The differences between the sexes when it comes to land and property ownership are enormous. This paper deals with issues concerning women's land and property rights. The aim of the study is to investigate what general factors are effecting women's access to and control of land. In addition, this paper aims to explore the effects of liberal formalism in relation to gender equality and the distribution of land. Formalism and formalization of women's land rights alone won't lead to equality in land distribution or women's emancipation.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is probably the world's most known andinternationally most respected document. The purpose of this study is to examine if the UDHRreflects universal values and norms and to assess its moral and juridical relevance today, 60 yearsafter the adoption. The literature used in this literature-based critical study is mainly written bythe academic elite of the discourse on Human Rights. By comparing these sources I have reachedthe conclusion that the UDHR is still today an important document because of its continuinginfluence on international lawmaking and because of the encouragement and aspirations tomankind in the never-ending struggle for the rights it represents..

The current trend towards globalisation and democratisation has made the theories of politics in pluralistic societies, and how to make them work, of particular interest and concern. Lijphart's theory of consociational democracy is an important influence in this field. At the same time the importance of civil society in transition studies and democratisation processes has been reinforced over the last thirty years. However, the complex political situation that plural societies face, creates obstacles for a healthy civil society. This thesis is based on a case study of Lebanon, a country with deep ethnic divisions and a government that resembles a consociational democracy.

Playboy is a magazine that, for more than a half century, has been mostly known to the wider audience for its stylized pictures of naked women. What a lot of people do not know is that the magazine, with its editor in chief Hugh Hefner in the lead, has been frontrunners in human rights. Playboy has been fighting protecting the right of freedom of speech, fighting for equal rights for all people during the Civil rights movement and supported the feminist movement by funding precedent cases on abortion rights. According to a series of text analyses by Beggan & Allison (2000, 2002b) Playboy?s editorial direction contradicted conventional definitions of masculinity. Also, the magazine portrayed its Playmates with complex identities that, in many cases, contained a number of traditionally masculine abilities.In this thesis we have done a critical discourse analysis of the Playboy interview and how the gender of its subject is portrayed by the magazine.

The purpose of this essay has been to compare different constitutions, and their outlook on citizenship, rights, obligations and natural duty. This has been done in the light of the political philosophy, in order to give the answer to four questions. These questions are: Which rights and obligations can be seen in the constitutions, and how can it be interpreted. Can there be signs of any political philosophy in the constitutions?  Are there any differences between the constitutions regarding citizenship, rights, obligations and natural duty? If so, what are the differences? Can the rights be seen in a further extent than the obligations in the constitutions?I have conducted a qualitative comparision study and analyzed the political philosophers and made a classification scheme of their views.

The fundamental freedoms and human rights is something the countries, and its citizens, of theEuropean Union more or less take for granted. However, in recent years these rights have become atopic of discussion in the way that a debate about the Islamic headscarves has developed. Thisdebate has resulted in that a number of countries, including France, have taken legislative measuresto ban clothing that fully covers ones face. Out of these bans a discussion has arisen concerning thefundamental freedoms and human rights. These burqa bans, as it is labeled in the pubic debate, havebeen accused to wrongfully limit the individuals freedoms and human rights.This study therefore has the aim to analyze these burqa bans in relation to the European Union,United Nations and the Council of Europe?s general declarations concerning the fundamentalfreedoms and basic human rights.The main result of this study shows that these bans in fact is not a proportionally restrict in thefundamental freedoms and human rights.

On November 1989 the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Today more than 20 years later the convention is ratified by all countries in the world except the USA. A question asked is however if the convention after 20 years of development work has in fact accomplished some positive effects for children around the world? The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in selected states and to reach this aim some questions need to be answered: What do the selected states do to realize the best interest of the child?What do the selected states do to guarantee all children?s right to survival and development?Do all children in the selected states have the same right to health and health services?Do all children in the selected states have the same right to education? The material studied in this thesis is those reports that are to be sent periodically to the Committee on the Rights of the Child by all states. The result of this study shows that the Convention on the Rights of the Child has made some positive progresses when it comes to the situation of the child in the world.

Right-wing populism has through the past decades flourished in several countries in Europe. Research has shown that right-wing populism is, with its political starting point in ?the people?, focusing on the majority and is sometimes excluding the minorities from the politics. Since human rights regulations are mainly a protection of minority rights, the aim is to examine if the politics of the Sweden Democrats, as a case of a growing right-wing populist party, is a threat to human rights and in that case, in what respects. The thesis is supposed to answer the question in what respects the politics of the Sweden Democrats contravene with the European Convention?s protection of minority rights.

This paper discusses if Margin of Appreciation is compatible with the idea of universal human rights. Through the case of Negative freedom of association in Sweden, it studies the phenomenon that Giorgio Agamben has called the State of exception.The questions that are discussed and answered are 1) How does the rights theories of Jack Donnelly and Ronald Dworkin relate to Margin of appreciation, and 2) How has Margin of appreciation been applied in cases concerning the negative freedom of association in Sweden, in the European court for human rights. These questions and answers are then used in the discussion on how Margin of appreciation affects the concept of universal human rights. .

AbstractIn the literature on multiculturalism and group rights there is a strong tradition that sees diversity as something directly paradoxal to unity. In this tradition, scholars put forward a view of multiculturalism as a divisive and exclusionary process which breaks down the cohesion and unity of society. Related to this notion is that of a neutral and universally valid frame of reference in which political dilemmas can be solved; for example a neutral civil sphere where the ?true essence? of society lies. In this essay I attempt to criticise these two notions.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 9/11 attacks, the landscape of the freedom of religion has changed. The issues now facing freedom of religion varies greatly from the issues that the drafters of the universal declaration of human rights faced after World War II.In the light of the new issues that States face in the intersection of religion and societal interest, scholars have criticized the European Court of Human Rights to give too much leeway to the States in determining how the human rights should be implemented, by using the doctrine of margin of appreciation. Critics of the margin of appreciation claim that it is based on culture relativism and that the doctrine undermines the universality of the human rights. In order to decide if the margin of appreciation has indeed led to a relativization of the human rights I compared it to the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee and its use of the Syracusa principles. My conclusion is that the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights cannot be considered to be based on culture relativism.

Title: Jaunty Vaasa-lads and lazy boys ? a study of masculinity and patriotism in the Civil Guard in Vaasa in relation to the Finnish Civil War of 1918.This paper deals with the subject of expressions of masculinity in relation to patriotism and nationalism as a part of the mobilisation of the so called white side in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. With regards to how this was expressed in the local Civil Guard in the town of Vaasa. The focus   lies on the construction of an ideal masculinity within this specific Civil Guard as expressed            in the Guards own documents of different varieties, during the events in the spring of 1918 and at the one year anniversary of its outbreak. The study is first and foremost based on Joan W.

AimThe aim of this study is to investigate who can be considered to be the owner of the broadcasting rights on sport events in Sweden. Furthermore our aim is to investigate how the owners can protect their rights.The reason why we are interested in this subject is that there is no legislation in this field. There is no legislation on who the owner is and there are no arena rights that protect the broadcasting rights. We have studied case law and legislation in other countries and tried to apply it to Swedish conditions. We have posed the following questions:Who owns the broadcasting rights on sport events in Sweden?What legal protection does the owners of the broadcasting rights have for their rights?MethodThe study is based on literature studies and interviews.

Since the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 there has been evident progress in the area of women's rights in great parts of the world, although this progress is still foremost concentrated to the Westernhemisphere. In Argentina, the work with gender equality and women's rights set of strongly during the last decade. The country has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishmentand Eradication of Violence against Women "Convention of Belem Do Para" but still women and girls are victims of structural discrimination and serious impunity of their rights on a daily basis.The current situation proves that the positive changes within the context of international and national law do not necessary reach out to the population to the same extent. In the light of the lacking popular involvement and knowledge of their rights, a different type of solution is desirable. Therefore it would be of interest to examinate the role of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO:s) when it comes to implementing human rights in the society and ?the every day life?.

It is the aim of this paper to examine, and analyze at a discursive level, the Swedish Democrats' interpretation of the term 'human rights', as this is presented in the material available on the party's official website. The goal is then to investigate in what manner the party portrays its political ambitions in relation to 'human rights'. The theoretical foundation for this analysis is discourse theory as it is presented in the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe.Furthermore, the aim is also to examine whether the Swedish Democrats? interpretation of 'human rights' is compatible with the established understanding of the term, such as this is presented in the international UN treaties on human rights. This will be done by thoroughly examining and comparing certain aspects of the Swedish Democrats' political ambitions, such as they have been portrayed in the analytical section of the paper, with relevant sections of the UN treaties..