Lite kort om avhandlingsdispositionen, för att förenkla läsningen:

Min avhandling handlar om kommunala tjänstemän som arbetar strategiskt med olika sociala frågor: MR, hållbarhet, folkhälsa, jämställdhet, barn- och ungdomspolitik, säkerhet och trygghet. Den består av tre delstudier, den första är en jämförande studie av platsannonser mellan olika tjänstemannagrupper, för att se hur strategerna utmärker sig, den andra är en intervjustudie med strateger, och den tredje är en enkätstudie riktad till fyra olika nätverk som samlar strateger för olika sociala frågor. Avhandlingen har två empirikapitel. Detta är det andra empirikapitlet, intervjustudien, som jag så småningom ska komplettera med resultat från enkäten, och som bygger på kategorier som togs fram i den förra studien. Jag tar tacksamt emot kommentarer på allt möjligt. Något jag funderar mycket på är om jag har missat någonting, finns det fler saker jag borde ta upp? Jag funderar också en hel del på hur kapitlet är strukturerat.

Den övergripande idén med avhandlingen är att starta på makronivå och den övergripande utvecklingen av sociala perspektiv och MR som skett under de senaste decennierna och ställa frågan vad som sker när detta landar i den svenska offentliga förvaltningen. Strategerna blir således ett sätt att operationalisera detta. Och min förhoppning är att jag genom att studera ”mikro”, dvs dessa tjänstemän, kommer att kunna säga något om ”makro.

Vänliga hälsningar

/Petra

1

Characteristics and conditions of the third generation public bureaucrats- cross-sectoral strategistsThe bureaucrats with dedicated tasks to work horizontally with value integration roles are

representing a multiple paradox in the public administration: in that they deal with a

politically complex issues characterized my multi-level steering, and strong normativity, at

the same time as they are responsible for their local government’s political will (political

complexity); in that their job is to make others act and think in certain ways, but they don’t

have any formal sanctions to use (institutional complexity); and in that their overall task is

to promote certain perspectives at the same time as they are guided by the classical

bureaucrat role with expected responsiveness towards politicians(identity complexity).

Plus, the fact that they have a dedicated, formal role to perform this. The purpose of this

study is thus to answer the question: What characterizes these public bureaucrats and what

are the conditions of their work?

As briefly presented in the former study, the closest we get in to the strategists in terms of

previous research is Williams’ concept of boundary spanners. Williams (2012) distinguishes

between this formally dedicated group of boundary spanners, and the group of informal

boundary spanners, people that are performing boundary spanning work within their

positions, but with no formal dedication. This informal aspect of boundary spanning has

been addressed from different angles in research. Public managers are a group that has

been studied as one kind of informal boundary spanners, in that they are faced with

multiple ambiguities in terms of attention, attendance, issues and agendas (Noordegraaf

2000). Another type of boundary spanning is the activist/advocate role, and this is covered

by Tahvilzadeh, when studying public bureaucrats’ advocacy within the administration

based on their ethnic heritage (Tahvilzadeh 2014). Johansson (2011) studies frontline

bureaucrats dealing with the task of coordinating infrastructure projects, and concludes

that they are cousins to the street-level bureaucrats in terms of discretion and complexity,

but they differ in terms of having a collective (societal) rather than an individual focus), in

2

terms of professional foundation, and in terms of network participants, were they deal with

governmental authorities rather than clients. Johansson names them negotiating

bureaucrats, based on their key skill and task, which sit well in line with the boundary

spanning work. The discretion and policy influence of the boundary spanning work is

discussed by Hysing (2014), where he analyses the work of bureaucrats working with

environmental issues at the local level and distinguishes key strategies to influence policy.

The public administrator has thus in contemporary research been analysed as informal

boundary spanner, as advocate, as negotiator and as policy entrepreneur. In Williams’

distinction between informal and formal boundary spanners, he takes the research on this

public administrator work one step further. By informal boundary spanner, Williams is

referring to managers and leaders, whose work tend to hold an extensive degree of

collaborative work. In an increasingly more multileveled and interdependent policy

landscape, the network mode of governance has increased, and this means that leaders and

managers are more required to work collaboratively. Meaning, they perform an extensive

amount of work that could be described as collaboration, because it’s appropriate within

the current governance mode, and thus a necessary mean to reach the end. (Williams

2012:95-96). The formal boundary spanners constitute another group, administrators with

the explicit task to perform boundary spanning work. Williams refers to them as

“dedicated” boundary spanners, because their roles are explicitly and exclusively grounded

within the cross-sector work. (Williams 2012:37).

With the dedicated boundary spanning role comes a number of ambiguities. They are

operating and managing in and across multiple governance modes, in that they are working

towards different actors, and are being leaders without any authority, 2) their personal

and professional relationships tend to get blurred, because of the character of the boundary

spanning work, that is highly connected to the ability to create good contacts; 3), they face

multiple accountabilities, because of the involvements of many actors and fragmented

responsibilities; and 4) they have to be able to appreciate multiple framing processes. On

the basis of these competencies that boundary spanners are expected to hold, Williams is

also raising the question whether on could talk about a professional boundary spanner, and

if the future will see more of boundary spanning professional training. Another question

3

that is related to this is whether the dedicated boundary spanner and the collaborative

work that they are performing will be develop into a mode were the competencies of

collaboration will expected to be mainstreamed into other professional roles (Williams

2012).

In Williams’ elaboration on formal boundary spanners, we also find the cross-sector

strategists. They have, indirectly, been studied before, as included in the boundary spanner

category, and as policy entrepreneurs for visionary policy ideas. But the combination of

these two variables, the dedicated boundary spanning role, and the formal task of policy

entrepreneurship for values, has not been investigated. Additionally, a third variable most

be included, the character of the policy fields that the boundary spanners are assigned:

tasks within the global paradigm of rights and sustainability. These three variables: the

overall paradigm, the formal cross-cutting role, and the policy entrepreneurship as public

administrator, will, at least as it seems from study I, create an environment of complexities

for the strategists who populate the crossing-pint between them. These complexities

constitute the starting point for an in-depth interview study on the characteristics and

conditions of the strategists’ work.

In the following chapter the result of the study is presented, organized according to the

themes which have emerged during the analysis as important.

4

2.1 Method and data

MethodThe interviews have been conducted based on the three complexities derived from study

one. The method could be characterized as intensive interviewing (Charmaz 2006:25), with

some defined topics as starting point. These have been guiding for the interview, but there

have been extensive opportunities to go beyond them and shift the topic depending on how

the interview has proceeded. The respondents have frequently been asked to elaborate, to

give examples of occasions, thoughts, actions and feelings, in order to get access to

narratives about their experience of the assumed complexities and coping strategies to deal

with them.

The pre-defined topics for the interview are the themes derived from the elaboration of the

complexities in the previous chapter:

Table XXX Interview guide

Political complexity Input and ideas

Multi-level presence

Interconnection between the horizontal fields

Interconnection between the horizontal and vertical fields

Institutional

complexity

Breaking point of vertical and horizontal logics-Work methods.

Breaking point of vertical and horizontal logics- Accountability

Breaking point of vertical and horizontal logics-Field of responsibility

Identity complexity The classic bureaucrat role-Discretion/ neutrality

The bureaucrat as expert- Politicization

The bureaucrat as professional- Foundations

From the material, a number of characteristics have been derived which are presented in

the next section.

DataThe data for this study consists of 27 interviews with strategists for varying social fields,

described in table XXX. They are here all referred to as “strategists”, however, the titles can

also be strategists, coordinators, development leader and developer. In general, the titles

5

are not a stable way to categorize the tasks of this group of bureaucrats, since it appears to

be quite ad hoc how a title in e specific setting emerged. However, the strategists

themselves (usually unrelated to which title they hold) sometimes talk about the difference

between “strategic work” and “coordinating work”, and this will be further elaborated.

The interviews lasted between approximately

one hour and two and a half hour. The

respondents come from eight different

municipalities. The sample of interviewees

has been done based on an initial mapping of

cross-sector work in the Swedish

municipalities, done by email and webpages.

The result of this mapping shows a great

variety in how the cross sector work is

organized. In some cases, the cross-sector

work is mostly a paper product, in terms of a policy decision, and in other cases, there is a

specific organizational unit of bureaucrats dealing only with cross-sectoral strategic work.

Based on this, eight municipalities with more explicit cross-sector work where selected, and

from them, the target has been to interview all or nearly all of the cross sector working

strategists in each municipality, who have focus the social perspectives and who has a more

general cross-sectoral approach. The sampling was done by locating one strategist in the

chosen municipality, usually the one who was the first contact during the mapping, and

asking this strategist for more names. In some cases, additional interviews have been

conducted based in information from the previous interviews. The sample is thus purposive

in the sense that focus has been on finding interviewees relevant for the overall research

question. Three of the strategists has a managerial function. Deliberatively, the three major

cities in Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö) were not included in the study,

because of their deviance in organization and size. The population in the municipalities in

which the respondents work are between approximately 25 000 to approximately 130 000.

Four of the municipalities in which the strategists work have social democratic majority,

three have center-right majority, and one has a mixed majority. The respondents consist of

6

Table XXX. Interviewed strategists

Policy field Number

Gender equality 2

Diversity 4

Public health 7

Children and youth 3

Safety 3

Security 3

Sustainability 3

Mixed 2

Total 27

21 women and 6 men. The age of the respondents stretches from late 20s to retirement age,

around 65.

7

2.2 Empirical findingsWhat do you do and how do you know?R: There are no ordinary days. Tomorrow before lunch we are going to the city planning office to speak about visions for the steering group. Then I will work a lot with trying to find indicators for the budget, I am in a group here, we met the politicians yesterday and got some rebuff or what to call it. We want it in a different way, so we will take a look at it, trying to find indicators from sustainable development which can be more operationalized on a unit level. That is what tomorrow looks like so it is a lot about general strategic tasks so to speak. Then we just had a task in the strategist group, to work with analysis in the budget. I have to start soon when I have time, to look at how it should look and models for analysis and other things concerning that.

This afternoon I will meet the gender equality strategist to talk about exactly this, indicators. In the afternoon we have staff meeting. After, I will try to hit the computer and look a little on how other municipalities have worked indicators and others to get some inspiration on how to measure integration and gender equality and this stuff.(Sustainability)

R: Det finns inga helt vanliga dagar. Imorgon så ska vi först på förmiddagen till stadsbyggnadskontoret och prata visioner för ledningsgruppen. Sedan kommer jag att jobba mycket med att försöka hitta indikatorer till budgeten, då sitter jag med i en grupp här, träffade politikerna igår och fick lite bakläxa eller vad man skall säga. Vi vill ha det på ett annat sätt så då får vi titta på det, försöker hitta indikatorer utifrån hållbar utveckling som kan brytas ner mer på enhetsnivå. Det blir väl dagen imorgon så att det är mycket sådana övergripande strategiska uppdrag om man säger så. Sedan har vi precis fått uppdrag i strateggruppen att jobba med analys i budgeten. Jag får börja snart när jag har tid att titta på hur det skall se ut och analysmodeller och annat kring det.

I eftermiddag ska jag träffa jämställdhetsstrategen för att just prata om detta med indikatorer. APT har vi i eftermiddag. Sen ska jag försöka slänga mig på datorn och försöka titta på lite andra kommuner hur man har jobbat med indikatorer och annat för att få lite uppslag kring hur man kan mäta integration och jämställdhet och den biten.(Hållbarhet)

This is a story about an ordinary day in the work life of strategists. X mentions a wide range

of actors which they meet: politicians, managers and other strategists; and activities such as

speaking, planning, analyzing, advising, supporting, following-up, reporting and looking

around for inspiration. This description of an ordinary work day is representative of the

majority of the respondents.

In every interview, the question of they know what to do has been asked several times. The

answers to these questions have varied slightly between the respondents, and also

depending on when in the interview they have been asked. Some find it very clear what to

do, whereas others do many things, but have a hard time specifying how they actually

decided on what to do, and others explicitly reflect upon having an unclear position and the

difficulties and the freedom which it creates. What is stressed again and again, both for the

strategists who find it reasonably clear what they are expected to do, and the ones who

perceive their positions as vague and unlimited, is the role of having a responsive and

8

interested manager to discuss with. This is helpful both when it comes to distinguishing

what to do, and how to relate to and interpret according to the signals from local politicians.

Another important signal of steering is the sometimes occurring steering groups in the

municipalities. This can be the steering groups of managers (as the strategist in the quote

mentions) or groups formed explicitly to focus on social aspects, called “the welfare group”,

“safety group” or “public health group”. By establishing things in the steering group of

managers, the support from all parts of the municipal organization is secured, and it is also

possible to get signals of what needs to be done. In this case, the strategists work as

rapporteurs, and await the response. In the steering groups explicitly focusing on the social

development, the strategists often has the function of participating member, and who is

included in the discussions of which action to take or direction to go.

Consulting what other strategists do and how they do it, is another way to make sense of

the work. In the case of the sustainability strategist from the quote, the strategists in the

municipality have formed a special “strategist group”, to coordinate their work and get

inspiration from each other. The strategists also have their personal networks of colleagues

in other municipalities, which is another source of inspiration, and looking around to see

how others are solving different issues, like the sustainability strategist mention in the

quote, is a common activity.

In general, the strategists stress that there are no ordinary days, that it can be demanding to

keep everything organized, and that it takes a certain kind of person to handle these

positions. However, all of the respondents also stress that they like their jobs very much,

and will most likely continue in the same field. The ones which have worked for a few years

point out that it has taken them quite some time to distinguish and reflect upon the

characteristics of their own positions, and the ones that are newer on their positions often

mention that it can be a struggle to understand their role. The interviews have been

organized around the three potential complexities, and throughout the interviews, the

respondents have been encouraged to elaborate and freely explore the discussed topics.

From this, a number of themes have crystallized, which could be described has the

characteristics of the strategist positions.

9

Political-administrative complexityCross-sectoral and strategic work

Exactly what it means to work as a strategist may not be clearly defined, but a certain

amount of institutionalization has had time to take place, which becomes visible in the

unanimous preference of general strategic work, compared to more operational and

specific tasks. The majority of the strategists say that their overall task can be summarized

as monitoring the topic at hand, in relation to politics and the municipal organization. In

practice, this means what is shown in the quote above. On the question of what means to

work strategically, a common answer is to make others do things, and think in certain ways.

“The goals should be in the units, not on us” is something that the strategists stress over and

over again, meaning that the formal responsibility should not be on the strategists

themselves, since their function is supportive rather than executive.

R: I have been thinking about what it means to be a strategist, and I have reached the conclusion that my closest co-workers, in some, ways, are all the managers. And my job is to support them, they have so many other things at their table, to open their eyes; to try to support them and thelp them in the beginning to get things started, because they do not have that time. But after when they have begun to find their feet, they want to take over it, and then I have to back off. And I have realized that that is what I do, so you cannot find it hard. In that case, you must only see the good aspects about them actually undertaking it. That is what I think about the strategic role. That ou should lift thinhs which you know other should do, because they do not know about it. And then when they eventually undertake it as theirs, you should not get sad. (Public health)

R: Jag har funderat på vad det innebär att vara strateg och jag har kommit underfund med att mina närmsta medarbetare på nåt sätt blir alla chefer. Och min uppgift är att stötta dem, de har ju så mycket annat, att få upp ögonen; att försöka stötta dem och hjälpa dem i början så att det kommer igång, för de har inte den tiden. Men sen när de känner sig varma i kläderna så vill de ta över det, och då måste jag backa. Och det är det är det jag gör, har jag insett, så du kan inte tycka att det är jobbigt. Då kan man bara tycka att det är kul att de faktiskt tar sig an det. Det är så jag tänker om strategisk roll. Att man ska lyfta saker som man vet att andra borde göra, för att de vet inte om det. Och sen när de, till slut så tar de det som sitt eget, och då ska man inte bli ledsen. (skratt)(Folkhälsa)

The responsibility and framing of the social development work has shifted throughout the

years, which is something stressed particularly by the public health strategists. The

strategic approach, where the strategists try to stay away from the executive work as far as

possible, is mentioned by a majority of the respondents as the result of years of hard work

of explaining and pushing for the strategic work mode, where they finally start to see some

results. In particular, the public health strategists stress that it has taken them some time to

explain to the organizations that their job is to work with strategic public health, not being a

10

healthy life style group leader who gives gym classes and courses in eating habits. This

clash of definitions is reflected also on the state level:

R: Jämlika levnadsförhållanden är ett väldigt svårt begrepp för den borgerliga sidan. Traditionellt är det ju på den socialistiska sidan man har jobbat med det här, t.ex., Jämlikhetsanden1. Därför kanske man inte ska säga det, men man kan försöka mjuka upp det, inte prata för mycket om jämlikhet utan att det ska lika bra förutsättningar. Man använder olika begrepp men det är samma sak man menar. För i grunden i politiken så vill ju inte den borgerliga sidan heller ha ojämlika förhållanden, men man kanske kallar det något annat. Vägen dit är ju också lite olika, mera på individnivå när det gäller den borgerliga delen, och mera på samhällsnivå när det gäller den andra delen. Och det märker vi väldigt mycket i den nationella politiken. Det kan jag säga, den nationella politiken hänger inte riktigt med i vad vi på lokal nivå gör. Och det är ett stort hinder för oss och det här hindret ser ju vi, alla vi kommuner ser ju detta. Från den nationella politiken så satsar man väldigt mycket på levnadsvanor, och det jobbar vi ju nästan inte alls med här. För vi tänker att det här är saker som påverkas av hur det ser ut i strukturer, strukturella förändringar har mer betydelse för levnadsvanorna än att man går en antirökkurs eller att man ska ha mer motion eller vad det nu kan vara. Om du tar det från ett kommunalt perspektiv så handlar det kanske mer om att förändra kosten i skolan, än att ge kostråd till barnen eller föräldrarna. Alltså se till att man skapar samhälleliga förutsättningar (…). Allt det där är ju viktigare för oss att jobba med och påverka än att försöka gå in på de rena levnadsvanorna.(Folkhälsa)

This example highlights an example of a clash of definitions, when it comes to what the

work if the strategist is really about. Several of them stress that “it can be difficult

sometimes, because everyone has an opinion about what we should do”. Definitions come

from the municipal organization; from the “profession”, as in the case above, where the

public health workers via their professional organisations take a clear stand against the

1 The book The Spirit Level- why more equal societies almost always do better by Kate Wilkinson & Richard Pickett, (in Swedish Jämlikhetsanden- därför är mer jämlika samhällen nästan alltid är bättre samhällen) was published in Sweden 2010, and caused strong reactions in the media..

11

definition of the national politics, saying that “that is not how we work”; and also from

personal preferences, based on the extensive discretion to shape their job they want, which

all the strategist point out as an important characteristic, of their positions, creating both

downsides and positive freedom.

When the strategists talk about their work, most of them say that they are working towards

a state, where the actual job is performed by the units, and where they have the role of a

consultant who supports, inspires and lobbies. In practice, however, it is also pointed out

that although this is the preferred work mode, and that things have changed dramatically

throughout the last years, the job often contains a certain amount of operational executive

work. This is also reflected in where the strategist is placed organizationally. Some of the

examples which is represented in the data material is a youth strategist who is placed in the

unit for leisure and culture, because this unit is considered to be the most relevant when it

comes to fulfilling the goals of youth politics. However, the overall mainstreaming

responsibility is still on the whole organization, and it is perceived as a potential problem

by the strategist, who finds it harder to reach out to the other units now, when X formally

belong a special unit and not the central. Another example is a security strategist who is

placed in the emergency service unit, which is considered to be an advantage since the

colleagues are working with the same topics as X, but also as a disadvantage, from a

strategic perspective, since, like for the youth strategist, it becomes harder to reach out to

the rest of the organization.

Basically, the work with social development can be divided according to who is responsible

for the actions taken, the organization or the strategist. If the strategist is the only actor in

the municipality who is involved in the work of social development, and is mostly or only

focusing in operational work, there is no mainstreaming of the perspective taking place. If

the strategist is mixing operational and strategic work, and the units of the organization are

to some extent involved in this work, then the state of the work could be described as semi-

mainstreaming. If the strategist is not performing any operational work, but stays in the

background performing strategic work which makes the units take on their responsibly and

integrate it in their normal activities, a slightly higher level, however still a version of semi-

mainstreaming, is the case. The last box, where the strategist is not performing any

12

operational work, and neither are the organizational units, is described by the strategists as

the utopic stage they are striving towards, where the strategic work and mainstreaming

have succeeded to the extent that

the social development perspectives do not even have to be mentioned explicitly in neither

strategic nor operational work, since they are already fully integrated the organizational

units. In this utopic stage, there might not even be a strategist in the background

performing strategic work. After all, as one of them expresses it “we are working against

our own existence”. Thus, it could mean perfect mainstreaming.

However, in an

organization where

neither the strategist,

nor the organizational

units are working with

the social development

perspectives, the

likelihood is high that it

instead of perfect

mainstreaming means complete neclect. One gender equality strategist says: “at first, you

have to make it visible to push it into the organization, but after, you should make it

invisible and it should work by itself”.

In the stories of the respondents, there is a variety between the strategists of how they

perceive their roles, both in terms of how what is the case now and what is desired. The

majority of the respondents stresses that they are mixing operational and strategic work,

but that they would like to reach a state of pure strategic work, with the overall if yet utopic

and conceptual goal of eventually making themselves redundant, once the organizational

units are fully undertaking the responsibility of the strategic social field. The interview was

conducted from autumn 2011 until autumn 2013, and during this time period, some

reorganizations occurred. Whether or not they are generalizable is hard to tell, but there

seemed to be a tendency towards removing strategic positions with explicit responsibility,

with the argument being desire to incorporate the social topics in the organizational units.

13

Figure XXX. Operational action

Strategist

The organizational units

Yes No

Yes

Semi-mainstreaming

Strategists perform a mix of operational and strategic work

Semi-mainstreaming

Strategists perform pure strategic work

No

No mainstreaming

Strategists perform pure operational work

Perfect mainstreaming/Complete neglect

Strategists perform no strategic work

One factor which seems to be of importance when it comes to the relation between

operational and strategic work, is the extent to which the strategic field is controlled by

hard or soft regulation. The field which stands out in this case is security, which has a stable

foundation of laws which controls the work of the strategists. The security strategists are

also somewhat special related to the others, since their salary is usually paid for by the

state, via the state grants which is given to every municipality for working with the crisis

and security. However, the security strategists also discuss in terms of strategic versus

operational work, and some of them point out that in the strategic work they find it helpful

to have the hard regulation as their backbone, not least because it renders them a certain

extent of authority and legitimacy. “When I think of how tough I find the strategic work to

be, who still have this hard regulation and definition with me, I feel sorry for the others!”

one security strategist says. Some of the interviewed security strategists work close to

other social strategists, for cooperation and consulting if strategic matters. When the

question is asked to all the strategists if they feel like they have clear directives, a strong

majority answers no. On the question of how they know what to do, a representative

example, to some extent also for the security strategists, is:

We do not know. What governs me is that I am generally interested in society; I follow the debate and notice that this is an important topic, and I have my moral compass. And I the coworkers I have, and we try to find solutions to achieve something which could be a result with very small resources.(Manager, development unit)

Det vet vi inte. Det som styr mig, är att jag är allmänt samhällsintresserad; jag följer med i debatten och jag ser att det här är en viktig fråga, och så har jag min moraliska kompass. Och sen har jag de medarbetare jag har, och så försöker vi hitta möjligheter att med väldigt små resurser åstadkomma någonting som kan bli ett resultat. (Chef, utvecklingsenhet)

The strategists express that having clearer directives, and more hard regulation, might be

helpful, but at the same time, they do not always appreciate the input they get in defining

what they should do. The national level is considered important for the security strategists,

since it comes with hard law, and constitutes their professional backbone. For the public

health strategists, the national goals for public health are considered to be their

professional foundation, but they do not like the center-right government’s attempt to steer

towards life-style factors, because it does not go along with their professional view of

methods. These examples are the most obvious, however an ambiguous perception of what

it really should mean to work as a strategist seem to be valid for all of them. Which input

which is considered to be the most legitimate when framing the position, varies between

14

them, but one factor is strongly stressed by all strategists as very important for framing of

their job, namely the local politicians.

Politics

The main actor which the strategists are relating to is the local politicians. In general they

hold an anticipating approach, where they are stressing the necessity of listening to the

politicians and see where they are heading. This corresponds well to what we saw in the

work ads, which sometimes requested experience of working in a political organization for

the strategist positions. The relationship to the political level is however more complex

than just anticipating. The strategists in general see it as their task to be responsive to

politicians, but also to influence them in certain directions. The following quote from a

security strategist illustrates the political level as constituting a principal, an object for

education, and a tool and agent in the strategic work.

Och det handlar ju om att synliggöra, och det är något jag har lärt mig av att ha jobbat inom kommunen. Det kunde inte jag innan jag började. Och jag har själv utvecklat mitt förhållande till att använda mig av politiken. Min inställning eller där jag, fick lära mig, eller, som sagt, jag har suttit på räddningstjänsten, när jag började här satt jag på räddningstjänsten, då var tjänsten placerad där. Då sitter man placerad på en förvaltning. Dessutom inte ens lokaliserad i kommunhuset. Vilket gjorde att man blev ganska avskärmad från det politiska. Och jag förstod inte riktigt varför jag hade svårt att driva mina frågor, varför jag inte riktigt kom framåt eller varför jag inte riktigt fick gehör i vissa sammanhang. Det förstår jag ju nu. För det har att göra med att man måste ju ändå få med sig politiken och gå den vägen för att verkligen få lite tryck i frågorna. Det är en rätt viktig del utav det här. och det är nånting som, det känner jag att jag har lärt mig med tiden att initiera, politiken är inget man ska hålla borta så mkt som möjligt. För så var min inställning från början, eller den bilden jag skapade då, att försök göra politik av så lite som möjligt. Alltså håll de borta och försök hålla det på tjänstemannanivå, så gör du det enklast för dig. Nej! Försök att involvera dem, så gör du det enklast för dig. För det är först då du faktiskt får lite påtryckningsmedel för att faktiskt gå fram en del i frågor. Plus att de ska vara medvetna. Jag menar vi kan inte täcka allt, vi kan inte vara bra på allting. Då ska de se det och veta det och ibland faktiskt också välja vilja saker vi ska vara bra på.(Säkerhet)

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Having interested politicians and gaining support from them is thus important because

when it comes to the strategic work in the municipal organization, the politicians are

considered to be the most important tool for the strategist. This is also illustrated in this

quote by a gender equality strategist, who describes how knowledge about the political will

can ease or complicate her job:

R: Politiken lade till vissa åtaganden, och de skrev också i inledningen till den strategiska planen att det ska finnas en genusanalys utav mål och åtaganden. Det står det. Det kan jag hämta näring och motivering från, när jag säger att ‘du ska gå den här utbildningen’, och ‘du behöver göra det här’. Men när man sedan gör en populärversion av den strategiska planen så finns den här för mig livsviktiga meningen inte med. Jamen alltså, då har man klippt av inledningen som var i skrivningen, när man gjorde populärversionen, där man skriver av strategisk, där man skriver om mål och åtaganden. Och det blir ju liksom, ja, incitamentet försvann.(Jämställdhet)

The social topics tend to have a various degree of politicization, based the extent to which

they include a power perspective, where safety can be categorized as the least non-

controversial, and gender equality as the other extreme. The most extreme example of this

brought up during an interview illustrates how the political controversy can be used as a

counter force:

R: Everything about gender equality which has passed through the council has been given penetrating power thanks to him being like that, “no”. That’s how he’s been sitting there, with “radical feminism” (…). I was in the Sweden Democrats’ saving program, so I was kind of like, ok, kick me out. And then my boss said “you are the only one who is safe in the entire organization” (…) Do you understand? Opposition is actuation, there are many forces which empower a perspective, and every now and then SD is a factor.(Gender equality)

R: Allting som har handlat om jämställdhet som har gått genom fullmäktige det har ju fått genomslagskraft tack vare att han är så där ”nej”. Så har han suttit, med ”radikalfeminism”. (…). Jag låg i Sverigedemokraternas insparningsprogram, så jag var liksom, jaha ut med mig. Och då sa ju min chef, ”du är den enda som sitter säker i hela organisationen”. (…)Förstår du? Motkraft är en drivkraft, det finns många krafter som gör att ett område blir framkomligt, då och då är SD en faktor.(Jämställdhet)

What this gender equality strategist is describing is that the political resistance to her

position by the Sweden Democrats actually strengthened her position because it made

others more willing to stand up for the gender equality work.

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The political input is thus of strong importance when the strategist are forming their work.

However, as shown, they also discuss the importance of influencing politicians in certain

directions, and when doing so, other sources of input is deciding the direction of the

strategic work.

The input which the strategists are using when choosing where to put their focus, thus

come from different sources. Several of them mention it as their specific task to bring all

this varying input together: research and from local, national and international steering.

On the question whether there can be a collision between the inputs coming from different

levels, this manager for various social perspectives answers:

Oja det gör det ju hela tiden. Definitivt, bara om man tittar på mänskliga rättigheter så kolliderar med den del svensk lagstiftning, och då är det, det är därför man inte vill anta barnkonventionen, för det kommer att kollidera med föräldrars rättigheter. Det finns ju alltid alltså, samhället är ju så komplext att det som är bra för den ena parten är dåligt för en annan. Och då måste man välja.Och jag tror egentligen att de globala och FN-nivån på frågorna, de hamnar längst ner på agendan, och det som är absolut viktigast är det man har här och nu framför sig. Så det är omvänd ordning på digniteten, skulle jag vilja säga, vilken effekt lagstiftningen och förordningen har.P: Kan de internationella konventionerna fungera som slagträ? Ja, nu uttrycker jag det väldigt rakt på.E: ja visst. Det är klart man kan använda dem. Men det ger dem inte större tyngd, det tror jag inte.(Chef utvecklingsenhet)

However, as this respondent clearly stresses, the local steering comes first, in terms of

being the factor which all other sources of input are related to. This does not mean that the

strategists are always accepting the input they get from the local politicians. They normally

do not speak I terms of actively influencing and affecting the politicians, but

most of the respondents see it as one of their main tasks to enlighten and educate both the

administration and the politicians about their strategic topics in order to, as one safety

coordinator answers when she is getting the question what her main task as responsible for

the safety topic, to politicize it:

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R: Det är ju viktigt att få upp det agendan, för den här prioriteringen som gjordes förra året hade inte gjorts om inte jag hade rapporterat in vilka bilder jag såg och vilka siffror som gång på gång kommer. Och jag tycker det är min roll att förmedla hur det ser ut. Sen är det ju politikens sak att säga, jag kan ju också förmedla att jämfört med andra kommuner så ser det sämre eller bättre ut, sen om det är en prioriterad fråga är det ju upp till politiken. Min uppgift är att förmedla bilderna, sen kan jag göra det med olika mycket envishet och energi.(Trygghet)

Social development as one policy field or several

The safe coordinator mentions that reporting from different municipalities is part of her

job, and this highlights another aspect of political complexities, namely that the social

aspects tend to be overlapping each other. Although the municipalities in the study have

various strategists, there seem to be one area which serves as the “umbrella perspective”.

However, which term this is vary between the municipalities. One indicator of umbrella

perspective is the existence of political boards directed specifically towards a strategic

topic. In municipalities in this study, we find boards for public health and safety, consisting

of politicians, managers and strategists. These boards, when they exist, are also considered

to be important sources of steering for the strategists. The boards are intended to serve as a

node bringing the municipality together around one holistic perspective, and the idea is

that the board should contribute to highlight how the social aspect as bearing on all parts of

the organization, as illustrated by this quote from a safety coordinator:

R: Ofta i det här nätverket säger vi kolla här, det leder ju till ökad trygghet här. och då blir man lite så här, wow! Får riktiga rysningsar! För då bygger man den här gemensamma kunskapen. Medvetandegöra är ett sånt där nyckelbegrepp. Då känner jag lite extra ansvar när vi sitter i nätverket, att försöka visa på det, titta här nu, detta vi gör tillsammans leder till ökad trygghet, och vad ser vi som vi tycker saknas, och då får man det här trygghetsspåret i sin skalle. Alltså, tidigare visste man inte att det var ett trygghetsspår, utan det var en massa olika saker som man tyckte var viktigt bara. Men nu byggervi upp en kunskap runt det här, vi blir duktigare och duktigare och det känns professionellt. Att vi vet vad vi gör och mer och mer kan se vad som saknas eller vad vi ska satsa på.(Trygghet)

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The board for safety officially has the name board for public health and safety, and when

being asked about how the notion relates to each other, the respondent gives the following

answer:

R: När jag tänker folkhälsa, då tänker jag mer åt ät frukt-hållet, alltså det här med till exempel viktfrågor och sunda levnadsvanor, om man ska hårddra det. Och vi har ju mer det här med brottsförebyggande, det blir lite annorlunda. Men sen möts vi ju ändå, för det handlar ju mycket om barn och ungdomar och hur man växer upp och att man har en trygghet och att det finns stöd för föräldrar, Det tänker vi mycket på nu, föräldrastödet är ju urviktigt. Och det är ju folkhälsa så i barnperspektivet möts vi mycket. Och mår du bra, är du trygg i skolan, det är hälsa.(Trygghet)

Thus, in this municipality, the framing of the social development work is done under safety

as umbrella term. In another municipality, public health is the overall concept, with various

angles, among them safety. This mixing of concepts sometimes makes it hard to draw clear

lines around what actually constitutes social development work in the municipalities. In

some cases, they are closely connected under one umbrella term, in others, they are very

active, but not very connected, and the definitions and concepts may vary while the active

work is similar. This is something which corresponds well with theoretical concepts

approaching the social development with various terms but similar content. This also

creates trouble when approaching the organizational units, because drawing the line

between the normal activities of a sector, and the topic which should be mainstreamed into

the organization can be tricky. The desire is usually to change the mindset, but that does

not necessarily have to mean extensive changes in what is actually done, which is illustrated

by another safety coordinator:

R: Jag upplever ändå här att man har sagt att det är viktigt med trygghet, sen kanske jag inte sett att det blivit resultat av det, men det finns i alla fall. Det är ett litet steg mot att folk ska börja tänka trygghet till vardags och försöker säga till förvaltningschefer eller annan ledning när jag träffar dem att det är inte säkert att ni behöver göra något nytt, men att tänka på om ni gör någonting idag som under något annat område som faktiskt också syftar till att öka tryggheten och beskriva det som en trygghetsåtgärd. För man gör ofta saker som kanske är menat att ha effekt på folkhälsan eller på delaktigheten eller vad det nu må vara och så ökar

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det också tryggheten, för trygghet är ju svårt att säga exakt vad det är.(Trygghet)

In this quote it is highlighted not only that is can be difficult to draw the line between the

sectors in the organization and the social development work, but also the interconnection

between the different strategic topics. When starting this study, there were difficulties of

making a clear definition of social development work, and the empirical observations shows

that this difficulty was valid. However, observing the varying versions of social

development work and the strong connections which cut through the municipalities from

different angles also supports the approach of studying the social development strategists

as one specific group of public bureaucrats.

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Institutional complexity

In a multi-levelled cross-sectoral landscape

Municipal strategists working with social aspects have varying placements in the

organizations. In the selection for this study, one of the requirements has been that the

strategist’s work should have a general approach, e.g. have focus on the municipal

organiastion as a whole. However, also for this group, the placements vary. Most of them

work in the city council administration, under the city council. Some are placed under one

of the specialized boards, such as the leisure and public health board, or culture and leisure

board. The placement is discussed by the strategists as something crucial, since closeness to

politicians and ownership of the topic is heavily affected by where the strategist formally

and physically belongs. One public health strategist, in charge of the “welfare closure” in the

municipality, and placed under the leisure and public health board, expresses that here

placement only can take here to a certain point in the strategic work:

R: När jag fick den här tjänsten så var det redan upparbetat vad som var mitt uppdrag, och mitt uppdrag har varit att förvalta men också utveckla. Jag har förändrat en del, till exempel avskaffat en icke-fungerande samverkansgrupp. Jag har också försökt dra den (välfärdsbokslutet) så nära jag kan intill årsredovisning, använda det i budgeten, alltså, inriktningsmål utifrån resultatet, och då har man också haft folkhälsomedel avsatt, som har bäring på de här inriktningsmålen. Men sen kommer man inte längre. Nu kommer jag inte längre med det här. Av många olika orsaker, den största orsaken är ju att vi, jag är här, egentligen. Rent placeringsmässigt.(Folkhälsa)

The public health strategist here refers to matter so f influence, how she has managed to

bring the welfare closure as close as she ca into annual closure and establishment of goals

for the municipality, but that this is as far she gets, because here placement formally makes

the welfare closure a product of the specialized board to which she belong, e.g. the leisure

and public health board, and not the municipality as a whole. The ownership of the welfare

closure thus lies in this board, and the others, in particular the city council, have their full

freedom to refuse it, if they feel like it. As the strategist explains, there is still a clear general

interest in the welfare closure, but her possibilities as a strategist to use the methods

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normally used for influence and lobbying becomes limited because of the formal ownership.

In other cases, the situation can be the reversed, that being placed in the city council

administration pinions the possibilities of action. A security strategist uses the

organizational tree to explain the procedure of obtaining personal alarms to the elderly

care personnel. She concludes with a rather heavy sigh, when pointing on her own position

in the tree, as a formal boundary spanner, and showing that for her, as for the other

boundary spanners in the organization, there is no formal connection, in form of an arrow

in the organization tree, an thus no mandate:

R: När vi har ett kommunövergripande projekt är det ju ingen som bestämmer. Om jag får låna din penna. (R ritar upp organisationsskissen) Så har du då kommunfullmäktige. Som under sig har KS. Och under KS finns ju då, i vårt fall heter det kommunledningskontoret.. Som förvaltning. (ritar)Och detta är en nämnd (ritar). Och här har du då kommundirektören. Och under honom så finns det, , ja, själva kommunledningskontoret då. Så problemet ör ju då, att under KS ligger också Barn och Familj. (ritar) och ligger också (ritar) vård och omsorg. Nämnd. Alltså den politiska nämnden då. (ritar) Nämnd. Och under den så har de ju då en förvaltning (ritar) med en förvaltningschef. Och det betyder ju att han kan ju inte bestämma över dem, (pekar på andra förvaltningen) det är inga streck till dem. Och man kan inte gå upp till KS med den här frågan, för detta är ju en sakfråga som inte har med KS och göra, utan det är bara det att det är en kommun-övergripande fråga. Men kommunledningskontoret har inga pilar till de här (förvaltningarna), om inte det är taget in en policy någonstans, att X (strategens chef) får lov att bestämma över arbetsmiljöriktlinjerna eller så där. Men i mina frågor finns det inget sånt. Så jag har inget mandat alls, överhuvudtaget.(Säkerhet)

What is stressed in both examples is the possibility of formal influence and formal channels.

However, the strategists also stresses that one major factor in their work is the informal

influence. They mention that they “walk” and “talk” a lot to keep the channels open to know

what is going in the municipal organization, and that reorganizations can be somewhat of a

tricky business, since they are very dependent on their personal worked up networks.

Several of the strategists stress that it was tough during their first years, when this net of

contacts was not yet established, and the ones who have worked for a long point out that

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one of their major tools is their wide-ranging contacts. They learn who in the organizational

sectors is interested of their specific topic, and uses them as a key to get further contact.

In this cross-sectoral and multilevel landscape, we find varying organizational framing of

the strategic work. One municipality has very few specialized strategists, and the explicit

idea here is firstly that the staff working with general topics should be able to handle

varying topics, and secondly, a desire to avoid placing the strategic topic on an expert who

is placed outside the units. It is thus an attempt to reach a higher level of mainstreaming.

Another municipality has chosen the opposite solution, and has a big number of specialized

strategists, placed both in the city council administration and in a specialized unit. However,

the public health strategists in this municipality have shared the responsibility between

each other, and thus created what could be defined as a cross-sectoral sectorization. In

another municipality, the strategist for youth politics where transferred, from the city

council administration to one of the socialized units, with the argument of giving the topic a

more stable ownership and bottom-up approach. A fourth example of varying

organizational framing is a municipality which changed the role of the gender equality

strategist to be focused more on internal equality, within the organization, instead of

societal gender equality, the argument being that focusing on the municipal organization

was the most efficient way to influence the rest of the society in a gender equal direction.

The conclusion we can draw from this is that if we take both the forma organization and the

framing of the topics in consideration, there are as many examples as there are

municipalities, and the strategists do what they can to make sense out their own position.

The social development topics in the study are defined as general demands or cross-

sectoral perspectives for two reasons. They are considered to be topics which need to be

taken into consideration in all sectors, and they are considered to be topics which requires

collaboration between sectors. The strategists themselves considers networking to be one

of their major tools, however, networking for influence does not necessarily mean

networking for collaboration, and the fact that a strategist is networking does not have to

mean that the rest of the organization is doing so. Thus it is important to separate between

the different versions of it. However, it is also stressed by most of the strategists that

networking and collaboration is a major factor in their work:

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R: Man kan inte trycka nog på vikten av samverkan när det gäller de här frågorna. Och även om det inte finns ett råd här, så finns det en samverkansvilja mellan de flesta förvaltningar, och de förvaltningar som inte har vaknat än, hoppas jag kommer att vakna tids nog. För jag tror, vilket område du än ska jobba med i kommunen, så måste vi samverka. För att komma ännu längre.(Hållbarhet)

X mentions that in this case, there is not a board specifically for the sustainability topic, but

that there is still a will to cooperate. As mentioned in the introduction, networking groups

with which the strategists interact can have varying functions: steering groups with

managers where the strategists participates; political/administrative boards, as in the

example above, which often has the function of principal for the strategic work, and

development groups consisting of either representatives from different units or of

strategists working for different topics, or both. In another municipality, a manager for the

development unit describes the newly started group for welfare. When being asked how the

communication works in these kinds of groups and whether it can be tricky to coordinate

people from different units with different perspectives, she gives the following reflection:

I: Hur fungerar det när man ska mötas i den här typen av samverkanssammanhang, att det är olika områden, jag tänker att man skulle kunna föreställa sig att man kan ha väldigt olika perspektiv på vad det handlar om?R: Absolut. Och det har man. De som är utsedda av sin respektive förvaltning att ingå i en arbetsgrupp kan ha väldigt olika bakgrund, väldigt olika instruktion på vad de ska åstadkomma, så det är en väldig obalans i de grupperna många gånger. Och de här grupperna också börja leva sitt eget liv, och få en föreställning om att det är någon som styr frågan och så kommer man med massor av bra idéer. Och sen presenteras dem för kommunens ledningsgrupp och så säger den ”nej, det kostar för mycket” eller något sånt. Och då uppstår en väldig frustration i gruppen som har uppfattat att de har ett mandat som de sen blir fråntagna när det hettar till. Ibland kan det utvecklas en väldigt fin samarbetskultur i en grupp, men det är viktigt att man hela tiden är medveten om att det är väldigt villkorligt. Och en av de saker som jag försöker genomföra är att vi skapar bättre struktur när det gäller projektmodeller, så att vi, när vi påbörjar ett nytt arbetsområde att vi försöker se till att beskriva det i projekttermer. Eller processtermer,

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men det är lite likartad struktur, att vi har en beställare av någonting, vi har en styrgrupp, vi har referensgrupper, och så har vi en projektledare som har ett mandat, och sen ett tydligt, ja handlingsplaner, och vad det nu är man ska jobba med. Och en beskrivning av varför man ska göra det, vilka mål man ska uppnå, när det ska mätas och sådana saker. Och det har suttit väldigt hårt inne att överhuvudtaget acceptera att man ska tänka så strukturerat kring saker och ting. Det är inte helt accepterat. För man vill från ledningen helst vara så flexibel som möjligt, så att man göra tvära kast, så att politiken kan stå där med de här valvinnande frågorna och inte är nedtyngda av en massa bråte som man hade fattar beslut om för fyra år sen som man har glömt bort.(Chef utvecklingsenhet)

Thus, knowing what to is important, and there can be problems when the politics is

unwilling to provide the strategists with this kind of framing. However, in this the

strategists’ positions are ambivalent, in that they request framing and search for political

signals for an anticipating approach, while at the same time, lobbying and framing is

expressed as their own major task and skill.

Lobbyism and framing

As was shown in the initial quote, the strategists meet many people, and they do perceive it

as their job to monitor their specific topic, and “make politics out of it”. In this, they are

lobbyists, and their main skill is framing. What can be a problem for them is that the

strategic tasks on their table are inviolable for public administration, meaning they are all

considered to be normatively and politically important topics. However, since both the

administration and the local government needs to make priorities, the strategic topic at

hand may not always be given strong attention in terms of resources although there might

be an interest for it on the symbolic level:

R: It is hard because everyone placed in units are extremely stressed most of the time and you do not have time to accept new missions and new thought and you may not even have education or understanding to listen to something new and if you do not hear you will not do anything either. What I perceive as the most difficult, it must be the time, because when talking to people and describes why it is so important. It is rare that someone think you are wrong or says that “I do not agree at all about that or have another conviction about how things should be

R: Det är svårt för alla som sitter i verksamheter är jättestressade oftast och man har inte tid över där man kan ta på sig nya uppdrag och nya tankar och man kanske inte ens har utbildning eller vett att lyssna på något nytt och hör man inte så kommer man ju inte att göra något heller. Det jag upplever som det svåraste, det är nog tiden, för när man pratar med människor och beskriver vad man vill åstadkomma och varför det är viktigt så är det ju sällan någon som tycker att man har fel eller säger att ”det där håller inte jag med om” eller har en annan

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done. It rarely happens, or has never happened to me. But it is this, that “well, now she is also coming”, so you shut down or listen and are polite and then you do nothing with it so it is very much about selling and winning. And about selling I think it is said if they pitch a hundred times, ten is listening and one is acting!(Safety)

övertygelse om hur saker skall göras. Det händer ju sällan, eller det har aldrig hänt mig. Men det är det här att ”ja nu kommer hon också”, så stänger man av eller så lyssnar man och är artig och sedan så gör man ingenting med det så det handlar ju väldigt mycket om att sälja och vinna. Och om sälja så säger man väl om de pitchar hundra gånger så är det tio som lyssnar och en som gör!(Trygghet)

This safety strategist highlights the difficulty of reaching out, and stresses that the problem

is normally not the interest, but the time. She perceives herself as a salesperson for the

safety perspective, and explicitly uses the terms pitching and selling when trying to reach

out the sectors. All the strategists have been asked the question about whether some

sectors are harder to reach out to than others. Several of the strategists stresses that the

sectors who deal with what is sometimes referred to as “harder” topics, such as roads,

water and houses are more difficult to discuss with, and the reason for this is often said to

be that the language and mindset differs. Another reason which several strategists mention

as a problematic aspect when it comes to reaching out is the legislation. The sectors that are

governed by extensive national legislation are considered to be more difficult to reach, both

because they are under more pressure, and because the national legislation provides them

with a harder frame which can be used to define certain things away:

R: Vi får ju föreslå prioriteringar och är det tydligt vilka prioriteringar vi ska göra så är det ju inte problematiskt. Men, innan när det inte var så tydliga program och planer och så vidare så känns det ju lite som att man kommer med nånting vid sidan om som man försöker trycka in i de här verksamheterna. Och så ville jag absolut inte att det skulle bli, det ska vara en del som byggs upp inom ordinarie verksamheten. Det är hela grundtanken nu när vi har skrivit planen att vi ska utgå från ordinarie verksamhet, vi ska utveckla de mötesplatser och verksamheter som vi har, i första hand. För att leva upp till det här övergripande målet då, att vi ska erbjuda föräldrastöd till alla, alla föräldrar som har barn mellan 0-17 år. Annars så är det ju ett problem, för ofta har jag upplevt det att man kommer med enskilda mål, som man då har fått ok för från någon form av strategisk grupp eller folkhälsopolitisk grupp av något slag, och sen så kommer man till verksamheterna och så säger

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de stopp, vi har vår lagstiftning. Framförallt, vi har vår skollag, framförallt gäller det skolan för de har påtryckningar från alla håll, och jag har full förståelse för det. Man kan inte göra allt. Det blir väldigt problematiskt. Så jag tror det är jätteviktigt att man hanterar och bryter ner de här målen på rätt sätt, och får dem att gå in i ordinarie verksamhet, och det är därför jag vill att målen ska ligga ute i verksamheterna, och att de inte ligger på oss, för då kommer vi in från sidan om.(Folkhälsa)

This public health strategist mention that the school2 can be problematic organization,

based on both the pressure that they experience, and the legislation. The school is

mentioned by several strategists as difficult to reach to, mainly due to the fact that everyone

wants to get access to the school, both horizontally and vertically. She mentions her full

understanding of this, and stresses that it is important to take the goals apart, and integrate

them in the regular sectors. This is in many ways the way the strategists define

mainstreaming, and it is considered to be the main task and also tool, because otherwise,

the sectors perceive the strategic social tasks as something coming “from the side” or “from

above”, which creates the situation referred to in the introduction: “yes we try to take the

gender equality, public health, diversity, environment, childrens’ rights and sustainability in

consideration, but we also have a business to run”. The key factor, stressed repeatedly by

the strategists, is to make the regular sectors feel participant in the work regarding the

holistic goals. It also becomes clear that the strategists mostly perceive themselves as a

support function, whose task is to be observant, lobbying and supporting. One strategy to

do this and to make the strategic topic to get integrated is to talk about what is already

there. This means helping the sectors to see their business with another perspective, and

distinguish what they are already doing which is contributing to enhance the strategic topic.

The strategists are also mentioning the importance of striking when the iron is hot,

meaning having a sensitivity to what is going on, frame the strategic topic in that direction,

here illustrated by a youth politics coordinator:

R: När man sitter i stadshuset får en ganska snabb känsla för vad som är en snackis och inte, när typ 75% pratar om folkhälsan. Nu tog jag kanske i lite…

2 The Swedish municipalities are responsible for child care, preschool, 10-year compulsory school and upper secondary school, which are regulated via the national school legislation.

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Men man förstår ganska snabbt vilket perspektiv man ska lägga sig inom. Sen finns det klara logiska förklaringar till varför man lägger ungdoms-perspektivet i folkhälsoarbetet också, och jobbar mot precis samma målgrupp egentligen. Nej men det är nog allmänt bara känslan tror jag och vad som finns på dagordningarna. I rådet för hälsa och trygghet är det mycket tydligt, det har blivit ett jättetydligt folkhälsoperspektiv i X kommun det sista året.(Ungdomspolitik)

In this case, he has framed the youth politics under the public health, because the public

health was already on the agenda. Another example comes from a sustainability strategist

who mentions the implementation of the management system lean might be way for her to

“sneak in” the sustainability perspective via lean, or contant improvements as it is called in

the municipalities:

R: För att jag tror att hållbarhetsfrågorna är ingen fråga som kommer uppifrån och ner, den måste komma nerifrån och upp. Och problemet är bara, hur når jag, hur kommer jag till nerifrån. Eftersom jag sitter uppe? Jag måste ju få hjälp av ledningen att komma ner, är du med på vad jag menar? Och det är en process, att komma dithän. För då måste du bli insläppt. Men vi ska börja jobba med nåt som heter lean, eller ständiga förbättringar, som det kallas i kommunal verksamhet. Och jag tror att jag med hjälp av ständiga förbättringar kan lyfta in hållbarhetsbegreppet, för hållbar arbetsplats som var ett annat ledningssystem eller vad vi ska kalla det, har ju inte riktigt nåt ut, för man efterfrågar mig inte. Men ständiga förbättringar är nåt som folk efterfrågar. För vi är jättemånga som gått utbildning i det, och det bubblar liksom på förvaltningarna för de som gått utbildningar vill att vi ska komma igång. Ok men hur kan vi börja jobba med de här frågorna, alltså ständigt förbättras. Och då kan jag, är min ambition att smyga in det, den vägen.(Hållbarhet)

She mentions that this might actually work, because people are requesting this system, as

contrast to another attempt, the implementation of the sustainable workplace management

system. This failed, because people did not request the help of the sustainability strategist.

In the framing, the social strategic topics can be expressed in varying ways, depending on

who the receiver is. Focus of the strategists is mostly on positioning the strategic topics in

relation to other fields by framing their topics in economic terms. The following quote is

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from a respondent describing the importance of economical framing in the case of alone

coming refugee children:

R: Yes, it’s like this topic about alone coming children has been discussed a lot. In X municipality it’s very stable and very good, and for the municipality it’s great that they are coming, we get paid from the state for everything until they turn 21, and if we are good and succeed, then it won’t cost anything, what do other youths cost who have gone through kindergarten and school, they cost awfully much, if we see it strictly financial. But then it’s also about which perspective you have, if we choose that they are a resource and that we venture and improve this well then they will become a resource but if we consider it an encumbrance for the municipality, they will also become that. For example we had a pretty strong resistance from the social department, they didn’t want to because it will give them more work. But for me it’s a mission among others that they have. But in general in the municipality, it’s very positive, and what matters is to explain this for the politicians, that they should think like this and if you are chair of board of social affairs and get from your administrators that this will become an encumbrance, if you have this perspective, then this is what will happen if you don’t explain. Now it has become stable, but for example in that I think that we could have been even more positive and said that we have hired 20 people in X municipality when they came, they work in houses and they work in school, and this is covered for, plus that we become equipped for the future. I see many more advantages than disadvantages.(Manager diversity)

R: Ja det är som att det här med ensamkommande barn har också diskuterats jättemycket. I X kommun är det väldigt stabilt och väldigt bra, och för kommunen så tycker jag att det är ett jättebra att de kommer, vi får betalt för allting tills de är 21 från staten, och om vi är duktiga med det och lyckas med det, då kostar det ingenting, vad kostar andra ungdomar som har gått igenom dagis och skola, de kostar hur mycket som helst om man skall titta rent ekonomiskt. Men sedan handlar det också om vad man har för syn, om vi väljer att de är en resurs och att vi satsar och förbättrar det här ja då blir de en resurs men om vi tycker att det här var en belastning för kommunen, då kommer det också att bli det. Vi hade t.ex. stort motstånd från social-förvaltningen, de ville inte för de får mer jobb av det. Men för mig är det ett uppdrag bland alla andra som de har. Men i stort i kommunen så är det jättepositivt om man tar helheten och det gäller att förklara det här för politikerna att de ska tycka det här och om man sitter som ordförande i social-nämnden och får från sina tjänstemän att det här kommer att bli belastning, har man den in-ställningen, då kommer det att bli det om man inte förklarar. Nu har det liksom blivit stabilt men där t.ex. där tycker jag att vi kunde varit ännu mer positiva och säga att vi har anställt 20 pers i X kommun när de kom, de jobbar på boende och de jobbar i skolan och det får vi täckning för, det är 20 nya tjänster plus att vi är rustade för framtiden. Jag ser många fler fördelar än nackdelar.(Chef mångfald)

X is stressing that it is important to highlight the economic advantages of receiving alone

coming children, and that it is X’s task to explain this to politicians. In this case X doesn’t

speak that much about rights or equality, but also not about duties. Focus is the municipal

organization, which will benefit financially from receiving alone coming children, both in

the short run, since the state will pay the municipality for doing so, and in the long run,

since the society will benefit from having more youths in the future.

This framing and catching of interest shows us the entrepreneurial aspect of the strategists

and coordinators, and that their rhetoric is characterized by economic arguments, as a

method to reach out to other actors. These respondents are representative for respondents

included in the study in terms of usage of the economic rhetoric, especially in relation to

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other actors. The language used by the strategists to a certain extent varies between them,

but even more it varies within the same interviews. There is a strong presence of both

rights-based and economic arguments. As an interviewer, some caution was required

related to this, and more than one occasion, a respondent corrected me as an interviewer

because of what they saw as hasty assumptions on which value that was hegemonic:

I: Diversity is also related to the global order of human rights.R: yes that is one perspective. But you can also see the growth perspective. In several places they have placed it under the unit for economic growth instead. Here it is under the employer unit, right now. One can ask why. I mean, can you see that there are other strengths in diversity. Than just making sure that they enter the labor market and away from the social relief. Or that we get the competence we need. One could also see that effects of synergy also is, that people come here who are not only prisoners or refugees from war, but people with potential are coming here. And who have children who grow up here and, well, are up and coming, that is how new activities are formed in the municipality which we do not have a idea of what it will be. Maybe that part instead should be placed under economic growth.(Diversity)

I: Mångfaldsfrågorna är ju också relaterade till den globala ordningen av mänskliga rättigheter.R: Ja det är ett perspektiv. Sen kan man ju se på tillväxtperspektivet också. På flera ställen så lägger man det på tillväxtenheten istället. Här ligger det på arbetsgivarenheten, just nu. Varför det, kan man fråga sig. Alltså, kan man se att det finns andra krafter i mångfald. Än bara att se till att de här kommer ut i arbetslivet och ifrån socialbidrag. Eller att vi får till oss den kompetens vi behöver. Man kan ju se det som att en synergieffekt också är, det kommer hit människor som inte bara är krigsfångar, eller krigsflyktingar utan människor kommer hit som har potential. Och som har barn som växer upp och som, ja är på g, så bildas nya verksamheter i kommunen som vi inte har en aning om vad det blir för någonting. Den delen kanske ska placeras i tillväxt istället.(Mångfald)

X points out that human rights is one way of framing diversity, but that diversity holds

other potentials of synergies. X uses economical terms when describing this, when pointing

out that there are other beneficial aspects in diversity than just making sure that people can

enter the labor market and leave the relief dependency. The argument is fully within the

economical rhetoric, and shows a turn from the basic plus minus one economic argument

where people don’t stay in relief dependency, to a positive one with synergies. This could,

according to X be seen as an argument for organizing diversity under the department of

growth, which is currently not the case in this municipality.

A final remark regarding the institutional complexity and lobbying and framing, is that the

framing seem to have shifted towards more overarching, but also vaguer notions. Safety,

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public health and sustainability as umbrella terms may create backdoors for other

perspectives, as pointed out by the youth politics coordinator. However, it may also create

difficulties to reach out, because the vagueness of the umbrella term hides away the power

struggle which is inbuilt in some of the social perspectives. Some of strategists point out

that making priorities is necessary but difficult:

R: Det blir ju min uppgift att koka ned det till kommunnivå. Jag tycker det är viktigt för alla att veta att det finns 11 nationella folkhälsomål. Så det brukar jag informera om, så att man vet att det är så här brett. Men sen väljer man att prioritera. Det är ju väldigt viktigt som tex nu när vi har valt att barn och ungas uppväxtvillkor, så kan ju tex äldregruppen och pensionärsrådensäga, jaha, men äldre, är inte dem viktiga? Det är klart att de är viktiga. Och vi säger ju inte att vi inte ska göra nåt för dem. Men man måste våga prioritera för vi har inte resurser att satsa på alla områden.(Folkhälsa)

Elderly and children and young are both groups which are considered deserving, which

makes a priority between them harder than others. As mentioned before, the strategic

fields with which the strategists in the study are working vary in terms of inviolability and

politicization, and this may also have institutional effects.

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Identity complexity

The person and the relations

During the interviews, all the respondents have been asked how a person on this kind of

position should be. The following answer from a sustainability strategist is very

representative of the answers:

R: Du ska vara kunnig på ditt område, du ska vara överkunnig på ditt område skulle jag säga, du ska ha skarpa specialistkunskaper eller vad man skall säga, kunskapsmässigt. Sen måste du drivas av en viss energi vad det gäller att tro på frågorna, jag tror inte du kan jobba med de här frågorna om du inte har ett intresse, man kan växa in i ett ansvar men jag tror att det hjälper upp att man.. det här är viktiga frågor, att man ser de här frågorna som oerhört viktiga för samhällets helhet eller vad man skall säga. Sedan måste du vara envis men inte tjurskallig. Tålmodig men ändå kunna sätta ner foten och säga nu är det dags, men ändå förståelse för hur det är att jobba i en större organisation och förståelse för politikens villkor. Du måste vara hyfsat flexibel och hyfsat snabb, du måste kunna växla, för politiken kan ju faktiskt växla, de som sitter i en ledning kan ju faktiskt växla vilket gör, alltså det är ju samma sak som på departementen när de byter, vi kan ju stå inför samma händelseutveckling här, att politiken här skulle kunna växla och vad får det för innebörd för mig som tjänsteman? De här bitarna måste man också tänka in. Hur skulle det, alltså potentiellt då om man hårddrar saker och ting, hur skulle det se ut om Sverigedemokraterna fick 35 % av medborgarnas röster, vad skulle det betyda för mig som tjänsteman, för mitt arbete? Ja naturligtvis skulle det betyda jättemycket att det satt en annan ledning. Du har enpersonlig utgångspunkt främst men det får ändå en viss betydelse för det jobb som du förväntas göra och därför så tror jag att man måste ha en viss, jag säger inte att det. jag kan inte se att det är jättestora skillnader i politikens villkor, det är vissa skiljelinjer men jag tror ändå att i grunden så måste du ha en förkärlek för de frågor som när man skall jobba med specifika frågor så måste du ha en viss förkärlek för dem att det här är ett område som du känner att du kan, behärskar och tycker om.(Hållbarhet)

X points out many of the personality characteristics mentioned in the work advertisements:

knowledgeable, interested, patient but also driven and persistent, understanding of the

political organization, flexible and personally committed. She stresses the reflexive aspects

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of the role, that it is necessary to have the capacity to switch when the politics switches.

Being responsive to both the politics and the organization is pointed out by most strategists

as important for the strategic work, because if you push too hard, there will be unnecessary

resistance. In this responsiveness, the strategists tend to be very pragmatic towards their

topic: if their work benefits from a certain framing, then they prefer to frame it in this way,

instead of banging their heads against the wall, and they all stress that they do have

extensive discretion to do so. However, the sustainability strategist shows example of the

reflexivity most of the strategists hold concerning this. She mentions a potential scenario

which would have effects on her role as public bureaucrat, and this it important to reflect

upon such things. Almost all the respondents show this active reflection about their role as

bureaucrat, however, they vary somewhat in their conclusions. Some do not perceive it as a

complex matter, but for different reasons: they can take a very active political role, where

they use their discretion as far they can, both towards politicians and the organisations, or

they can take a rather passive role with the argument that they after all are bureaucrats and

executors in a political organization. However, the majority discuss the balance of

bureaucrat and lobbist as a rather complex matter, which they are often reflecting upon.

The sustainability strategist from the quote mentions that she is aware about the fact that

her conclusion regarding this might even be perceived as misconduct in her position as

public bureaucrat, but that it still is necessary for her work to formulate such a standpoint.

Throughout the interviews, this aspect of identity complexity has been discussed back and

forth, and sometimes as a direct question. During one interview, this direct question led to

reflection from the respondent where she contrasted herself and her strategist colleagues

with other bureaucrats they encounter in their work:

I: jag tycker är väldigt spännande med just de strategiska uppdragen, för så som jag har tolkat dem så ligger det i uppdraget att man ska göra något som går emot den klassiska tjänstemannarollen, det är som att det är två principer som krockar.R: Nu när du säger det, jag har inte tänkt så. Men nu när du säger det, så är det så tror jag det är det jag hela tiden försöker förstå, att i vissa sammanhang när jag möter andra tjänstemän, så upplever jag det som att vi kommer från två världar. Alltså vi pratar inte samma språk, vi vill nog egentligen

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samma sak, ofta vill vi nog det, för alla vill ha bättre förutsättningar för oss som bor här, men det går liksom inte att kommunicera, och vi når inte varandra, och ibland tror jag att vi, eller det kunde jag uppleva speciellt i början, att vi upplevdes lite som, inte som hotfulla, för det är ju ett väldigt starkt ord, men lite… vad ska man säga… lite jobbiga så där. Lite, ja att vi skulle hävda oss kanske, eller jag upplevde det lite från vissa chefer, lite högre tjänstemän att vi är ganska jobbiga, och jag tror att det är för att vi kommer in med ett perspektiv där vi gillar att driva och prata och har åsikter om nästan allt. Och vi säger också det. Ganska tydligt tror jag. Och vi vill vara med där det händer, och har inte den kanske tjänstemannarollen, det här att man sitter och nu är jag på ett möte, nu diskuterar vi den här punkten, och då svävar man inte ut, utan man håller sig till det här och det är en som styr och det är den personen, det blir så är informativt, och om man har en åsikt så liksom, ja. Vi är inte riktigt sådana. Och därför så kan jag tro att i vissa sammanhang, och det kan vara svårt att nå miljö och tekniska som kanske mer är i den här andra typen då. Att det har varit svårt för oss. Och det är ju nu när vi har träffat dem många gånger som man har byggt upp en relation och att de inte ser oss som ett hot, vi försöker inte att stjäla deras arbetsuppgifter eller ta åt oss äran för nåt som de gör. Jag tror det. Så när du sa det, så ramlar det ner en liten pollett, det kan nog mkt väl vara så. Jag har ju mer tänkt att man har haft olika bakgrund, att ekonomerna det är liksom, ekonomiskt, att det är massa siffror, men jag tror också det är mycket det här att de är tjänstemän, traditionella tjänstemän, och det ser jag mig nog inte riktigt som. Faktiskt.(Folkhälsa)

What is expressed in this quote is that in the municipal organization, where the strategists

are coexisting with other bureaucrats, like the other two groups in the work advertisements

study, there can be clashes of logics. In this clash, the strategists may in this clash be

perceived as cumbersome and inconvenient, and that in the example here, it took a while

for them to establish a relation which made them seem less threatening.

Discretion

Without exception, the respondents point out that they hold a strong discretion. They have

strong freedom to start projects, to make contacts and to raise their voices to get influence.

This is something which they consider to be one of the most important aspects of their

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positions, because they appreciate the freedom and possibility to execute influence, but also

something which can be perceived as very frustrating. One important foundation for this

discretion is the usual vague definitions of the field with which they are working. Since the

social development perspectives can be defined in many ways, another question of

importance is from where the impulses come, which defines the work of the strategists. The

following quote comes from a sustainability strategist describing this:

R: It is also about lobbying for the topics internally because although politics says that now we will work with this it still requires that you as bureaucrat, you have to, not defend but you have to lobby for your topics. That is, you have to make the topics visible, you have to create a good relation both to the public or associations or other parties but you also have to create a good relation to politics so that you all the time have a good communication. So I haveto say it is a mix of missions from politics, missions from the bureaucratic level, mission bottom-up or needs that show up bottom-up.(Sustainability)

R: Det handlar ju om att också lobba för frågorna internt för även om politiken säger att nu ska vi jobba med det här så kräver det ändå att du som tjänsteman, du måste, inte värna men du måste lobba för dina frågor. Alltså att man måste göra frågorna synliga, man måste skapa en god relation både med allmänhet eller föreningar eller andra parter men du måste också skapa en god relation med politiken så att man hela tiden har en kommunikation. Så jag måste säga att det är blandat utifrån uppdrag från politiken, uppdrag från tjänstemannanivån uppdrag nerifrån eller behov som dyker upp nerifrån. (Hållbarhet)

This quote illustrates that the strategist perceives the lobby work towards politicians as an

important task. The political level serves both as principal and as object for the strategists.

The freedom which comes with the lack of political definition is framed both as an

advantage, because it provides the strategists with discretion to frame their topic as they

find suitable. But it also creates uncertainty, and ambivalence in the role as public

bureaucrat, as this quote illustrates:

R: The effects in my role are that it becomes unclear. Although I have extensive freedom and gladly have that freedom I want something in my back. Like saying that I am at least a little right when I say that we should move in this direction. Then I need to know that we have a manager, like before when I was working in the town office, a leader behind me telling me that this is the direction that the town office think we should take, but there is nothing about that, and it is rather very much so that the coordinators, or the ones on these functions, manage it themselves. You form the agenda on your own and if something would go wrong we back you up. It is a reversed process. And that is, I think that is a challenge, I often experience it that way. Also in other municipalities you are left with it, it is kind of lonely positions and you are expected yourself to take lots of

R: Effekterna i min roll blir ju att det blir otydligt. Även om jag har väldigt stor frihet och gärna har den friheten så vill jag ju ha någonting i ryggen. Ungefär som att säga att jag har lite rätt i alla fall när jag säger att vi borde röra oss åt det här hållet. Då måste jag veta att vi har en chef, som i det fallet innan då när jag jobbade på kommunledningskontoret, en ledare bakom mig som säger att det är detta hållet kommunledningskontoret vill att vi skall gå men det finns ingenting om det utan det var väldigt mycket så att samordnarna, eller de som hade de funktionerna, sköter det själva. Man formar agendan på egen hand och skulle något gå fel så backar vi upp er. Det blir en bakvänd process. Och det är väl, det tror jag är en utmaning, jag upplever att det ofta är så. Även i andra kommuner att man lämnas med det, det är väl lite ensamma tjänster och man förväntas att ta mycket

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responsibility, it is of course very positive from many aspects and it is a possibility for an individual to sort of put your stamp on it. But you are still a bureaucrat in a political organization and I think it is easy to forget that with such a mission and I definably have on several occasions.(Youth)

eget ansvar själv, det blir jättepositivt ur många aspekter så klart och det är en möjlighet för individen att få sätta liksom prägling på det. Men man är ju fortfarande tjänsteman i en politisk organisation och jag tror att det är lätt att glömma det med ett sådant uppdrag och det har jag definitivt gjort vid flera tillfällen.(Ungdom)

In the ambivalence of how the strategic work should be framed, X describes that it is helpful

to have a unit and manager to support the strategists in the framing of their positions. This

once again illustrates that there is constant framing going on in the strategists’ work. This

vagueness gives the strategists strong discretion to frame their positions, but generally they

try to do so in an anticipating way towards politicians and other units. In many cases, the

impression is that they are hired more or less explicitly because of this, to make the specific

social fields tangible and to operationalize them in the local context. With a few exceptions,

the strategists generally speak about the discretion in problematizing ways, regarding

aspects such as potential democratic deficit, efficiency and personal limitations:

R: På ytan sett kan det se jättestort ut. Jag kan ge mig i kast med väldigt mycket. Men om det ska få någon effekt, om man ska få andra att vara med, så är det väldigt begränsat. Pga av samma sak igen. Jag kan inte göra det själv. Utan jag måste hela tiden bygga på att det finns andra som tar vid, andra som tar initiativ också, andra som kan göra sin sak i det hela. Så då är det egentligen väldigt begränsat om du ska vänta ut att kommunen har rett ut att så här vill vi, de här uppgifterna vill vi ha framåt, och så här ska vi göra.I: Har det någon effekt på handlingsutrymmet att det inte finns en tydlig definition på vad ni ska göra?R: ja, det är väldigt begränsande. Om jag visste exakt vad man menade med mångfaldsråd och de olika frågorna, att vi ska ha fram den här punkten, det är klart att det, ja handlingsutrymme vet jag kanske inte, men i alla fall så blir det en handling. Handling blir möjligt. Alltså man kan ju sitta och pennfäkta hur länge som helst. Och är det inte en fråga som kommer ut, då blir man ju gisslan, på något vis. Och det är inte min roll.(Mångfald)

X points out that although he has a strong discretion in terms of taking initiatives, in order

to actually get things done, others have to be involved, and vague formulations regarding

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what should be done, can complicate this action. With the diversity strategist’s words, it can

turn the strategist into a “hostage”.

Although the strategists usually take an anticipating approach, they generally are

individuals with personal opinions about their strategic field, and as was illustrated by the

sustainability strategist, these personal conviction is and important foundation for the

strategic work. One of the public health strategists says “well, I do not think that all public

health strategists vote for the Social democrats, but sure, their definition is closer to our

professional definition”. Some of the respondents reflects upon this in general terms, and

discusses it in terms of anticipation, whereas others do not hesitate to express that they

have a clear opinion about their work:

R: There are certain parts which I don’t like in the Social Services Act. For example, to obtain social relief. It sounds horrible. But I don’t like it. It passivates. On the other hand. I can give you an example. You know how the law works+ Let’s put it like this? Active labor market policies. Let’s say a couple has five children. And we are two parents- If both of us are unemployed, and here are jobs. It’s not beneficial for one of us to obtain a work, because purely economically speaking, we will loose from it. It means that the child allowances in terms of social benefits are better. So it doesn’t pay to work. People aren’t lazy, they simply think of their own economy. That’s such an ancient law which we should have a look at, regarding sustainable development.(…)It is a very old-fashion way to work. I would like to open up that part. I would like to say welcome, now you will support yourself.(…) Sometimes I have the feeling that refugees are used as shields to gain credit.(Diversity)

R: Det finnas vissa delar som jag inte gillar i Socialtjänstlagen. T.ex. att erhålla socialbidrag. Det låter jättehemskt. Men jag gillar inte det. Den passiviserar. Å andra sidan. Jag kan ge ett exempel. Du vet hur lagen funkar? Vi säger så här. Arbetsmarknadsåtgärder. Låt oss säga att ett par har fem barn. Och vi är två föräldrar. Om båda två är arbetslösa, och här finns jobb. Det lönar sig inte att en av oss ska erhålla ett arbete, därför att rent ekonomiskt förlorar vi på det. Det innebär att barnbidragen i form av socialbidrag är bättre. Så det lönar sig inte att erhålla ett arbete. Folk är inte latmaskar, men folk tänker helt enkelt på sin ekonomi. Det är en sådan jättegammal lag som vi borde titta på, apropå hållbar utveckling. (…)Det är ett väldigt gammaldags sätt att jobba. Jag skulle vilja öppna upp den delen. Jag skulle vilja att man utgick från, och säga välkommen hit, nu ska du försörja dig själv.(…) Ibland har jag känslan av att man använder flyktingar som krigssköldar för att vinna poäng.(Mångfald)

In this case, X has taken a clear liberal stand, with focus on the labor market, and with an

explicit focus on duties. In this, X is deviating from other respondents. Certainly the duties

argument is a part of the economic argument which is frequently used by the strategists to

reach out the different sectors, but the economic argument is usually more structure

oriented. In this case, X highlights the experience of the policy structure effects on an actor

level: the task of the diversity strategist is to ease people’s way to the labor market, and

from this position, the Social Services Act can be seen as indirectly providing a structure

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which demotivates this. This is an example of strong positioning which affects the

strategists work, because in the discretion, there are extensive possibilities to take

initiatives and exert influence. However, this strong advocate approach may lead to the

reliance from politics and organization that the strategist can clear things out, which in turn

may cause personal problems. Several of the strategists mention that “if you want to work

yourself to death on a position like this, no one is stopping you”.

Professionalization

In this study, the strategists are studied as one group, the point of departure being that the

social development paradigm contains several different aspects, and that empirical

observations show that the framing of the social development work varies between

municipalities. After interviewing strategists from varying social fields, the initial

assumption, that the strategists might share certain features is proven valid. One aspect,

which is stressed by different strategists, is that the way in which their work is perceived

has changed, and they can trace this change ten to fifteen years ago. “Everyone is asking for

us now”, one public health strategist says. One argument, which many of the strategists

mention, is that people have started to perceive the social development aspects in economic

terms, and that this makes is easier for them to argue for the importance of their strategic

topic. Thus, they are more than before perceived as tools for efficiency.

Another aspect which is stressed by the strategists as something which has changed is the

stressing of strategic work rather than operational. Not everyone, but a majority of the

strategists stresses that they try to put their focus on the strategic work, e.g. making others

do things, and that they try to avoid the operational work. When being asked if they

perceive themselves as consultants within the organization, the answer is mostly yes, as a

tool for the sectors to use. The argument given for this is that the formal responsibility is in

the sectors, and thus the strategists’ function is to make the managers observant on what

they actually need to do. However, this is still rather fragmented, and dependent on

situation and person. When being asked the direct question if the strategic social work

could be perceived as one field, some say no, more say yes. Security stands out as the field

which is mostly not considered as the same field, however, how security is framed varies

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between the municipalities, and in the cases where security is perceived as a more

structural matter rather than pure physical, it is considered to be the same type of work.

The focus on strategic work can be discussed in professional terms also in relation to the

sectors. When being asked the question if they perceive themselves as experts, the

strategists’ answers are ambivalent. Many point out that they do not think of themselves as

experts, because the experts are the professionals in the sectors, and as strategists they are

supposed to support these professionals. However, there are dilemmas in this:

R: yes, and it is also a dilemma, because we are generalists. And there are others who are more specialists within the small parts there is, so we are not specialists in anything, more than maybe security issues or so. There are not a lot like that. So we often get disregarded, because someone else knows a detail a little better than we do. But our role is to have the overall perspective. So it is very much about our own personal mandate, and how easy we find it to pedagogically bring things forward, describe things, how credible we are (…) The overall perspective is a profession in itself, to have the ability to have the holistic perspective. And then, public health topics are the entirety, I mean, basically everything could be described as a matter of public health.(Manager development unit)

R: ja, och det är också ett dilemma, för vi är generalister. Och det finns andra som är mera specialister inom alla de små delområdena som finns, så är vi inte specialister inom någonting, mer än kanske säkerhetsfrågor eller så. Det finns inte så mycket annat sådant. Så där hamnar vi ju ofta till korta, att det är någon annan som kan någon detalj lite bättre än vad vi kan. Men vår roll är ju att ha helhetsbilden, och se helikopterperspektivet. Så det handlar väldigt mycket om vårt egna personliga mandat, och hur lätt vi har för att pedagogiskt föra fram, beskriva saker och ting, hur trovärdiga vi är.(…) Helhetsperspektivet är ju en profession i sig, att kunna ha helhetsblick. Och då är ju, folkhälsofrågor är ju helheten, alltså, egentligen skulle allt kunna beskrivas som en folkhälsofråga.(Chef utvecklingsenhet)

X points out that the strategic role is to have the helicopter perspective, and that having this

comprehensive view is a profession in itself. Most of the strategist stresses that something

that is important for them is to talk to other strategists. They mention professional

networks, and that they often cooperate or consult other strategists in the municipality. In

one case, the strategists have formed a professional group in the municipality, where they

are discussing the strategic work.

As a final remark of identity complexity, the strategists express ambivalence in how they

perceive their role. This is the same ambivalence which became present in the work

advertisements: On one hand, they see it as their role to make others do and think in

certain ways, and that it can be very annoying that everyone tend to have opinions about

the social development perspectives, since most people have experience from them and

they have to do with values and norms. On the other hand they point out again and again

that they are not really the experts and that it is very important to be responsive towards

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politicians. In this ambivalence, there is a constant trade-off going on, based on the fact that

the topics actually have strong bearing on values, norms and attention:

R: We work a lot with values and norms, it’s hard to measure, but it’s also hard to change because it’s not only about Kalle the operating engineer, it’s also about Kalle the individual. I can’t just change the opinions of Kalle the operating engineer because it doesn’t hold, so it becomes very big all of a sudden.(Diversity)

R: Vi jobbar ju väldigt mycket med just värderingar och attityder, det är ju så svårt att mäta men det är ju också svårt att förändra för det handlar inte bara om Kalle driftingenjör för det handlar om Kalle privatpersonen också. Jag kan inte bara ändra Kalle driftingenjörens åsikter för det håller inte alltså så det blir så väldigt stort helt plötsligt.(Mångfald)

Security stands out as being the least value-based perspectives, and the others varying

depending mostly on situation. However, being strategist for security also means working

for a changed mindset, in terms of directing attention to the topic. In this sense, the

establishment of strategic positions is tool for political steering, where the trade-offs and

reflections upon the ambiguous topics which the social development fields constitutes, are

outsourced to the strategists.

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Same but different?

When summarizing the results in terms characteristics for an ideal-type, we get the

following image of the bureaucrats working cross-sectoral with wicked isssues. This ideal

type matches all the interviewed bureaucrats to a varying but extent, but all of them hold

some characteristics from it. The question is what implications the variation between the

bureaucrats has when it comes to discussing them as one group, eg.do they share enough

characteristics to be discussed as one group?

Table XXX. Characteristics Variations within the strategist

groupInput and ideasAbove all the national and local discourse, coming from networks, personal contacts, education and staying informed

Variation in terms of educational influence.

Interconnection between the horizontal fieldsEmphasized as strong, but also as something that should be developed and approached more explicitly

Variation between the cross-sectoral fields, and between the arrangements in each municipality

Interconnection between the horizontal and vertical fieldsStrong and the overall dilemma and possibility for the strategists

Same tendency, but variation in intensity, based on the extent to which the cross-sectoral field is defined as a policy field of its own

Work methodsWalking, talking, keeping the eyes open and being pragmatic and persuasive in trying to gain influence

Personal variations in terms of active persuasive methods

AccountabilityFormally none. Emphasize on placing the formal accountability in the sectors, not on the strategic position

Small variations in terms of establishment of the cross-sectoral field as a policy area of its own, where security and public health are more established. However, no formal accountability for the strategist

Field of responsibilityCoordinating, consulting and strategic work, active avoidance of operative tasks

Same tendency, but small variation in amount of operative work and definition of it

DiscretionStrong discretion, but simultaneously also a strong anticipating approach

Same tendency but personal variation in intensity

PoliticizationSometimes, but usually not heavily affecting the work

Variation in terms of whether the politicization is perceived as problematic

ProfessionalizationNo clear professionalization, but in some ways similar work logics and to some degree educational background. Further training and networks contribute to

Variation in terms of whether there is an established university education in the field. Security and public health stands out as having more established educations.

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increased professional autonomy.Expert roleTo a certain extent but more focus on the strategic aspects rather than the content. Emphasized that the sectors know their field best

Variation between the cross-sectoral fields, where security and public health stands out as more professionalized.

AuthorityInformal, has to be created. Personal background, connections, sex, age, education, also matter.

Same tendency, small variation in terms of to what extent the informal authority id perceived as crucial.

LegitimacyInternational conventions, national laws, local government decisions, and politically and socially “inviolable” issues. Work is eased with higher political interest.

Variation in terms of what role the international level plays

Personal convictionClear and strong, towards making life better for people

No variation

Personality traitsPragmatic, persuasive, flexible, responsive, driving and initiating

No variation

Relation to politiciansUsually good, with a close interaction and dialogue. Activities such as “explaining to” and “discussing with” are common

Small situational variation

Relation to the organizationUsually good, but complex, based on gate-keeper approach of the sectors and the level of national legislation

Small situational variation.Some variation between the cross-sectoral fields in terms of perceived resistance, where gender equality stands out as perceiving more resistance.

Relation to citizensThe overall target, but usually not physically present in the strategic everyday work

Small variations in terms of how citizens are the direct or indirect focus

Conclusion from the ideal type and the variations is that there is reason to speak about the

strategists as one group. They are all driven by a desire to make the municipality a better

place. Their discretion is extensive, although it varies on a personal level to which extent

they use it. Their accountability is low, since the formal responsibility is placed in the

sectors. They all tend to be very responsive to politicians and emphasize that politicians are

normally very interested in the cross-sectoral fields, which is also mentioned as the most

crucial factor for success. The responsiveness towards the politicians thus includes

anticipation, but also a desire to frame the cross-sectoral field as seems fit for the moment,

in order to gain influence. The strategists thus perform a sensitive balance act of the two

sides of responsiveness, and they hold strong pragmatic approach when doing so, where

the content of what they do is kept intact, but the language is adjusted according situation.

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The relation to the vertical sectors are described as being the weakest point in the cross-

sector work, since a manager in the vertical sector has the power to block the access to

his/her organization. Although there is small variation to what extent they can use their

professional knowledge to reach out and gain influence, the overall emphasize of the

strategists is that they have a general consultative role, but that the expertise is in the

vertical organization, and that in order to reach out with this generalist perspective, they

need to be personally convincing and pragmatic. Thus, their main skill is to persuade,

charm and be flexible when they approach the vertical sector. When doing do, the overall

method is to approach the vertical sector with economic arguments, by emphasizing the

financial gains and adjusting to the existing budget. Like with the relation to politicians, the

interaction with the vertical sectors in the administration is characterized by a double

pragmatic responsiveness from the strategists’ side, in terms of both adjustment and

possibility of framing. The lack of clear definition of the cross-sectoral fields and the

discretion defining the strategist positions are often by the strategists perceived as a source

of frustration. However, it also seems to be each other’s’ necessary conditions. The

vagueness of their positions can only be handled with strong discretion, and requires a

certain kind of person to be efficient. Since the topics at hand hold this vagueness and

wicked issues-characteristics, they are tricky for politics to deal with, and one solution is

then to employ a person to function as a catalyst and node for this particular topic. Thus, a

pragmatic approach to politics is inbuilt in the establishment of this kind of strategist

positions, and this is expressed also in that the overall method which the strategists use is a

pragmatist approach to reach out with their topic and goals, which are formulated in a

balance act between professional knowledge and discourse, and political will.

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