Lokala utvecklingsgrupper på landsbygden : Analys av några lokala utvecklingsgrupper i termer av platsrelaterad gemenskap, platsrelaterad social rörelse och systemintegrerad lokal organisation : [place-related communality, place-related social movement, s

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the thesis is to apply a model of place-related social and political processes to analyse certain local development groups and their organisation, function and 'anchoring' in their home communities, their relationships with the surrounding political system, and what opportunities and limitations they have for becoming a force for rural democratisation. The empirical material has been gathered through interviews with development group members, politicians and professional staff members in the municipalities of Vansbro, Växjö and Östhammar in Sweden. Jürgen Habermas theory of 'communicative action' is essential in the analysis ofspecific groups. The case studies show that local development politics, areas of activity and organisation are based on and strongly influenced by varying place-related conditions. The evolution of specific group's organisation is linked to the group's need for legitimacy in the community and to outside pressures for legality. This thesis shows that place-related communality is an necessary condition, from several different perspectives, for achieving dynamic local development and a place-related process of democratisation.