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Iacobaeus, Helena
Publications (10 of 13) Show all publications
Kaharevic, A., Iacobaeus, H. & Gustafsson, M. S. (2025). Digital Citizenship in the Institution Swedish Public Libraries: A Discursive Approach. In: Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences: . Paper presented at Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (pp. 2237-2247). , 58
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Digital Citizenship in the Institution Swedish Public Libraries: A Discursive Approach
2025 (English)In: Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2025, Vol. 58, p. 2237-2247Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

This paper maps and unpacks the discursive construction of digital citizenship within the institution of public libraries in Sweden, situating it within the broader context of the nation’s digital government. By adopting a discursive approach, the paper responds to the scholarly call for nuanced theoretical insights into the evolving digital citizenship field and reflects upon how an analysis on digital citizenship can further our understanding of digital government. Data sources are the Swedish National Digitalization Strategy, the Swedish Library Act, and library staff interviews.

Findings show active citizenship as a central idea in the discourse, placing high demands on individuals. In contrast to previous research, this study also finds ideas of a more inclusive citizenship. Finally, the findings show conflicts and ongoing negotiation of what digital citizenship, and thus digital citizens, ought to be, and point towards a need of deepening and questioning our understanding of digital government as inclusive.  

Keywords
digital citizenship, digital government, discourse theory, active citizenship, libraries
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-210958 (URN)10125/109115 (DOI)9780998133188 (ISBN)
Conference
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2021-00824
Available from: 2025-01-16 Created: 2025-01-16 Last updated: 2025-01-22
Iacobaeus, H. (2025). Please Handle with Discretion: Discretionary boundaries of street-level bureaucrats working for digital inclusion. (Doctoral dissertation). Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Please Handle with Discretion: Discretionary boundaries of street-level bureaucrats working for digital inclusion
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Gränser för handlingsutrymmet i närbyråkraters arbete för digital inkludering
Abstract [en]

During rapid changes in the digital era, there is a need to understand changes at the micro level, close to the citizen, where policy is enacted, reiterated and, sometimes, subtly changed. By studying how street-level bureaucrats support clients in need of help to be digitally active, this thesis contributes to the understanding of two interlinked concepts. Firstly, it compares street-level discretion in different digitalising micro-institutional settings and analyses how street-level discretionary boundaries evolve when digitalisation adds layers to already restricting frames and circumstances. Secondly, it sheds light on the constraining aspects of these boundaries and explores the concept ‘digital cage’ related to street-level discretion. This concept builds on Weber’s ‘iron cage’ and refers to excluding digital infrastructure that, among other things, could limit street-level discretion.

The thesis uses a bottom-up approach based on the bureaucrats’ daily experiences. Street-level bureaucrats’ descriptions of their changing discretionary boundaries are analysed using micro-institutional theory with a special focus on street-level bureaucracy theory. It is a compilation thesis based on a cover paper and four research papers that focus on street-level bureaucracy in different settings, such as schools, libraries, social services, adult education and employment units, cases of how Swedish street-level bureaucrats view and handle their discretion when they work for digital inclusion of clients. The research process is based on qualitative and abductive studies. The data collection consists of interviews, survey answers and documents from different increasingly digitalised settings within Swedish local bureaucracy.

The overall conclusions show that the street-level bureaucrats experience significant changes in what they do and how they do it. They form new roles towards clients and adapt to new boundaries. Boundaries framing street-level discretion in the studied micro settings can be divided into boundaries related to policy and management, skill sets and access possibilities, perceptions of appropriateness in the eyes of others, and digital systems and tools. The analysis shows that new digital boundaries have a restricting, caging, effect. Since this digital cage constrains street-level discretion in new ways, there is a need to develop and further analyse competences and practices in micro-institutional settings. However, it should also be acknowledged that the caging effect, in combination with ambitious goals for digital inclusion, create frustration among the street-level bureaucrats since they feel pushed to work towards a level of digital inclusion that they deem impossible to attain.

Abstract [sv]

Under snabba förändringar i en digital samtid uppstår behov av att förstå förändringar på mikronivå, nära medborgaren, där politik görs, upprepas och ibland subtilt förändras. Genom att studera hur närbyråkrater stödjer personer som behöver hjälp med digitala verktyg, bidrar denna avhandling till förståelsen av två sammanlänkade begrepp. För det första analyseras närbyråkraternas handlingsutrymme i olika digitaliserade miljöer där digitaliseringen lägger till lager till redan begränsande ramar och omständigheter. För det andra belyser avhandlingen de begränsande aspekterna av detta och utforskar begreppet den digitala buren. Detta begrepp bygger på Webers så kallade järnbur och syftar på exkluderande digital infrastruktur som bland annat kan begränsa handlingsutrymmet i närbyråkratin.

Avhandlingen är baserad på närbyråkraternas dagliga erfarenheter och hur de ser på och hanterar sitt handlingsutrymme i arbetet för medborgarnas digitala inkludering. Deras beskrivningar av vad de kan och inte kan göra för medborgarna analyseras med hjälp av mikroinstitutionell teori med särskilt fokus på närbyråkratiteori. Sammanläggningsavhandlingen består av en kappa och fyra artiklar och fokuserar på närbyråkrati i olika miljöer, såsom skolor, bibliotek, socialtjänst, vuxenutbildning och arbetsmarknadsenheter. Forsknings-processen bygger på kvalitativa metoder och datainsamlingen består av intervjuer, enkätsvar och dokument från olika alltmer digitaliserade miljöer inom den svenska lokala närbyråkratin.

De övergripande slutsatserna visar att närbyråkraterna upplever betydande förändringar av vad de gör och hur de gör det. De formar nya roller gentemot medborgare och anpassar sig till nya gränser. De gränser som ramar in handlingsutrymmet i de studerade miljöerna kan delas in i gränser relaterade till policy och ledning, färdigheter och åtkomst, uppfattningar om vad som är lämpligt samt digitala system och verktyg. Analysen visar att nya digitala gränser har en instängande effekt. Eftersom denna digitala bur begränsar handlingsutrymmet på nya sätt finns det ett behov av att utveckla och ytterligare analysera kompetenser och praxis i mikroinstitutionella miljöer. Det bör understrykas att den inburande effekten, i kombination med ambitiösa mål för digital inkludering, skapar frustration bland närbyråkrater eftersom de känner sig pressade att arbeta för en digital inkluderingsnivå som de kan se som omöjlig att uppnå.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, 2025. p. 128
Series
Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences, ISSN 0282-9800 ; 902
Keywords
Street-level bureaucracy, Digitalisation, Digital inclusion, Discretionary boundaries, Digital cage, Närbyråkrati, Digitalisering, Digital inkludering, Handlingsutrymme, Den digitala buren
National Category
Work Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-210612 (URN)10.3384/9789180759694 (DOI)9789180759687 (ISBN)9789180759694 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-02-21, ACAS, A-building, Campus Valla, Linköping, 13:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-01-07 Created: 2025-01-07 Last updated: 2025-01-17Bibliographically approved
Iacobaeus, H. (2024). Lyrik. Hässleholm
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Lyrik
2024 (Swedish)Artistic output (Refereed)
Place, publisher, year, pages
Hässleholm: , 2024
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-205974 (URN)10.3384/SVT.2024.31.1.5026 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-07-18 Created: 2024-07-18 Last updated: 2024-07-18
Wihlborg, E. & Iacobaeus, H. (2023). Context matters—different entrepreneurial approaches among street‐level bureaucrats enhancing digital inclusion. European Policy Analysis, 9(4), 379-396
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Context matters—different entrepreneurial approaches among street‐level bureaucrats enhancing digital inclusion
2023 (English)In: European Policy Analysis, E-ISSN 2380-6567, Vol. 9, no 4, p. 379-396Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Digital technology is frequently used in the delivery of public services. Since not everyone has the skills or digital access required to use such digital services, street-level bureaucrats must find new ways to support citizens to be able to enhance digital inclusion. In most public settings, these new practices of digital support need to be developed in parallel with the street-level bureaucrats' ordinary assignments. This article analyses the development of street-level bureaucrats' entrepreneurial and innovative practices in promoting digital inclusion in two spheres: conventional welfare service provision and in a project-based welfare service provision initiative explicitly intended to enhance digital inclusion. The article builds on qualitative case studies in municipalities in Sweden and demonstrates that there are more openings for innovative, entrepreneurial solutions among street-level bureaucrats in the more project-based setting than in the conventional welfare services. This implies that context matters for street-level entrepreneurial approaches.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2023
Keywords
entrepreneurial approaches, street-level bureaucrats, digital inclusion, municipalities, Sweden
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-198932 (URN)10.1002/epa2.1197 (DOI)001095801300001 ()2-s2.0-85175706315 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas
Note

Funding: We are grateful to all the informants that have experiences and reflections upon their work and to the national Digidel network. We also thank the Carl Bennett foundation and the research council FORMAS for generous funding to our research.; Carl Bennett foundation; research council FORMAS

Available from: 2023-11-03 Created: 2023-11-03 Last updated: 2025-01-07Bibliographically approved
Iacobaeus, H. (2023). The Digital Cage Dilemma: How Street-Level Bureaucrats at Public Libraries are a Key for Digital Inclusion. In: Ida Lindgren, Csaba Csáki, Evangelos Kalampokis, Marijn Janssen, Gabriela Viale Pereira, Shefali Virkar, Efthimios Tambouris, Anneke Zuiderwijk (Ed.), 22nd IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, EGOV 2023, Budapest, Hungary, September 5–7, 2023, Proceedings: . Paper presented at 22nd IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, EGOV 2023, Budapest, Hungary, September 5–7, 2023 (pp. 64-79). Cham, 14130
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The Digital Cage Dilemma: How Street-Level Bureaucrats at Public Libraries are a Key for Digital Inclusion
2023 (English)In: 22nd IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, EGOV 2023, Budapest, Hungary, September 5–7, 2023, Proceedings / [ed] Ida Lindgren, Csaba Csáki, Evangelos Kalampokis, Marijn Janssen, Gabriela Viale Pereira, Shefali Virkar, Efthimios Tambouris, Anneke Zuiderwijk, Cham, 2023, Vol. 14130, p. 64-79Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Ten percent of the Swedish population over the age of sixteen can be counted as digitally excluded. Many of them turn to public libraries for support with e.g. public e-services. As street-level bureaucrats, library staff can support citizens’ digital inclusion within the scope of their assignment and institutional framework. However, they face dilemmas when they encounter citizens with needs that fall partly outside this framework.

According to a classic work of Weber, bureaucrats can be seen as locked in an iron cage of rules and norms. It could be argued that digitalization is changing the conditions in bureaucracies even further. As a complement to Weber’s iron cage, Peeters and Widlak described the disciplining logic of digital information architecture as a form of digital cage that can exclude citizens and frame the discretion of street-level bureaucrats.

This article elaborates on the concept digital cage, built on the iron cage concept, to analyse how street-level bureaucrats cope with discretionary boundaries in their work for citizens’ digital inclusion. Based on an analysis of interviews with library staff at local centres for digital inclusion, policy documents and interviews with local politicians in charge of these centres, the study shows the relevance of the digital cage concept and that the use of new technologies changes and partly limits street-level discretion. However, it also shows that politicians allow library staff a considerable degree of freedom in their work, and that the centres’ focus on face-to-face meetings and entrepreneurial solutions is an asset for digital inclusion.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cham: , 2023
Series
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, ISSN 0302-9743, E-ISSN 1611-3349 ; 14130
Keywords
digital cage, iron cage, digital inclusion, street-level bureaucrats, discretionary boundaries
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-197046 (URN)10.1007/978-3-031-41138-0_5 (DOI)001313870000005 ()9783031411373 (ISBN)9783031411380 (ISBN)
Conference
22nd IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, EGOV 2023, Budapest, Hungary, September 5–7, 2023
Available from: 2023-08-21 Created: 2023-08-21 Last updated: 2025-01-07Bibliographically approved
Kaharevic, A., Iacobaeus, H. & Gustafsson, M. S. (2022). Ideology and technology mediated participation: Digital citizenship ideals in the Swedish welfare state. In: : . Paper presented at EGPA 2022 Public Administration for the Sustainable Future of our Societies.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Ideology and technology mediated participation: Digital citizenship ideals in the Swedish welfare state
2022 (English)Conference paper, Published paper (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

eGovernment continues to expand in the Swedish welfare state. Sweden aims to “become world leader in harnessing the opportunities of digital transformation” (Government Offices of Sweden, 2017 p.1), and is highly ranked in indexes measuring digital development such as UN’s e-Government Development Index and EU’s Digital Society and Economy Index. Digital development is still partly understood as ‘neutral’ and ‘progressive’. However, previous research on eGovernment and related fields have highlighted that governmental policies, institutions, and services are embedded in ideological imaginaries, which challenges the idea of technology as being value-neutral and without ideology (Schuilenburg & Peeters, 2020; Hintz et al., 2019; Verdegem & Fuchs, 2013). Still fewer have focused on questions about what citizenship ideals are imagined and pursued based on ideological grounds of eGovernment. A recent literature overview (Chen et al. 2021) has found that there is a lack of critical perspectives in digital citizenship studies. However, Isin and Ruppert (2020) offer a critical conceptualization of digital citizenship, that challenges the dominating conceptualizations which focus on internet-usage (Mossberger et al. 2007) and digital literacy (Ribble, 2015). While Isin and Ruppert (2020) argue that digital citizens come to existence through imaginary, legal, and performative dimensions, Mejer (2012) brought to discussion the prospective of a new type of citizen-driven production of public benefits that would transcend the traditional state-led welfare structures.  

This paper answers to the call for more critical perspectives on digital citizenship, by identifying and unpacking the imagined ideals of digital citizenship in the Swedish digital welfare state. Inspired by Isin and Ruppert’s (2020) conceptualization, Laclau & Mouffe’s (1985) discourse theory, and Schou and Hjelholt’s (2017) citizenship framing in the Danish context, this paper identifies and unpacks imagined citizen ideals by analysing imaginary, legal, and performative dimensions of the Swedish digital welfare state. Data for the imaginary dimension consists of the Swedish national digitalization strategy (Government Offices of Sweden, 2017). Data for the legal dimension consists of the Swedish Library Act (‘Bibliotekslag’ SFS 2019:961). Lastly, data for the performative dimension and imaginary dimension is gathered from 11 Swedish municipal libraries, including observations of daily citizen-interactions regarding digital issues collected in 2019, and interviews with library staff collected in 2022. Libraries are one of the primary public organizations which facilitate digital motivation, access, competence, and usage (van Dijk, 2020) in Sweden (Bernhard et al., 2019; Mersad, 2019), and where citizens are assisted in claiming their citizenship rights in a digital society (Gustafsson et al., 2020).  

This paper contributes to eGovernment and digital citizenship studies by investigating the Swedish case and by identifying and unpacking specific imagined ideals to move beyond digital citizenship as an “catch-all phrase to describe an ideal” (Becker, 2019). This paper also enables comparison with the Danish case, which both are characterized by the Nordic welfare state model but also vary in terms of approaches to digital transformation. The contribution is both empirical and theoretical by investigating the Swedish case and expanding critical conceptualizations of digital citizenship. 

Keywords
Digital citizenship, Participation, Ideology
National Category
Political Science (excluding Public Administration Studies and Globalisation Studies)
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-188998 (URN)
Conference
EGPA 2022 Public Administration for the Sustainable Future of our Societies
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, STYA-2019/0004
Available from: 2022-10-06 Created: 2022-10-06 Last updated: 2022-10-06
Barnes, P. & Iacobaeus, H. (2022). Institutional Collaboration for Developing Local Democracy: A Literature Review. Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Institutional Collaboration for Developing Local Democracy: A Literature Review
2022 (English)Book (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This literature review presents findings from earlier research on institutional collaboration for developing local democracy. Local authorities engage in a range of different collaborative relationships with partners abroad to exchange knowledge and practices to the assumed benefit of all parties. Common examples of this are municipal partnerships, twinning projects and sister cities. This is an interesting area to study since it provides knowledge that can be of use to local politicians and public servants who are, or aim to be, involved in institutional collaboration. 

The review seeks to identify the critical aspects of collaborative partnerships for local democracy development in existing research and the implications of these for practitioners. It examines relevant peer-reviewed articles accumulated through systematic searches on two search engines, Scopus and UniSearch, in 2021. This involved different types of institutional collaboration in order to present an overview of common challenges, opportunities and success factors for collaborative programmes set within the wider field of local democracy development. Key aspects for collaboration are examined regarding North-South dynamics and issues of mutuality in learning, participation, accountability, and transparency. 

The most common forms of collaboration studied in the articles were at the municipal or city level, often involving wider community groups. Despite being promoted as holding great potential due to institutional similarities that traditional development actors lack, there is a range of challenges associated with these partnerships. The literature centres around the dynamics of partnerships and which factors lead to achieving desired outcomes. 

There are three main types of collaboration differing in levels of formal institutional structure. The first is network, which is loose, horizontal structures lacking articulated goals and commitments. The second is cooperation, which has mutual gains as the main characteristic. The final is partnership, which is the most structured and features agreements, plans of action and independent partners (Baud 2002). 

Important themes in the literature were mutual learning and the links between trust building, accountability, transparency and participation. While many of the researchers identified different success factors for collaboration projects, recurring factors were political support, public participation, communication through information and knowledge exchange, structured leadership and management and relationships, and trust between partner members. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), 2022. p. 42
Series
ICLD Working Paper ; 19
Keywords
Local democracy; Institutional collaboration; Municipal partnership; Trust-building; Public participation
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-190588 (URN)978-91-86725-54-9 (ISBN)
Funder
Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD)
Available from: 2022-12-15 Created: 2022-12-15 Last updated: 2024-10-21Bibliographically approved
Sommar, C.-J., Kulanovic, A., Kaharevic, A., Wihlborg, E. & Iacobaeus, H. (2021). Best practice of digital government in emerging democracies: Illustrations, challanges and reflections of state building processes. In: 54th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2021: . Paper presented at Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2021 (pp. 2133-2142).
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Best practice of digital government in emerging democracies: Illustrations, challanges and reflections of state building processes
Show others...
2021 (English)In: 54th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2021, 2021, p. 2133-2142Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Digital government applications and models oftenadd layers to existing structures, organizations,and routines to facilitate public services. In most statesdigital government is thus added to established structuresand organizations, but what happens when egovernmentdevelop at as an integrated part of newstate building? This is the overall question in this paperpresenting an analysis of best practices of e-governmentin six countries in the Western Balkans – Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro,North Macedonia and Serbia. The cases of best practicehave been identified through an interactive researchprocess, and analyzed through a combined lensof eGovernment stage-models and core public values.The analysis shows how new digital government applicationsand innovations are designed and used innew democracies as part of new state building structures.The findings indicate a lack of new institutionalarrangements for digital government. Taken togetherit shows that the development of eGovernment in theWestern Balkans follows a path-dependence of otherstates, in spite of the opportunities for more innovativeand sustainable eGovernment by continuing the institutionalreformation.

Series
Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, E-ISSN 1530-1605 ; 2020
National Category
Public Administration Studies Information Systems, Social aspects
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-175017 (URN)10.24251/HICSS.2021.263 (DOI)2-s2.0-85108336632 (Scopus ID)
Conference
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2021
Funder
Swedish Institute
Available from: 2021-04-15 Created: 2021-04-15 Last updated: 2024-01-29Bibliographically approved
Iacobaeus, H. (2021). Conducting Municipal Council Meetings with Social Distance.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Conducting Municipal Council Meetings with Social Distance
2021 (English)Report (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This paper studies how COVID-19 related social distancing affects Swedish local concil meetings and the situation for elected representatives. It is based on interviews with local political advisors, a professional group employed to assist elected representatives in their political work. Social distancing has affected the political agenda and the ways of organising local politics; digital meetings are limiting for the political debate, less engaging and affects who is heard and who is not. It is challenging to arrange digital meetings in a way that is in line with the law. However, digitalisation of local politics has led to technical and legal knowledge that can be used to adapt more swiftly in future crises. 

Series
Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy - Policy Brief ; 10
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-182129 (URN)
Available from: 2022-01-04 Created: 2022-01-04 Last updated: 2022-01-04
Carlsson, F., Iacobaeus, H. & Wihlborg, E. (2021). Demokratiska beslut i coronatider: Digitala verktyg för att ställa om snarare än ställa in. Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift (5), 431-449
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Demokratiska beslut i coronatider: Digitala verktyg för att ställa om snarare än ställa in
2021 (Swedish)In: Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, ISSN 0039-0747, no 5, p. 431-449Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The municipalities provide the bulk of the welfare services in Sweden and depend on local council decisions to be made for the function of the welfare provision. Since the outbreak of the global covid-19 pandemic, the local governments have been forced to find new digital forms for making decisions in a covid-safe manner. In this article, we focus on the municipal council level and explore how they have dealt with the pandemic to be able to make decisions and what implications that might have for the democratic arena and local leadership of municipal councils. From March to November in 2020, we conducted 41 interviews with council chairmen, vice-chairmen and local party secretaries. We found that the municipal councils used different strategies to cope with the pandemic including decreasing municipal council size, de-prioritizing matters of political nature, moving to larger meeting rooms and introducing digital meeting participation tools. The introduction of digital meeting tools has according to the interviews challenged the democratic processes in several ways. We found the ability to participate is conditioned by individual competence to handle digital tools and there are differences in individual competences as well as local municipal capacity for digital support. Our conclusion is that there is a need to further support municipalities competences and resources to lead with digital tools. In addition, the study shows demands for more national guidelines and norms on how to manage digital council meetings and sustain local democracy in a digital era. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lund: Fahlbeckska Stiftelsen, 2021
Keywords
Lokal demokrati, digitalisering, covid-19
National Category
Political Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-179207 (URN)
Available from: 2021-09-13 Created: 2021-09-13 Last updated: 2022-03-22Bibliographically approved
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