Algorithms and Speech

One of the central questions in free speech jurisprudence is what activities the First Amendment encompasses. This Article considers that question in the context of an area of increasing importance – algorithm-based decisions. I begin by looking to broadly accepted legal sources, which for the First Amendment means primarily Supreme Court jurisprudence. That jurisprudence provides for very broad First Amendment coverage, and the Court has reinforced that breadth in recent cases. Under the Court’s jurisprudence the First Amendment (and the heightened scrutiny it entails) would apply to many algorithm-based decisions, specifically those entailing substantive communications. We could of course adopt a limiting conception of the First Amendment, but any nonarbitrary exclusion of algorithm-based decisions would require major changes in the Court’s jurisprudence. I believe that First Amendment coverage of algorithm-based decisions is too small a step to justify such changes. But insofar as we are concerned about the expansiveness of First Amendment coverage, we may want to limit it in two areas of genuine uncertainty: editorial decisions that are neither obvious nor communicated to the reader, and laws that single out speakers but do not regulate their speech. Even with those limitations, however, an enormous and growing amount of activity will be subject to heightened scrutiny absent a fundamental reorientation of First Amendment jurisprudence

Inequality Regimes in Grocery Stores: Intersections of Gender, Hierarchies, and Working Conditions

This article explores the extent to which spatial and hierarchical divisions of work in grocery stores intersect with gender, and resulting inequalities in employees’ working conditions. Our empirical basis is individual and group interviews conducted with managers and employees at two grocery stores in Sweden. The theoretical concept of inequality regimes serves as an analytical tool for understanding if and how multiple intersecting processes produce and maintain inequalities in working conditions. The findings show that hierarchical and gendered inequalities are (re)created in the stores, for both permanently and temporarily employed workers. The organizing processes include a functional and gendered division of the workforce together with a division based on terms of employment mainly based on the profit generated by the goods handled in each department. The study shows how spatial divisions related to hierarchy, status, and gender intersect in creating inequalities in employees’ working conditions, career opportunities, and the physical and psycho- social working environment

Inequality Regimes in Grocery Stores: Intersections of Gender, Hierarchies, and Working Conditions

This article explores the extent to which spatial and hierarchical divisions of work in grocery stores intersect with gender, and resulting inequalities in employees’ working conditions. Our empirical basis is individual and group interviews conducted with managers and employees at two grocery stores in Sweden. The theoretical concept of inequality regimes serves as an analytical tool for understanding if and how multiple intersecting processes produce and maintain inequalities in working conditions. The findings show that hierarchical and gendered inequalities are (re)created in the stores, for both permanently and temporarily employed workers. The organizing processes include a functional and gendered division of the workforce together with a division based on terms of employment mainly based on the profit generated by the goods handled in each department. The study shows how spatial divisions related to hierarchy, status, and gender intersect in creating inequalities in employees’ working conditions, career opportunities, and the physical and psycho- social working environment

”Oh, you are so beautiful, are you lady or ladyboy?” - En kvalitativ studie av kön, sexualitet och social status bland transsexuella i Thailand.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur personer som identifierar sig som sao braphet song (transsexuella) i Thailand konstruerar identitet i vardagen. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån tre temaområden som rör (upplevelse av) kön, sexualitet och upplevelse av social status i samhället. Studien är utförd i Pattaya, Thailand under hösten 2007 och baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer tillsammans med observationer. Materialet tolkas med hjälp av teorier om socialkonstruktionism, postkolonial teori och genusperspektiv. Materialet visar på den komplexa situation som transsexuella befinner sig i då de ständigt måste kämpa emot ett heteronormativt utanförskap. Genom performativa handlingar skapar deltagarna i studien kön och sexualitet, och i många fall är berättelserna fyllda av motsägelsefullhet. Det vittnar om hur kön, sexualitet och social status inte är fasta kategorier i deltagarnas identitet, utan hur dessa ständigt reproduceras och manifesteras beroende av sammanhang. Performativitet, heteronormativitet och postkolonialt tänkande är begrepp som diskuteras i uppsatsen och som sedan relateras till den konstruktion av kön, sexualitet och social status som skapas och upprätthålls i deltagarnas vardag. Genom uppsatsen vill vi exemplifiera och beskriva hur en grupp transsexuella i Thailand upplever sin verklighet. Studien är generaliserbar i förhållande till villkoren för hur kön konstrueras. Transsexualitet är inte artskilt, utan ingår i skalan för vad som förväntas av oss som könade varelser vart i världen vi än befinner oss. Att göra kön blir accentuerat bland transsexuella, men kan inte sägas vara väsenskilt för i förhållande till övriga könskategorier

The importance of organizational characteristics for psychosocial working conditions and health

The importance of organizations for understanding differences in the working conditions and health of employees is often emphasized but rarely explored empirically. The general aim of this thesis is to describe organizational characteristics of workplaces, and to assess their impact on the psychosocial working conditions and health of employees. In modern working life, it is assumed that employees' working conditions and health are affected by a general transformation of workplaces from bureaucracy to post-bureaucracy.  The organizational data used are based on structured interviews with managers at workplaces in different types of operations in mid-Sweden, whereas the individual data consist of a questionnaire to all employees working in the participating workplaces, resulting in a dataset of 90 workplaces and 4306 individuals. Descriptive analysis was carried out for comparison of organizational characteristics in different types of operations, while multilevel analysis was applied to investigate the magnitude of the organizational impact on psychosocial working conditions, and to analyze associations between organizational characteristics, psychosocial working conditions and health. The results showed that the workplaces were mainly displayed by a combination of bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic characteristics, and these were unequally distributed between types of operations. A systematic variation in the psychosocial working conditions and health of employees was found between workplaces, and the variation in psychosocial working conditions was attributed to several organizational levels. The variation between workplaces was explained by both organizational characteristics of the workplaces and individual characteristics of the employees. Formalization, centralization, job enrichment, individual responsibility, soft control systems, and performance control were associated with psychosocial working conditions when controlled for occupational class, gender and age of employees, and a high degree of customer adaptation was associated with increased sickness absence of employees.   It is concluded that bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy should not be regarded as dichotomies. Organizational characteristics of workplaces have an impact on the psychosocial working conditions and health of employees beyond occupational class. This has implications for both the theory and the practice of occupational health research. The Healthy Workplace Stud

Extra anpassningar och bedömning - fyra lärares upplevelser av arbetet med extra anpassningar och bedömning i svenska för elever med autismspektrumtillstånd

Abstract Syfte Under de senaste åren har det framkommit i flera rapporter att skolan har brister vad det gäller arbetet med inkludering och extra anpassningar för elever inom grundskolan. Framförallt är det elever med autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) som har lyfts fram. Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva lärares upplevelser av arbetet med extra anpassningar och bedömning i svenska för elever med autismspektrumtillstånd i grundskolans senare. I studien är följande frågeställningar gällande ämnet svenska och elever med AST centrala: Vilka extra anpassningar beskriver lärarna att de använder? Vilka möjligheter och hinder upplever lärarna i arbetet med extra anpassningar? Vilka möjligheter och hinder upplever lärarna i arbetet med bedömning? Teori Uppsatsen utgår från en sociokulturell lärandeteori där grunden är att lärande sker i samspel med andra och i sociala sammanhang. Utifrån den sociokulturella lärandeteorin utforskas begrepp som redskap och verktyg i samband med lärares arbete med extra anpassningar och bedömning. De specialpedagogiska perspektiv som återfinns i uppsatsen kan ses som en kombination av det som ofta benämns som det kritiska perspektivet och dilemmaperspektivet. Det senare belyser den konflikt som finns inom skolsystemet och visas genom rätten till liknande utbildning samtidigt som undervisningen ska anpassas till elevernas olikheter. Metod Då syftet med studien var att belysa lärares erfarenheter av extra anpassningar och bedömning i svenska av elever med AST i grundskolans senare valdes en kvalitativ metod. Då fokus i studien är lärares upplevelser i form av erfarenheter, tankar och funderingar gällande extra anpassningar och bedömning valdes en livsvärldsfenomenologisk ansats. Resultat Lärarna i studien uppvisar liknande tankar kring de övergripande arbetsprocesserna med extra anpassningar där tydlighet och struktur är centrala men det finns olikheter när det kommer till hur anpassningarna utformas i undervisninge

Do Sex Differences in the Association between Work Exposure and Health in the Manufacturing Industry Depend on Work Context? : Results from the WOLF-Study

The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between work exposure such as psychosocial work factors and work posture, and health in men and women with the same type of occupation in the manufacturing industry. Two follow-ups with a follow-up rate of 67% from the WOrk, Lipids and Fibrinogen (WOLF) cohort from the Northern Sweden were used. The database included 1589 men and 286 women, which is representative of the proportions between men and women in the Swedish manufacturing industry. To be able to understand the importance of work context, the participants were categorized according to work tasks (working with things or symbols). Logistic regression was used for interaction analyses between sex and psychosocial work factors (such as demand, control, social support, role conflict, and work-family conflict) as well as physical work factors (such as work posture), and health outcomes (work overcommitment, fatigue, and neck and back pain). The results showed contextually different patterns of sex different associations between psychosocial work factors and health outcomes. For instance, women were at larger risk of ill-health (in the form of work overcommitment) when working with things, whereas men were at larger risk of both work overcommitment and fatigue when working with symbols. Women working with symbols had a larger risk of neck and back pain due to work-family conflict. The health outcome that was most sensitive to the sex different associations was work overcommitment. In conclusion, the work context matters for sex differences in the association between psychosocial work factors and health and since work overcommitment is a predictor of disease, it should be of interest for the Occupational Health Services and personnel departments to survey.Kvinnor i industrin: hälsopromotion och sjukprevention i den longitudinella WOLF kohorte

Do sex differences in the association between work exposure and health in the manufacturing industry depend on work context? : results from the WOLF-study

The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between work exposure such as psychosocial work factors and work posture, and health in men and women with the same type of occupation in the manufacturing industry. Two follow-ups with a follow-up rate of 67% from the WOrk, Lipids and Fibrinogen (WOLF) cohort from the Northern Sweden were used. The database included 1589 men and 286 women, which is representative of the proportions between men and women in the Swedish manufacturing industry. To be able to understand the importance of work context, the participants were categorized according to work tasks (working with things or symbols). Logistic regression was used for interaction analyses between sex and psychosocial work factors (such as demand, control, social support, role conflict, and work-family conflict) as well as physical work factors (such as work posture), and health outcomes (work overcommitment, fatigue, and neck and back pain). The results showed contextually different patterns of sex different associations between psychosocial work factors and health outcomes. For instance, women were at larger risk of ill-health (in the form of work overcommitment) when working with things, whereas men were at larger risk of both work overcommitment and fatigue when working with symbols. Women working with symbols had a larger risk of neck and back pain due to work-family conflict. The health outcome that was most sensitive to the sex different associations was work overcommitment. In conclusion, the work context matters for sex differences in the association between psychosocial work factors and health and since work overcommitment is a predictor of disease, it should be of interest for the Occupational Health Services and personnel departments to survey

Tid för återhämtning? : - en utvärdering av Projekt arbetstid

Bakgrund: I flera kommuner har socialtjänsten under lång tid haft hög personalomsättning bland socialsekreterare och tillika stora svårigheter att rekrytera dessa. Mot den bakgrunden strävar alltfler kommuner efter att bli attraktiva arbetsgivare genom att erbjuda goda arbetsvillkor. Några kommuner har prövat olika arbetstidsmodeller där den arbetsplatsförlagda arbetstiden förkortas. Som en del av kompetensförsörjningsstrategin beslutade Örnsköldsviks kommun att under åren 2019 och 2020 pröva att förkorta den arbetsplatsförlagda arbetstiden med 45 minuter per dag i ”Projekt arbetstid” bland myndighetsutövande personal inom avdelningen för social utredning. Metod: I utvärderingen besvarade all personal som ingick i projektet en enkät kring arbetsmiljö och hälsa. Enkäten skickades ut inför projektstart (2019) och ett år in i projektet (2020). Däremellan genomfördes individuella intervjuer med enhetschefer och fokusgruppsintervjuer med personalen. Intervjuerna med personalen skedde enhetsvis. Resultat: Projektets huvudmål var att främja möjligheter till återhämtning och det upplever majoriteten av personalen att de har fått. En faktor som särskilt lyfts fram är flexibilitet, att personalen kan ta ut tid för återhämtning vid behov under veckan. Resultatet visar också positiva förändringar rörande personalens hälsa. Det skedde en generell effektivisering av mötesrutiner och teknikanvändning, samt utveckling av mer kollektiva arbetssätt på vissa enheter och en förändrad syn och hantering av arbetstiden hos enskilda medarbetare. När det gäller arbetsmiljön framkom en generellt positiv bild med goda utvecklingsmöjligheter och en stark social gemenskap, men även förekomst av potentiella riskfaktorer som högt arbetstempo och lågt inflytande. Projektet bidrog till att en större andel av personalen började arbeta heltid. Faktisk bemanning och förekomsten av organisatoriska förändringar i övrigt påverkade personalens möjligheter att förändra arbetssätt, arbetsmiljö och ta ut återhämtningstid. Avslutningsvis vill vi påminna om att utvärderingen genomfördes innan verksamhetens organisering anpassades till pandemins utbrott