This open access book explores the history of how banks and banking services have become part of everyday life. Taking welfare state Sweden as its setting, the book identifies key cultural challenges and shows how banks and finance companies made inroads into the workplace, the family, spaces of consumption and the world of social movements while also taking on tasks typically associated with state authorities. Focusing on this 'bankification of everyday life' reveals the historical links between the post-war welfare state and the financialised everyday culture of the late twentieth century.

What happens when cultural policy turns digital? Digital Transformation and Cultural Policies in Europe analyzes and compares different digital cultural policies of Europe. Through case studies of seven European countries (UK, Germany, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Norway, and Switzerland) as well as the analysis of EU digital cultural policy, the book investigates what happens when cultural policy gets changed and challenged by digital culture. Based on a thorough discussion of key concepts and analytical perspectives, this collection also offers a unique multi-disciplinary contribution that shows how digital cultural policy is hyperconvergent. These policies contain established ideas of cultural policy - such as democratization, welfare, access, and national, protectionist ideas - brought together within a digital framework, while also adding new cultural policy tools and instruments, such as digital standards, international regulations, directives, etc. The book shows how digital cultural policies are works in progress, struggling to align their aspirations with their effectiveness.

The third volume in the Global Arctic series examines the transformation of Arctic governance following the 2022 outbreak of war in Ukraine. This conflict has disrupted the post-Cold War cooperative circumpolar order, upending decades of multilateral collaborations. The book traces the Arctic's evolution from Cold War great power competition to a focus on human security and cooperation, highlighting the Arctic Council's establishment and the growth of the "Arctic family" with non-Arctic actors. It explores how climate change became a key driver for Arctic (re)engagement, opening new opportunities and challenges.

This book assesses the challenges faced by local governments when deciding on the location of public services. Some physical signs of government presence are vital and generally welcomed within local communities. Schools, bus stops, care facilities, and public libraries are both crucial for the functioning and sustainability of communities, and symbolize governmental engagement. Conversely, other types of facilities are typically unwelcome. Waste and recycling stations, wind farms, and prisons often provoke protests from local residents. Drawing on evidence from Sweden, this book argues that decisions on how to locate services are inherently political, and that in order to succeed, authorities need to ensure that their policies are perceived as legitimate. It also demonstrates how the problem of locating public services is a universal issue, relevant to governments at all levels and in all countries. As urbanization and pressure on welfare systems grow, the problem of locating public services looks set to become more pressing, and the themes raised in the book are likely to remain relevant for years to come.

This book maps the encounters between Indigenous Peoples and local communities with mining companies in various postcolonial contexts. Combining comparative and multidisciplinary analysis, the contributors to this volume shine a light on how the mining industry might adapt its practices to the political and legal contexts where they operate. Understanding these processes and how communities respond to these encounters is critical to documenting where and how encounters with mining may benefit or negatively impact Indigenous Peoples. The experiences and reflections shared by Indigenous and non-Indigenous contributors will enhance our understanding of evolving practices and of the different strategies and discourses developed by Indigenous Peoples to deal with mining projects. By mobilizing in-depth fieldwork in five regions—Australia, Canada, Sweden, New Caledonia, and Brazil—this body of work highlights voices often marginalized in mining development studies, including those of Indigenous Peoples and women.

The book provides new theoretical and empirical knowledge of why, how, and in what ways power-political dynamics are produced, sustained, and transformed within the contexts of feminist foreign policy and digital diplomacy. While the focus centres on Sweden, the authors contend that their novel approach to examining the political dynamics of digital diplomacy and feminist foreign policy applies to other country case studies as well.

Just 25 years ago, Europe was engaged in a process of democratization and integration. The EU, with an expanded number of member-states, became a symbol of a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Union. However, recent years have seen the reversal of democratization in many of the countries that went through political transition in the 1990s. Even in established democracies, growing authoritarian tendencies have been apparent in the rise of populism and political polarisation and questions over the rule of law. Focusing on threats to Swedish liberal democracy in a time of autocratization to explore wider crises democracy is currently facing around the globe, Problems in Paradise? explores eight interactive sub-societies crucial for a dynamic and persistent liberal democracy: the political, the judicial, the bureaucratic, the economic, the educational, the media, the civil, and the international. Fully embracing the wide range of challenges liberal democracy has faced in recent years, this book offers a deepened understanding of contemporary changes and challenges to liberal democracy.

This timely Research Handbook explores the concept of polar law as a coherent body of law and as a set of rules and principles that applies to both the Arctic and Antarctic. It captures the evolution of polar law and policy, identifying future directions for research in this emerging and growing field.  Expert international contributors analyse the concept of polar law across a range of areas including human rights, bioprospecting, tourism, environmental protection and fisheries management. They examine how Antarctic and Arctic regional regimes contribute to polar law, scrutinizing international treaties, agreements and arrangements. With a focus on the evolution of polar law in the context of the Anthropocene, chapters cover key issues related to the poles, such as climate change, minerals exploration and boundary disputes. Demonstrating the benefits of polar as opposed to bipolar law, this Research Handbook provides a critical assessment of contemporary challenges to the field.  Incorporating a diverse range of themes and topics, this Research Handbook will be a valuable resource for academics and students of polar law as well as those interested in how international law applies to the polar regions. It will also be beneficial for diplomats and policy makers working in polar law and policy fields.