Previous research reveals that the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage can have an impact on the meaning of first-time marriage. This article aims to obtain a deeper understanding of meaning-making of first-time marriage in relation to childbearing. Narrative interviews with 16 brides and grooms in 8 couples in Sweden were conducted. The material was analyzed in relation to the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage. The study reveals that the construction of meaning of marriage does not only relate to the temporal context. Social factors such as social class or family formation might also be relevant for how meaning is constructed. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of meaning-making as a relational process constructed within particular contexts.

This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proof-corrections or journal pagination.

The objective of this article is to analyze how women who have been victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) position themselves in relation to the image of the "ideal victim" and how gender is constructed in that positioning. There is a need for a gender analysis framework to understand how various forms of femininity are constructed and how narratives linked to this can either maintain a woman in an abusive relationship or encourage her to leave. Christie's theory of the "ideal victim" and Connell's gender theory are applied in this study, in which the narratives of 14 female IPV victims in Sweden are analyzed using a narrative method. Three strings of narratives, representing different forms of femininity, are revealed in the material. The master narrative of the ideal victim reveals a form of femininity that describes women as inferior in relation to men. In the alternative narrative, the narrator positions herself as inferior in relation to the offender but discusses resistance. She describes herself as a caring mother who risks a great deal to protect her children. In the counter-narrative, the narrator positions herself as strong and independent in relation to the offender and as a strong and caring mother. The positioning of different narrators may shift depending on the duration of the relationship and the type of violence. The narrator may also take different positions during different phases of the story. However, the dominant narrative among the narrators is the story of the caring mother, which may have several functions and can partially be understood as a sign of the strong discourse of motherhood in society. The study contributes to a more profound understanding of the complexity related to women's own positioning and reveals that awareness is required when attempting to understand the narratives and behavior of abused women.

The aim of this article is to investigate the construction of climate risks and to identify how it intersects with different forms of discursive categories in house owner narratives. Interviews with 44 house owners in four regions exposed to climate risks in Sweden were analyzed using the narrative method. I use intersectional risk theory, in which risk is constructed in relation to different forms of power structure, to interpret the narratives. The results indicate that narrators do risk in different ways in relation to the master narratives of the climate threat and individual environmental responsibility, which dominate the official rhetoric in Sweden. Three risk narratives are revealed in the interviews: (1) the master narrative of 'the responsible house owner,' (2) the alternative narrative of 'the vulnerable house owner', and (3) the counter-narrative of 'the safe house owner.' The climate risks talked about could relate to the narrator's own house or to risks at a local or global level. The results indicate that different intersections of class, gender, age, and place shape different ways of positioning in relation to risk, by describing oneself as more or less aware of and exposed to climate risks. The analysis also reveals that different intersections of social structures lead to shifting prerequisites for house-owner preparedness towards preventing and managing climate risks. Such an understanding is important when trying to comprehend why some house owners adapt their homes to a changed climate while others do not. Aspects like these are necessary to consider while, e.g. deciding on policy and writing information and guidelines on adaptation to climate change.

In the 21st century, the Church of Sweden has lost its dominant position regarding the ritualization of births, marriages, and deaths in Sweden. Above all, name giving ceremonies, civil weddings, and civil funerals have become more common. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how intersectional perspectives can improve the understanding of the construction of non-religion in life-cycle ritualization, such as name giving ceremonies and civil funerals, performed beyond religious or non-religious organizations. This article presents the intersectional analyses of two non-religion ritual narratives as examples of how intersectional analyses could be conducted. The analysis clarifies the impact of power in non-religion ritualization, and how non-religion is constructed in relation to other discursive categories, in this case gender, sexuality, social class and nationality. The conclusion is that the use of intersectional perspectives is relevant for gaining a complex understanding of the construction of non-religion as well as knowledge of ritualization beyond religious or non-religious organizations nowadays.