Kulturgeografi

In-house family ties within workplaces are a non-negligible phenomenon on the labour market. Drawing on organizational and geographical perspectives and based on thematic analysis of 40 interviews with human resource managers, we analyse how family ties are viewed and managed in organizations on the Swedish labour market. Based on the empirical analysis, we suggest that there are two different logics of human resource management concerning in-house family ties: a traditional, pragmatic and informal logic which expresses an accepting view; and a modern, meritocratic and formal logic associated with a disapproving view. Moreover, the informal logic seems to be increasingly challenged by formalization of human resource processes in both urban and rural settings. However, the analysis indicates that in smaller labour markets this shift is somewhat restrained by the limited supply of labour and socially tight knit local communities. Also, it seems that the change often meets resistance f...

When young people travel, they are often very dependent on public transport or parents. This study uses interviews with 16–19 years old teenagers in Stockholm to investigate their everyday experiences of public transit. The paper explores the experiences of buses and subways, here conceptualized as mobile places, to understand how they shape teenagers’ daily life. Understanding teenagers’ experiences of public transportation is part of understanding their everyday life, struggles, and possibilities to be mobile and participate in society. It is also a step towards ensuring that they find public transportation inclusive, safe, and worth traveling with today and in the future. Conceptually, the analysis focuses on how these mobile places are experienced as providing weights or reliefs to the everyday and if, how and when they may be places of interaction or retreat, addressing two needs in teenagers’ personal being and development. The study shows how various experiences of traveling ...

This paper investigates how an administrative border affects the identity making of peopleliving in the border region of Rundu, situated in northern Namibia adjacent to Angola. Thepurpose of the study is to investigate how ethnic and national identity is dependent on thespace it is fostered in. The focus has been on the state boundary from a micro level; to seehow the Namibians living in the area perceive their ethnic belonging and how they look uponthe border, hence taking an interest in the narratives of the people. It applies Social IdentityTheory in order to investigate the process of identity making, both in regard of a nationalidentity and ethnic identity, which goes well in hand with the angle of borders having a binarydistinction e.g. here and there, inclusion and exclusion. Thus, the study draws on theoriesfrom both cultural geography, social anthropology and social psychology. The result of thestudy indicate that people in Kavango have a national identity which is superior to their ethnicidentity, but it is fragile and they easily turn to their ethnic identity. The result also shows thatthe people have accepted and emphasise the differences between Namibia and Angola, whichwas first imposed as a strategic act from the colonials, and this indicates that the border actsas both an institution and a process

GPS tracking of mobile objects provides spatial and temporal data for a broad range of applications including traffic management and control as well as transportation routing and planning. Previous transportation research has focused on GPS tracking data as an appealing alternative to travel diaries. Yet, the GPS based data are gradually becoming a cornerstone for real-time traffic management. Tracking data of vehicles from GPS devices are however susceptible to measurement errors – a neglected issue in transportation research. By conducting a randomized experiment, we assess the reliability of GPS based traffic data on geographical position, velocity, and altitude for three types of vehicles; bike, car, and bus. We find the geographical positioning reliable, but with an error greater than postulated by the manufacturer and a non-negligible risk for aberrant positioning. Velocity is slightly underestimated, whereas altitude measurements are unreliable.

This study explores how Donbass IDPs in Kyiv view the role of the state in relation to ‘durable solutions’ to their displacement. Specifically, it examines the expectations on the state as a provider of rights and entitlements vis-à- vis IDPs. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Donbas IDPs, experiences of displacement and perceptions of durable solutions and citizen-state relations are exemplified. The data collection and analysis methodologies applied allow for the elicitation of the views and opinions of IDPs, in an attempt to mitigate vertical policy-making. The concepts of citizenship, state and sovereignty are applied to analyze the relationship between IDPs and the state. Further, the IASC framework for durable solutions to internal displacement is used to as a structure to outline the views of the IDPs. The results show a large discrepancy between the expectations of the respondents on the states’ role in durable solutions to displacement, and the experience of this in reality. Furthermore, the results reveal high levels of discontent, resignation and apathy towards the state as a provider of durable solutions, especially in terms of returning to Donbass.