Institutt for sosiologi og statsvitenskap forsker innefor et enormt spekter av tema og problemstillinger. Våre forskere omhandler hele 4 fagområder i form av sosiologi, statsvitenskap, idrettsvitenskap og Medier, kommunikasjon og IT.

For ytterligere informasjon om våre forskere se ansattelisten til venstre i menyen.

Abstract:

Drawing on the perspective of doing gender, Berit Brandth and Marit S. Haugen explore how women and men do gender in farm tourist work. On the basis of five case studies of farms that have shifted from farm production to hosting tourists, the expectation is that the new occupation of tourism may create conditions for (un)doing gender at the interactional level and reshuffling power within the couple. The segmented work and unequal work statuses of men and women known from research on family farming seem to be less distinct in farm tourism as women are managers and men do cleaning, catering, and caring. However, the symbolic meaning of the indoor¿outdoor dichotomy plays a defining role. And even if women and men have changed their performances, gender and work are still interpreted and perceived according to the heterosexual matrix.

DOI:http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/605480

Sammendrag:
Foruten å introdusere de elleve bidragene til antologien gir dette innledningskapittelet en redegjørelse for hva som gjør energi til en strategisk ressurs, og hvordan energi har bidratt til Norges industrielle og økonomiske utvikling. Det argumenteres for et mer komplekst energisikkerhetsbegrep som tar høyde for at det finnes ulike svar på spørsmålene; ”Hvem sin energisikkerhet”? ”Hva slags energisikkerhet?” ”Hvor langsiktig energisikkerhet?”

Abstract:
I denne artikkelen drøfter vi hvordan norske forbrukeres holdninger til genmodifisert mat har endret seg gjennom årene. Allerede da genteknologi ble etablert som et eget forskningsfelt og utviklingsområde på 1980-tallet, viste den norske opinionen stor skepsis. Den norske lovgivningen tidlig på 1990-tallet utmerket seg også som den mest restriktive i Europa. Dette bildet endret seg ikke mye i løpet av 1990-tallet, mens opinionen i mange europeiske land i disse årene kom mer på linje med den norske. I hele denne perioden var både forbrukeropinionen og lovgivningen i USA langt mer aksepterende enn i Europa, noe som ga seg utslag i en handelskonflikt som toppet seg med EU sitt moratorium for utsetting av genmodifiserte planter i 1999. I denne artikkelen stiller vi spørsmålet om norske forbrukeres holdninger til genmodifisert mat har endret seg de siste årene. Artikkelen viser at mellom 2002 og 2007 er det en voksende gruppe av forbrukere som ser ut til å akseptere genmodifiserte matvarer hvis det fører til en helse- eller miljøgevinst (mindre sprøytemidler). Men til tross for dette så er nordmenn fremdeles skeptiske til genmodifisert mat. Det kan tolkes slik at genmodifisert mat ikke har ført til den nytten som ansees nødvendig for å ta den risikoen det innebærer å gjøre et betydelig skifte i matseddel. Matpatriotisme og en kulturell konservatisme når det gjelder skifte i matvaner bidrar også til å forklare den dominerende vente-og-se-holdningen.

Nettversjon

Abstract:
This piece argues that free migration was a central if implicit part of the liberal social contract and that America's founders were both aware of this and exploited it to legitimate their new state. The piece begins by describing this uniquely American contribution to liberal political thought. It then juxtaposes this contribution against the nature of our own international order, to show just how foreign the American Century has become. The piece closes with a short depiction of what an American Century would look like today-were it true to this early ideal-and comments on its feasibility.

DOI:10.1177/0032329209338928

Abstract:
The political role of the modern media and the impact on public opinion has come under intense scrutiny. The arguments in the scientific dispute have been structured under the optimistic 'cognitive mobilisation' and pessimistic 'media malaise' banners. For obvious reasons the role of television has been most intensely discussed. TV has the widest reach and is believed to have to the strongest impact. So far, much of the exchange of arguments has been based on data from the United States. In many European countries, public broadcasting is far more prominent than in the United States, and one can argue that the ideals underlying public broadcasting have put their mark on the TV industry in many European countries. Norway is such a case. The interesting question is, of course, whether this matters. Does public broadcasting foster a 'virtuous circle' of increased political competence, whereas commercial TV creates 'media malaise'? Data from the Norwegian 1997–2001 election survey panel is used in this study to overcome the main methodological problem in the many studies based on cross-sectional data: the question of causality. Too often researchers have based their inferences about the link between media exposure and political knowledge on cross-sectional correlations. The empirical results do little to support the optimistic view of TV as the great political educator. On the contrary, neither exposure to the state-owned public broadcasting NRK nor the commercial TV2 help to increase the general level of political knowledge. However, NRK seems to be the preferred channel among the politically well-informed.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9477.2008.00226.x

Abstract:
This article argues that the most efficient way of developing Bangladesh is to encourage more emigration. This argument is made in three steps: (i) proposing that 10% of the population be encouraged to emigrate to member states in the Bangladeshi Aid Consortium; (ii) outlining the anticipated costs; and (iii) describing the anticipated gains, which in the light of any feasible alternative, and when contrasted with the relatively meagre costs, are phenomenal and encouraging. By providing individual Bangladeshis with such an opportunity the hopes of the millions remaining behind are strengthened.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7679.2009.00455.x

Abstract:
The paper examines the relationship between culture and safety on offshore supply vessels in the Norwegian petroleum industry, relying on both qualitative and quantitative data. The analysis makes a general description of cultural traits of the vessels studied, epitomized through the notion of ‘good seamanship’, and discusses the way these traits influence on safety. The results show a great deal of friction between aspects of culture and aspects of structure. In particular, there appear to be incompatibilities between the occupational culture on the vessels and the rule-based safety management approaches of the petroleum industry. Also, the results highlight the role of inter-group asymmetries in power and status in the definition of what constitutes safe working conditions. Finally, whether culture can (and should) be changed is discussed.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.006

Abstract:
Background Many hospital departments have implemented small clinical departmental systems (CDSs) to collect and use patient data for documentation as well as for other department-specific purposes. As hospitals are implementing institution-wide electronic patient records (EPRs), the EPR is thought to be integrated with, and gradually substitute the smaller systems. Many EPR systems however fail to support important clinical workflows. Also, successful integration of systems has proven hard to achieve. As a result, CDSs are still in widespread use. This study was conducted to see which tasks are supported by CDSs and to compare this to the support offered by the EPR. Methods Semi-structured interviews with users of 16 clinicians using 15 different CDSs at a Medium-sized University hospital in Norway. Inductive analysis of transcriptions from the audio taped interviews. Results The roles of CDSs were complementary to those of the hospital-wide EPR system. The use of structured patient data was a characteristic feature. This facilitated quality development and supervision, tasks that were poorly supported by the EPR system. The structuring of the data also improved filtering of information to better support clinical decision-making. Because of the high value of the structured patient data, the users put much effort in maintaining their integrity and representativeness. Employees from the departments were also engaged in the funding, development, implementation and maintenance of the systems. Conclusion Clinical departmental systems are vital to the activities of a clinical hospital department. The development, implementation and clinical use of such systems can be seen as bottom-up, user-driven innovations.

DOI: 10.1186/1472-6947-9-29

Abstract:
Using a direct measure of repression of dissent, we find ample evidence to suggest that energy and mineral wealth strongly predict higher levels of political terror, results that are both statistically and substantively large. Oil-rich and mineral-rich countries contain higher levels of political terror regardless of the level of autocracy, the incidence of civil and international war and sundry controls. The results are robust to different measures of resource wealth, alternative measures of repression, testing methods and several model specifications. The quality of economic governance, measured as the level of economic freedom, has strong negative effects on political terror and conditions the effects of resource wealth in the direction of more humane governance. Our results suggest several entry points for global and local policy-makers that seek to extirpate the curse of natural wealth.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2009.00703.x

Abstract:
Why do some armed civil conflicts last longer than others? Drawing on a contest success function model, we show that geographic factors (such as location, terrain, and natural resources) interact with rebel fighting capacity and together play a crucial role in determining the duration of conflict. Using precisely dated duration data in event history models and geographic data for the conflict location, we find that conflicts located at considerable distance from the main government stronghold, along remote international borders and in regions with valuable minerals last substantially longer. In addition, we find that rebel military capacity in its own right increases the prospects of a civil conflict ending within a short time period. Our findings imply that the distances an army must travel to project power, rebel fighting capacity, and characteristics of conflict region affect how a civil war is fought and who will prevail.

DOI: 10.1177/0022002709336457

Abstract:
In communist systems, underground parallel society and underground counterculture functioned as an arena of genuine democratic action, in which citizens played an active role in the production of narratives, activities, and services which rivalled the official narratives, activities, and services generated by the regime. With the collapse of communism, the raison d'tre for this 'Polis' has disappeared and, to a large extent, independent activism has become the domain of NGOs specializing in human rights, while citizens participate in politics primarily by voting in elections. Controversies continue, however, and this article focuses on region-wide controversies about the media, ethnicity, and religion, taking note also of the depoliticization of culture.

DOI: 10.1080/15705850802700033

Abstract:
Sceptics of globalization attribute the proliferation of light weapons to economic openness. Increasing globalization apparently weakens public authority, leading to social disarray, anomic violence, and general conditions that make handgun ownership and use more likely. Pro-globalists might argue contrarily that trade openness can raise the premium on peace as violence is bad for business. Moreover, greater interdependence allows the diffusion of anti-proliferation norms and facilitates cooperative behavior among trading partners for stemming the demand for and proliferation of small arms. Using a unique dataset on small arms imports, we find that greater openness to trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) lowers small arms imports per capita. A policy measure of economic freedom is associated with higher small arms imports, but this association seems to be explained entirely by the association between economic freedom and strong bureaucracies. States that are de facto more open to the global trading system are less likely to be inundated with these weapons, but richer, better-governed countries import more small arms. Global policy should pay closer attention to the seepage of these weapons from the relatively wealthy, who manufacture and buy them in larger quantities, to the poor, among whom the 'problems' associated with small arms are often manifested. Curbing those factors that encourage globalization, however, would be counterproductive to reducing the trade in small arms and light weapons.

DOI: 10.1080/03050620902743945

Abstract:
Norway has long tried to portray itself as one of the most environmentally responsible states. But it has consistently refused to support the moratorium against commercial whaling. This article offers a cultural explanation for this seeming contradiction, by examining the way the global antiwhaling movement framed the issue and the Norwegian environmental organizations reframed it. It argues that two cultural differences are relevant. First, animal-rights organizations were an important part of the U.S. antiwhaling coalition, whereas such organizations are largely excluded from the Norwegian environmental activist community, where animal rights arguments have found little traction. Secondly, U.S. nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate in an adversarial pluralistic political culture, whereas the Norwegian environmental movement is embedded in a corporatist system where consensual decision making is the norm and has fostered a close relationship with the state. This has led to different images and strategic considerations being used by NGOs to frame the issue and ultimately to different decisions on the need for a moratorium.

DOI: 10.1177/1070496508329358

Abstract:
The use of quantitative measurement is a widespread method in public management to govern at distance. However, this governance may cause conflict, due to the statistics themselves. In Norway, measuring disability for governance purposes has created a controversy about the status of disability in health and care administration. The debated object is a concrete form of Norwegian health and care policy, a registration system called IPLOS. It measures assistance needs based on, among other criteria, functional disability levels. Authorities deem it a necessity for future planning and organization of municipal health and care services. However, organizations of and for the disabled hold that IPLOS communicates a discriminatory view on disability. They have used the controversy to confront authorities’ practical politics of disability, and to promote their own. In this article I explore the controversy surrounding IPLOS. I focus on the relationship between number and person that IPLOS requests, and the organizational and symbolic aspects of number production. Due to the importance such measurement tools are given, we need a further understanding of what the concrete use of these statistics implies both for the counted disabled and for the public authorities’ way of managing disability.

DOI: 10.1016/j.alter.2008.11.001

Abstract:
Although health personnel today have to relate to numerous different patients and patient roles, patients have tended to be viewed as either active or passive. In this paper, we investigate how one unique patient was able to defy advice from his doctors and nurses yet maintain viable relationships with them. We argue that this patient’s ability to draw on heterogeneous resources may have made his unusual trajectory possible. On the basis of interviews with relevant health personnel and the concept of sensemaking, we elaborate on how relationships between health personnel and patients emerge from a complex network of ICT, power and third-party actors. We conclude that the active patient is an emergent relationship rather than a singular entity of knowledge and power.

DOI: 10.1057/sth.2008.17

Abstract:
Background: The relationship between unemployment and increased risk of morbidity and mortality is well established. However, what is less clear is whether this relationship varies between welfare states with differing levels of social protection for the unemployed. Methods: The first (2002) and second (2004) waves of the representative cross-sectional European Social Survey (37 499 respondents, aged 25–60 years). Employment status was main activity in the last 7 days. Health variables were self-reported limiting long-standing illness (LI) and fair/poor general health (PH). Data are for 23 European countries classified into five welfare state regimes (Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern and Eastern). Results: In all countries, unemployed people reported higher rates of poor health (LI, PH or both) than those in employment. There were also clear differences by welfare state regime: relative inequalities were largest in the Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian regimes. The negative health effect of unemployment was particularly strong for women, especially within the Anglo-Saxon (ORLI 2.73 and ORPH 2.78) and Scandinavian (ORLI 2.28 and ORPH 2.99) welfare state regimes. Discussion: The negative relationship between unemployment and health is consistent across Europe but varies by welfare state regime, suggesting that levels of social protection may indeed have a moderating influence. The especially strong negative relationship among women may well be because unemployed women are likely to receive lower than average wage replacement rates. Policy-makers’ attention therefore needs to be paid to income maintenance, and especially the extent to which the welfare state is able to support the needs of an increasingly feminised European workforce.

DOI: 10.1136/jech.2008.077354

Innledning:
Tittelen kan kanskje overraske noen lesere, da media ofte framstiller en bekymring for barn og ungdoms fysiske aktivitetsnivå i Norge. Ofte ser vi beskrivelser av hvor lite aktive de unge er, med en forståelse av at det har blitt verre med årene. Skylda for denne utviklingen får ofte de skjermbaserte mediene, som fjernsyn og datamaskiner med sine mange muligheter for tidsbruk ved skjermen. Det er ikke bare i media denne bekymringen kommer til uttrykk. Et eksempel på dette er når 8 departementer utarbeider en felles handlingsplan for fysisk aktivitet 2005–2009 (Departementene 2004). Utgangspunktet for denne planen er en bekymring for inaktivitet og vektøkning i befolkningen. Selv om datagrunnlaget for barn og ungdom er noe usikkert, konkluderes det med: “Mye tyder imidlertid på at både fysikk, aktivitetsnivå og fysisk form hos norske barn og ungdom har gått ned de siste 30 årene” (Departementene 2004, s. 13).

Den organiserte idretten har fått en sentral plass i tiltakskjeden mot inaktivitet, dårlig form og overvekt. I handlingsplanen defineres den overordnede visjonen for statlig idrettspolitikk slik: “Idrett og fysisk aktivitet for alle” (Departementene 2004, s. 23).

I denne artikkelen skal vi i lys av dette bekymrede departementale bakteppet se nærmere på hvordan de unges fysiske aktivitetsnivå og idrettslige deltakelse har utviklet seg. I artikkelen trekkes det fram noen forklaringsfaktorer til utviklingen.

Abstract:
All over Europe more parents live apart and children increasingly commute between two homes. This article explores children’s mobility. Two questions are raised. First, do children with ‘modern’ (consensual unions) family background, commute more? Second, can mobility between parental homes impinge on children’s everyday welfare? The article raises the question if commuting is solely in the child’s best interest, or could it be argued that children are captives in the interests. Are children also ‘captives’ of a globalised society in need of people ‘lighter on their feet’? The case of Norway is used to illustrate a general development.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00145.x

Abatract:
The considerable emphasis in the development and implementation of clinical information systems in hospitals internationally seems to have had a limited effect. In particular, the implementation of electronic patient record (EPR) systems has been slower and more difficult than anticipated and with little change in efficiency and security. This paper suggests why this might be the case. Well established research findings within the field of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW – an interdisciplinary research field between informatics and the social sciences) are cited to construct a case for greater awareness of (1) inter- and intra-professional interests, and (2) broader social and health policy contexts. We draw on Gouldner's work [(1957). Cosmopolitans and locals: toward an analysis of latent social roles – I. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2(3), 281–306; (1958). Cosmopolitans and locals: toward an analysis of latent social roles – II. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2 (4), 444–480] on organisational roles to develop a discussion of professional awareness; a pivotal notion is also the interactionist one of the hospital as a ‘negotiated order’. Drawing for illustrative purposes on the Norwegian experience (that is, reviewing research on hospital information systems in Norway), we contend that enhanced awareness of the hospital itself as a social system may be a precondition of cost-effective hospital information and communication technologies.

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.11.005

Abstract:
Some report that human rights are likely to be violated when poor countries sign up to structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). These violations apparently occur because ordinary people revolt against the neo-liberal policies that SAPs push. This study examines the effect of the actual flow of finances from the World Bank and the IMF, holding constant all other bank-based financial flows, on government respect for human rights. The authors find that pay-in periods are beneficial for human rights, whereas loan dry-ups correlate with violations. Loan dry-ups are likely to occur because of noncompliance with SAPs rather than implementation, since the international financial institutions (IFIs) release loans in tranches to solve the time inconsistency problem. The overall level of indebtedness is robustly related to human rights abuses, but the higher the stock of debt owed to IFIs relative to total debt, the lower the human rights violations. Accumulating debt to IFIs, thus, seems to improve the level of human rights. Additionally, a higher government consumption to GDP ratio reduces human rights, a result that does not suggest that governments that are capable of commanding a higher share of the country's wealth are less likely to face threatening social dissent. Moreover, a proxy for neo-liberal policies, the index of economic freedom, correlates strongly with better human rights. These results do not square well with the view that neo-liberal policy reforms and the attendant austerity measures drive dangerous dissent.

DOI:10.1177/0022343309334578

Abstract:
Recent research identifies state capacity as a crucial determinant of civil peace. Scholars often interpret the association between wealth and peace as state capacity effects, but they have not clearly distinguished the impact of administrative reach and capacity for coercion from those effects that may capture good governance related to the provision of political goods and quality of institutions.We revisit the relationship between state capacity and civil peace by suggesting three different pathways through which the state avoids violent challenges to its authority: coercion, co-optation, and cooperation.We evaluate these three different notions of governing capacity both analytically and empirically, and we find that high levels of government spending on political goods and trustworthy institutions are more significant predictors of civil peace than are states' coercive capacities.The results suggest that civil peace is co-produced by social and state forces, where quasi-voluntary cooperation from society increases state capacity for maintaining peace.This is good news for policies aimed at building state capacity, since there seems to be room for agency beyond simply waiting for societies to become wealthy.

DOI:10.1177/0738894208097664

Abstract:
Even though electronic and computer-based technologies are commonly used in music composition, performance and recording, this ¿eld of technology use has, with a few exceptions, remained fairly unexplored within social studies of technology. In this article, the role of technology in music production is investigated by applying the notion of script (Akrich 1992) to an empirical study of users of the Roland MC303 Groovebox, a self-contained instrument for making techno, rap, jungle, hip-hop, acid and other styles of electronic (dance) music. The study focuses especially on individual differences between users’ perceptions of the musical-stylistic directedness of the Groovebox and how they construct different user scripts and more advanced needs as they become more familiar with the instrument. The latter observation highlights the relevance of a user trajectory, the notion that enthusiast technology users may keep on using a speci¿c technological artefact through various usage modes or scripts over time.

DOI: 10.1017/S0261143009001767

Introduction

Norway was the first countrY to reserve part of paid parental leave for fathers, making it a leader in parental leave policies and fathers’ rights. Gender-neutral parental leave bad been available for fathers from the 1970s, but few bad taken up this opportunity to share parental leave with the mother.The father’s quota, introduced in 1993, gave fathers an exclusive right to 4 weeks of parental leave, which in principle could not be transferred to the mother. From its very start, the father’s quota proved to be a success judging by its high take—up rate. Several other countries have since followed Norway’s lead. But the Norwegian case is interesting because Norway bad long been regarded as the most conservative of the Nordic countries with respect to employment for women and ECEC services for children (Leira, 1992).The aim of this chapter is to contribute to understanding what Diane SainsburY (2001) has called’the Norwegian puzzle’. It will explore how the construction of statutory parental leave rights for fathers can be explained in the Norwegian context by looking at the debates prior to their introduction.The point of departure is the characteristics of the Norwegian welfare state,which strongly influence family policies.The chapter will also consider how the political parties in Norway managed to achieve political consensus on this issue, and the influence of the men’s movement, particularly the Committee on Men’s Role that was active in the late 1980s.

Abstract: This article analyzes how two different policy measures affect gender equality in child care. In the 1990s, Norway introduced two care policies reflecting different ideas about gender and family life. The fathers’ quota policy supports the dual-earner family model while the cash-for-care scheme is based on a family model, providing cash benefits irrespective of the parent’s work activities. The father’s quota is a gendered policy because six weeks of the parental leave period is reserved for the father. Cash-for-care is gender neutral, in which working parents can choose which of them is to stay at home. The analysis is based on interview data from two studies, one on parental leave and one on cash-for-care. We find that the special quota for fathers has had a positive effect on the participation of fathers in child care. The cash-for-care system does not, however, challenge the existing gender structure in child care.

DOI: 10.1177/0002716209334119

Abstract:
In communist systems, underground parallel society and underground counterculture functioned as an arena of genuine democratic action, in which citizens played an active role in the production of narratives, activities, and services which rivalled the official narratives, activities, and services generated by the regime. With the collapse of communism, the raison d'tre for this 'Polis' has disappeared and, to a large extent, independent activism has become the domain of NGOs specializing in human rights, while citizens participate in politics primarily by voting in elections. Controversies continue, however, and this article focuses on region-wide controversies about the media, ethnicity, and religion, taking note also of the depoliticization of culture.

Doi:10.1080/15705850802700033

Abstarct: This article takes as its point of departure the introduction of a new flexible time regime in parts of working life. There has been increased focus on how knowledge work in particular is developing into total commitment organizations where employees put in more and more time at work. Using two case studies from law and computing companies the article focuses on the organization of work and the organization of time in globalized knowledge organizations, and what effect this has on the time practices of male employees who are fathers. In the same period the Nordic countries have introduced state incentives and regulations that aim to help fathers achieve work–life balance. The article also discusses whether this is a fruitful policy, or whether fathers working in flexible time cultures need more deregulation, individual choice and flexible policy measures.

Doi:10.1111/j.1468-0432.2008.00430.x

_{The mere word “bureaucracy” brings to mind images of endless lines, piles of paperwork, and frustrating battles over rules and red tape. But some bureaucracies are clearly more efficient and responsive than others. Why? In Teaching, Tasks, and Trust, distinguished political scientists John Brehm and Scott Gates show that a good part of the answer may be found in the roles that middle managers play in teaching and supporting the front-line employees who make a bureaucracy work.}

_{Brehm and Gates employ a range of sophisticated modeling and statistical methods in their analysis of employees in federal agencies, police departments, and social service centers. Looking directly at what front-line workers say about their supervisors, they find that employees who feel they have received adequate training have a clearer understanding of the agency’s mission, which leads to improved efficiency within their departments. Quality training translates to trust – employees who feel supported and well-trained for the job are more likely to trust their supervisors than those who report being subject to constant monitoring and a strict hierarchy. Managers who “stand up” for employees—to media, government, and other agency officials—are particularly effective in cultivating the trust of their workers. And trust, the authors find, motivates superior job performance and commitment to the agency’s mission. Employees who trust their supervisors report that they work harder, put in longer hours, and are less likely to break rules. The authors extend these findings to show that once supervisors grain trust, they enjoy greater latitude in influencing how employees allocate their time while working.}

_{Brehm and Gates show how these three executive roles are interrelated—training and protection for employees gives rise to trust, which provides supervisors with the leverage to stimulate improved performance among their workers. This new model—which frames supervisors as teachers and protectors instead of taskmasters—has widespread implications for training a new generation of leaders and creating more efficient organizations.}

_{Bureaucracies are notorious for inefficiency, but mid-level supervisors, who are often regarded as powerless, retain tremendous power to build a more productive workforce. Teaching, Tasks, and Trust provides a fascinating glimpse into a bureaucratic world operating below the radar of the public eye—a world we rarely see while waiting in line or filling out paperwork.}

Bokbeskrivelse
I denne boka handsamar ei gruppe samfunnsvitarar pluss ein biolog, alle med tilknyting til NTNU, ulike sider ved mulig fangsting av dyreplanktonet raudåte (Calanus finmarchicus). Dette er den største enkeltressursen i norske farvatn på lågare trofisk nivå, det vil seie lenger ned i næringskjeda. Raudåte utgjer ein vesentlig del av dietten for dei mest verdifulle fiskeslaga våre.

Raudåte representerer ei spennande, men også risikofylt utfordring for dei norske fiskeria i tida framover. Fangsting lenger ned i den marine næringskjeda kan opne for ei radikal omlegging av fiskerinæringa. Noreg er eit føregangsland når det gjeld forsking på raudåte, men hittil er det forbod mot fangst til kommersielle føremål. NTNU gjennomførte 2000-2005 eit stort strategisk universitetsprogram kalla Calanus som gjekk inn i kjernen av denne diskusjonen. Ein har sett på om eit berekraftig fiske på nivå lenger ned i næringskjeda er mulig.

Boka er skrive for den norske offentligheita, både for lekfolk og for fagfolk som interesser seg for marine problemstillingar. Hovudsiktemålet er å sette dei tekniske og biologiske bidraga inn i ei samfunnsmessig ramme. Boka er samstundes formidling av den samfunnsfaglige delen av Calanus-programmet ved NTNU.

For the past 30 years, Sabrina Ramet has been a frequent visitor to the region now known as the former Yugoslavia and has conducted extensive fieldwork, consisting of both interviews and archival research. Today she is generally regarded as one of the great chroniclers of Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav history and politics. This volume brings together some of her best work on Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, written over a period of 25 years, tracing the story of how Yugoslavia sank into its final crisis, how the West responded, and how these three republics have coped with post-communist transition.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether the magnitude of income-related health inequalities varies between welfare regimes (Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian, Southern and Eastern). Specifically, it examined whether the Scandinavian welfare state regime has smaller income-based health inequalities than the other welfare state regimes. Methods: The first (2002) and second (2004) waves of the representative cross-sectional European Social Survey (ESS), which comprised more than 80 000 respondents, were used to analyse income inequalities (relative health difference between the first and third income tertile) in self-reported health (general health, limiting longstanding illness) amongst those aged 25 or more. Data related to 23 European countries classified into five welfare state regimes. The study controlled for age and adjusted for educational attainment. Results: When comparing the health of the first income tertile with the third, the Scandinavian countries only seemed to hold an intermediate position: they did not have the smallest, or the largest, health inequalities. However, the Anglo-Saxon welfare states had the largest income-related health inequalities for both men and women, while countries with Bismarckian welfare states tended to demonstrate the smallest. This pattern was unchanged after controlling for educational attainment. However, education seemed to explain the largest part of income-related health inequalities in the Southern regime. Conclusion: This study shows that the magnitudes of income-related health inequalities indeed vary by welfare state regime. However, this variation was not always in the direction expected as the Scandinavian countries did not exhibit the smallest health inequalities.

10.1093/eurpub/ckn092

Bokbeskrivelse

Det sosiale livet på Svalbard er et ubeskrevet blad. Hvordan er det å leve i Longyearbyen? Denne boken forteller om et åpent samfunn, men også om lukkede rom. Den beskriver det sosiale livet og dets historiske rammer. Familiesamfunnet er resultat av en politisk villet utvikling og har i dag tilbud de fleste lokalsamfunn i Norge bare kan drømme om. Men der staten ønsket seg en stabil, ikke permanent befolkning, har mennesker slått rot og båndene til fastlandet blitt svekket. Svalbard er også blitt et smutthull gjennom Europas stengte dør, der utlendingsloven ikke gjelder og der mennesker fra fjerne land får nye muligheter. I dag er det den ikke-norske befolkningen som øker mest. Nye dilemmaer oppstår i grenselandet mellom politiske målsettinger og menneskelige realiteter.

Boken bygger på feltarbeid, studier og arbeid i Longyearbyen over en 20-årsperiode. Bidragsyterne er historikere, samfunnsforskere og humanister.

Med ny informasjonsteknologi, endrede økonomiske modeller og større vekt på deltakelse, pekes det ofte på at dagens norske pasienter har fått en endret rolle i forhold til helsevesenets behandlere. Likevel ser vi at tradisjonelle roller, maktforhold og myndighetsstrukturer bevares i stor grad. Denne boken tar utgangspunkt i samfunnsvitenskapelig helseforskning for å forstå hvordan og hvorfor dette skjer. De 15 bidragsyterne tar utgangspunkt i egen forskning og viser via temaer som forebygging, risikotenkning, kunde- og markedsorientering, ekspertkunnskap, pasient-behandler-kommunikasjon og kommunikasjonsteknologi hvordan ”den moderne pasienten” er sammensatt og preget av et tvetydig forhold til helsedomenet. Boken søker å gi en større forståelse av hvordan dette forholdet oppstår, blant annet ved å legge hovedvekt på relativt nærgående studier av de situasjoner hvor helserelatert kommunikasjon utspilles. Boken henvender seg til studenter, praktikere og forskere innenfor medisin, andre helsefag og samfunnsvitenskap, men også til politikere og andre beslutningstakere innenfor helserelaterte felt.

This book addresses the effect that institutional settings typical to the Nordic countries have upon people’s attitudes and behaviour. Placed within a European comparative perspective, the analyses presented by the contributing authors centre around issues relating to the welfare state, politics, family and work, as well as cultural concerns including economic morality and religiosity. Despite differences between the Nordic countries, the overall impression given is of a shared outlook and way of life. In the European context, the Nordic countries particularly stand out as a distinct group therefore demonstrating their institutional similarities.

Providing highly rigorous and up-to-date data, with a wide coverage of topics, this book will be of great interest to academics and students in sociology, social policy and political science. It will also appeal to anyone interested in the Nordic countries in general.

Background: The article investigates whether people in Eastern Europe have larger health inequalities than their counterparts in three West European regions (North, Central and the South). Methods: Data were obtained for 63 754 individuals in 23 countries from the first (2002) and second (2004) waves of the European Social Survey. The health outcomes were self-reported limiting longstanding illness and fair/poor general health. Occupational class was defined according to the European Socioeconomic Classification (ESeC). The magnitude of absolute and relative inequalities according to nine occupational classes for men and women separately were identified, analysed and compared in all four regions of Europe. Results: For both sexes and within all European regions, the higher and lower professionals, self-employed and higher service workers reported fewer cases of ill health than other occupational classes. In contrast, lower technical and routine workers reported the poorest health, excluding the relatively small number of farmers. Income and education did not explain more, or less, of the class-related health inequalities in the East compared with the other regions. Conclusions: Little evidence was found for the hypothesis that East European countries have larger class-related health inequalities than other European regions. People’s income and educational attainment both contribute to occupational health inequalities in the East as well as in the West.

10.1136/jech.2007.072470

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12142-007-0025-3

The aim of this study was to determine the degree to which welfare state regime characteristics explained the proportional variation of self-perceived health between European countries, when individual and regional variation was accounted for, by undertaking a multilevel analysis of the European Social Survey (2002 and 2004). A total of 65,065 individuals, from 218 regions and 21 countries, aged 25 years and above were included in the analysis. The health outcomes related to people's own mental and physical health, in general. The study showed that almost 90% of the variation in health was attributable to the individual-level, while approximately 10% was associated with national welfare state characteristics. The variation across regions within countries was not significant. Type of welfare state regime appeared to account for approximately half of the national-level variation of health inequalities between European countries. People in countries with Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon welfare regimes were observed to have better self-perceived general health in comparison to Southern and East European welfare regimes.

10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.022

Context: Despite much research on informed choice and the individuals’ autonomy in organised medical screening, little is known about the individuals’ decision-making process as expressed in their own words.
Objectives: To explore the decision-making process among women invited to a mammography screening programme.
Setting: Women living in the counties of Sør- and Nord-Trøndelag, Norway, invited to the first round of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) in 2003.
Methods: Qualitative methods based on eight semistructured focus-group interviews with a total of 69 women aged 50–69 years.
Results: The decision to attend mammography screening was not based on the information in the invitation letter and leaflet provided by the NBCSP. They perceived the invitation letter with a prescheduled appointment as if a decision for mammography had already been made. This was experienced as an aid in overcoming the postponements that easily occur in daily lives. The invitation to mammography screening was embraced as an indication of a responsible welfare state, "like a mother taking care."
Conclusion: In a welfare state where governmental institutions are trusted, mass screening for disease is acknowledged by screening participants as a valued expression of paternalism. Trust, gratitude, and convenience were more important factors than information about benefits, harms, and risks when the women made their decisions to attend screening. These elements should be included in the ethical debates on informed choice in preventive medicine.

doi:10.1136/jme.2008.024802

Abstract:
Recently, there has been a surge in comparative social epidemiology, and a sizeable amount of this has examined the relation between different aspects of the welfare state and population health. Such research draws strongly, though usually implicitly, on welfare state theories and concepts. In this glossary, we explicitly define these concepts in order to enable more researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to engage with and contribute to this exciting and fruitful area of public health research.

DOI:10.1136/jech.2007.066787

Abstract:
A partner's socioeconomic characteristics can influence one's own health. Nevertheless, little is known about the relative importance of a partner's education, occupation and income in relation to inequalities in mortality. In this study, we consider the relative contribution of these three spouse characteristics to predicting general and cause-specific mortality in men and women. Data on married persons and their spouses were taken from a Norwegian cross-sectional survey of a total county population (the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT 1, 1984-1986). A mortality follow-up was maintained until 2003. Associations of mortality with socioeconomic indicators were assessed computing hazard ratios and Relative Index of
Inequality in Cox regression. In women, a clear gradient in age-adjusted mortality rates was observed according to all husband's characteristics. In men, wife's education was most consistently associated with their mortality. After mutual adjustment for all own and spouse's socioeconomic characteristics, the effect of husband's education on women's overall mortality diminished (HR 1.07), whereas the effects of husband's occupation and income remained of similarly moderate size (HR 1.12). Wife's education persisted after adjustment as a significant and strong predictor of men's all-cause mortality (HR 1.35). Effects of partner's characteristics were mostly pronounced in cardiovascular mortality and far less in cancer mortality. In men, wife's education was the strongest and only predictor of mortality across all causes of death examined, except stroke. In women, husband's occupation was mainly related to ischemic heart disease and lung cancer mortality, while husband's income influenced mainly stroke mortality. Wife's education and husband's occupation and income were the most important predictors of mortality across partner relationships. It is suggested that men contribute to their wives' health not only by means of financial security, but also through occupational class. Further research should test our hypothesis that the effect of husband's occupation on their spouses works through occupation-related lifestyle and social prestige.

10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.020

The object of this study was to determine whether the magnitude of educational health inequalities varies between European countries with different welfare regimes. The data source is based on the first and second wave of the European Social Survey. The first health indicator describes people's mental and physical health in general, while the second reports cases of any limiting longstanding illness. Educational inequalities in health were measured as the difference in health between people with an average number of years of education and people whose educational years lay one standard deviation below the national average. Moreover, South European welfare regimes had the largest health inequalities, while countries with Bismarckian welfare regimes tended to demonstrate the smallest. Although the other welfare regimes ranked relatively close to each other, the Scandinavian welfare regimes were placed less favourably than the Anglo-Saxon and East European. Thus, this study shows an evident patterning of magnitudes of health inequalities according to features of European welfare regimes. Although the greater distribution of welfare benefits within the Scandinavian countries are likely to have a protective effect for disadvantaged cities in these countries, other factors such as relative deprivation and class-patterned health behaviours might be acting to widen health inequalities.

10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01073.x

Abstract:
There is widespread interest in understanding anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe, but there is little systematic evidence about the extent and patterns of the prejudice. Using data from the 1999–2000 wave of European Values Study this article examines the extent and determinants of anti-Muslim prejudice in both Western and Eastern Europe. We find that prejudice against Muslims was more widespread than prejudice against other immigrants, and that the effects of individual and country-level predictors of prejudice resemble those found in research on anti-minority prejudice in general. Fairly similar results were obtained for both Eastern and Western Europe, but the aggregate levels of prejudice are higher in the East. Our results imply that Muslims in Europe were particularly prone to becoming targets of prejudice, even before the attacks of September 11. The results give some support to group-conflict theory, mainly with regard to the effects of the unemployment. However, the size of Muslim population in a country does not seem to increase the level of anti-Muslim prejudice.

10.1016/j.ssresearch.2007.02.004

Abstract:
This study focuses on war experiences, war-related distress, and health. It is based on face-to-face interviews in a representative survey of 1,000 Kosovar Albanians. Results show that direct war experiences have a stronger impact on war-related distress and health than indirect war experiences. The strongest predictor among crucial single experiences was being held prisoner of war. Among Kosovo-Albanians, direct war experiences may have had a strong effect on war-related distress, even 4 years after the end of the war.

10.1080/15325020701741781

Abstract:
During the last few decades several important empirical studies have documented that trust is important for the efficiency of distributed groups (Piccoli and Ives, 2003; Wilson et al., 2006). It has also been documented that more task-oriented forms of trust (i.e., swift trust) develop more easily in such teams than affective trust forms (Meyerson et al., 1996; Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999; Kanawattanachai and Yoo, 2002). More poorly understood are the underlying mechanisms that generate different types of trust within distributed groups in the first place. In this article, findings from a study of affective and cognitive trust relations in a group of distributed engineers are presented, and it is demonstrated how these trust forms followed slightly different patterns. The findings indicate that 'trust brokering' occurred along both dimensions and that these activities were crucial for the development of trust in the group.

10.1504/IJNVO.2008.016004

Sammendrag:
Integrerte operasjoner innebære nye måter å arbeide på, knyttet til nye IKT-løsninger. Aktørene kan være de samme eller nye, men uansett vil de fleste oppleve at rollene i samspillet og måten man samhandler på, vil endre seg. De eknologiske løsningen legger rammer og føringer for nye roller og samahndlingsmønstre, men de åpner samtidig for at enkeltpersoner og grupper kan finne sine egne måter å gjøre jobben på. Den tilegnelsesprosessen kan gå over mange år, og kan være avgjørende for hvordan overgangen til integrerte operasjoner påvirker sikekrhet og produktivitet. I dette kapitlet vil vi vektlegge hvordan sikkerhet fremmes/endres/svekkes gjennom innføringen av integrerte operasjoner hos en borekontraktør.

Abstract:
Sports represent the largest category of voluntary organizations in many European countries. This article addresses questions concerning the position, centrality and influence of sports organizations as one specific part of civil society, and is based on an approach providing information on networks between categories of organizations. These networks consist of overlapping affiliations to organizations which are then interpreted as structures making communication, persuasion and influence possible. From these networks, position, centrality and potential influence of sports organizations in civil society are analysed. The article also looks more specifically at the links between sports and seven other types of voluntary organizations. The data is based on Norwegian surveys from 1982, 1990, and 2003, providing the possibility to follow sports organizations over a period of 20 years. The results show that sports organizations are influential due to size, but relatively weakly embedded and positioned in civil society. This position is, however, strengthened compared to most other organizations during the last 20 years. Regarding the relation of sports to other specific organizations some type of ‘normalization’ seems to have taken place, and sports are socially ‘closer’ to most organizations in 2003 than in 1982.

DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcm035