The Hand that Feeds : A study of Risk, Food and Motherhood in Sweden and Poland

This is a study of how mothers of young children relate to risk in everyday life, with an emphasis on the in­visible risks associated with modernity in general, and with food in particular. It explores variations and similarities in how mothers deal with risk in two cultural contexts: Sweden and Poland. The study is based on twenty qualitative interviews with university educated mothers of small children in Stockholm and Warsaw. While risks more generally challenge how we “get on” with our lives, mothers of young children in particular have a special relationship to risk. During pregnancy and breastfeeding they are subject to all kinds of risk minimization efforts, and mothers are ultimately held "infinitely responsible" for their children's welfare by society. Women's transition to parenthood then makes for a particularly in­teresting case as to how risks manifest in everyday life. The theoretical framework draws on modernization theory, combined with insights from cultural theory. In addition, various contributions from sociological and psychological risk research, family sociology and research on parenting and motherhood are used to highlight contextual aspects and to inter­pret the empirical results. Two aspects of the mothers’ relationship to risk and food are examined in this study: firstly, their risk constructs, i.e. what they perceive as ‘risky’ with regards to food; and, secondly, their risk management strategies, i.e. how they deal with identified risks on a practical and cognitive level. The overall risk management depicted in this study is characterized by reflexivity, critical thinking, infor­mation retrieval, attention to scientific evidence, purposely transferred trust, confidence and the ability to make fairly sophisticated tradeoffs between risks and other aspects of life. Neither the Swedish nor the Polish mothers then conform to popular notions of ‘security junkies’ or ‘paranoid parenting’. Nonetheless, the comparative approach demonstrates how contextual differences, such as general trust levels and family policy, influence both the risk constructs and the employment of different risk management strategies

Fostering a flexible forest : Challenges and strategies in the advisory practice of a deregulated forest management system

In deregulated forestmanagement systems, social norms, knowledge dissemination and communication are pivotal for guiding forest owners' actions. This presents a challenge to national forest agencies charged with the task of translating forest policy into practice. Drawing on interviewswith forest consultants employed by the Swedish Forest Agency, this paper discusses the challenges present in everyday advisory practice, howthey are dealtwith, and possible implications for forest policy. Fourmain challenges are identified: climate change; the heterogeneity of forest owners; resource constraints and funding cutbacks; and competing and conflicting advice. The analysis finds that the forest consultants have developed the following professional capacities to meet these challenges: articulating uncertainties, advocating risk diversification, and using historical references to handle the long-term risk associated with climate change; contextualizing the advice to meet the needs of a heterogeneous group of forest owners; and organizational decoupling, whereby consultants prioritize advisory activities at the expense of other tasks. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these strategies for the forest consultants and forest policy but also what can be learned from the Swedish experience.Funding Agencies:Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk)Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)Umeå University</p

Managing uncertainty : forest professionals’ claim and epistemic authority in the face of societal and climate change

How do professional experts develop advice in the face of uncertainty? The background for this question is that uncertainties threaten all forms of expertise because they risk calling the professional claim into question and undermine the professional’s epistemic authority. Adopting a multidimensional concept of uncertainty as its point of departure, this paper focuses on how a specific category of experts – forest professionals – encounter and cope with uncertainty in their counselling activities, particularly uncertainty related to climate change. The empirical material consists of an interview study of publicly employed forest consultants in Sweden. The analysis identifies seven strategies that are applied to cope with uncertainties. The findings indicate that a multidimensional concept of uncertainty can explain why cognitive uncertainty is more easily managed than other types of uncertainty. Moreover, uncertainty may not be a central obstacle to offering advice; rather it can be actively used to gain authority and influence action.Funding Agencies:Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk)Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)Umeå University</p

En expertorganisation ändrar uppfattning: Om OECDs omsvängning i arbetsmarknadspolitiken

I 30 år har OECD trummat ut sitt budskap om behovet av strukturreformer på arbetsmarknaden. Receptet har varit likartat oavsett patient och ofta tycks förskrivningen ha skett enligt devisen ”ju beskare medicin, desto trovärdigare behandling”. Många blev därför förvånade när OECD, efter en ambitiös översyn av sin jobbstrategi, år 2006 gav upp tanken om en enda gyllene reformväg. Artikeln pekar på viktiga förändringar i den reviderade jobbstrategin och analyserar vilka faktorer som låg bakom OECD:s omsvängning i arbetsmarknadspolitiken

Freedom with what? : Interpretations of “responsibility” in Swedish forestry practice

Responsibility is a key aspect of all regulation, and forest regulation is no exception. Howshould responsibility be understood and used in a time characterized by complexity and uncertainty? This paper develops a typology that distinguishes six notions of responsibility and then employs it in analyzing interpretations of responsibility in Swedish forestry practice. The Swedish forest management system is a deregulated system structured by the governing principle of “freedom with responsibility.” By investigating how responsibility is understood and enacted by forest consultants and forest owners, we demonstrate the practical fluidity of the responsibility concept. We emphasize the need for an understanding of responsibility that fosters sensitivity and adaptiveness to external issues and actors in the face of uncertainty, and identify obstacles in current forestry policy and practice to enacting such an understanding.Funding Agencies:Forestry Research Institute of Sweden (Skogforsk)Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)Umeå University</p

Forestry and the environment : Tensions in a transforming modernity

Sweden is often described as an environmental forerunner and one of the most ecologically modernized countries in the world, one where social welfare, economic growth and environmental protection mutually support each other. Examining the case of Swedish forestry, we discuss a number of tensions in this sector that mirror some general tensions in Swedish society and explore how these tensions can be understood as part of a transforming modernity

Forestry and the environment : Tensions in a transforming modernity

Sweden is often described as an environmental forerunner and one of the most ecologically modernized countries in the world, one where social welfare, economic growth and environmental protection mutually support each other. Examining the case of Swedish forestry, we discuss a number of tensions in this sector that mirror some general tensions in Swedish society and explore how these tensions can be understood as part of a transforming modernity.Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

Cold Science Meets Hot Weather : Environmental Threats, Emotional Messages and Scientific Storytelling

Science is frequently called upon to provide guidance in the work towards sustainable development. However, for science to promote action, it is not sufficient that scientific advice is seen as competent and trustworthy. Such advice must also be perceived as meaningful and important, showing the need and urgency of taking action. This article discusses how science tries to facilitate action. It claims that the use of scientific storytelling—coherent stories told by scientists about environmental trajectories—are central in this; these stories provide meaning and motivate and guide action. To do this, the storylines need to include both a normative orientation and emotional appeals. Two different cases of scientific storytelling are analyzed: one is a dystopic story about a world rushing towards ecological catastrophe, and the other is an optimistic story about a world making dramatic progress. These macrosocial stories offer science-based ways to see the world and aim to foster and guide action. The article concludes by stating that using storylines in scientific storytelling can elicit fear, inspire hope, and guide action. The storylines connect cold and distant scientific findings to passionate imperatives about the need for social transformation. However, this attachment to emotions and values needs to be done reflexively, not only in order to create engagement with an issue but also to counteract a post-truth society where passionate imperatives go against scientific knowledge