Oscar Larsson is Associate professor in Political Science at the Swedish Defence University, Oscar Larsson completed his PhD in Political Science at Uppsala University in 2015. The thesis concerned (meta-)governance and collaboration in crisis management and analyzed the development of social security in Sweden and the introduction of a national radio communication system (RAKEL). Governance, power and collaboration are the central starting points for Oscar's research efforts after the dissertation. He has, among other things, researched on governance and collaboration between public and private partners in segregated urban environments, rural integration, in dealing with trafficking victims, and in crisis management. For the past two years, research has focused on sovereign power, national security and civilian preparedness. Oscar is also interested in philosophy of science and social constructivism. He has published articles on how ideas, institutions and discourses can have structuring effects on actors and how ideas in themselves can catalyze change. Address: Uppsala, Uppsala Lan, Sweden
Conference: ISA 2024 Annual Convention - April 3rd - 6th, 2024 Putting Relationality at the Centre of International Studies, San Francisco, 2024
A security discourse that resides upon the concepts of the grey zone and hybrid threats is curren... more A security discourse that resides upon the concepts of the grey zone and hybrid threats is currently emerging among international security actors and policy-makers. In the current security environment, it is assumed that antagonistic actors threaten democratic states through a range of hybrid threats aimed at instilling confusion and inertia concerning how to respond and disrupting political and administrative capacity. This article analyzes this discourse and the policy responses that have been proposed, noting that the key organizing concept in responding to hybrid threats is resilience. This concept is potentially problematic in that resilience has been critically examined as controversial and political in nature insofar as it promotes programmatic preparedness and social control, demanding that civil society, market actors, and individuals "rally 'round the flag" and contribute to wide-ranging national security management. Proponents of this view nonetheless continue to present resilience as a panacea for current security problems. This article reveals, however, that resilience is a productive and organizing concept and practice that is presented without the necessary boundaries and limits. This illustrates the need for a critical discussion concerning how much resilience is enough.
Genetic technologies are revolutionizing human health. In parallel, geopolitical instability has ... more Genetic technologies are revolutionizing human health. In parallel, geopolitical instability has prompted renewed discussions on the risks of DNA technology being weaponized in international conflict. With today’s changing security environment, we argue that risk assessments must be broadened from genetically targeted weapons to a series of new domains. In this comment article, we reflect on possible scenarios and solutions to emerging problems.
The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and eco... more The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and economic turmoil throughout the world. In spite of early warning signals from the World Health Organization, countries struggled to shape their policy responses and countermeasures for curtailing the spread of the virus while also minimising the damage that any restrictions would inflict on the health and well-being of society at large. While some countries have adopted strict regulations and extraordinary measures after declaring ‘states of exception’ and ‘national emergencies’, others have relied upon expert recommendations and individual responsibility. Sweden is viewed as having adopted one of the latter type of approaches in that it places the responsibility for social distancing upon the individual. Is this an instance of a failed ‘securitisation’ process, or rather a sensible constitutional and political response to a severe security event? This article presents an in-depth analysis ...
Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have ... more Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have embraced governmentality as an analytical perspective to understand emergent problems in the international sphere. The possibility of understanding various forms of power that are more mundane and granular than sovereign power has been valuable to our understanding of how states and societies are governed. In this chapter, we discuss the analytical, and possibly historical, displacement of sovereignty in Foucault’s narrative of the governmentalization of the state. Drawing on different sources and interventions, this chapter discusses the importance of sovereign power for understanding the governmentality approach within the state. In a similar vein, when governmentality is used to analyze globality, or global oneness, we think it is important to account for the presence sovereign states outside individual states if we wish to understand how global governance and globality is imagined, conducted and not least contested. We need in other words to be able to answer how sovereign states (as actors), state sovereignty (as principle) and sovereign powers (as state functions) are entangled in global governance and globality.
The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public a... more The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public and private spheres has drawn attention during the last decade as a promising strategy for combatting trafficking and improving assistance to victims of trafficking. This article investigates the Swedish Civil Society Platform against Human Trafficking as an example of successful collaboration between civil society actors. The aim is to explore how the platform as a distinct organizational form is capable of dealing productively with some of the challenges facing internal and external collaboration. We utilize interviews with key actors and a study of policy documents as we argue that the modularity and flexibility of the platform organizational form are key factors in its success. While it is a robust type of organization that may be regarded as a trustworthy partner, it also permits its member organizations to continue functioning as independent entities.
This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refu... more This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis in Sweden, focusing on the aftermath of 2015 unprecedented refugee migration, and also providing a brief historical perspective. Sweden has been known as one of the most generous countries in terms of welcoming refugees and providing an easy path to citizenship but its migration and reception policy has taken a ‘restrictive turn’ in recent years. The refugee crisis in 2015 has not only opened the window for ‘a major policy shift’ and ‘historical’ legislative changes to the Swedish migration and reception policy but also impacted the social, economic and political sphere instigating anti-immigrant sentiments.
The purpose of this paper is to theorize the shifting relationship between public authorities and... more The purpose of this paper is to theorize the shifting relationship between public authorities and individuals in the Swedish crisis management system 1995-2017. Sweden has adopted a wider understanding of security and have an extensive focus on domestic security and protection of vital systems while applying alternative governance strategies beyond sovereign means. This have resulted in collaborative arrangements of public and private actors and extensive responsibilization of individuals. The responsibilization in security issues substantially violates traditional aspects of the social contract between the state and its citizens and shows that emergency and exceptionalism are vital concepts also in domestic security management. Based on these findings we argue that there is great potential in incorporating a human security perspective as this will allow us to escape the traditional democracy/security nexus that emergency and exceptionalism upholds. 2
Networks and network governance is a much contested feature of contemporary politics. In this pap... more Networks and network governance is a much contested feature of contemporary politics. In this paper, (first presented at ISA 2012) I believe that the institution of networks could be analyzed via different conceptualizations of power. This analysis would help us in understanding the power of networks and their normative place in public politics. I am in the process of turning this conference paper into an article and is very interested in constructive comments on how to improve it!
How can ideas help us explain political change? Colin Hay’s Constructivist Institutionalism and V... more How can ideas help us explain political change? Colin Hay’s Constructivist Institutionalism and Vivien A. Schmidt’s Discursive Institutionalism are two recent frameworks that have theorized ideas as potential explanations of institutional change rather than stability. This new attention to the analytical role of ideas is welcome, but Hay and Schmidt have not taken into consideration the constitutive and structural aspects of ideas. In this article, I examine these two frameworks and propose certain potential new directions that would allow ideational explanations to flourish.
Keywords: Neo-institutionalism, Discourse, Constructivism, Agency, Ideas, Political Change
Meta-governance recently emerged in the field of governance as a new approach which claims that i... more Meta-governance recently emerged in the field of governance as a new approach which claims that its use enables modern states to overcome problems associated with network governance. This thesis shares the view that networks are an important feature of contemporary politics which must be taken seriously, but it also maintains that networks pose substantial analytical and political challenges. It proceeds to investigate the potential possibilities and problems associated with meta-governance on both theoretical and empirical levels. The theoretical discussion examines meta-governance in relation to governmentality, and it puts forward the claim that meta-governance may be understood as a specific type of neo-liberal governmentality. The meta-governance perspective regards networks as a complementary structure to traditional administration that can be utilized in the implementation and realization of public policy, but which also preserves the self-regulating and flexible character of networks. This generates a contradiction between the goals of public management and the character of networks that requires further investigation. The combination of the specific dynamics of the political field of security, the diminishing role of sovereign powers, the emergence of security networks, and the meta-governance stance adopted by the Swedish state constitutes a situation that should have been favorable for the successful employment of meta-governance. The empirical investigation of meta-governance is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the historical process involved and shows how the Swedish government and public authorities have adopted a meta-governance stance. The second analyzes the specific instruments and strategies that have been deployed in the governance of security communications and in the management of Sweden’s new security communications system which is an important aspect of security networks. The historical study together with the analysis of the meta-governance tools deployed reveals that the meta-governors neither reached the goals specified, nor fulfilled the overall purpose of successful security communications. I argue on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings obtained in the present study that it is very difficult to successfully employ meta-governance in respect to security and crisis management, and that we have sound reasons to suspect that meta-governance will run into similar difficulties in other political fields as well. I conclude that meta-governance is a far more difficult practice than has been anticipated by existing theories and policy recommendations. Turning to meta-governance as a way to govern and control organizations may in fact lead to further fragmentation and distortion of public politics. Keywords: meta-governance, meta-governance stance, governance, governmentality, sovereign power, political power, networks, security, communications systems, processtracing, interpretive policy analysis, Sweden, KBM, MSB, RAKEL
Although grey zone and hybrid threats, such as cyberattacks, information campaigns, and sabotage ... more Although grey zone and hybrid threats, such as cyberattacks, information campaigns, and sabotage against critical infrastructure, are becoming increasingly common in the contemporary world, relatively little attention has been directed to similar threats in the maritime environment. The recent global pandemic, Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Nord Stream sabotage in 2022, the sabotage of the Finnish-Baltic pipeline in 2023 in the Baltic Sea, as well as drone attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf are but a few examples that illustrate the fragility of international maritime communications. The present article explores the topic of grey zone and hybrid threats within the maritime environment. Based on an analysis of recent security events, particularly hybrid threats in the maritime environment, the article proposes that it is essential to seek a broader role for naval forces in supporting national sovereignty and international law and order regarding the Open Seas. The article aims to conceptualize and explore the foundations of maritime grey zone threats and the new roles of naval forces operating within this new context, asking whether the UN, through the International Maritime Organization, NATO, and the European Union, suffer from "sea blindness" concerning how they are preparing for the new world order.
The aim of this article is to assess how the European Union advances
its role as a global securit... more The aim of this article is to assess how the European Union advances its role as a global security actor and how it deploys the military forces provided by the member states. Tracing the current debate of the identity and means of the European Union, we analyze the two maritime operations, EU NAVFOR Somalia (Operation Atalanta) and EUNAVFOR MED (Operation Sophia) from a naval diplomacy perspective. Naval diplomacy acknowledge a more versatile role for naval forces, not just military advancement and force projection. For this purpose, we need to go beyond mission descriptions and operational mandates in order to analyze and assess the two operations from within, relying on internal reports and interviews with senior officers who have participated in the operations. Results show that naval forces seeks cooperation with International organizations, NGOs, and third countries in order to facilitate security and good order of the global common of international water. Still, complex security problems are not resolved in this manner and EU maritime operations are highly political, thus facing an uncertain future as a tool of CSDP.
The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and eco... more The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and economic turmoil throughout the world. In spite of early warning signals from the World Health Organization, countries struggled to shape their policy responses and countermeasures for curtailing the spread of the virus while also minimizing the damage that any restrictions would inflict on the health and well-being of society at large. While some countries have adopted strict regulations and extraordinary measures after declaring "states of exception" and "national emergencies," others have relied upon expert recommendations and individual responsibility. Sweden is viewed as having adopted one of the latter type of approaches in that it places the responsibility for social distancing upon the individual. Is this an instance of a failed "securitization" process, or rather a sensible Constitutional and political response to a severe security event? This article presents an in-depth analysis of the Swedish strategy for coping with Covid-19, arguing that this case illustrates that security management in a democratic state should direct greater attention to rule-following in accordance with a logic of appropriateness rather than the rule-breaking envisaged by securitization theory.
Many countries in the “Global North” that have
enjoyed relative food security for a number of
dec... more Many countries in the “Global North” that have enjoyed relative food security for a number of decades now face challenges that may lead to disturbances in food supplies. Global markets and global flows are not as self‐evident as they were a few years ago and new modes of governance for managing national food security during crisis are required. Recent events such as the COVID‐19 pandemic have further showed that global production systems and communications are fragile to a range of different disturbances. This article examines the possibility of managing national food security through collaborative arrangements between public authorities and private food companies through a case study of the Swedish approach to food security. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework that highlights the importance of motivation, leadership, shared understanding, and trust as four dimensions that evaluate collaborative governance in precrisis situations. We conclude that although a broader understanding of the importance of food security has emerged, collaborative governance arrangements run the risk of creating only an illusion of readiness, due to unclear mandates and clear leadership not able to advance trust, legal structures, or concrete agreements for ensuring national food security.
Conference: ISA 2024 Annual Convention - April 3rd - 6th, 2024 Putting Relationality at the Centre of International Studies, San Francisco, 2024
A security discourse that resides upon the concepts of the grey zone and hybrid threats is curren... more A security discourse that resides upon the concepts of the grey zone and hybrid threats is currently emerging among international security actors and policy-makers. In the current security environment, it is assumed that antagonistic actors threaten democratic states through a range of hybrid threats aimed at instilling confusion and inertia concerning how to respond and disrupting political and administrative capacity. This article analyzes this discourse and the policy responses that have been proposed, noting that the key organizing concept in responding to hybrid threats is resilience. This concept is potentially problematic in that resilience has been critically examined as controversial and political in nature insofar as it promotes programmatic preparedness and social control, demanding that civil society, market actors, and individuals "rally 'round the flag" and contribute to wide-ranging national security management. Proponents of this view nonetheless continue to present resilience as a panacea for current security problems. This article reveals, however, that resilience is a productive and organizing concept and practice that is presented without the necessary boundaries and limits. This illustrates the need for a critical discussion concerning how much resilience is enough.
Genetic technologies are revolutionizing human health. In parallel, geopolitical instability has ... more Genetic technologies are revolutionizing human health. In parallel, geopolitical instability has prompted renewed discussions on the risks of DNA technology being weaponized in international conflict. With today’s changing security environment, we argue that risk assessments must be broadened from genetically targeted weapons to a series of new domains. In this comment article, we reflect on possible scenarios and solutions to emerging problems.
The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and eco... more The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and economic turmoil throughout the world. In spite of early warning signals from the World Health Organization, countries struggled to shape their policy responses and countermeasures for curtailing the spread of the virus while also minimising the damage that any restrictions would inflict on the health and well-being of society at large. While some countries have adopted strict regulations and extraordinary measures after declaring ‘states of exception’ and ‘national emergencies’, others have relied upon expert recommendations and individual responsibility. Sweden is viewed as having adopted one of the latter type of approaches in that it places the responsibility for social distancing upon the individual. Is this an instance of a failed ‘securitisation’ process, or rather a sensible constitutional and political response to a severe security event? This article presents an in-depth analysis ...
Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have ... more Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have embraced governmentality as an analytical perspective to understand emergent problems in the international sphere. The possibility of understanding various forms of power that are more mundane and granular than sovereign power has been valuable to our understanding of how states and societies are governed. In this chapter, we discuss the analytical, and possibly historical, displacement of sovereignty in Foucault’s narrative of the governmentalization of the state. Drawing on different sources and interventions, this chapter discusses the importance of sovereign power for understanding the governmentality approach within the state. In a similar vein, when governmentality is used to analyze globality, or global oneness, we think it is important to account for the presence sovereign states outside individual states if we wish to understand how global governance and globality is imagined, conducted and not least contested. We need in other words to be able to answer how sovereign states (as actors), state sovereignty (as principle) and sovereign powers (as state functions) are entangled in global governance and globality.
The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public a... more The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public and private spheres has drawn attention during the last decade as a promising strategy for combatting trafficking and improving assistance to victims of trafficking. This article investigates the Swedish Civil Society Platform against Human Trafficking as an example of successful collaboration between civil society actors. The aim is to explore how the platform as a distinct organizational form is capable of dealing productively with some of the challenges facing internal and external collaboration. We utilize interviews with key actors and a study of policy documents as we argue that the modularity and flexibility of the platform organizational form are key factors in its success. While it is a robust type of organization that may be regarded as a trustworthy partner, it also permits its member organizations to continue functioning as independent entities.
This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refu... more This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis in Sweden, focusing on the aftermath of 2015 unprecedented refugee migration, and also providing a brief historical perspective. Sweden has been known as one of the most generous countries in terms of welcoming refugees and providing an easy path to citizenship but its migration and reception policy has taken a ‘restrictive turn’ in recent years. The refugee crisis in 2015 has not only opened the window for ‘a major policy shift’ and ‘historical’ legislative changes to the Swedish migration and reception policy but also impacted the social, economic and political sphere instigating anti-immigrant sentiments.
The purpose of this paper is to theorize the shifting relationship between public authorities and... more The purpose of this paper is to theorize the shifting relationship between public authorities and individuals in the Swedish crisis management system 1995-2017. Sweden has adopted a wider understanding of security and have an extensive focus on domestic security and protection of vital systems while applying alternative governance strategies beyond sovereign means. This have resulted in collaborative arrangements of public and private actors and extensive responsibilization of individuals. The responsibilization in security issues substantially violates traditional aspects of the social contract between the state and its citizens and shows that emergency and exceptionalism are vital concepts also in domestic security management. Based on these findings we argue that there is great potential in incorporating a human security perspective as this will allow us to escape the traditional democracy/security nexus that emergency and exceptionalism upholds. 2
Networks and network governance is a much contested feature of contemporary politics. In this pap... more Networks and network governance is a much contested feature of contemporary politics. In this paper, (first presented at ISA 2012) I believe that the institution of networks could be analyzed via different conceptualizations of power. This analysis would help us in understanding the power of networks and their normative place in public politics. I am in the process of turning this conference paper into an article and is very interested in constructive comments on how to improve it!
How can ideas help us explain political change? Colin Hay’s Constructivist Institutionalism and V... more How can ideas help us explain political change? Colin Hay’s Constructivist Institutionalism and Vivien A. Schmidt’s Discursive Institutionalism are two recent frameworks that have theorized ideas as potential explanations of institutional change rather than stability. This new attention to the analytical role of ideas is welcome, but Hay and Schmidt have not taken into consideration the constitutive and structural aspects of ideas. In this article, I examine these two frameworks and propose certain potential new directions that would allow ideational explanations to flourish.
Keywords: Neo-institutionalism, Discourse, Constructivism, Agency, Ideas, Political Change
Meta-governance recently emerged in the field of governance as a new approach which claims that i... more Meta-governance recently emerged in the field of governance as a new approach which claims that its use enables modern states to overcome problems associated with network governance. This thesis shares the view that networks are an important feature of contemporary politics which must be taken seriously, but it also maintains that networks pose substantial analytical and political challenges. It proceeds to investigate the potential possibilities and problems associated with meta-governance on both theoretical and empirical levels. The theoretical discussion examines meta-governance in relation to governmentality, and it puts forward the claim that meta-governance may be understood as a specific type of neo-liberal governmentality. The meta-governance perspective regards networks as a complementary structure to traditional administration that can be utilized in the implementation and realization of public policy, but which also preserves the self-regulating and flexible character of networks. This generates a contradiction between the goals of public management and the character of networks that requires further investigation. The combination of the specific dynamics of the political field of security, the diminishing role of sovereign powers, the emergence of security networks, and the meta-governance stance adopted by the Swedish state constitutes a situation that should have been favorable for the successful employment of meta-governance. The empirical investigation of meta-governance is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the historical process involved and shows how the Swedish government and public authorities have adopted a meta-governance stance. The second analyzes the specific instruments and strategies that have been deployed in the governance of security communications and in the management of Sweden’s new security communications system which is an important aspect of security networks. The historical study together with the analysis of the meta-governance tools deployed reveals that the meta-governors neither reached the goals specified, nor fulfilled the overall purpose of successful security communications. I argue on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings obtained in the present study that it is very difficult to successfully employ meta-governance in respect to security and crisis management, and that we have sound reasons to suspect that meta-governance will run into similar difficulties in other political fields as well. I conclude that meta-governance is a far more difficult practice than has been anticipated by existing theories and policy recommendations. Turning to meta-governance as a way to govern and control organizations may in fact lead to further fragmentation and distortion of public politics. Keywords: meta-governance, meta-governance stance, governance, governmentality, sovereign power, political power, networks, security, communications systems, processtracing, interpretive policy analysis, Sweden, KBM, MSB, RAKEL
Although grey zone and hybrid threats, such as cyberattacks, information campaigns, and sabotage ... more Although grey zone and hybrid threats, such as cyberattacks, information campaigns, and sabotage against critical infrastructure, are becoming increasingly common in the contemporary world, relatively little attention has been directed to similar threats in the maritime environment. The recent global pandemic, Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Nord Stream sabotage in 2022, the sabotage of the Finnish-Baltic pipeline in 2023 in the Baltic Sea, as well as drone attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf are but a few examples that illustrate the fragility of international maritime communications. The present article explores the topic of grey zone and hybrid threats within the maritime environment. Based on an analysis of recent security events, particularly hybrid threats in the maritime environment, the article proposes that it is essential to seek a broader role for naval forces in supporting national sovereignty and international law and order regarding the Open Seas. The article aims to conceptualize and explore the foundations of maritime grey zone threats and the new roles of naval forces operating within this new context, asking whether the UN, through the International Maritime Organization, NATO, and the European Union, suffer from "sea blindness" concerning how they are preparing for the new world order.
The aim of this article is to assess how the European Union advances
its role as a global securit... more The aim of this article is to assess how the European Union advances its role as a global security actor and how it deploys the military forces provided by the member states. Tracing the current debate of the identity and means of the European Union, we analyze the two maritime operations, EU NAVFOR Somalia (Operation Atalanta) and EUNAVFOR MED (Operation Sophia) from a naval diplomacy perspective. Naval diplomacy acknowledge a more versatile role for naval forces, not just military advancement and force projection. For this purpose, we need to go beyond mission descriptions and operational mandates in order to analyze and assess the two operations from within, relying on internal reports and interviews with senior officers who have participated in the operations. Results show that naval forces seeks cooperation with International organizations, NGOs, and third countries in order to facilitate security and good order of the global common of international water. Still, complex security problems are not resolved in this manner and EU maritime operations are highly political, thus facing an uncertain future as a tool of CSDP.
The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and eco... more The Covid-19 pandemic that emerged in the spring of 2020 caused severe political, social, and economic turmoil throughout the world. In spite of early warning signals from the World Health Organization, countries struggled to shape their policy responses and countermeasures for curtailing the spread of the virus while also minimizing the damage that any restrictions would inflict on the health and well-being of society at large. While some countries have adopted strict regulations and extraordinary measures after declaring "states of exception" and "national emergencies," others have relied upon expert recommendations and individual responsibility. Sweden is viewed as having adopted one of the latter type of approaches in that it places the responsibility for social distancing upon the individual. Is this an instance of a failed "securitization" process, or rather a sensible Constitutional and political response to a severe security event? This article presents an in-depth analysis of the Swedish strategy for coping with Covid-19, arguing that this case illustrates that security management in a democratic state should direct greater attention to rule-following in accordance with a logic of appropriateness rather than the rule-breaking envisaged by securitization theory.
Many countries in the “Global North” that have
enjoyed relative food security for a number of
dec... more Many countries in the “Global North” that have enjoyed relative food security for a number of decades now face challenges that may lead to disturbances in food supplies. Global markets and global flows are not as self‐evident as they were a few years ago and new modes of governance for managing national food security during crisis are required. Recent events such as the COVID‐19 pandemic have further showed that global production systems and communications are fragile to a range of different disturbances. This article examines the possibility of managing national food security through collaborative arrangements between public authorities and private food companies through a case study of the Swedish approach to food security. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework that highlights the importance of motivation, leadership, shared understanding, and trust as four dimensions that evaluate collaborative governance in precrisis situations. We conclude that although a broader understanding of the importance of food security has emerged, collaborative governance arrangements run the risk of creating only an illusion of readiness, due to unclear mandates and clear leadership not able to advance trust, legal structures, or concrete agreements for ensuring national food security.
The notion of civil society, as an ontologically distinct sphere,
separated from the state thereb... more The notion of civil society, as an ontologically distinct sphere, separated from the state thereby serves as an antidote to the sovereign power of the state. Since the 1990s, we have seen reforms and organizational structures that advances the role of the market as well as the civil society along with a voluntary sector, often with the deliberate attempt to disrupt the power of the state and to tame the Leviathan through the promotion of networks, partnerships, co-governance and collaboration. This can be understood in terms of a present day state phobia and builds on a liberal conception of negative freedom understood as non-interference. Yet if we take Foucault‘s theorizations of power as omnipresent as it disrupts the power/freedom dichotomy we need to find alternative ways to cope with relations of power in order to not let them deteriorate into relations of domination. I argue in this article that neo-republican ideal of non-domination can be combined with Foucault’s insights on the nature of power. If correct, a continued promotion of more civil society involvement and partnerships between public and private actors provides a false
Two long-term trends characterized the response to the influx of asylum seekers in rural Sweden i... more Two long-term trends characterized the response to the influx of asylum seekers in rural Sweden in 2015. First, a result of current policy-making on integration policy, is the focus increasingly focused on individual immigrants, especially in relation to education, employment and housing provided the framework for the response. Second, the shift of rural governance from state control to collaborative arrangements with non-state actors, enabled the unprecedented involvement of civil society in the reception and integration of asylum-seekers in rural areas. The consequences of the confluence of these two approaches are most visible in rural areas. In this paper, we explore the new landscape of collaborative governance in relation to migrant reception and integration and ask: what kind of space for maneuver might be available for migrants in the context of collaborative governance of integration in rural Europe? We argue that the new context of rural governance in tandem with integration policies focusing on individual migrants/ families rather than also considering group and ethnic belongings can leave newcomers at the mercy of an informal and unknown institutional terrain of collaborative governance, one that can exacerbate their vulnerability and lead to a situation of "double isolation"-from co-ethnic networks as well as from local society.
The technocratic dimension of government—its reliance upon knowledge
claims, usually in scientifi... more The technocratic dimension of government—its reliance upon knowledge claims, usually in scientific guise—is of great importance if we wish to understand modern power and governance. In Power Without Knowledge: A Critique of Technocracy, Jeffrey Friedman investigates the often-overlooked question of the relationship between technocratic knowledge/power and ideas. Friedman’s contribution to our understanding of technocracy can therefore be read as a contribution to governmentality studies, one that introduces the possibility of adding normative solutions to this critical tradition.
Swedish security-and crisis management has since the beginning of the 1990s experienced discursiv... more Swedish security-and crisis management has since the beginning of the 1990s experienced discursive and organizational changes which has given rise to substantial shifts in responsibility-from state to individuals. This article aims to analyze and discuss the shift as well as the strategies deployed by the state to encourage crisis awareness and preparation among its citizens. The article notes that the gov-ernance of individual crisis awareness and preparation follows a liberal rationality in that it does not involve juridical or disciplinary tactics but operates on the sustained freedom and choice of individuals to comply. The shift in responsibility and the current forms of governance defies the theoretical and philosophical foundation of the liberal state and opens up important questions on defining the boundary of individual contra state responsibility for individual security and property. According to the liberal theory of a 'social contract' between the state and the citizen, individual liberty is exchanged for basic security provision provided by the state. This has also served as the foundation for the legitimacy of state power and its dominating power and monopoly of violence. If this contract and social bound is renegotiated in current crisis management in Sweden, it also invokes concern for the fundamental legitimacy of the state. Inledning Den enskildes eget ansvarstagande utgör en viktig del av samhäl-lets samlade förmåga att motstå och lindra konsekvenser av allva-rliga störningar i samhällets funktionalitet. Med god kunskap och beredskap hos individen kan det offentliga inrikta insatserna på att stödja de som befinner sig i nöd och saknar förutsättningar att själva hantera en sådan situation. Försvarsberedningen anser att
Contemporary liberal and democratic states have 'securitized' a growing number of issues by advan... more Contemporary liberal and democratic states have 'securitized' a growing number of issues by advancing the notion of societal security. This is coupled with a proactive stance and the conception of building societal resilience in order to withstand future crises and disturbances. The preemptive logic of contemporary security and crisis management calls for a new type of resilient neoliberal subject who is willing to accept uncertainty and shoulder greater individual responsibility for her own security. This article offers a genealogical analysis of this development in Sweden since the end of the Cold War, highlighting the role now assigned to citizens within social and national security planning. I argue that seeking a return to a more traditional notion of 'total defence' blurs the previously important war/peace and crisis/security distinctions. While war preparedness in previous eras was an exceptional aspect of human life and citizenship, the conceptions of security now evolving bind together societal and national security such that civil and war preparedness are merged into an ever-present dimension of everyday existence. The analysis also reveals that the responsibilization of individuals introduces a moral dimension into security and generates new forms of citizen-citizen relations. These extricate the sovereign powers of the state and the liberalist social contract between the state and its citizens.
The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public a... more The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public and private spheres has drawn attention during the last decade as a promising strategy for combatting trafficking and improving assistance to victims of trafficking. This article investigates the Swedish Civil Society Platform against Human Trafficking as an example of successful collaboration between civil society actors. The aim is to explore how the platform as a distinct organizational form is capable of dealing productively with some of the challenges facing internal and external collaboration. We utilize interviews with key actors and a study of policy documents as we argue that the modularity and flexibility of the platform organizational form are key factors in its success. While it is a robust type of organization that may be regarded as a trustworthy partner, it also permits its member organizations to continue functioning as independent entities.
Network governance has moved from being an analytical approach to an institutionalized way of man... more Network governance has moved from being an analytical approach to an institutionalized way of managing public problems. This has given rise to a meta-governance stance in which collaboration by design is sought by governing authorities. Network governance has thus become a highly regarded practice that governs by means of formal autonomy, freedom, knowledge utility, and sound deliberation. This is problematic insofar as it tends to conceal the workings of power, providing a self-fulfilling discursive logic of pluralism, participation, and deliberation. As a result, the practice and discourse of network governance needs to be contrasted to a competing analytical tradition in order to expose its political rationality. This article adopts a governmentality approach, a concept introduced by Michel Foucault, and makes the argument that network governance comprises a new particular type of "liberal" governmentality that diverges from traditional forms of liberal and neoliberal governmentality. As such, it must be understood according to its own specific type of collaborative governmentality. Locating network governance within the analytical framework of governmentality will make possible a richer analysis of how freedom and autonomy serve as the foundation for network governance while concealing political power and social conflict.
Efforts to strategically implement governance reforms have become a common way in which to deal w... more Efforts to strategically implement governance reforms have become a common way in which to deal with complex social and political issues. The analysis presented in this article addresses recent governance reforms in Malmö, Sweden, that are intended to help resolve complex problems of urban segregation and social inequality. The article identifies important difficulties that have been encountered in promoting increased participation in spite of the great awareness on the part of local actors of the problems facing the community. The study brings forth evidence that there are good reasons for reassessing the inclusive ethos of network governance and for a critical investigation of precisely who gains access to political processes when network governance arrangements are implemented from above.
Sweden is well-known as the first country in the world to adopt client criminalization in the eff... more Sweden is well-known as the first country in the world to adopt client criminalization in the effort to control and eventually eliminate prostitution. Less known and discussed is the emergence of extensive collaborative governance arrangements that serve as complements to the legal framework. The aim of this article is to provide new knowledge as it investigates the multifaceted ways in which governance arrangements have developed in Sweden, employing collaborative governance theories and the Regulatory-Intermediaries-Target (RIT) model for this purpose. Also explored are the strategies of responsibilization directed towards target groups that have been utilized in implementing policies to control prostitution and trafficking. The article analyzes not only the rationale behind the adoption of collaborative governance in Sweden, but also the complex governance practices, in which a range of actors are involved in policy making and application as well as regulation, that have emerged in this regard. We conclude that the previous understanding of the Swedish model needs to be revised, and that although collaborative governance has made a fruitful contribution to the field in question, it also introduces new types of problems, particularly a significant increase in informality and decision-making outside the legal framework, primarily by civil society actors.
Colin Hay’s and Vivien Schmidt’s responses to my previous critical engagement with their respecti... more Colin Hay’s and Vivien Schmidt’s responses to my previous critical engagement with their respective versions of neo-institutionalism raise the issue of how scholars may account for the ideational power of political processes and how ideas may generate both stability and change. Even though Hay, Schmidt, and I share a common philosophical ground in many respects, we nevertheless diverge in our views about how to account for ideational power and for actors’ ability to navigate a social reality that is saturated with structures and meaning. There continues to be a need for an analytical framework that incorporates discourse and a constitutive logic based upon the power in ideas. Post-structural institutionalism (PSI) analyzes discourse as knowledge claims by means of the concept of a constitutive causality, analytically identified in respect to institutions, such that the substantive content of ideas/discourse provides ideational power and generates immanent change.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the changing relations
between individuals and public aut... more The aim of this paper is to investigate the changing relations between individuals and public authorities within the Swedish crisis management system from 1995 to 2017. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden adopted a broader understanding of security that utilizes alternative governance strategies beyond sovereign means and focuses upon domestic security and the protection of vital systems. This has resulted in the emergence of collaborative arrangements involving public and private actors and as well as the extensive responsibilization of individuals. The latter has taken place since emergency and exceptionalism persist as vital concepts also in domestic security management. The present discussion argues that these two concepts restrict possibilities for democratizing security management and provides the means for harnessing the inclusion of volunteers while not granting them due voice in collaborative governance arrangements. However, responsibilization strategies include ‘activation’ which in turn may invoke critical agency and reflection as well as enable resistance toward the current apolitical notion of crisis management.
Network governance, which involves an informal and self-regulated set of public and private actor... more Network governance, which involves an informal and self-regulated set of public and private actors who together address various political and social problems, has substantially altered the institutional landscape concerning the formation and implementation of public policy. A common view is that this has made it possible to enhance pluralism and disperse political power by transferring power from the sovereign state to a wider set of private actors and stakeholders. I argue in this article that we need to analyze network governance in reference to the concept of domination and the theoretical tradition of neo-republicanism. For this purpose, I develop a theoretical framework that specifies five dimensions in which domination may arise and, conversely, be mitigated. An alternative image of network governance emerges which reveals that this type of governance may in fact generate a form of institutional domination that encompasses both citizens and civil society actors due to the arbitrary influence that certain network participants come to exercise upon the life choices of non-participants.
It is well recognized that contemporary crisis call for collaborative efforts across both organiz... more It is well recognized that contemporary crisis call for collaborative efforts across both organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. One of the key challenges for governments and public authorities responsible for organizing crisis management is to find adequate ways in which they can support decentralized and collaborative responses. This effort can be analyzed through the meta-governance approach that suggests that different instruments can be used to support decentralized collaborative efforts. This article analyzes the management of crisis communication in Sweden and the implementation of a new national Security Communications System (SCS) as a specific case of meta-governance. The main finding suggest that meta-governance may be impaired by combining different types of governance (sovereignty, markets or network management) due to competing rationality invested in each governance style. The deadlock was however resolved by direct involvement and increased deliberation between the meta-governors and the end-users as it generated a shared understanding of crisis management and the utility of a single SCS. Besides identifying the importance of direct involvement in terms of network management the article also suggests that meta-governors need to develop a deeper and more sensitive understanding of the self-organizing nature of networks in order to be able to support collaborative crisis management
Colin Hay's constructivist institutionalism and Vivien A. Schmidt's discursive institutionalism a... more Colin Hay's constructivist institutionalism and Vivien A. Schmidt's discursive institutionalism are two recent attempts to theorize ideas as potential explanations of institutional change. This new attention to the causal role of ideas is welcome, but Hay and Schmidt do not take into consideration the constitutive and structural aspects of ideas. Instead they reduce ideas to properties of individual conscious minds, scanting the respects in which ideas are intersubjectively baked into the practices shared by individuals. This aspect of ideas—arguably, the institutional side of ideas—is developed in post-structuralist thought, which therefore demands a place in ideational research.
This article argues that existent critique against the discourse and practice of governance by ne... more This article argues that existent critique against the discourse and practice of governance by networks fails to consider the more substantial political challenges that such a style of governance generates. By not addressing the depoliticization claims present in the discourse of governance by networks there is a continuation of the seemingly attractive solution and possibility for states to perform metagovernance of networks. Such suggestions have, however, overlooked the instability of networks and the politics of politics that this form of organization entails. By making use of a retheorization of sovereign power and its double relationship to public political space, it is argued that new insights can be gained with regards to the role of networks in contemporary politics. This retheorization suggests that sovereign power is present when decisions are made both on the political nature of issues and on whether accountability to the wider public should apply. Thus, contrary to the claim that sovereign power is declining as networks get involved in public affairs, it is argued here that such power is even more present due to an increased uncertainty of political boundaries that arise in the implementation and maintenance of new governing structures.
Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have ... more Poststructural and other critical and nonfoundational approaches to International Relations have embraced governmentality as an analytical perspective to understand emergent problems in the international sphere. The possibility of understanding various forms of power that are more mundane and granular than sovereign power has been valuable to our understanding of how states and societies are governed. In this chapter, we discuss the analytical, and possibly historical, displacement of sovereignty in Foucault’s narrative of the governmentalization of the state. Drawing on different sources and interventions, this chapter discusses the importance of sovereign power for understanding the governmentality approach within the state. In a similar vein, when governmentality is used to analyze globality, or global oneness, we think it is important to account for the presence sovereign states outside individual states if we wish to understand how global governance and globality is imagined, conducted and not least contested. We need in other words to be able to answer how sovereign states (as actors), state sovereignty (as principle) and sovereign powers (as state functions) are entangled in global governance and globality.
Religion, Migration and Existential Wellbeing, 2020
This concluding chapter of the edited volume provides empirical and theoretical insights on the t... more This concluding chapter of the edited volume provides empirical and theoretical insights on the topics and contributions of the individual chapters. At the core of the argument and purpose of the book was an interest to identify and discuss the conditions of co-existence and solidarity among different groups in society, as well as how individuals could achieve a sense of socio-cultural belonging, including physical and mental health, which could potentially spur social cohesion in the age of diversity. The chapters in the book have touched upon a number of related issues and the contributing authors have made their analyses with examples from several countries (such as Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Australia, Finland and Belgium). All the chapters provide their own analyses and conclusions, which is why this closing chapter has the humble ambition of sharing some of the observations and reflections we have made during the journey of curating and theorising this volume.
Religion, Migration and Existential Wellbeing, 2020
This book aims to engage with one of the more pressing issues in the contemporary world, namely m... more This book aims to engage with one of the more pressing issues in the contemporary world, namely migration, either forced or voluntary. It intends to do so by focusing on the wellbeing of migrants and the role of religion in processes of integration in host societies. The book brings together researchers from various disciplines taking on the challenge to elaborate on the theme of this book from different perspectives, using different methods and theories. The value of multidisciplinary research on the role of religion in a globalised society – locally, nationally and internationally – can hardly be overestimated. Religious aspects and actors are present in legal, political and social policy contexts and form the basis for future research on e.g. secularisation, democracy, minorities, human rights, welfare, healthcare and identity formation. These and other related topics are discussed in this book. This introductory chapter provides the theoretical foundation for the book and its contributions
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies, 2019
Security and citizenship are closely connected concepts, but their complicated relations have rec... more Security and citizenship are closely connected concepts, but their complicated relations have received scant attention in security studies. This is perhaps more understandable in respect to traditional and conventional security studies, which were concerned with how states interacted through “high politics,” military capability, and various alliances. This left little room for interest concerning the legal and political aspects of individuals and citizenship, even though populations could obviously be viewed as a material resource in relation to other states (Buzan et al. 1998). In contrast, the broader focus of “critical” security studies addresses new security objects and issues, directing increased attention to pertinent questions associated with individuals, groups, humanity, the environment, and terrorism. However, it has not always displayed an explicit concern with citizenship and the relevant regulations and institutional arrangements (Guillaume and Huysmans 2013). The impression created is that there has been little interaction between those conducting research concerning the two concepts of citizenship and security, which is both unfortunate and somewhat unexpected in that the connections between individual security and well-being have long been organized and theorized through the state. The aim of this chapter is to show that the connection between security and citizenship is highly complex and not easily understood and that theoretical, normative, and practical issues intersect in a manner that transforms the question into a compelling research agenda of great importance. Furthermore, viewing citizenship and security as paired concepts acquires a heightened relevance in respect to today’s global mobility, whereby people, things, events, and problems are no longer tied to specific geographical areas even though the organization and institutionalization of individual rights remain encapsulated in a world comprised of territorial states, each with its own internal legal order. This situation both constitutes and regulates the basic tenets of the international institutions and public law that govern the relationship between states, groups, and individuals.
The nature of crisis requires collaborating partners to communicate effectively with each other i... more The nature of crisis requires collaborating partners to communicate effectively with each other in order to make informed decisions under conditions of uncertainty and to engage and call upon the assistance of additional actors in the security network to mitigate, prepare for, respond, and recover from crisis. To the extent that an actor, public or private engages in the management of infrastructure that aims to facilitate responses to crises they engage in meta-governance. In this chapter, I scrutinize how the Swedish state implemented and managed a new Security Communications System (SCS) called RAKEL while considering three different dimensions and core challenges attached to managing technical infrastructure, technical issues seen as hardware, knowledge and applicability seen as software and financial models or simply who bears the costs. The article identifies deadlocks mainly due to lack of understanding of network structures and argues that more priority must be given to the organizational form of networks as well as considering trade-offs between hardware, software and financial models as technical infrastructure is implemented to facilitate collaborative efforts in crisis management.
(The text is in Swedish) This chapter investigates the erection and implementation of a new radio... more (The text is in Swedish) This chapter investigates the erection and implementation of a new radio system in Sweden. The radio-system is called RAKEL and is to be used for security-communication. The Swedish state utilizes a range of meta-governance tools to get public and private actors connected to the system. I identify three ideals that are incompatible in this case, security, collaboration and market. These conflicting ideals together makes the Swedish state adopt a meta-governance stance and leads to substantial redefinition of the role and identity for the state in the political field of security. This chapter was published in 2013 and is the first analysis of the case. A more substantial analysis is provided in my doctoral thesis, The Governmentality of Meta-governance - Identifying Theoretical and Empirical Challenges of Network Governance in the Political Field of Security and Beyond.
This paper wish to illustrate that despite the common understanding of postmodernism as anti-foun... more This paper wish to illustrate that despite the common understanding of postmodernism as anti-foundational, a substantial violation and an inherently critical ethos towards universalism and modernism, it is still bound by modernism and enlightenment to the extent that it cannot free itself from its historical past. Thus, a genealogical analysis of postmodernism itself shows that its strong ontological and epistemological claims of timelessness, contextual freedom and independence of its own predecessor and history. By treating Postmodernism as a philosophical paradigm in the social sciences, the hope is to show that despite its rather coherent yet evasive philosophical foundation it has inherent problem to survive as a sole paradigm. Postmodernism tries to establish a new meta-narrative, claim universal validity and by doing so implicitly falls short of its own alleged sensitivity standard. Postmodernism embody a coherent and ‘strong’ philosophical tradition that represents more than critique for its own sake and skeptical epistemology.
Research over the past two decades has focused on the shift that has taken place from municipal g... more Research over the past two decades has focused on the shift that has taken place from municipal government to urban governance, which has been accompanied by questions concerning democratic accountability. But as policy makers and administrators have become increasingly familiar with governance, public actors have strategically chosen to engage in the practice of meta-governance, thereby both promoting and utilizing governance networks. An analysis of a specific case in which governance networks were a central element of a proposed solution for local problems of segregation and social inequality reveals important assumptions that underlie network governance, including the idea that networks extend democratic channels beyond representative democracy. This study investigates these assumptions as well as their initial implementation in the case in question, showing that governance networks and increased participation are difficult to implement from above in spite of the ambitious and informed efforts that have been undertaken. Moreover, networks tend to promote collaboration among elites while leaving weak groups and policy recipients without a voice.
Many states, at the national and local level are today encouraging collaborative forms of govern... more Many states, at the national and local level are today encouraging collaborative forms of governance in order to manage complex problems. In this paper I explore the competing rationalities at play in collaborative networks and identify that neo-liberal governmentality, ultimately relying on self-governance, created markets, economic man and distrust, whereas meta-governance appeals to collaborative efforts, cooperation, pooling of resources, a common understanding and trust. The opposing rationality of these two over-arching approaches to public management have great influence on the kind of relationships, organizations and practices that emerge. To the extent that these rationalities are in conflict, they may cause deadlocks, misunderstandings between participants and potential mismanagement. Thus, by exposing the different rationalities at play, we are in a better position to understand the kind of relationships that characterize and constitute interactive governance regimes.
Book review of Assembling neoliberalism: expertise, practices and subject, edited by Vaughan Higg... more Book review of Assembling neoliberalism: expertise, practices and subject, edited by Vaughan Higgins and Wendy Larner, New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, 331 pp.
The lack of normative and ethical standpoints provided by Michel Foucault have been a source of c... more The lack of normative and ethical standpoints provided by Michel Foucault have been a source of confusion, debate and inquiry by a wide set of scholars. Foucault explicitly refrained from providing a normative theory regarding how power cold be organized. Richard A. Lynch offers a compelling excursion on this topic and explores Foucault’s own writing more closely in order to revisit the ethical foundation in the “third shift” in Foucault’s work which concentrates more narrowly on the subject of power. It is an interesting book and my review gives further insights and some critical notes on the ethical foundations of M. Foucault writing
Book review - if you are interested in reading the review but lack access to Critical Policy Stud... more Book review - if you are interested in reading the review but lack access to Critical Policy Studies you may use the following link
Wendy Brown's sharp eye and even sharper pen have been used in her previous publications to disse... more Wendy Brown's sharp eye and even sharper pen have been used in her previous publications to dissect issues of tolerance, sovereignty and walls, feminism, power, and knowledge. In her most recent book, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution, she assembles a number of empirical observations and theoretical accounts into a thoroughgoing analysis of the hegemonic, insidiously spreading rationality that underpins neoliberalism. This work constitutes an important contribution to both the political and the academic debate through its demonstration of how neoliberalism, as a specific form of rationality, reconfigures all aspects of human existence into economic relations. Brown does not simply address the fact that markets and money degrade and corrupt democracy and public life, but rather builds her analysis upon the Foucauldian approach of governmentality in articulating how the rationality of neoliberalism converts the distinctly political character, meaning and operation of democracy's constituent elements into economic ones (17). She also draws important empirical and analytical connections between Foucault's analytical approach to governmentality and a complementary Marxist critique of the material inequality that follows from neoliberal market reforms as she constructs a rich empirical analysis of how neoliberalism creates economic inequality, undoes the demos, and breeds populism instead of political and public engagement. In addition, Brown shows how such developments are reinforced by widespread acceptance of the concept of human capital and the subjectivization of homo oeconomicus. The book is divided into two sections of three chapters each. The first section, Neoliberal Reason and Political Life, is theoretically oriented, while the second, Disseminating Neoliberal Reason, displays the rationality of neoliberalism through a number of case studies. The discussion concludes with an epilogue, Losing Bare Democracy and the Inversion of Freedom into Sacrifice, instead of a conventional summary of the argumentation. In the first chapter Brown challenges the dominant understanding of neoliberalism as an economic doctrine, maintaining that it is necessary to instead examine its governing rationality in order to understand its undoing of the demos. She argues that although most critics of neoliberalism focus on the economic effects of intensified inequality, unethical commercialization, and market reforms (28-29), it is difficult to fully grasp its underlying rationality from this perspective because neoliberalism is in fact heterogonous, being elusive and difficult to grasp in certain contexts while obvious and clear-cut in others. Brown makes the case that the distinctive signature of neoliberal rationality is its widespread economization of heretofore non-economic domains, activities, and subjects, although this does not necessarily involve their marketization or monetarization (31-32). She proceeds to expand upon Foucault's analysis of the entrepreneurial and competitive subject, not merely relying upon the subject of exchange, as she underlines the fact that people today identify themselves in respect to the notion of human capital.
This is a pre-edited version of the review that soon will be published and accessible online with... more This is a pre-edited version of the review that soon will be published and accessible online with Critical Discourse Studies, Routledge Taylor & Francis:
This book uses the very latest research to examine current interactions between religion, migrati... more This book uses the very latest research to examine current interactions between religion, migration and existential wellbeing. In particular, it demonstrates the role of religion and religious organizations in the social, medical and existential wellbeing of immigrants within their host societies. By focusing on the role and politics of religion and religious organisations as well as the religious identity and faith of individuals, it highlights the connection between existential wellbeing, integration and social cohesion. The book brings together researchers from various disciplines taking on the challenge to elaborate on the theme of this book from different perspectives, using different methods and theories with a wide selection of cases from various parts of the world. The value of multidisciplinary research on the role of religion in a globalised society – locally, nationally and internationally – is important for understanding the composition and potential solutions to social and political problems. Religious aspects and organisations are present in legal, political and social forms of governance and form the basis for future research on e.g. secularisation, democracy, minorities, human rights, welfare, healthcare and identity formation. These and other related topics are discussed in this book. This book is an up-to-date and multifaceted study of how religion engages with the mass movement of peoples. As such, it will be of great interest to any scholar of Religious Studies, Migrant Studies, Sociology of Religion, Religion and Politics, as well as Legal Studies with a human right focus
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access link for read only:
https://rdcu.be/drKe2
Keywords: Neo-institutionalism, Discourse, Constructivism, Agency, Ideas, Political Change
This thesis shares the view that networks are an important feature of contemporary politics
which must be taken seriously, but it also maintains that networks pose substantial analytical and political challenges. It proceeds to investigate the potential possibilities and problems associated with meta-governance on both theoretical and empirical levels.
The theoretical discussion examines meta-governance in relation to governmentality, and it puts forward the claim that meta-governance may be understood as a specific type of neo-liberal governmentality. The meta-governance perspective regards networks as a complementary structure to traditional administration that can be utilized in the implementation and realization of public policy, but which also preserves the self-regulating and flexible character of networks. This generates a contradiction between the goals of public management and the character of networks that requires further investigation.
The combination of the specific dynamics of the political field of security, the diminishing role of sovereign powers, the emergence of security networks, and the meta-governance stance adopted by the Swedish state constitutes a situation that should have been favorable for the successful employment of meta-governance. The empirical investigation of meta-governance is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the historical process involved and shows how the
Swedish government and public authorities have adopted a meta-governance stance. The second analyzes the specific instruments and strategies that have been deployed in the governance of security communications and in the management of Sweden’s new security communications
system which is an important aspect of security networks. The historical study together with the analysis of the meta-governance tools deployed reveals that the meta-governors neither reached the goals specified, nor fulfilled the overall purpose of successful security communications.
I argue on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings obtained in the present study that it is very difficult to successfully employ meta-governance in respect to security and crisis management, and that we have sound reasons to suspect that meta-governance will run into similar difficulties in other political fields as well. I conclude that meta-governance is a far more difficult practice than has been anticipated by existing theories and policy recommendations. Turning to meta-governance as a way to govern and control organizations may in fact lead to further fragmentation and distortion of public politics.
Keywords: meta-governance, meta-governance stance, governance, governmentality,
sovereign power, political power, networks, security, communications systems, processtracing,
interpretive policy analysis, Sweden, KBM, MSB, RAKEL
its role as a global security actor and how it deploys the military
forces provided by the member states. Tracing the current debate of
the identity and means of the European Union, we analyze the two
maritime operations, EU NAVFOR Somalia (Operation Atalanta) and
EUNAVFOR MED (Operation Sophia) from a naval diplomacy perspective.
Naval diplomacy acknowledge a more versatile role for naval
forces, not just military advancement and force projection. For this
purpose, we need to go beyond mission descriptions and operational
mandates in order to analyze and assess the two operations from
within, relying on internal reports and interviews with senior officers
who have participated in the operations. Results show that naval
forces seeks cooperation with International organizations, NGOs, and
third countries in order to facilitate security and good order of the
global common of international water. Still, complex security problems
are not resolved in this manner and EU maritime operations are
highly political, thus facing an uncertain future as a tool of CSDP.
enjoyed relative food security for a number of
decades now face challenges that may lead to
disturbances in food supplies. Global markets and
global flows are not as self‐evident as they were a
few years ago and new modes of governance for
managing national food security during crisis are
required. Recent events such as the COVID‐19
pandemic have further showed that global production
systems and communications are fragile
to a range of different disturbances. This article
examines the possibility of managing national
food security through collaborative arrangements
between public authorities and private food
companies through a case study of the Swedish
approach to food security. The analysis is based
on a theoretical framework that highlights the
importance of motivation, leadership, shared understanding,
and trust as four dimensions that
evaluate collaborative governance in precrisis situations.
We conclude that although a broader
understanding of the importance of food security
has emerged, collaborative governance arrangements
run the risk of creating only an illusion of
readiness, due to unclear mandates and clear
leadership not able to advance trust, legal structures,
or concrete agreements for ensuring national
food security.
access link for read only:
https://rdcu.be/drKe2
Keywords: Neo-institutionalism, Discourse, Constructivism, Agency, Ideas, Political Change
This thesis shares the view that networks are an important feature of contemporary politics
which must be taken seriously, but it also maintains that networks pose substantial analytical and political challenges. It proceeds to investigate the potential possibilities and problems associated with meta-governance on both theoretical and empirical levels.
The theoretical discussion examines meta-governance in relation to governmentality, and it puts forward the claim that meta-governance may be understood as a specific type of neo-liberal governmentality. The meta-governance perspective regards networks as a complementary structure to traditional administration that can be utilized in the implementation and realization of public policy, but which also preserves the self-regulating and flexible character of networks. This generates a contradiction between the goals of public management and the character of networks that requires further investigation.
The combination of the specific dynamics of the political field of security, the diminishing role of sovereign powers, the emergence of security networks, and the meta-governance stance adopted by the Swedish state constitutes a situation that should have been favorable for the successful employment of meta-governance. The empirical investigation of meta-governance is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the historical process involved and shows how the
Swedish government and public authorities have adopted a meta-governance stance. The second analyzes the specific instruments and strategies that have been deployed in the governance of security communications and in the management of Sweden’s new security communications
system which is an important aspect of security networks. The historical study together with the analysis of the meta-governance tools deployed reveals that the meta-governors neither reached the goals specified, nor fulfilled the overall purpose of successful security communications.
I argue on the basis of the theoretical and empirical findings obtained in the present study that it is very difficult to successfully employ meta-governance in respect to security and crisis management, and that we have sound reasons to suspect that meta-governance will run into similar difficulties in other political fields as well. I conclude that meta-governance is a far more difficult practice than has been anticipated by existing theories and policy recommendations. Turning to meta-governance as a way to govern and control organizations may in fact lead to further fragmentation and distortion of public politics.
Keywords: meta-governance, meta-governance stance, governance, governmentality,
sovereign power, political power, networks, security, communications systems, processtracing,
interpretive policy analysis, Sweden, KBM, MSB, RAKEL
its role as a global security actor and how it deploys the military
forces provided by the member states. Tracing the current debate of
the identity and means of the European Union, we analyze the two
maritime operations, EU NAVFOR Somalia (Operation Atalanta) and
EUNAVFOR MED (Operation Sophia) from a naval diplomacy perspective.
Naval diplomacy acknowledge a more versatile role for naval
forces, not just military advancement and force projection. For this
purpose, we need to go beyond mission descriptions and operational
mandates in order to analyze and assess the two operations from
within, relying on internal reports and interviews with senior officers
who have participated in the operations. Results show that naval
forces seeks cooperation with International organizations, NGOs, and
third countries in order to facilitate security and good order of the
global common of international water. Still, complex security problems
are not resolved in this manner and EU maritime operations are
highly political, thus facing an uncertain future as a tool of CSDP.
enjoyed relative food security for a number of
decades now face challenges that may lead to
disturbances in food supplies. Global markets and
global flows are not as self‐evident as they were a
few years ago and new modes of governance for
managing national food security during crisis are
required. Recent events such as the COVID‐19
pandemic have further showed that global production
systems and communications are fragile
to a range of different disturbances. This article
examines the possibility of managing national
food security through collaborative arrangements
between public authorities and private food
companies through a case study of the Swedish
approach to food security. The analysis is based
on a theoretical framework that highlights the
importance of motivation, leadership, shared understanding,
and trust as four dimensions that
evaluate collaborative governance in precrisis situations.
We conclude that although a broader
understanding of the importance of food security
has emerged, collaborative governance arrangements
run the risk of creating only an illusion of
readiness, due to unclear mandates and clear
leadership not able to advance trust, legal structures,
or concrete agreements for ensuring national
food security.
separated from the state thereby serves as an antidote to the
sovereign power of the state. Since the 1990s, we have seen
reforms and organizational structures that advances the role of
the market as well as the civil society along with a voluntary sector,
often with the deliberate attempt to disrupt the power of the state
and to tame the Leviathan through the promotion of networks,
partnerships, co-governance and collaboration. This can be understood
in terms of a present day state phobia and builds on a liberal
conception of negative freedom understood as non-interference.
Yet if we take Foucault‘s theorizations of power as omnipresent as it
disrupts the power/freedom dichotomy we need to find alternative
ways to cope with relations of power in order to not let them
deteriorate into relations of domination. I argue in this article that
neo-republican ideal of non-domination can be combined with
Foucault’s insights on the nature of power. If correct, a continued
promotion of more civil society involvement and partnerships
between public and private actors provides a false
claims, usually in scientific guise—is of great importance if we wish to understand modern power and governance. In Power Without Knowledge: A Critique of Technocracy, Jeffrey Friedman investigates the often-overlooked question of the relationship between technocratic knowledge/power and ideas. Friedman’s contribution to our understanding of technocracy can therefore be read as a contribution to governmentality studies, one that introduces the possibility of adding normative solutions to this critical tradition.
between individuals and public authorities within the Swedish
crisis management system from 1995 to 2017. After the end of
the Cold War, Sweden adopted a broader understanding of security
that utilizes alternative governance strategies beyond sovereign
means and focuses upon domestic security and the
protection of vital systems. This has resulted in the emergence of
collaborative arrangements involving public and private actors
and as well as the extensive responsibilization of individuals. The
latter has taken place since emergency and exceptionalism persist
as vital concepts also in domestic security management. The present
discussion argues that these two concepts restrict possibilities
for democratizing security management and provides the means
for harnessing the inclusion of volunteers while not granting them
due voice in collaborative governance arrangements. However,
responsibilization strategies include ‘activation’ which in turn
may invoke critical agency and reflection as well as enable resistance
toward the current apolitical notion of crisis management.
Such suggestions have, however, overlooked the instability of networks and the politics of politics that this form of organization entails. By making use of a retheorization
of sovereign power and its double relationship to public political space, it is argued
that new insights can be gained with regards to the role of networks in contemporary politics. This retheorization suggests that sovereign power is present when decisions are made both on the political nature of issues and on whether accountability to the wider public should apply. Thus, contrary to the claim that sovereign power is declining as networks get involved in public affairs, it is argued here that such power is even
more present due to an increased uncertainty of political boundaries that arise in the implementation and maintenance of new governing structures.
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GHTtNikk8gn5PUazFjNs/full