ORGANIZATION,LEGITIMATION, PARTICIPATION

This article suggests a new interpretation of the state formation process in Early Modern Sweden, focusing on three dimensions: The organization of the state as a way to use limited resources in a rational way, the legitimation of rulers in terms of beliefs and values current in society, and the participation of the subjects in state activities. Our model focuses on institutional change as a result of the intensity of interaction between rulers and subjects. Based on our own research, claims are made for new understanding of state formation in Europe that allows more room for political action from below.     

The Dynamics of Metropolitan Change

A collaborative research project entitled “Nested Dynamics of Metropolitan Processes and Policies” was initiated at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in 1982. The ultimate objective is to enhance our primitive understanding with respect to interacting metropolitan change processes which are operating at significantly different speeds. In this introductory paper, some aspects and results of the project are summarized prior to a short discussion of the three related papers which follow in this volume.     

On-site Radioscopic Qualitative Assessment of Historic Timber Structures: Identification and Mapping of Biological Deterioration of Wood

The recent development of portable, battery-charged x-ray tubes and digital detectors has made digital radioscopic examination of wooden buildings a realistic option. Lack of experience with the often very complex radiographs of building structures makes the interpretation of such radiographs difficult. A set of radiographs of wood in different, identified conditions was established for use when interpreting radiographs of wood in unknown condition.

This article presents radiographs of a trestle-framed building. The recordings were done in areas where the condition of the wooden elements was known in advance, either on the basis of dendrochronological drill samples or because the building element had been replaced recently and the wood was sound. The radiographs were compared with NIKU´s collected guideline radiographs and discussed with respect to the information they provide about the wood’s condition. Finally, we discuss radioscopy as a supplement to traditional methods of building surveying.

The authors took all of the photos and radiographs (©NIKU). The radiographs are shown as “shadow” images—materials of higher density are seen lighter than materials of less density, as long as they are of same thickness.