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Sophia Yakhlef has defended her thesis

Sophia Yakhlef at the Department of Sociology has defended her doctoral thesis in sociology ”United agents: community of practice within border policing in the Baltic Sea area” today, 26th October at 13:00 in Kulturens Auditorium in Lund.

Photo of Sophia Yakhlef.
Discussant: Professor Helene Oppen Ingebrigtsen Gundhus, Department of Criminology, Oslo University.

This study focuses on a border police collaboration project called Turnstone. The purpose of the project was to  prevent and fight transnational crime in the Baltic Sea area and increase collaboration between border intelligence  officers. Participants in the project included police, coast guard, and border police officers from Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.

Based on observations and interviews, and taking a community of practice perspective, the study illustrates the significance of informal processes and practices for creating a trust-based context conducive to the exchange of sensitive information and the generation of new practices.

Face-to-face interactions (involving among other things joking and sharing stories), negotiations, and engaging in everyday activities have proved to be instrumental in creating a collaborative climate

Chair person of the defence: Professor Malin Åkerström, Department of Sociology, Lund University

Examination committee:

  • Professor Fredrik Nilsson, The Department of Service Management and Service Studies, Lund University
  • Associate Professor Cecilia Hansen Löfstrand, Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg
  • Associate Professor Christopher Swader, Department of Sociology, Lund University

Main supervisor: Malin Åkerström, Supervisor: David Wästerfors.

Sophia Yakhlef's personal page

Read the doctoral thesis: United agents: community of practice within border policing in the Baltic Sea area