Construction of Identity and Charismatic Leaders deals with fundamentalism and Islamism within the United States, emphasising on similarities between fundamentalists and Islamists. The term "fundamentalist" is here referring to Christian extremists, while "Islamist" refers to the Muslim counterpart. The purpose of the essay is to make North American fundamentalism and Islamism comprehendible on a larger scale.In order to show similarities between these groups when it comes to values, structure and commitment to their tasks, it is important to understand the nature of the religious devotion.Analyzing the similarities of the two groups enables construction of general criteria for how anthropology of religious extremists can be outlined..

This thesis explores how participants and leaders in ?Alpha?, an introductory course to the Christian faith, relate to and practice faith in Sweden. Sweden has often been viewed as a secular country where religion has been seen as irrational, outdated, and as something that belongs to the other but not to the self. Through the eyes of Swedish Christian practitioners, this study explores what kind of relationship my informants have to Christian faith and God while also exploring how living in a secular or post-secular context affects their way of believing and interpreting God and the stories written in the Bible. Furthermore, understanding of the Bible is viewed in the light of the concepts ?mythos? and ?logos? which highlights where Western explanatory models fail to explain and understand mythological stories.

The aim of this study is to analyze the construction of "Christian masculinity" during the modern era. This is made in opposition to earlier research that has claimed that masculinity could not be constructed religiously, that is, without at the same time being constructed as effeminate or anti-masculine.Using a wide variety of theoretical concepts - such as discourse analysis, class, secularisation, masculinity as constructed from countertypes, and finally masculinity as a homosocial construction - I analyze a free church in Sweden, the Scanian Missionary Society (Skånes Missionssällskap), during the period of ca 1939-1945 (the society was a district of the Swedish Covenant Church, or Svenska Missionsförbundet), in order to argue for the standpoint that masculinity, in fact, could be constructed religiously. The primary source is the society's weekly journal Sydposten.The main results in this study can be summarized as follows: 1) The leading men in the Scanian Missionary Society did, in fact, construct a Christian masculinity, i. e. a masculinity whose core values and ideals were Christian, e.g.

Försvarsmaktens nya personalförsörjningssystem har medfört utmaningar och aktualiserat frågor kring de nya personalkategorierna. Utifrån att personalkategorin specialistofficer i framtiden ska utgöra kontinuiteten inom förbanden är syftet med studien att undersöka specialistofficerens relation till arbetsgivaren Försvarsmakten. Arbetets ansats är att ge en ökad förståelse för specialistofficerens relationship commitment, dvs. engagemanget för själva relationen till Försvarsmakten.Studiens teoretiska ram bygger på Meyer och Allens konceptuella trekomponentsmodell om organizational commitment. Studien genomförs som en attitydundersökning i form av en enkät, med framförallt slutna påståenden men även två öppna frågeställningar där resultatanalysen innehåller både en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ del.Resultatet visar att specialistofficeren tillmäter den känslomässiga komponenten störst betydelse för relationen vilket bekräftar tidigare forskning avseende kännetecken förprofessionsyrken.

Approximately 400 people in Sweden die each year by lung cancer caused by radon gas. Authorities have in recent years invested big resources and organized campaigns to encourage people to take action against high occurrence of radon in residences. With low frequency of applications for radon allowances as the main measure, a lot interprets on a very low commitment. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the reasons for the low commitment among people. The study is based on a questionnaire survey sent to 444 house owners in Uppsala.

The purpose of this study is to present a critical analysis of how certain themes of the Norse pagan religion are portrayed in ten selected textbooks used for Religious Science education in grades one through nine. The themes included in the analysis are; the description of the transition from the Norse Pagan religion to Christianity; Adam of Bremen?s portrayal of human sacrifice, and lastly Ibn Fadhlan?s characterization of widow burning. By using a critical knowledge text analysis, and applying a theoretical starting point that pedagogical material analyses and interprets events from a specific perspective; in this case from a Christian perspective, I have from the study concluded that the chapters covering the Norse pagan religion in these textbooks have a distinguished Christian bias seen as the norm. The themes analysed in this study all describe different phenomena in a similar way and make use of the same sources, even though these are often questioned.

Denna studie handlar om att beskriva, diskutera och jämföra de olika argumenten som de två teocentriska filosoferna Michael Northcott och James Gustafson har om miljöfrågan. Studien fokuserar på vad de har för tankar om ursprunget till miljökrisen, vilken position mannen har i skapelsen, vad naturen har för värde och vilka konsekvenser deras ställningstagande har för lösningen till miljökrisen. Till sist undersöker studien vad de har för kritik mot samhället, vilken lösning de har för en fortsatt utveckling av samhället utan att ytterligare skada naturen..

This essay examines the 1962 Swedish parliamentary debate preluding the proposition to introduce a uniform compulsory education for all Swedish children. The proposition aimed at ending the previously heterogeneous educational system and replace it with a more equal and democratic system.A widespread debate ensued, regarding the status of Christian religious education (kristendomskunskap) and its new emphasis on scientific objectivity. This essay will examine the relative position of Christianity within the new uniform school system, as it was articulated by the members of the Swedish parliament. This analysis will be achieved through the use of a discourse analytical study of the parliamentary records, the recorded motions and bills. From these records a substantial disparity in the parliamential members articulation of the concept of Christianity can be ascertained, even within the discourse of an educational regime.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute with knowledge regarding the connection between the socialization process and the organizational commitment perceived by junior accountants. Based on Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) model, we intend to identify and describe how selected socialization strategies affect junior accountants? perceived affective, continuous and normative commitment during the initial five years in the firm.Research methodology: Semi-structured interview was chosen as the key approach for gathering essential data. Interviews were conducted at three major accounting firms with a total of eight interview participants. The study has a qualitative approach because of the ability to go in depth on the studied phenomenon.Conclusion: The socialization process consists of individual, informal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture strategies.

The present study examines the effect of a nine-hour Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) intervention for teachers who experience stress. Twenty-two teachers from four different counties in southern Sweden were randomly allocated to an ACT intervention (n=15) and a control group (n=7). The ACT condition received three three-hour sessions of ACT over a six-week period, and the control group received a three-hour stress lecture at one occasion. At a follow-up four-weeks after completed intervention, ACT participants showed significant in-group differences on stress, psychological flexibility, general health, and burnout. At a between group comparison, only psychological flexibility was significantly enhanced at the follow-up.

The aim of this master thesis is to study the reliefs of a Romanesque tombstone from 1130 AD, with the intention to form a plausible understanding of their meaning. During the course of the investigation, my main focus will be on collecting materials of an iconographical and historiographical nature, as they appear in previous studies. I will also use performative analysis when examining the tombstone. Consequently this thesis can be seen as a survey of history and place; early Christian iconology as well as the experience of the viewer. As a result, the 900-year-old tombstone will not only be seen as a memorial in this text, but also as a performance of one man?s faith and as representing the core message of the early Christian church.The tombstone is a rarity in Swedish art history and well worth a closer examination.

The essay aims to show n interpretation of Vampyr and Ordet; seen from a viewpoint Kierkegaards christian existentialism can enhance the understanding of mentioned movies. Central notions from Ks philosophy are explained and then the author points to examples of how this corresponds with the essence of the two movies.The argumentation is based on Ks thoughts on faith and human existence. Other theories concerning Dreyers movies, and to some extent his background, is also discussed.Finally the author concludes that he was right in his hypothesis: that it is possible to show an influence from Kierkegaards christian, existentialistic thoughts in the two movies.Moreover the author thinks that the chosen perspective works as a complement to other written material on the movies and that other writers on the subject have some problems summing up the contents of the movies from their different perspectives.The final conclusion is thus that an interpretation of the movies from a Kierkegaardian viewpoint increases the understanding of the same movies..

The essay aims to show n interpretation of Vampyr and Ordet; seen from a viewpoint Kierkegaards christian existentialism can enhance the understanding of mentioned movies. Central notions from Ks philosophy are explained and then the author points to examples of how this corresponds with the essence of the two movies.The argumentation is based on Ks thoughts on faith and human existence. Other theories concerning Dreyers movies, and to some extent his background, is also discussed.Finally the author concludes that he was right in his hypothesis: that it is possible to show an influence from Kierkegaards christian, existentialistic thoughts in the two movies.Moreover the author thinks that the chosen perspective works as a complement to other written material on the movies and that other writers on the subject have some problems summing up the contents of the movies from their different perspectives.The final conclusion is thus that an interpretation of the movies from a Kierkegaardian viewpoint increases the understanding of the same movies.

Tidigare studier visar att sekulariseringen inneburit stora förändringar på det religiösa området. Studiens syfte var att beskriva hur präster inom Svenska kyrkan i Gävle uppfattade sekulariseringens påverkan. Fokus låg på att beskriva de kvalitativt olika uppfattningar som fanns, då dessa förhoppningsvis skulle ge en ökad och fördjupad vetskap kring sekulariseringens olika verkningar. Det empiriska materialet samlades in via kvalitativa intervjuer där åtta präster gav uttryck för sina uppfattningar. Studien visar på att kvalitativt olika uppfattningar fanns.

The aim of this master thesis is to study the reliefs of a Romanesque tombstone from 1130 AD, with the intention to form a plausible understanding of their meaning. During the course of the investigation, my main focus will be on collecting materials of an iconographical and historiographical nature, as they appear in previous studies. I will also use performative analysis when examining the tombstone. Consequently this thesis can be seen as a survey of history and place; early Christian iconology as well as the experience of the viewer. As a result, the 900-year-old tombstone will not only be seen as a memorial in this text, but also as a performance of one man?s faith and as representing the core message of the early Christian church.The tombstone is a rarity in Swedish art history and well worth a closer examination.