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The history of physiotherapy can be seen as a history of boundary conflict, as the profession sought to first establish, then maintain, its distinctive professional identity. Traditional approaches to the sociology of the professions support this, seeing professionalization as an ongoing process of enclosure, encroachment, and conflict. Recent work, however, has emphasized the fluidity and collaborative nature of professionalization projects, and placed more emphasis on inter-professional negotiations and disciplinary coexistence. In this paper, we draw on this work to analyze the harmonization of the independent Mensendieck System of medical gymnastics in Norway, and the emerging state-sponsored physiotherapy system. Our contention is that over the course of the middle decades of the 20th century, advocates of the Mensendieck System and providers of orthodox, biomedically informed physiotherapy, came together and found a way to work collaboratively in a shared space without compromising their distinctive professional identities. We argue that this approach both points to ways we might revisit traditional conflict-based analyses of the history of physiotherapy, while also suggesting new ways of imagining how the profession might change in the years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question we raise in this paper is whether the educational gradient in avoidable mortality differs from overall and non-avoidable mortality among men and women in Norway. By avoidable deaths we refer to deaths caused by diseases that are either treatable if given appropriate medical care, or preventable if available preventive measures were implemented. The data set is derived from official administrative registers and includes all Norwegian men (1 107 427) and women (1 087 842) aged 25-67 years with information about status alive/dead during the period 1994-1999. Adjusted for sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, education forms a marked and independent gradient in overall and non-avoidable mortality and an even steeper gradient in avoidable mortality - in particular in ischemic heart disease and preventable deaths. The educational gradient is shallower for deaths considered treatable by health care, but is still present. These patterns apply to men and women alike. The findings of our study suggest that health care and health policies may play a role in reducing inequalities in deaths that are 'avoidable, unnecessary and unjust'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens when roots are replaced by routes? What happens when mobility becomes one of the primary tools for finding a niche in a different land and context? In an attempt to explore these themes, this paper touches upon emergent ideas regarding mobility, and delves into the inter‐connectedness of spatial and social mobility. Mobility signifies more than ‘movement’ and can act as a catalyst for enhancing life conditions. The study examines the debate over social exclusion, freedom, ethics, sustainable mobility and capability approach in the context of non‐western immigrants in Norway, and presents arguments from a social perspective to strengthen the mobility regime of immigrants. The study concludes that mobility provides capabilities to become active participants in the social and economic morphology of a society. It further suggests that societies need to adopt the framework of capability approach while examining issues related to the integration of immigrants into the host society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the actual as well as possible roles of sociologists in modern societies. It is based on the experiences of a typical pragmatical Scandinavian welfare state, namely Norway, where sociology undoubtedly has reached a certain level of success, especially as a repair-oriented applied science. Sociology thus provides an avenue for entering important political and administrative processes in society. But this development--desirable as it may be--also includes certain risks. Sociology may thus abstain from becoming a kind of critical and intellectual pursuit it could be by paying due attention to alternative ways of organizing social life. A discussion is needed about how to avoid this trap and how new roles may be created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a sociological role theory for the explanation of variations in accident rates is presented, Accident Risk is seen as a combined result of a person's exposure to dangerous situations, here labeled Role Strain, and his ability to avoid and survive potential accidents which is called Individual Capacity. Married women, married men, single (never married) women and single (never married) men are examined with respect to Role Strain and Individual Capacity in middle age years and in old age, and empirical consequences in terms of Accident Risk are derived. Theoretical arguments are tested against Norwegian data from the 1961-69 period and against American data from 1950 and 1960. Thus, tests across national populations as well as over different time periods are carried out. Results from the three data sets support the sociological role theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author discusses a paper by archaeologist Håkon Glørstad on the important role of boats, specifically log boats, in the colonization of Norway. He suggests that other factors have contributed to the colonization of Norway, including knowledge of tides, weather and potentially hazardous marine conditions. He also examines the notion that archaeology has an inferior position compared to sociology and anthropology.