Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Swedish civil society'

Including civil society organizations in the policy process is a distinctive trait of democratic governance. But, while being highly valuable from a democratic point of view, not all civil society organizations are represented in the policy process. This dissertation draws attention to the role of the government in shaping the representation of civil society organizations in the Swedish government consultation referred to as the ‘remiss procedure’. The overall aim is to increase empirical and theoretical understanding of civil society organizations’ access to the national Swedish policy process. Drawing on various empirical data sources, it analyzes how access has changed during the second half of the 20th century, the factors influencing access, and the significance of the access provided by the government. The results are based on four empirical studies, and show that the government has encouraged an increasing number and more diverse types of civil society organizations to be represented in the remiss procedure. In addition, organizations with plenty of resources, such as labor and business organizations, are not overrepresented. However, access is slightly skewed in favor of civil society organizations with an insider position within other access points at national government level, which is consistent with a privileged pluralistic pattern of interest representation. In addition, civil society organizations seem to be invited into an arena for political influence of less relevance. Theoretically, the dissertation moves beyond the neo-corporatist perspective that dominated Swedish research during the second half of the 20th century by drawing attention to five different theoretical lenses: pluralism, neo-corporatism, political opportunity structures, policy network theory, and resource exchange theory. It concludes that a variety of theories are needed for access to be understood.

In the last few years, migration towards Europe has intensified as a result of poverty and war in other parts of the world. Now, the European Union finds itself in a “refugee crisis” that has brought about contrasting reactions from within European societies. While many civil society organizations have mobilized for the inclusion of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, governments have increasingly focused on restricting access and limiting their numbers. This study seeks to understand and explain the role of civil society in the refugee crisis. To this end, citizenship and framing theories are applied to the case of the Swedish Red Cross. Specific “acts of citizenship” carried out by the Red Cross in Sweden, and in Europe more generally, are analyzed. The study’s findings suggest that this civil society organization/movement acts as both a “denationalizing” (Sassen 2002) and a “post-nationalizing” (Bosniak 2006) force as it pushes the boundaries of citizenship from within and beyond the borders of the nation-state. It does this by calling upon international humanitarian and human rights laws and principles and by positioning itself inside and outside the political system at the same time.

To explore the complexities of refugee labor market integration in Sweden, the research performed a multi-level analysis of refugee labor market integration: from the perspective of civil society (meso-level) and from that of the refugee (micro-level). Sweden was ideal for this task because historically, it has been Europe’s most generous welfare state and during the height of the crisis, received the highest number of refugees of any European Member State (163,000 or 1,600 per 100,000 people). The research was guided by two primary research questions: First, how have the roles of the state and civil society adjusted over time in relation to the process of integrating refugees, especially since the founding of the first integration policy in 1975? Second, how are resources actually provided by each element of society, and accessed by the refugees themselves? Analytically, the research first performed a historical institutional breakdown, separating Sweden’s integration policy by sociopolitical and economically significant junctures: 1970-1990, 1990-2010, and 2010-present day. Subsequently, seventy first-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted with political-elites, civil society representatives, and refugees from different sending countries, who arrived no earlier than 2000. The findings suggest that while civil society is becoming more systematic in its operations, its utility remains under-utilized. Next, meeting human capital requirements (e.g., country specific and post-secondary education and training) does not guarantee employment. Instead, given the alteration of its labor market, it seems social capital may play a more significant role in determining employment outcomes for refugees. In other words, it seems difficulties in accessing employment for refugees are more attached to institutional constraints than they are human capital itself. Finally, given the visible segregation and low refugee labor market participation, the research supports the assumption that a highly accessible and comprehensive welfare state may not be the most efficient socioeconomic orientation for integrating refugees.

The practice of female genital cutting/s (FGC) has been under national scrutiny in Sweden for decades. Besides strong laws and policies enforced by the Swedish government, civil society organisations have played an important role in addressing the subject of FGC in Sweden. The purpose of this research is to examine what roles and functions civil society organisations assume as they tackle the practice of FGC. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with employees and volunteers from civil society organisations that address the practice on a daily basis, this study sheds light on the possibilities and challenges civil society organisations face when they approach the question of FGC in Sweden. This research finds that civil society organisations carry a lot of responsibility in terms of tackling FGC in Sweden, as governmental efforts are perceived to be insufficient. Criticism against the Swedish government is first and foremost directed to the lack of knowledge and understanding on FGC within authorities and to the lack of grassroot efforts together with diaspora communities. Thus, this examination shows how civil society organisations engage and provide complementary efforts. First, civil society organisations raise awareness and shed light on the complexity on the practice of FGC within several authorities to secure that knowledge about the practice is maintained. Second, civil society organisations strive to involve, engage and empower individuals on grassroot levels by creating safe and familiar spaces to talk about FGC. Finally, local efforts provided by civil society organisations aim to empower people affected by the practice of FGC to make their voices heard and to represent themselves. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that civil society organisations hold vital complementary roles in relation to the Swedish state in terms of addressing the practice of FGC in Sweden.

Environmental degradation and climate change are complex cross-cutting issues. They both call for a high level of policy coordination by all actors. This thesis examines the experienceof two Swedish popular movements integrating sustainable development as a cross cutting theme in their development cooperation: an approach known as mainstreaming. I seek to show how sustainability is understood and further how it is realized in the application of the work plans. The two case studies are the International Department of the Church of Sweden and Olof Palme International Centre. I have accounted for practical experiences via using informants as the main data source. Mainstreaming theory has been applied as tools foranalysation. Sustainability has been used in relation to sustainability of results andenvironmental aspects of the work plan. There is an increased demand to report on results and the longevity of the results in addition to address environment in all works undertaken in development cooperation organisations. The significance in studying the current interpretations and above all the challenges in application is to enable consideration in futur eamendments to strategies, policies and efforts made to mainstream sustainability. The findings conclude that there are similarities between the two cases in the identification of sustainability as pertaining to results and in the need for sustainability to focus on relationships to partners. Mainstreaming of environmental concerns is stated as a good and wanted aim. However, the actual negative environmental impact caused by the work plan is seen as low and sometimesenvironmental mainstreaming is even understood as a risk to partnerships. Environmental impact is only identified and addressed when seen as relevant and not as a concept to mainstream, this based on the relative low impact. This is in accordance with Sida guidelines but not with the stated policy wants.

The subject for this paper is the Class Action against Skandia Association, a civil organization formed in 2003 with the aim of claiming compensation for some 1.2 million life insurance customers. The background to its formation was one of the largest financial scandals in Sweden in recent times, involving a number of questionable affairs within the insurance corporation Skandia and its subsidiaries, most notably the life insurance company Skandia Liv. The interests of both the stake- and stockholders of the company seem, in certain ways, to have been grossly misrepresented. The scandal, as well as the reaction it spawned, pose a number of questions. In this study, we focus on two: a possible, and in many ways apparent crisis in the representation of interests in Swedish society, and the role of civil society in upholding the balance between these interests.

We argue that what is often held to be the ”greed” or ”immorality” of individuals in scandals such as Skandia is, to a great extent, a mere reflection of the ”rational” underpinnings of modern-day capitalism.

We find that trust has been a key mechanism of control in the relationships between consumers and agents in pension and life insurance markets, and that ”the Swedish model” that distinguished post-WWII Swedish society was a model heavily based on trust towards existing models of bureaucratic governance. Furthermore, the increase in social and technical complexity of the systems and relationships necessary of our individual and collective welfare, as well as the growing anonymity of the people we depend on, seem to have resulted in a gap that cannot be bridged without resorting to trust.

We also find that elements of the Skandia scandal mirror a larger societal development in which the balance between interests has been disrupted, causing severe breaches of trust. Over time, and as a result of a largely global interplay between power and discourse, the Swedish model has undergone a considerable transition, gradually transforming elements of the underlying institutional foundations of both the market and the state.

Such transitions, and the herein observed inability of both market and state to cope with them while maintaining the balance between interests of society as a whole, make us believe that the importance of a vital civil society cannot be understated. The Class Action against Skandia Association is a testament to its potential.

Background International cooperation became a wide-spread way of exchanging experience and ideas between organizations of the non-profit sector all over the world. The exchange of new ideas and experience on the international level can very often contain cases of policy transfer, which beyond all doubts can influence the participants of international cooperation. Aim The aim of the presented Master's thesis consists of the investigation and analysis of international project on violence prevention between Swedish and Ukrainian NGOs, assessing and verifying the representation in the project the particular case of policy transfer. Method In order to collect the empirical data, mixed qualitative methods were used in this thesis, which included the concept of triangulation used for the data collection. Result The conduction of the presented qualitative research gave an opportunity to uncover and examine the different roles played by Ukrainian and Swedish NGOs in the welfare systems of their respective countries. It also became possible to observe an occurrence of a particular form of cooperation between the two NGOs in the international cooperation project, which can be related to a particular type of policy transfer. Conclusions Due to the fact that the project analysed in this study is still ongoing, it is still too early to derive any final conclusion about its achievements and formulate an evaluation concerning the nature of the policy transfer process. So far the author of the presented thesis can see that the project on its current stage has an occurrence of lesson-drawing policy transfer.

This study examined possibilities of preforming gerrymandering within Swedish municipal elections before 2015, when new regulations contributing to guaranteeing a proportional seat allocation and thereby eliminating the risk of gerrymandering altogether were introduced. As the configuration of the districting problems in Swedish elections follows that of spatial unit allocation, these problems could be modelled as integer-programming problems including previously formulated constraints guaranteeing necessary geometrical and topological properties of districts as well as additional objectives and constraints promoting desired seat allocations. For several of the examined municipalities districts solutions with none-suspicious shapes and a more desirable seat allocation for the considered parties given voting outcomes from the 2014 elections were found. The implication of these results for Swedish municipal elections prior to 2015 as well as other elections using similar seat allocation procedures would however be highly dependent on the ability to make detailed and accurate predictions of voting outcomes prior to actual elections.

In order to make development aid more efficient, a large number of donors, including Sweden, signed the so called Paris Declaration in 2005. The Declaration gives the partner countries more responsibility for their own development and aims to make he development aid provided by donor countries more measurable. It has been referred to as a paradigm shift within this policy area due to its far‐reaching goals.

The Declaration has consequences for all actors in the development aid community, and this thesis aims at outlining and analyzing the effects of the Declaration on the Swedish non‐governmental organisations which hold a frame agreement with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). As an increasing part of evelopment aid is being channelled through NGOs and they hold an important role in the area, they are interesting subjects of study.

The analysis is conducted from a society‐centred governance perspective, which focuses on how different actors in society shape public policy. The perspective hallenges the view on the state as dominating unilaterally and takes into account the diversity of actors involved in policy‐making, such as NGOs.

The result of the study is, among other things, that the character of the relationships and interactions between Swedish NGOs and SIDA varies, and can be described as either a more traditional hierarchical model or co‐governing. Furthermore, the Paris Declaration is perceived by the NGOs as being a step in the right direction rather than a paradigm shift at all level.

 

För att göra utvecklingsbistånd effektivare, undertecknade ett stort antal givare, däribland Sverige, den så kallade Parisdeklarationen 2005. Deklarationen ger samarbetsländerna ett större ansvar för sin egen utveckling och syftar till att göra biståndet från givarländerna mer mätbart. Man har kallat detta ett paradigmskifte inom området på grund av sina långtgående mål.

Deklarationen har konsekvenser för alla aktörer inom området utvecklingsbistånd, och denna uppsats syftar till att beskriva och analysera de effekter som deklarationen har på de svenska icke‐statliga organisationer som har ett ramavtal med SIDA. Eftersom en allt större del av utvecklingsbiståndet kanaliseras genom enskilda organisationer och de innehar en viktig roll i området, är de intressanta att studera.

Analysen görs utifrån ett samhällsorienterat governance perspektiv som fokuserar på hur olika aktörer i samhället utformar den offentliga politiken. Perspektivet utmaningar uppfattningen om att staten ensidigt dominerar och tar hänsyn till mångfalden av aktörer i det politiska beslutsfattandet, till exempel icke‐statliga organisationer.

Resultaten av undersökningen är bland annat att karaktären av de relationer och interaktioner mellan svenska icke‐statliga organisationer och SIDA varierar, och kan beskrivas som traditionellt hierarkisk, eller samarbetsbaserad (co‐governing). Vidare uppfattas Parisdeklarationen av icke‐statliga organisationer som ett steg i rätt riktning, snarare än ett paradigmskifte på alla nivåer.

The aim of this thesis is to create knowledge on processes of change in the contemporary organizing of Swedish voluntary sport and the systems of meaning at work in these processes. The thesis proceeds from the assumption that the contemporary public sport policy climate is characterized by a pressure on organized sport to change in order for sport to better serve as an implementer of non-sport goals. In attempting to capture the possible ramifications of this pressure on the organizing of voluntary sport, the thesis work relies on the argument that processes of change are best captured in instances where new and established ideas are confronted with one another. Following this argument and drawing upon the concept of theorization, the first research question treated in the thesis concerns how legitimacy is established for a new practice (reported in Article 1). The second research question addressed is how, why, and with what consequences new ideas on organizing are implemented in sport organizations (reported in Article 2 & 3). In relation to this question, the concepts of translation and organizational identity are mobilized in the analysis. Empirically, these two questions are addressed using data from 29 interviews covering the emergence and organizing of organized spontaneous sport, so-called Drive in sport, in four Swedish municipalities. The analysis relating to these two questions shows that the same systems of meaning invoked to legitimize and specify Drive-in sport as a practice that has the potential to remedy problems being faced by both the Swedish society and the Swedish sports movement, also made Drive-in sport an unlikely developmental direction for the majority of implementing sport clubs. This process is understood with reference to a mismatch between the organizational identity of the clubs and the cultural material of the idea of Drive-in sport. This insight is brought into the formulation of the third research question treated in the thesis, which is concerned with sport clubs’ readiness, willingness, and ability to respond to policy changes (reported in Article 4). Building on data from short, qualitative interviews with representatives from 218 randomly selected sport clubs, 10 organizational identity categories are constructed. Between these categories, there is a variety of clubs’ core purposes, practices, and logics of action. The implications of this heterogeneity, in terms of sport clubs’ role as policy implementers, are discussed with reference to what clubs in each category might "imagine doing." The analysis provided in the thesis as a whole suggests that at stake in processes of change in the contemporary organizing of Swedish voluntary sport, is the very definition and meaning of sport.

The focus of this research is upon the measures that Swedish Crisis Management System carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic toward the shopping needs (i.e., food/groceries, medicines) of home-quarantined individuals (those who should stay at home according to the authorities’ recommendations because they were either elderly or regardless their ages, were in risk groups or had symptoms of disease). The research identifies the immediate responsible authority concerning this need and examines how this actor behaved and what measures took to address the shopping needs of home-quarantined. The interaction between this responsible actor and other social parties (e.g., humanitarian actors/civil society, and/or Local Communities), explored to illustrate whether the responsible actor had carried out its immediate duty or not. The outcomes of various operations that different social actors performed are analyzed and compared. For assessing the Swedish Crisis Management System and the measures carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, five case studies conducted; the action of the municipalities in four cities (Örebro, Staffanstorp, Uppsala and Umeå) and one Community Initiative in Örebro (named Coronahjälpen, which launched and operated via a Facebook group) examined and compared. Additionally, the pattern exercised in more than a hundred cities explored. The relationship/interaction between state agents (mainly municipalities) from one side and Civil Society organizations or Community Initiatives is illustrated by applying one practical categorization of the relationship between state and Civil Society and one politico-economic categorization. For the latter, the Neo-liberal paradigm applied for such an analysis toward the relationships. Based on the primary and secondary data and the discussion upon them, the failure or success of the Swedish Crisis Management System during the Covid-19 pandemic regarding shopping needs of home-quarantined individuals was examined. In the conclusion part of the paper, a recommendation for such a system is provided.

Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga organisationskultur inom folkrörelseorganisationer samt att undersöka dess eventuella förändringar under påverkan av kulturpolitiken. Denna studie tillämpar Geert Hofstedes teorier som behandlar olika nivåer och dimensioner av organisationskultur. Studien behandlar värderingar, ritualer, hjältar och symboler inom varje organisation i fråga i ett sammanhang av organisatoriska praktiker som meningsbärande kulturella uttryck. Studien har genomförts med ett kvalitativt angreppssätt där semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts med hjälp av ett bekvämlighetsrvalsstrategi. Datainsamlingen har genomförts genom personliga intervjuer med fyra medarbetare på två folkrörelseorganisationer i Stockholm d.v.s. ABF och Riksteatern. De valda Organisationerna är verksamma inom olika verksamhetsområde och respondenterna har jobbat i varierande positioner och har fleråriga arbetserfarenheter. Intervjuerna spelades in efter beviljat tillstånd och säkerställandet av respondenternas anonymitet. En innehållsanalys genomfördes efter transkribering av inspelat material i form av citat och egna tolkningar. Studien behandlar också en del sekundärdata i form av historisk information om folkrörelsernas samhälleliga rötter och utvecklingsprocess. Studien visar en ständigt pågående omorganiseringsprocess inom folkrörelseorganisationer vilket orsakat signifikanta förändringar inom folkrörelsernas organisationskultur. Konflikten mellan folkrörelsernas ideella logiker och kulturpolitikens kvalitetslogik uppträder i organisationskulturen på olika sätt. ABF:s kärnvärderingar nämligen hjälpsamhet, jämlikhet och högt arbetsengagemang anses vara mindre aktuella idag. Hjälpsamhet och jämlikhet ligger också till grund för Riksteaterns demokratiseringsverksamhet och anses fortfarande vara aktuella i organisationen. När det gäller ABF har vi funnit att organisationen har utvecklat en professionell och icke-normativ organisationskultur med stränga kontrollmekanismer och stor fokus på arbetsutförande och processansvar i ett slut organisationssystem. Stränga kontrollmekanismer anses vara ett resultat av kulturpolitikens krav på ökad internkontroll och kvalitetssäkring. Studien visar att Riksteatern har utvecklat en komplex mångsidig organisationskultur som finns i två sammanhängande lager. En lokal, personalinriktad och normativ arbetskrets som omger sig med professionella, resultatinriktade och pragmatiska medarbetare. Detta leder till en normativ organisationskultur som erbjuder pragmatiska lösningar i syfte att kunna leva upp till kulturdepartementets krav på hög kvalitet, resurseffektivitet och antalet besökare. Det finns en tendens mot professionalism och pragmatism inom båda organisationerna. Detta kan bero på att båda organisationerna är ekonomiskt beroende av statliga bidrag och därför ska leva upp till kulturpolitikens kvalitetskrav. Detta ledde också till svagt normativt engagemang och ett slags samhällelig passivitet. Vi har också funnit att betoningen på kvantitativ utvärdering inte är en fungerande strategi för utvärdering av ideell kulturverksamhet. Istället har detta orsakat paradoxala uppdrag och identitetsförvirring inom organisationerna enligt våra respondenter.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic description of the organizational culture in social movement organizations in Sweden and also to investigate its possible changes under the impact of cultural policy. The following study has been done using Geert Hofstede’s theories on different levels and dimensions of organizational culture. The study explores the organizational values, rituals, heroes and symbols in the context of organizational practices to be examined as meaningful cultural representations. This study has been done based on qualitative research method using semi-structured interviews and convenience sampling strategy for data collection. The data has been collected through personal interviews with four employees from two social movement organizations in Stockholm and from different areas of practice; The Swedish National Touring Theatre (Riksteatern) and The Workers’ Educational Association (ABF). The respondents have been working in variety of positions and have many years of experience. The interviews have been recorded as audio files after granting permission and ensuring the respondents’ anonymity to be preserved. A content analysis has been done following the transcription of the recorded material in the form of quotes and interpretations. Secondary data has been also used in the form of historical information regarding the origins of Swedish social movements and their development process. Our study shows that there is a constantly ongoing reorganization process in the Swedish social movements which has caused significant changes in the social movements’ organizational culture. The conflict between the logic of the social movements and the quality-oriented logic of the Swedish cultural policy emerges in the organizational culture in different ways. ABF’s core values such as benevolence, equality and high work engagement are considered to be less relevant in the current organizational culture. Benevolence and equality are also the core values of Riksteatern and are still considered to be relevant in the current organizational culture. When it comes to ABF, we have found that the organization has developed a professional and pragmatic organizational culture with strict control mechanisms and huge focus on task performance and processes in a closed-system organization. The strict control mechanisms are considered to be the result of the Swedish cultural policy’s requirements regarding internal control and quality assurance. The study shows that Riksteatern has developed a complex multidimensional organizational culture which exists in two interrelated layers. A local, employee-oriented and normative work circle surrounded by professional, result-oriented and pragmatic coworkers. This leads to a normative organizational culture which offers pragmatic solutions in order to be able to meet the ministry of culture’s requirements regarding high quality, resource efficiency and visitor numbers. There’s a tendency towards professionalism and pragmatism in both organizations. This might depend on the fact that both organizations are economically dependent to public funds and therefore are required to meet the cultural policy’s quality requirements. This leads also to a low normative engagement and societal passivity. We have also found that the emphasis on the quantitative evaluation ad revision is not an effective strategy to evaluate nonprofit cultural organization. Instead, this strategy has caused paradoxical missions and confusion regarding organizational identity, according to our respondents.

I maj 2009 infördes ägarlägenheter i Sverige. Ägarlägenhetsinnehavaren har äganderätt till skillnad från en bostadsrättsinnehavare som endast innehar nyttjanderätt. Bostadsformen har hittills inte haft den genomslagskraft som förväntades av lagstiftaren. I Norge är möjligheten att äga sin lägenhet mer etablerad än i Sverige. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att se om fastighetsbildningsprocessen för ägarlägenheter kan göras effektivare genom att jämföra den med Norges bildningsprocess för eierseksjoner, vilken benämns seksjonering. Handlingar som upprättats i samband med fastighetsbildning respektive seksjonering granskades för att ta reda på hur hanteringen skiljer sig däremellan. Intervjuer med sakkunniga i Sverige och Norge genomfördes via personlig kontakt och e-post för att få en djupare kunskap i hur fastighetsbildningen och seksjoneringen går till. En komparativ metod, där den norska seksjoneringen av eierseksjoner ställdes mot den svenska fastighetsbildningen för ägarlägenheter, användes för att utreda om fastighetsbildningen för ägarlägenheter kan effektiviseras. Seksjonering av eierseksjoner och fastighetsbildning av ägarlägenheter skiljer sig en del i hur mycket ansvar som ligger hos exploatören  Gemensamma utrymmen regleras mer vid bildning av ägarlägenheter än vid bildning av eierseksjoner. Gränserna mellan enheterna i de olika fallen skiljer sig speciellt då det för ägarlägenheter upprättas fastighetsgränser där lantmäterimyndigheten upprättar en koordinatförteckning, bruksgränserna som dras för eierseksjoner har inte samma noggrannhet. Att införa ändringar i ansökan hämtat från hur den sker i Norge vid seksjonering, och att upprätta en checklista för gemensamma utrymmen som den sökande fyller i, och ändring av fastställningen av de gemensamma utrymmena, är möjligheter till effektivisering av fastighetsbildningen för ägarlägenheter.
In may 2009 the condominium ownership model was introduced in Sweden. The owner has ownership, unlike with the condominium user right model where the owner only has a legal right to use the apartment. So far, the ownership model hasn’t had quite a breakthrough, as expected by the Swedish legislator. In Norway, the condominium ownership model is more established. The aim of this study was to see if the real estate formation of the Swedish condominium ownership model can be made more effective, by comparing it with the formation of theNorwegian condominium ownership model. Documents created in conjunction with the two separate formation processes has been reviewed to find out the differences between the two. Interviews with experts in the area, in both Sweden and Norway was carried through face to face and by e-mail, to get a deeper understanding in the formation process. A comparative method, where the Norwegian formation process of the Norwegian model was compared to the Swedish model, was used to find out if the formation for the Swedish model can be more effective. The formation of the Norwegian model and the real estate formation of the Swedish model differentiate a bit in how much responsibility the real estate owner has. Shared spaces are being more regulated at the formation of the Swedish model than the Norwegian model. The real estate boundaries between the units in the different cases separate especially when the real estate boundaries being determined for the Swedish model and the Swedish cadastral authority establish a coordinate list. The user right boundaries made for the Norwegian model don’t have the same accuracy. To introduce changes in the application from how it works in Norway, and establish a checklist for the shared spaces that the person who apply complete, and impliment changes of the establishment of the shared spaces, are possibilities to make the formation more effective for the Swedish model.

This investigation is about how the Civic Orientation Course within Umeåregionen has been received among newly arrived refugees. The purpose of the essay is to research how the Civic Orientation has worked within the Umeåregion with focus on the municipality of Umeå, with both a perspective of transmitter and receiver. The Civic Orientation Course is a legal right for all refugees between 18-64 years in Sweden and it is an introduction to the Swedish society. To do this, interviews have been done with one Social Consultant from Umeå kommun and three newly arrived refugees. The requirements on interviewed newly arrived refugees have been that they have finished the Civic Orientation course and are over 18 years. To answer the investigation questions; what kind of information and through which communication channels have Umeå kommun addressed their communication to newly arrived refugees, how have the information from Umeå kommun been received among the newly arrived refugees and how cultural and social differences may matter in the receiving of the information, three theories have been used; orientalism by Said, Shannon and Weaver “Model of Communication” and the Encoding/Decoding by Hall. The result shows that language is the largest barrier for newly arrived refugees to interact within the Swedish society, even though it is not the purpose of the Civic Orientation to teach Swedish the course has to give ideas about where interaction can happen with other Swedes. Overall social and cultural experiences have been the purpose to the distance between refugees and Swedes. The interviewed are pleased with the course and the teachers but lack information about how they in certain specific situations are supposed to act in the Swedish society.

This thesis evaluates and develops a method for studying the occurrence of cascading effects between critical infrastructures. The thesis also analyzes how the results of previous research using the method may have been affected by certain aspects of the method. Applying different inclusion thresholds and exploring how material could be gathered differently, the thesis provides some tentative answers to the value of using newspaper articles when studying cascading effects. In addition, the thesis offers recommendations for future research and policy on the protection of critical infrastructures.