The purpose of this master thesis is to find out if library activities in civil society may be seen as a complement to public activities. The incitement lies in a discussion in the research activities of social sciences and among politicians, where the opinion is that civil society may function as a complement to governmental policy. The NGO-library Föreningen Miljöbiblioteket i Lund and the municipality of Malmö stad where chosen as units for examination. The common feature of the two units is the global task introduced by the UN, to create a sustainable development. The material used is exclusively concerning domestic information activities.

The aim of this master's thesis is to study how the design of the music library space affects how it is used and its role as an arena for culture. This is done in form of a case study of Library 10 in Helsinki, a public library branch that specializes in music and information technology. The backdrop to the study is the changing context for cultural activity in the information society and the role of public libraries as public space and meeting place. By analyzing the distribution of space in the library, the distribution of functions and artefacts and the spatial use of the room, I interpret the ways in which this distributional logic produces a unique place for music and culture. I discuss the music library design in a space and place perspective, utilizing theoretical tools from cultural geography and the space theories of Henri Lefebvre.

After the fall of communism in Yugoslavia the ethnic resentment grew stronger and escalated in to interethnic civil conflict in 1992. After international intervention the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) installed peace in 1995. The treaty's aim was not only to establish peace but also to institute democracy in Bosnia. The OSCE were given the task to implement democracy within political institutions and civil society. This in a country with a lack of democratic experience and where great problems with ethnic antagonism still exists.By using democratization and transition theory this single case-study examines how democracy is implemented in Bosnia by the OSCE and clarifies difficulties that this democratization process is facing.

The South African nation and society have experienced significant changes and reforms over the last decade. Less than ten years ago black and white people were not even allowed to share a bench in a park. Today they are expected to live side by side in what is called a"Rainbow Nation". When a new society is built language plays an important part. The language constantly reproduces daily the small things that identify a nation and the people living in it.

The education sector can be seen as a cornerstone of today's society, an organization that is under constant change and evolve as society. The compulsory school system is of significant role in society that places high demands on its management. The following study investigates the requirements for documentation in primary school organization and operations, and how these requirements are perceived and affect the school's organization and activities of the study carried out at different levels of the organization so as to get an overall picture of its impact. In order to analyze and create understanding of the results, the study applies the theory of New Public Management and various reforms that can be linked to the increased documentation requirements and its influence in the public administration. Study results show that there is a mixed picture of the documentation impact on the school system. Shown are both positive and negative effects of the documentation requirements.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the majorities view on the minority can affect the minorities view on themselves.The study focuses on the research questions; what does the Roma identity look like? Is there a connecting between the week feeling of belonging to the majority ? Slovaks - that the Roma people feel and the widespread racism, stereotypes and scapegoat view towards Roma that the majority in the Slovak society have? Is the view Roma have on themselves effected by how other see them? Has the situation for the Roma gotten better since Slovakia entered the European Union?An empirical research study has been conducted in Slovakia during the period of April 2006 and interviews with Roma and NGO representatives where done.The Roma people's situation in Slovakia is bad and the discrimination towards them is widespread, both in the working life, healthcare, education system and housing. A lot has happened the last years, before Slovakia entered the EU the country adapted many new laws that strengthen the Roma people place in the society and gave them as a minority more support and rights.According to my findings it is found, and what most of the interview Roma expressed themselves, was that today they have a very low feeling of belonging and being a part of the Slovak society. They also expressed that they are very much affected by the poor view that the majority of Slovak have of them and in many cases they did not even want to try to be part of the society. The NGOs expressed that the situation for Roma in Slovakia is bad and even if it has been improved since the country entered the EU, the NGOs said that there are only a lot of new laws and in reality not much has changed..

In this study I compare the donor portraits on wallpaintings in Scanian churches from the 12th and the 15th century and relate them to medieval society.I find that women were equally capable of owning and donating land during the entire period. The image of the ideal woman changed during the 14th century from a married woman to the unreachable mistress of the chivalrous culture and the holy virgin. Women had a natural place beside their husbands in 12th century donor portraits, while single male donors are more frequent in the 15th century. While 12th century donors were supposed to show their position in society by offering plentiful donations directly to God, donors in the 14th century instead strived to present themselves as humble and pious. The individualisation of late medieval society meant that people had to depend on themselves to achieve salvation..

Title: Information storage - A growing problem? Authors: Göran Svanhall Pär Truedsson Erik Ponnert Tutor: Bengt Carlsson Problem: Every day companies, regardless of size, produces new information that needs to be stored. In the information society of today, the characteristics of the information changes both in size and complexity. This results in higher demands on which storage solution that suits the company and their field of business. New and more innovating storage solutions enters the market, but are they necessary to smaller companies of development active in the IT society? Questions to Answer: Is data storage a growing problem for companies of development active in the IT society? How do traditional storage solutions manage the information growth of today? How urgent is the need of a new storage solution? Which features are prioritized in the future storage solution? Method: By performing a quantitative survey we delivered an inquiry to several companies, which answers will help us answering our above mentioned questions.

Anne Reese: Johan Lindegrens vägval : en studie i de faktorer som påverkade enskilda aktörers verksamhet inom Stockholms musiksamhälle 1860-1908, Uppsala universitet: Institutionen för Musikvetenskap, uppsats för 100 poäng, 2007.The aim of this essay is to show some of the factors which affected the production and work of the individual musician or composer within Stockholm's music society in the late 19th century. By a case study on Johan Lindegren (1842-1908) I demonstrate how a musician or a composer functioned in the social structures of the music society and how power affected the work of the musician or composer. This essay also fills another purpose as it gives Lindegren a more detailed biography, which is something that has been missing until now.By applying a concept of power, as discussed by Michel Foucault, to this subject and interacting it with the concepts of musical opportunism, I present a new way of talking about the social, as well as the individual factors that affects the individual musician within the music society.The conclusion is drawn that there are two different types of factors that affects the work of the individual; 1) the social network and power within society, which presents positions and opportunities for the musician and 2) the individual character of musician which determine the way the individual uses the position or opportunity he or she is given..

In today?s fashion market there are a great number of actors that offer a huge selection ofproducts. The fashion world today covers the whole world and a result of this, the competitionamong fashion companies are enormous, leading to a tough climate for companies in today?sfashion industry. There is an overproduction of goods on the market and companies mustcompete for customers because of today's homogeneous goods and prices.

The fashion market is highly dynamic, and characterized complexity, abstract phenomena and creativity. Further, differences between factors such as gender, countries and social classes pose increasing challenges to fashion companies and researchers active within this area. In light of these facts, the value of creating tools that help companies and professionals active within this industry becomes evident. Much research has been focused on creating a more thorough understanding of its underlying logics and its main drivers from a business perspective, whereas knowledge regarding fashion consumers and what drives their behavior are more limited. Through this study, insights about the Swedish fashion market and its consumers are generated.

The globalization of today?s society has enabled consumers to acquire products and services from all over the world. Global organizations have the entire world as a playfield and offer products and services across markets. Regardless perception and transparency of the global market, consumers are still individuals. Consumers may have different perceptions and ideas about products, their functions and usage.

The competition amongst companies is getting tougher and the economic markets are getting even bigger with new products and businesses. One way for companies to differentiate themselves from the competitors is through packaging design. If the merchandise is to send a reliable and solid message to consumers, the attributes of the packaging must be consistent and uniform. If the different attributes are not coherent, the message loses credibility towards the consumer. Through the sent messages, the pack signals the products? expected quality and price.This paper includes two studies, in which the main objective is to discover and build understanding about Swedish consumers? perception of a product?s price depending on the pack?s design.

In recent years, many efforts on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferations have been made by non-nuclear states and civil society. The dissatisfaction has motivated non-governmental organizations to pursue a ?humanitarian initiative? based on international conferences aimed at highlighting the humanitarian consequences of certain arms and nuclear weapons. This study examines the five key roles, according to Rapport et al. (2012), that civil society organizations have played in the establishment of arms control conventions, more specifically the Mine Ban Treaty, also called Ottawa Convention, and the Cluster Munition Convention.

Syfte: Huvudsyftet med uppsatsen är att redogöra för ett internationellt företags marknadsföringsstrategi på den europeiska marknaden, i det här fallet Volvos, sett ur ett standardiserings- och anpassningsperspektiv. Metod: Vi har genomfört en litteraturstudie för att få en teoretisk grund för arbetet. Därefter utfördes en empirisk studie av Volvo med hjälp av intervjuer med anställda på företaget samt med nyckelpersoner på reklam- och mediabyråer. Vid analysen av Volvos marknadsföring har vi även använt oss av reklamfilmer och annat material från företaget. Resultatet från den empiriska studien sattes i relation till de aktuella teorierna.