Austerity as bureaucratic violence: understanding the impact of (neoliberal) austerity on disabled people in Sweden

Drawing on a framework offered by Bauman and literature from disability studies and other sociological areas, this article argues that the experience of austerity for disabled people in Sweden is one of bureaucratic violence, shaped by disablism. The article aims to broaden the sociological conceptualisation of bureaucratic violence to include disablist austerity within its purview. It utilises fieldwork data from interviews with disabled people in Sweden to explore how welfare bureaucracy isolates and dehumanises disabled people. It also examines how Swedish welfare bureaucracies obscure the impact of austerity on this population. Due to the convergence of neoliberalism and austerity in Sweden, the exploration of bureaucratic violence opens up important questions regarding the Social Darwinist elements in neoliberal theory. Ultimately, bureaucratic violence is a useful concept for sociologists for two reasons: it sheds austerity of its technocratic veneer and connects lived experiences of welfare reform to the lethal consequences of austerity

Life in the hands of welfare bureaucracy: the impact of austerity on disabled people in Sweden

Sweden has often been seen as the epitome of a social democratic welfare state. These accounts, however, often fail to take into consideration the development of neoliberal thought in Sweden and the expansion of austerity. Reflections regarding Sweden’s welfare state also often neglect to include disabled people. This is partly to do with the fact that the Swedish welfare state conflates illness and disability, which is rarely explored in Swedish disability research. This thesis will address these lacunas by investigating how disabled people in Sweden have been impacted by austerity. By looking at a range of areas, such as the social consequences of being a disabled person, bureaucracy, the representation of disabled people in economic theory, and employment, it offers a holistic approach to understand the development of Sweden into a neoliberal country and how disabled people have been affected by this change. The data for this thesis was gathered by interviewing 24 disabled people, eight welfare professionals, and eight disability organisation representatives. Using thematic data analysis, it became clear that disabled people experience stigma and discrimination in Sweden and that welfare bureaucracy has significant an impact on their lives. This was particularly the case for those whom cannot access resources on the ‘free market’. The thesis argues that the decreased provision of welfare resources for disabled people require a broader reflection upon the normative nature of economic theory and the social position of disabled people in Sweden

Transition to where and to what? Exploring the experiences of transitions to adulthood for young disabled people

Transition to adulthood for young disabled people remains a major policy failure across OECD countries. The support available is often inappropriate, fails to meet young peoples’ needs and they fall through the cracks, becoming lost in the system. Much of the work on transition takes a narrow approach, focussing on the shift from paediatric to adult services in health and social care. Drawing on interviews with young disabled people, collected as part of an evaluation of a new cash-based transitions fund, we explore transitions for young disabled people in Scotland. Like the wider personalisation agenda, this fund aims to promote autonomy and individual responsibility. We examine and critique this approach and argue that while the emphasis on young people and their families as social entrepreneurs can facilitate transition, it can also act as a barrier by failing to tackle broader structural constraints faced by young disabled people. We argue that whilst it is important to promote individual agency, structural disadvantage and inequality frame the transition process and these also have to be tackled. This is harder, and arguably more expensive, but without it there is a danger that attempts to improve transition for young disabled people will fail

Left out and locked down: impacts of COVID-19 for marginalised groups in Scotland

No abstract available

Kolfiber från sulfatlignin

Kraft lignin has a high potential for use in more valuable applications than its current use as fuel in pulp mills and integrated pulp and paper mills. The possibility of using kraft lignin, a green material with a carbon content of more than 60 %, for the manufacturing of carbon fibres was investigated in this thesis. The strong and lightweight carbon fibre material has many potential application areas, e.g. in cars; the main obstacle limiting its demand is the high production cost, with the raw material (petroleum pitch and polyactrylonitrile) and fibre spinning constituting approximately 50 % of the cost. Industrial kraft lignins originating from both softwood (spruce/pine) and hardwood (birch/aspen) were isolated with the LignoBoost technique and then purified and characterized to determine the best suitable lignin for the production of carbon fibre. Using ultrafiltration of the black liquor before isolation using the LignoBoost technique, a kraft lignin with satisfactory high purity was obtained. The fractionated kraft lignin can be used either as such or as a softening agent during melt spinning to obtain continuously spun kraft lignin fibres. The behaviour during thermal treatment was found to differ depending on the type of kraft lignin used. After oxidative stabilisation, the studied lignins became more stable, and thus, the final yield after carbonisation was increased by 10-20 % in comparison to stabilisation in absence of oxygen. The identified products indicate that the main reactions during oxidative stabilisation are radical, oxidation, condensation and rearrangement reactions. The structural differences between softwood and hardwood kraft lignins facilitated the stabilisation of the softwood lignin fibre as compared with the hardwood lignin fibres. Thermal stabilisation in an inert atmosphere using only heat was successfully achieved for the softwood kraft lignin fibres. Stabilisation and carbonisation was successfully performed in a one-step operation on softwood kraft lignin fibres. Thus, it seems possible that the separate stabilisation step can be omitted, which may reduce the processing costs of softwood kraft lignin-based carbon fibres.Sulfatlignin har hög potential för att kunna användas i mer värdefulla applikationer jämfört med idag då det främst används som bränsle i massabruk och integrerade massa/pappersbruk. I egenskap av ett grönt material med en kolhalt på mer än 60 %, har möjligheterna att använda kraftlignin vid kolfibertillverkning undersöks i den här avhandlingen. Kolfiber är lätt och starkt med många olika potentiella användningsområden. Det som idag huvudsakligen begränsar efterfrågan är den höga produktionskostnaden, där råmaterialet (petroleum pitch och polyakrylonitril) och fiberspinningen står för ca 50 % av kostnaden. Industriella sulfatligniner från både barrved (gran/tall) och lövved (björk/asp) har framställts enligt LignoBoost-processen och har därefter renats och karaktäriserats med syfte att hitta det mest lämpliga råmaterialet för tillverkning av kolfiber. Genom att använda ultrafiltrering av svartlut innan isolering med LignoBoost-tekniken, kan man få ett kraftlignin som är tillräckligt rent. Det fraktionerade kraftligninet kan användas antingen rent eller som mjukgörare under smältspinning, för att få fram kontinuerligt spunna sulfatligninfibrer. Sulfatligniner från olika vedslag beter sig olika under termisk behandling. Efter oxidativ stabilisering blir ligninerna mer stabila jämfört med stabilisering i frånvaro av syre, vilket medför ett högre utbyte med 10-20 % av den slutgiltiga kolfibern efter karbonisering. De viktigaste reaktionerna som sker under oxidativ stabilisering av fibrer från sulfatlignin är radikal-, oxiderings- och omlagringsreaktioner. De strukturella skillnaderna mellan sulfatlignin från barrved och lövved gör det möjligt att stabilisera barrvedslignin mycket fortare. Termisk stabilisering i inert atmosfär med endast värme har lyckats med sulfatligninfibrer från barrved. Vidare har även stabilisering och karbonisering i ett enda steg lyckats med sulfatligninfibrer från barrved. Detta kan göra det möjligt att utesluta stabiliseringssteget, vilket förhoppningsvis kan reducera processkostnaderna för kolfiber från barrvedssulfatlignin.QC 2012033

Lean-production - en studie om trivsel på en offentlig arbetsplats

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees of a government agency is experiencing the transition from a traditional operation metod to Lean Production. To what extent does the Lean Production satisfaction in the workplace?Previous research in the essay deals with the Hawthorne study which found that people's needs are social, further study on job satisfaction which freedom and proficiency demonstrated as a prerequisite for the job. Finally, one of the hierarchy of needs closely related theory with two further branching factors premise of job satisfaction.Theory which is the basis for the interview guide is Maslow's hierarchy of needs Furthermore, I discuss Lean Production and New Public Management.The results in the paper show different views concerning satisfaction in the workplace where Lean Production does not seem to be the fundamental factor, but rather play management approach in implementing major role.Validerat; 20151030 (global_studentproject_submitter

Förändringsledning : En multidimensionell bild av en förändringsledning inom sågverksindustrin

Omorganiseringar sker ofta när organisationer stöter på motgång och därför är tvungna att göra någon form av förändring. Det saknas i dagsläget forskning hur en förändring uppfattas ur en medarbetsarutgångspunkt. Denna studie har utförts vid SCA Timber ABs fem markandsavdelningar och syftet med denna studiehar varit att ge en multidimensionell bild av en förändringsledning ur ett medarbetar- och ledningsperspektiv samt att ta reda på hur de kan kontrasteras. De teorier som har använts har verkat som en grund för, och har väglett analysen. Studien har varit av kvalitativ typ och den metod som har använts bygger på en narrativ ansats. Affärscheferna har visat sig vara nästan helt nöjda med hur de arbetar i dagsläget, medan affärsassistenterna har en del önskemål gällande oönskade arbetsmoment. Det är bland annat önskvärt med en bättre introduktion för nyanställda. Vidare har det visat sig att ett par affärsassistenter har nämnt att det vore önskvärt med en person som kan verka som coach för affärsassistenterna och hjälpa dem i det dagliga arbetet. Två av affärscheferna har nämnt att de skulle önska att det fanns två olika profiler av affärsassistenter. Kontraster som har identifierats i denna studie är bland annat att affärsassistenterna har kommit med mer konkreta förbättringsförslag, medan affärscheferna istället har nämnt mer omfattande förbättringsförslag. Det har i denna studie visat sig att medarbetare troligtvis är mer positiva till förändringar än vad som förväntas. Det är därför viktigt att ledningen vågar prata med medarbetarna för att få höra deras tanker och åsikter innan eventuella förändringar. I denna studie var affärsassistenterna dock medvetna om att de inte riskerade att bli uppsagda. Det skulle därför vara av intresse att vidare se på en förändring av en högre grad än i denna studie då risken finns att ett förändringsmotstånd då skulle kunna identifieras.Reorganizations are common when organizations face adversities and therefore have to make some sort of change. There is a lack of research regarding how change is perceived from an employee perspective. This study has been carried out at SCA Timber's five marketing departments and the aim has been to provide a multi-dimensional view of a change management from an employee and a leader perspective and to see how they can be contrasted. The theories used have served as a basis for, and has guided the analysis. This study has been of a qualitative type and a narrative method has been used. The empirical material has been collected through interviews and conversations. It has shown that the business managers more or less are pleased with their ways of working, but that the business assistants have some desires regarding improvements. They wish that there would be abetter introduction for new employees. Something a couple of business assistants have mentioned is that they would like to have a person working as a coach for the business assistants and help them with everyday work. Two of the business managers have mentioned that they would wish that there were two types of business assistant roles. One of the contrasts identified in this study is that the business assistants have had more concrete suggestions regarding improvements while the business managers have suggested more comprehensive improvements. It has been shown in this study that employees probablyaremore positive to changes than expected. It is therefore important that the management dares to talk to the employees so that they will get to hear their thoughts and opinions before possible changes. In this study the business assistants knew that no downsizing would be done, and it may also have affected their positive attitude towardsa possible change. It would therefore be of interest to see how employees would react if they knew that a change could mean that they would lose their jobs, since it could also mean that the risk of a negative attitude towards a change could be higher

Kostnadsfrågan som struktruell diskriminering

No abstract available

Den svenska åtstramningspolitikens konsekvenser = consequences of Swedish austerity policies

No abstract available