their studies and started working. It explores whether using social networks as such or using individuals' resources which are accessible through social networks (social capital) provides relative advantages in the competition for better jobs. Interest in this topic stems from the recent development of sociological theories in this field. The results indicate that the use of social ties is a common way to find a job in the highly regulated Swedish labour market, but that informal recruitment methods per se provide no relative advantages in the competition for better jobs. On the other hand, given the same demographic characteristics, socioeconomic background and educational attainments, there is a positive association between resources embedded in an individual's social network (social capital) and the quality of the jobs obtained.

Ethnic hierarchies and (non)representation. Party candidates with migration background in the general election of 2014This paper analyses the extent to which individuals with migration background were appointed and elected into different levels of public decision-making bodies in the latest Swedish general election (2014). Individuals of migration background refers in this study to those born abroad or born in Sweden with two foreign-born parents. Data for this study is taken from Statistics Sweden's register of candidates elected in municipal, county and national parliamentary elections in 2014, supplemented by information from other Statistics Sweden's registers. The results demonstrate that: (a) individuals with a migration background are severely underrepresented in the Swedish decision-making bodies; (b) even in cases when individuals with a migration background are nominated on the party lists, they have less of a chance of being elected compared to native candidates. (c) The dominant resource theory cannot explain the underrepresentation of the stigmatized migrant groups and their descendants, and finally; (d) the results indicate some support to the hypothesis about the importance of access to social networks in order to be nominated and elected.

This paper investigatehh ow children of immigrants fromTurkey are integrated into Swedish society. The educational achievements and labour market outcomes of this group are compared with the performance  of the offspring of native.born parents. The aim of the study is to explore whether we can observe a tendency towards 'downwards mobility' among young people of immigrant background in Sweden and thereby provide reflections on the existing fomulationof the 'segmented assimilation' theory.Findings show that descendants of immigrants seem not to be in the process of downward assimilation, that is social exclusion and therefore formation of a distinct' underclassin Sweden. The concept of 'subordinate inclusion' is a more appropriate description of the experiences of children of immigrants.

This paper addresses the impact of social capital on the status attainment process of young people at the start of their careers and examines how social class, gender and ethnicity affect the accumulation of social capital and thereby labour market stratification of young people. A sample of young Swedes graduating from vocational schools and universities between 2005 and 2006, was surveyed via the telephone about their experiences acquiring jobs. Two re­search questions are posed: (i) Which characteristics (class, gender and ethnicity) affect young people's access to more social capital? (ii) How is social capital rewarded in the labour market? The results show that being female, coming from the lower social classes and being a member of a stigmatized immigrant groupare associated with a substantial social capital deficit. When socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds as well as the human capital of respondents are controlled, social capital is positively associated with salary level. The results indicate that social capital is a significant factor in the stratification process of young people.

When encountering problems and dissatisfaction in the workplace, employees may choose between three strategies: voice; exit; or silence. Using survey data and interview material from a study of employees in an elderly care organization in Sweden, this article investigates the workers' perceptions of the eligibility and prospects of these strategies and which individual characteristics and situational factors might affect them. The focus is on racialized workers (operationalized through their region of birth) who, according to earlier studies, are less likely than other employees to choose voice behaviour. Contrary to some earlier studies, the results here attribute such a propensity to the importance of power differences across racial hierarchies' rather than to differences in cultural values. Individuals in this (racialized) category have a lower occupational status, earn less and experience less favourable relationships with their managers.

This chapter offers a systematic review of the literature on educational inequality and school attainments of immigrants’ offspring in Sweden. The review covers research conducted between 1990 and 2015 and critically examines how different research traditions explain this inequality. The chapter begins by mapping the key characteristics of the Swedish educational system together with Swedish immigration patterns. Thereafter, five major research traditions that explain educational inequality and ethnic background in Sweden are presented. These perspectives include (1) political arithmetic; (2) racism and discrimination; (3) language proficiency tradition; (4) school choice and school segregation; and (5) cultural and social capital and socio-historical contexts. The ‘political arithmetic’ tradition, which starts mainly from a positivistic approach and employs large-scale, quantitative research strategies, has focused on the individual and demographic characteristics of pupils. The main assumption of the other research clusters is that there are important contextual circumstances (beyond individual factors) which decisively affect the educational achievements of the descendants of immigrants. While often dominated by qualitative approaches, these types of research do sometimes include quantitatively designed studies. These research traditions take a more critical stance on government policies, which have produced an extremely segregated school system, and show the consequences of a concentration of children of families from vulnerable groups (economically disadvantaged and immigrant groups in marginalized neighborhoods) in schools with limited resources.

I Ungdomars fritidsaktiviteter studeras fritidsaktiviteter och dess betydelse för ungdomar. Vilka är engagerade i fritidsaktiviteter och vilka är det inte? Förstärker aktiviteterna skillnader mellan unga med olika klassbakgrund, etnicitet eller kön, eller kan de bidra till en positiv utveckling för unga från resurssvaga familjer? Forskningen om fritidsaktiviteter är ett växande fält inom pedagogik, psykologi, socialt arbete och sociologi. Boken vänder sig till studenter i dessa ämnen och till lärare, fritidspedagoger, studie- och yrkesvägledare samt övriga som arbetar med ungdomar och ungdomsfrågor – praktiskt och i forskning. 

This article deals with individuals of immigrant background in Swedish higher education—i.e., those who have a PhD and work in Swedish universities. The aim of the study is to examine whether and how factors other than academic qualifications—such as gender and migrant background—may affect the individual’s ability to find employment and pursue a successful career in a Swedish institution of higher education. The data used in the first section are Swedish registry data (LISA database and population), administered by Statistics Sweden. The second part of the paper is based on semi-structured interviews with 19 academics of migrant background. The results show that, given the same work experience and compared to the reference group (born in Sweden with at least one Swedish-born parent), individuals born in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America are, firstly, more likely to be unemployed and, secondly, if they are employed, to have a lower income (lower position). The ways in which such gaps arises are also examined.

Based on Bourdieu's conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital - that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.

This study examines how early age immigrants to Sweden from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile and Somalia perform in education and the labour market in comparison with the children of natives. As the results demonstrate, the socio-economic position of the parents, family structure and other demographic characteristics of individuals only partially explain the differences between the descendants of natives and young immigrants from these countries. A further analysis demonstrates that the socio-historical contexts into which these immigrant children arrive and settle, that is the processes of migration, are equally likely to have an impact on young immigrants' performance.

The aim of this study is to explore whether and how school-based social capital (SSC) may increase or reduce inequalities in the academic achievement and well-being of students from different backgrounds (class, gender, and ethnicity). SSC here refers to those qualities of social relationships and the degree of interconnectedness between students, teachers, and parents that can support the educational attainment and social adjustment of young people. As the results of our ethnographic studies indicate, there is a significant association between SSC and school composition—i.e., the class and ethnic background of students in a school. The association indicates the stratification effect of social capital in schools as a predominant pattern. In a school with students from higher socio-economic backgrounds, we observed more qualified and motivated teachers, an intensive parental involvement, and, consequently, more constructive and friendly relationships among students. In contrast, in a school located in a disadvantaged area, the social relations were quite the reverse. We then found a third category. In a school with children from lower social class backgrounds placed in an immigrant-dense area, highly committed school staff were able to create an emotional closeness and trust between them, the pupils, and their parents. School-based social capital in this context introduced a sense of solidarity and created a pro-educational climate.

Given the increased segregation of students (based on their class and migration backgrounds) in the Swedish educational system during recent decades, this chapter tells two different school stories. More than 98% of pupils in both schools are descendants of lower-class immigrant families. The first school (South school) is among those Swedish schools identified as ‘failing’, a typical school in a socioeconomically marginalised and segregated immigrant neighborhood with poor educational results. The second school (East school) is also located in a high-poverty district with the same school composition, which has succeeded in improving pupils’ educational achievements. It has been done through the ‘empowerment’ of pupils – that is creating an inclusive and supportive pedagogical school environment for students with working-class and immigrant backgrounds.

This chapter aims to explore how different types of ‘school culture’ may affect initial inequalities, academic achievement and well-being of students with migrant background in marginalized communities. The case of East school indicates that even schools in such areas are able to equalise educational opportunities through building an alliance between students, parents and community activists on the one hand and bi-class and bi-cultural brokers like teachers and social workers on the other.

The Lipa Temporary Reception Centre is a transit camp, located in the North-West part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for only single men who cross the Balkan Route to enter the European Union territory through the Croatian border.

This thesis aims to describe the life inside the camp, combining an analysis of Lipa architecture with the experiences of the people who transited through there. A focus on space and relationships will then drive this thesis, reflecting on how the transit camp features and stylistic decisions affected people's experiences: discussing how places and individuals mutually influenced each other in such a context. More specifically, it will highlight the broad political implications that led to the opening of migrant reception centres like Lipa and discuss their hypothetical temporary nature, studying the roles played by European Union Institutions and non-governmental organizations within the field.

This research is the outcome of ethnographic fieldwork conducted inside the Lipa Temporary Reception Centre from November 8th until December 19th and from the investigation of the existing literature regarding the design of camps and the Balkan Route. 

In this introduction, we reemphasize some key parts of meta-organization theory and their implications for understanding meta-organizations and meta-organizing processes. We clarify what meta-organizations are and what they are not and then analyze their key purposes and activities. We then present the papers of the special issue and discuss venues for future research. Although many key contributions have been made to meta-organization theory and research, there are many more things to investigate before we know as much about meta-organizations as we know about individual-based organizations. 

This thesis examines the intricate relationship between mangroves and humans in Shyamnagar, Bangladesh. Mangroves in Shyamnagar are found both in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest on earth, and in adaptation projects called nature based solutions (NbS), framed by the resilience narrative. The first part offers an introduction to these discourses, including the role of NGOs and governmental institutions, and critically analyzes the ways in which capitalist and modernist worldviews have influenced the establishment of new interaction zones between humans and mangroves through NbS projects, highlighting the omission of power dynamics and histories of dispossession. The second part delves into the nuanced relationships with the mangrove that transcend dominant global and organizational discourses. By emphasizing the agency of the mangrove as an active participant and co-creator of society in Shyamnagar, the boundaries between humans and nature, and communities and non-humans, are blurred. This challenges the notion of human exceptionalism and underscores the interconnectedness of all beings in shaping local landscapes, dynamics, and identities. The final part explores the relationships of care between humans and mangroves, recognizing the significance of care and affect in shaping human subjectivities and relationships with the biophysical environment. This thesis thereby emphasizes the importance of maintaining multispecies care even within practices that introduce anthropocentric, capitalistic, and market-oriented worldviews. By critically examining these dimensions, this thesis offers insights into the complex interactions between mangroves and humans in Shyamnagar, ultimately contributing to a broader understanding of the interplay between nature, society, and resilience. 

This chapter describes the design and the contextual backgrounds of the societies of settlement and the immigrant groups involved in the ICSEY project. The cultural principle requires the elaboration of some features of the societies of settlement, and of the immigrant groups that have come to settle in them, and an account of the nature of their intercultural relationships. Although the percentage of immigrants residing in a society is one indicator of cultural diversity, other indicators are available in the literature. Australia has a high level of immigration, with 24.6% of the population of nearly 20 million not born in the country. Israel is a country of high immigration, with 37.4% of its population of almost 6 million having been born abroad. Israel is thus high on actual diversity. Two thirds of the US population believe that rates of immigration should be reduced.

Den här studien syftar till ett belysa och problematisera kring antropologins närmande av det militära sammanhanget. 2007 utformade USA:s armé en plattform som skulle koordinera och hantera civil kompetens inom områdena antropologi och statsvetenskap. Ämnen som på olika sätt analyserar den ”mänskliga terrängen”. Konceptet ”Human Terrain System” lanserades där akademiker från samhällsvetenskaperna fick söka sig till den militära kontexten för att hjälpa militära beslutsfattare att förstå kulturen, de socioekonomiska förhållandena och religionens roll mm.

Hur förhåller sig antropologer till Human Terrain System? Vilka perspektiv finns på antropologin som en del i en militär kontext? Genom att svara på dessa frågeställningar belyses olika resonemang på den tillämpbara antropologin i en militär kontext utifrån den rådande etiska debatten som återfinns inom disciplinen.

Implementerandet av antropologiska kunskaper i en den militära kontexten har föranlett till en debatt inom den antropologiska disciplinen. En debatt som lyfter etiska betänkligheter och problematiserar kring vilket antropologins uppdrag är, kan vara och bör vara. Studien granskar det traditionella förhållandet till villkor inom disciplinen, detta illustrerat genom den etiska debatten kring projektet Human Terrin System.

Studien slår fast att oavsett hur den enskilde antropologen väljer att förhålla sig till ämnets närmande av det militära så är kontraktet mellan forskare och informant lika centralt som det mellan forskare och uppdragsgivare.

Green urban spaces are a vigorous part in cities development, all over the world (Swanwick, Dunnet, & Wooley, 2003). These spaces are persistently constructed and negotiated over a creative process, which includes a network of actors, such as clients, designers, constructors, and users. This thesis addresses this process - with a case study of landscape architects in Stockholm, and their practice of creativity. The landscape architects present one group of actors involved in the process, where they design urban spaces for the future through their creative work. It begins with a mental image, an idea, and ends with a built site, a designed space.

In reference to practice theory (Ortner, 1984 and 2006) and the biosocial becomings approach (Ingold, 2013), I analyze how creativity as a practice is socially produced by history, culture and power, through the biosocial growth of the creative agent, the landscape architect. Referring to Hallam and Ingold ́s definition (2007, p. 3), I understand creative practice as an improvisational process. I argue that creativity is accumulated, i.e. a becoming practice amongst becoming creative agents. While investigating the practice of creativity through a traditional participant observation, I primarily focus on sounds, where I listen to the practice, and use it as a method of collecting empirical data. With that method, I enrich the registration of sensor impressions (Borneman & Hammoudi, 2009, p. 19) during my fieldwork, providing a sonic dimension to the knowledge of creative practice amongst landscape architects. 

This research note reports some of the findings from the comparison of  the demographic structure of Shashemene in 1973 (AD) and 2008. The focus of the 1973 study was urban migration. One major finding of the study was that migration patterns could not be understood unless one brought into the analysis the interrelated elements of historical development, social structure (including gender relations, ethnicity and class), and livelihood structure and opportunities.

The structured character of the material collected in 1973 made it a possible starting point for a study of change. The aim of the new project was to study the social, economic and demographic changes of Shashemene, and the meaning of these changes to the inhabitants of the town. Particular attention was to be given to the main foci of the 1973 study: livelihoods, gender relations, ethnicity and mobility.

Svart arbete, informal purchases of work, is a widely debated societal phenomenon in Sweden. It is often seen as detrimental to contemporary welfare society, eroding taxpaying morals, fair competition and solidarity with fellow citizens. Acknowledged as wrong, it is in many instances also an acceptable and commonplace exchange practice. This study addresses this incongruity and aims to show how these inconspicuous exchanges of work are distinguished in terms of legality and licitness.

Methodologically, the study is based on ethnographic interviews with a group of people in all walks of life, who have their roots in a small town in southern Sweden. In the midst of life and work, they address situations where living in accordance with moral standards becomes difficult. The study aims to illuminate multifaceted reasonings about the illegal but licit purchases made and how people make sense and meaning of them in retrospect and in the larger context of societal economy. The ways in which these purchases of svart arbete are justified illustrate inherent tensions in contemporary welfare society.

Purchases of svart arbete are often justified as rational economic decisions in terms of being cheap and simple. The study shows that purchasing work informally is not only a rational economic decision, but can also be the result of resolving necessities in daily life due to societal bottlenecks and/or probing tax legislation. As an economic phenomenon, these purchases are therefore not seen as set apart from the formal structures of the Swedish economy, but as co-existing with them. Justifying the illegal but licit svart arbete, purchasers are seen to emphasise a reciprocal relationship with the provider of the work and also with the state. In this way, a sense of balance and justice is achieved.

Gråzonen mellan skattepliktiga och skattefria inkomster beskrivs ofta som ett gränsland (t.ex. RRV 1997:27) där ideer om lagar, regler och moral tänjs. För att förstå innebörden av vad en gräns omsluter, måste man förstå de processer som upprätthåller gränserna (Barth 1994:119). Denna artikel bygger ett fall från 2003 där sex kvinnor i Göteborgs södra förorter åtalades för att ha betalat en litauisk kvinna för att ha städat hemma hos dem. För att komma närmare en förståelse för vad som påverkar acceptansen av att köpa städning svart, utforskas i denna artikel hur gränslandetreproduceras. Detta gränsland befinner sig mellan det som strukturen, i detta fall offentliga svenska myndigheter, definierar som svart arbete och hur dessa lagar och regler i praxis används samt å andra sidan den svarta städningens köpares handlingar och argument

Detta kapitel handlar om ekonomiskt småfiffel – varför människor anser sig kunna småfiffla och hur de rättfärdigar dessa handlingar. Ekonomiskt småfiffel avser att för egen vinning spara pengar här och nu på ett sätt som samhället, i form av myndigheter, media och medmänniskor, egentligen inte godtar, men som av den fifflande människan anses moraliskt försvarbart. Småfiffel är att ”låna” och ta från arbetsgivare och andra institutioner för privat bruk. Det rör sig om att ta med sig kontorsmaterial och annat förbrukningsmaterial hem, att ta arbetstid i anspråk för privata ändamål eller att använda företagsbilen för eget bruk. Det kan gälla svartarbete, skattefusk, så kallade lägenhetsbyten, överdrivna skadeanmälningar till försäkringsbolag eller att bokföra fritidsbåtar och möbler till hemmet som arbetsutrustning.

Denna artikel handlar om ett fall av så kallad svart städning där de inblandade, både städerskan och köparna, åkte fast. Studien baseras på dessa köpares argumenterande och handlingar och hur de påvisar en ekonomisk rationalitet, både i förhållande till deras syn på arbete men även till de legala och etiska restriktioner och möjligheter som omvärlden bjuder dem. Frågor som adresseras är hur köparna ser på vit respektive svart städning och varför just städning i hemmet är kontroversiellt som köpt arbete? Varför tillåter de sig att köpa städning svart och hur rättfärdigar de ett medvetet lagöverträdande? Hur skapar och reproducerar de en för dem acceptabel gråzon på fel sida av lagen? Slutligen, var tar gråzonen slut - under vilka förhållande är det fel att köpa svart städning? Hur definierar de gränsen mot det oacceptabla, felaktiga och kriminella?

As in many other policy areas, there is a rising concern about how to involve the general public in heritage management and preservation. We analyse attempts made by Swedish cultural heritage authorities to initiate new participatory devices. We ask: How is storytelling used as a participatory device? What are the implications of this in terms of how legitimate concerns are reconfigured? Storytelling has a capacity to transform dominant discourses and result in new objects of care. We conclude that even storytelling itself is reconfigured in these practices, resulting in the collection of narratives, with limited transformative effects.

This paper contributes to the wider discourse on sustainability and housing by showing how the dynamics of temporality and care plays out in processes of renovation. We explore five empirical cases of renovation of rental housing estates on the outskirts of Gothenburg, Sweden. Our study draws on the analysis of documents, observations, and qualitative interviews with key actors. We consider renovation a caring practice, both in the practical sense of “caring for” and in the emotional and ethical sense of “caring about”. We argue that conflicts between stakeholders in renovation processes are better understood through attending to the ways in which notions of care are intertwined with the temporal organization of peoples’ lives and organizational processes. We conclude that unawareness or negligence towards the various temporalities involved in renovation processes provide obstacles for collective processes of caring and raising sustainability concerns in renovation processes.

This literature review summarizes findings from 63 articles published between 2001 and 2020 that study discretion of frontline workers at migration control. The results demonstrate that discretionary practices in various migration control situations (e.g., border zones, migration agencies, courts, public welfare services, and detention centers) are widespread but share common patterns. Frontline workers’ racialized prejudices and perceptions of migrant deservingness were the most dominant patterns found in the data, although there were some disagreements about which were most influential. Discretion of frontline workers was described as foremost detrimental to migrants, as itamplified the migrants’ vulnerable situations, even if it occasionally could increase individual migrants’ room for agency and strategic maneuvering. Contrary to the assumption underpinning the control gap-thesis in immigration policy literature that governments’ capacity to control migration is hampered by the significant discretion at the frontlines, many studies in our sample describe how governments shape the discretionary practices of frontline workers through informal, subtle, and opaque governing strategies. These informal governing strategies enable central governments to deflect responsibility for discriminatory and inhumane policy outcomes. 

How do rebel groups form in cities? What makes urban-based insurgent organizations effective? Urban armed conflicts have become an important subject of research due to the political, economic, and demographic significance of cities. Yet, we know little about the mechanisms of insurgent group formation and effectiveness in urban contexts. Building on the case of the formation and initial urban campaign of M-19 in Colombia (1973–1980), this article argues that rebel leaders originating from multiple organizations and confronted with intramovement competition have strong motives to employ organizational bricolage to form their organization. Organizational bricolage shapes insurgent effectiveness by producing structures that are fit for achieving certain objectives but not others. M-19’s organizational bricolage combined the armed vanguard, intellectual collective, and populist party forms. This structure was effective to foster public support but ineffective to establish a robust social base and maintain urban operations under repression. The research employs the analysis of organizational repertoires and process tracing to retrace M-19’s formation and initial urban campaign. Empirical material includes an original dataset comprising M-19 founders’ biographical data, archival documents, and interviews with ex-combatants. Studying how rebel leaders employ organizational bricolage sheds light on how insurgent organizations form, behave, and transform after war.

What strategies can be employed to conceptualize peace? In recent years, scholars have introduced an impressive array of “peace with adjectives” in order to make sense of some of the normative and empirical underpinnings of peace. Negative, positive, everyday, virtual, illiberal, partial, insecure, relational, emancipatory, agonistic, and feminist are some of the qualifiers that have been associated with the concept. While the growing attention to conceptualization is a welcomed development, we argue that the proliferation of new terms has led to increased fragmentation in the field of peace studies. Conceptual fragmentation impedes cumulative knowledge production and generates missed opportunities for fruitful discussions across theoretical and conceptual divides. In this article, we aim to provide more clarity to our field by mapping existing peace conceptualizations and identifying the strategies employed by scholars to construct innovative new terms. In our review, we identify 61 concepts and suggest that these conceptual innovations in peace research belong to one of three analytical strategies: developing diminished subtypes, conceptual narrowing, and conceptual expansion. Building on this categorization, we make recommendations for how peace researchers can enhance clarity and deepen constructive discussions between different conceptual approaches.

What strategies can be employed to conceptualize peace? In recent years, scholars have introduced an impressive array of “peace with adjectives” in order to make sense of some of the normative and empirical underpinnings of peace. Negative, positive, everyday, virtual, illiberal, partial, insecure, relational, emancipatory, agonistic, and feminist are some of the qualifiers that have been associated with the concept. While the growing attention to conceptualization is a welcomed development, we argue that the proliferation of new terms has led to increased fragmentation in the field of peace studies. Conceptual fragmentation impedes cumulative knowledge production and generates missed opportunities for fruitful discussions across theoretical and conceptual divides. In this article, we aim to provide more clarity to our field by mapping existing peace conceptualizations and identifying the strategies employed by scholars to construct innovative new terms. In our review, we identify 61 concepts and suggest that these conceptual innovations in peace research belong to one of three analytical strategies: developing diminished subtypes, conceptual narrowing, and conceptual expansion. Building on this categorization, we make recommendations for how peace researchers can enhance clarity and deepen constructive discussions between different conceptual approaches.

This paper investigates the role of strategic artifacts in realizing change in two Swedish cities. Drawing from qualitative studies of city development projects we illustrate how ambiguous formulations in vision statements constitute a powerful basis for legitimizing actions. As part of establishing linkages between future-oriented vision statements and concrete actions here and now, we highlight the role of materialization. We provide three examples of how the vision statements studied materialized—into organizational structures, management control systems, and communication efforts—and discuss how such materialization implies that only some parts of broad vision statements are translated into practice.

As the world becomes more and more organized, it seems ever more difficult to find anyone responsible. Why is that? We argue that the extensive external organization of organizations in contemporary society provides the key. Formal organizations are collective orders with great potential for concentrating responsibility on top managers and the organization. But when they are organized by other organizations, this potential is undermined, and responsibility becomes diluted rather than concentrated. We explain this outcome by analysing the communication of decisions as a main producer of responsibility and by defining organization as a decided order. Our analysis draws upon and contributes to research about partial organization, but it also contributes to literatures on global governance and organizational institutionalism.

In recent years, both private and public organizations across contexts have begun implementing AI technologies in their recruitment processes. This transition is typically justified by improved efficiency as well as more objective, performance-based ranking, and inclusive selection of job candidates. However, this rapid development has also raised concerns that the use of these emerging technologies will instead increase discrimination or enhance the already existing inequality. In the present study, we first develop the concept of meta-algorithmic judgment to understand how recruiting managers may respond to automation of the hiring process. Second, we draw on this concept in the empirical assessment of the actual consequences of this type of transition by drawing on two large and unique datasets on employment records and job applications from one of Sweden's largest food retail companies. By comparing the outcomes of traditional and algorithmic job recruitment during this technological transition, we find that, contrary to the company's intentions, algorithmic recruitment decreases diversity. However, in contrast to what is often assumed, this is primarily not because the algorithms are biased, but because of what we identify as an unintended human–algorithmic interaction effect.