Mid Sweden University

In September 2024, Gaskeuniversiteete (Mid Sweden University) will host the Polar Law Symposium. It will be the first time a Swedish university hosts the symposium. This symposium, which began in 2008 during the fourth International Polar Year, serves as a venue for scholars and practitioners to address emerging issues in international law and policy pertaining to the polar regions. This year’s event is scheduled for September 23–25 in Staare (Östersund), Sweden, located in the southern part of Saepmie. The symposium will focus on two primary themes: Implementation of International Minority and Indigenous Law at National Levels, and Governance, Resources, Security, and Jurisdictional Issues in the Circumpolar Area. Mid Sweden University’s role as the host underscores its high-quality multidisciplinary research profile, and growing commitment to Saami studies and research, furthering its mission to enhance collaboration with the Saami community. 

I den här rapporten tar vi utgångspunkt i resultat från en intervjustudie där vi undersökte erfarenheter av corona-pandemin (Covid-19) bland afro-svenskar i Järvaområdet i norra Stockholm. Det har blivit allt mer belagt i forskning att boende i ekonomiskt utsatta områden så som Järva riskerade att i högre grad att drabbas av svår sjukdom och död i Covid-19 (Bell et al 2022; Brandén 2020). Vår studie bidrar med kunskap som ofta marginaliseras i krishantering och granskar corona-krisen utifrån underliggande normer. Detta bidrar till den kritiska krisforskning som efterlyses inom krishanteringsforskningen efter att ha utvärderat effekterna på redan marginaliserade människor och grupper under corona-pandemin utifrån svensk empiri. Resultatet av vår studie uppmanar därför till mer välinformerade beslut och slutsatser från offentliga aktörer. Dessa kräver en syn på kriser där maktrelationer är centrala och hur olika kriser vävs samman. Det är tydligt att multipla och kroniska kriser spelar roll när en akutkris drabbar samhällen som har hänt med corona-pandemin.

In this report, we take as a starting point results from an interview study where we investigated experiences of the corona pandemic (Covid-19) among Afro Swedes in the Järva area in northern Stockholm. It has become more and more established in research that residents in economically vulnerable areas such as Järva risked to a greater degree suffering from severe illness and death from Covid-19 (Bell et al 2022; Brandén 2020). Our study contributes knowledge that is often marginalized in crisis management and examines the corona crisis based on underlying norms. This contributes to the critical crisis research that is called for within crisis management research after having evaluated the effects on already marginalized people and groups during the corona pandemic based on Swedish empirical evidence. The results of our study therefore call for more wellinformed decisions and conclusions from public actors. These require a view of crises where power relations are central and how different crises are woven together. It is clear that multiple and chronic crises play a role when an acute crisis hits communities as has happened with the corona pandemic.

Artikeln följer hur begreppet ”urban norm” hittills använts i svenskspråkig nyhetsmedia. Analysen granskar kritiskt vad som normaliseras när begreppet urban norm tillskrivs mening. I artikeln reflekterar författaren också över begreppets potential att bidra till förändring av ojämlika maktrelationer mellan och på olika platser. Genom den diskursteoretiska metoden att ”följa signifikanten” (Chang & Glynos 2011) undersöks förekomsten av begreppet urban norm i nyhetsmedia och vilka politiska och ideologiska kopplingar som görs till begreppet vid olika tidpunkter. Artikeln spårar doktriner, historiska ekon och kollektivt identitetsbyggande som bygger upp och organiserar betydelser av begreppet urban norm.

In the modern globalized world of work, society's capitalist and patriarchal norms perpetuate old and create new differences based on gender, class, ethnicity, age, and other social categorizations. This book proposes a novel conceptual framework offering theoretical and methodological insights for thinking through the present and future inequality challenges in the globalized world of work and working life issues in the context of spatio-temporal relations. Bringing together global feminist studies of intersectionality and transnationalism, work-life research, and studies of space, place, and identity, this edited collection responds to the growing interest in peripheries, rurality, and other spaces beyond the urban and business market centres. In crossing the theoretical boundaries between intersectionality and peripherality, this volume brings these concepts together to identify how racism, capitalism and heteropatriarchy operate on bodies in the name of work, particularly as expressed in precarious labour conditions. It also advocates for transnational solidarity as part of feminist ethics, while providing an opportunity to reflect on ways forward for feminist intersectional studies of work and working life, drawing on embodied relationality and a feminist ethics of care. Working Life and Gender Inequality explores the intersectional nature of gender, class, race and other inequalities from a global and spatial perspective. It will be of value to researchers, academics, students, managers, consultants, and policy makers in the fields of organizational studies, leadership, feminist and gender studies, working life, intersectionality and transnational feminism. 

Elin Grelsson Almestad och Angelika Sjöstedt vänder sig till varandra och den gemensamma platsen, en gång en avskild jordbruksby som mest innehöll kroppsarbete centrerat kring gården. Nu är den en förändrad plats med sommarkaféer och dyrköpta hus på lagomt pendlingsavstånd till stan. På vad kommer det an vilka som ryms i byn? Vilka får vara vi med oss i vår by?