The Nordic Atlantic area has seen remarkable examples of social formations in areas that many would perceive as too remote to allow the construction of functioning communities. But through innovations, networking and the formation of identities people have coped with distances, thus continuously rebuilding societies in Northern Norway, Iceland, the Faroes, and Greenland. Living conditions in the Nordic Atlantic are so extreme that one might ask whether the notion of society is applicable under these circumstances. The author argues that, yes, there is a meaningful way of comprehending these social formations, which is through the spatial and temporal practices that produce, reproduce, stabilize, destabilize and change them. He introduces the concept of coping, which means neither mastering nor adapting but relates to in-between strategies and tactics reflected in practices of securing people’s way of life under conditions that are never totally under their control.
The Northern peripheries of Europe, which are covered by this book, are associated with remoteness, the frontier, isolated communities, colonialism and resource extraction. Recently, huge projects in petroleum and hydropower have been located there, and the region has become better known as an attractive tourist destination. Although these spaces are perceived as being marginal, they are inhabited and linked into globalization and international agendas. This book examines how people live in such remote spaces in an emerging global world of connectivity, interdependency, mobility and non-linear dynamics. The various case studies examine a wide range of experiences, ranging from tourists and local settlers to those who migrate for labour in old or new industries, or to pursue the hybrid urban/rural life of the periphery. In this book, mobility and place come together. The analyses demonstrate how mobility and place mutually constitute each other and how specific relationships between the two aspects are crucial in the making of societies. The authors study attempts to reinvent places, together with connections and the opening of 'new scapes' in order to sustain businesses, municipalities and people's livelihood.
Enhancing our understanding of how people and places are affected by globalization at the level of everyday interactions within ’Nordic Peripheries’, this book sheds light on local particularities as well as global confluences, by illuminating how gender, mobility and belonging contribute to ruptures and/or stability in the lives of men and women living in and/or moving within these northern localities. Crossing disciplinary and geographical boundaries the focus of the book is specifically on how global processes shape and influence the Nordic countries at the social level: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, as well as the Faroe Islands. The book starts from the premise that the Nordic peripheries offer an especially powerful lens on ’peripherality’ in a globalized and globalizing world, because the region as a whole is traditionally perceived as relatively affluent, stable and with high levels of social equality. Yet, as the different chapters in the book demonstrate - with case studies that illuminate diverse gendered processes - globalization produces ruptures and new social constellations also at the rims of Nordic societies, well beyond the cushioning of comprehensive social welfare regimes. By elevating the empirical findings to more general debates about the gendered effects of globalization the book invites the reader to reflect upon not only Nordic particularities but also how insights from this part of the world can be instructive for understanding the nuances and complexities of global confluences at large.
After phenomenology and feminism the concept of care is taken forward to conceive innovation as an interactive process requiring diversity and collectivity. A fresh look at innovation is grounded in the long standing experience of the Roskilde group and it takes the readers into an intriguing voyage in practical creativity. Silvia Gherardi, Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Italy It is not an easy task to be innovative in the large and increasing field of innovation studies. We should therefore thank and welcome the Roskilde School for achieving such a difficult task. This book provides a new and promising vision of innovation which is metaphorically called innovation with care . This new theory draws upon a sociological perspective in order to open up the black box of the organization. It brings interacting people and social process to the forefront of innovation phenomena. Innovation and the Creative Process explores innovation with care, illustrating that it is possible to integrate in the innovation theory a wide range of specialized and non-specialized actors, activities and forms of business and social innovations. Following the Schumpeterian tradition, it provides a more comprehensive notion of innovation and enlarges the scope of innovation theory. This book represents a fruitful approach to innovation which academics, private and public practitioners should consider with much care. Faïz Gallouj, University of Lille, France This book explores new frameworks and methods of understanding and analysing innovation. These are set against a backdrop of innovation with care , which is seen as a phenomenon that takes place among many actors with different perspectives, ideas and cultures that must be carefully woven together in order to achieve the benefits of innovation The new perspectives presented by the contributors will be important in encouraging successful innovation across sectors, organizations and people. They examine how people and organizations deal with the tensions and paradoxes in the innovative process between creativity and innovation, variation and selection, and sense and strategy-making. The book also includes a sociological approach to innovation as a complement to economic perspectives in order to better understand how people can benefit from innovation in a number of interesting private and public cases. To benefit from innovation, it concludes, people depend less on formal roles and formal organization than on a caring approach that enables them to deal with and interpret evolutions across people, organizations and sectors. This highly original, innovative book will provide fascinating reading for a diverse audience, including academics, researchers, policymakers and managers with an interest in innovation, organization studies, institutional theory and, more generally, business and management.
This book explores questions related to social and cultural sustainability of coastal communities in transition through the lens of childhood. Contributors explore diverse local and national contexts spanning several countries aiming to shed light on the shifting and dynamic interplay between education, knowledge production, society and working life in coastal environments from an intergenerational perspective. Key points that are disclosed are: the current threat to the social and cultural sustainability of coastal communities in different local and national contexts, and the reason they must be preserved the centrality of processes of inter generational transmission of local knowledge to the preservation and development of sustainable coastal communities the central role of children and young people as actors in creating sustainable livelihoods, economies and knowledge in coastal communities for the future? the practices across different country contexts The book will address the challenges to sustainability experienced by local communities in light of local, national and global social and economic changes. Looking at these challenges cross-nationally and through the lens of childhood, and knowledge production across generations, will provide for a much-needed perspective in ongoing discussion on sustainability in coastal communities.
This title was first published in 2002. The concept of embeddedness refers to the social construction of inter-firm relationships and the enmeshing of economic relationships within broader social structures and relationships in particular places. Previous research has suggested embedding is the best way to generate local growth and social capital and has focused on SMEs in Europe and North America, although the existing model is being more widely adopted now. This volume is the first to examine the complex processes of embedding in this wider context. Bringing together a broad range of case studies from the developed and developing world which address the nature of embeddedness from various perspectives, it not only questions the universality of the current model and the policy initiatives it has spawned but also provides a much wider understanding of embeddedness . It does so by discussing the social dimensions more fully and by throwing light on the spatial and temporal ambiguity of the concept and its inadequate treatment of power.
As the world's population continues to grow, there is an ever increasing need for huge investment in basic infrastructure: water and sewage, energy production and distribution, transportation and telecommunication. At the same time, infrastructure systems in developed countries are deteriorating and in need of renewal. Today, many of the engineering and economic problems surrounding infrastructure construction projects have been solved, but the threat of social misalignments and political conflicts renders the development and management of such projects more challenging than ever before. This book presents a new theoretical framework that allows us to analyze the institutional and social movement processes, both negative and positive, that surround global infrastructure projects as they confront cross-national and cross-sectoral (such as private-public partnerships) institutional differences. The value of this framework is illustrated through a series of studies on a wide range of infrastructure projects, including roads, railroads, ports, airports, water supply and energy pipelines.
Entrepreneurship in Small Island States and Territories is the first publication to consider the ‘creative’ side of enterprise in small island states and territories. Rather than playing out as remote, vulnerable and dependent backwaters of neo-colonialism, the world’s small island states and territories (with resident populations of less than 1 million) show considerable resourcefulness in facing up to the very real challenges of their predicament. The creative endeavours of their residents, facilitated by adroit public policy, has created economic and investment opportunities that translate into some private sector employment and decent livelihoods for many. Their ingenuity, coupled with strategic investments and the support of the diaspora, has led to a suite of (sometimes unlikely) products and services: from citizenship and higher-level internet domain names, to place-branded foods and beverages; from electronic gaming to niche manufacturing. There is much more to small island survival than subsistence farming, aid, remittances and public sector workfare. Entrepreneurship in Small Island States and Territories helps to dispel this myth, showcasing an aspect of life in small island states and territories that is rarely documented or critically reviewed.
This title was first published in 2001. Focusing on new industries, policies and new forms of governance, the internationally renowned contributors to this volume examine the factors promoting the sub-national economic growth that is paradoxically occurring in an era of globalization.
The aquaculture industry is fast expanding around the globe and causing major environmental and social disruptions. The volume is about getting a 'good governance' grip on this important industry. The book highlights the numerous law and policy issues that must be addressed in the search for effective regulation of aquaculture. Those issues include among others: the equitable and fair assignment of property rights; the design of effective dispute resolution mechanisms; clarification of what maritime laws apply to aquaculture; adoption of a proper taxation system for aquaculture; resolution of aboriginal offshore title and rights claims; recognition of international trade law restrictions such as labeling limitations and food safety requirements; and determination of whether genetically modified fish should be allowed and if so under what controls. This book will appeal to a broad range of audiences: undergraduate and postgraduate students, academic researchers, policy makers, NGOs, practicing lawyers and industry representatives.
