METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS ON ANALYSES OF MARGINALITY – THE CASE OF KARLSTAD UNIVERSITY

Lennart Andersson, Karlstad University, Sweden

Measures to redress marginality do not always give the wanted implications. I am studying these issues more adequately on the basis of concepts drawn from new geographical research. Space is always in becoming. Actors, networks and assemblages are creating space. They are also the basic concepts in my discussion of the geographical environment in which marginality appears. I describe the process when Karlstad University in Sweden was developed, as a means to overcome marginality among the inhabitants in the county of Värmland. The transfer to higher education, even in small places, has increased during the process but not so much as was wanted by the planning actors. I stress the gap between the changes wanted on the one side by the planning collective that in reality had defined the marginality and on the other side the lives of the individuals belonging to the actual target group. For the individuals in the marginal areas everyday knowledge often is more important than academic knowledge. At last I put the question if it is suitable to use concepts and approaches of the kind used in the paper when discussing more general aspects and explanations of marginality.