Våga vara västkustsk!
En historiesociologisk studie av kultur och tradition i en studentförening i Växjö
The purpose of this essay is to analyse how and why culture and tradition is created and maintained within a minor student society at a Swedish university by looking at its history. The West Coast Nation student society provided the material which was subsequently analysed and three sociological perspectives were applied in order to give the study a theoretical base. In order to investigate the purpose of the society, durkheimian theories on functionalism were applied. Moreover, Bourdieu?s thoughts on social fields were used as well as Elias? theories on the established and the outsiders. The results indicate that the purpose of a student society of this sort is to provide the students with a culture and a group with which they may identify. From a historical perspective, the West Coast Nation seems to have had an increase in members steadily from the early 90?s on, but at the start of the 21st century, the numbers dwindled, something which had as a result that a process of professionalization was begun. Furthermore, the society displayed strong intentions of establishing and maintaining continuity, which may be a result of the nation having trouble keeping members and board members since students, who form the basis of the society, leave the university after a few years.