The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine the portrayals of class in four Swedish contemporary novels that have been mentioned as working class literature in the literary public sphere. During the 20th century, society has undergone vast changes due to globalization and technology development. The rise in standards of living for most people in the Western societies has led to changed consumption patterns. In consequence, there has been increased emphasis given to cultural rather than materialist explanations of social stratification.

The aim of our thesis was to describe how the connection between co-dependent relatives and the alcohol-dependent influences the family into changes in their teamwork.Our purpose was also to answer the following questions: How is it living with an alcoholic? Are there any differences in how men and women feel and behave in their relationship with an alcoholic? Are factors like cultural belonging, genre or social class important for how the co-dependent relatives feels and behaves and handle their co-dependency?To answer these questions we made twelve thematic qualitative interviews with six adult children to alcoholics and six people married to alcoholics. We compared the results of these interviews with earlier research. We also applied System Theory and Goffman's Role Theory, as well as Bourdieu´s Capital and Habitus concept.We believe that co-dependency is a family divergence that is very similar to family disease, but that a change in attitude can trigger recovery. According to the interviews many spouses stand by their alcoholic husbands and do actions that perpetuate the alcoholic dependence and thereby hold back any recovery.

This essay is an in-depth, qualitative study concerned with questions about female ?class-travellers?. A class-traveller is a person who is born and raised in a particular social class but changes his/her social belonging through studies, marriage etc. In this study I have interviewed three female class-travellers, all of which have made their ?journey? through studies at the University of Lund.The study is an attempt to enrich the research-field of class-travelling by applying a feminist perspective, and by making women's voices about class-travelling heard.

The study seeks to investigate and understand how individuals create their identity from the perspective of two countries and cultures, and how these affect their current lives today. The focus of the study is aimed at young adults who have mostly or entirely grown up in Sweden to parents that have migrated. The material is based on seven qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The result is then divided into three themes; ethnic and cultural belonging, life impact, and the preservation and passing on of culture. The derivation of the first theme is that there are mixed views regarding the cultural association of the persons interviewed.

The aim of this study is to illuminate social worker?s perception of social class within the Swedish social service system. This study therefor examine if social class contributes to the production and reproduction of the client and what impact social class has on the interaction between client and social workers. The study was conducted with qualitative semi-structured interviews with social workers from three different departments of social service. The theoretical approach is Yeheskel Hasenfeld?s theory about moral practices in welfare organisations, Michael Lipsky and Roine Johansson?s theories about client construction and Pierre Bourdieu?s class theory.

This thesis is based on the conception that class is relevant. The thesis discussesclass relevance and consciousness of class amongst personal at the department ofsocial welfare in Lund.I have studied different theories of class from Karl Marx, Max Weber and PierreBourdieu. The study´s empirical survey is based on interviews with the personalat the department of social welfare in Lund. Then I have applied their view onclass on models based on the theories mentioned above.Out of my analysis I can draw the conclusion that the consciousness of class ishigh and that the applied models matches the interviewed personal. An importantaspect is that class perspective is bound to class.

This essay presents a picture of swedish reggae listeners and how their love of music give meaning to their lives and unite them in a sub-culture. Based on interviews with six young men about their involvement in reggae, it also investigates the relationship between music and identity, or more clearly; how identity is expressed through music. Furthermore, I discuss the notion of taste according to Bourdieu, and argue against his statement that taste in music affirms the class and social background of an individual. Results from my empirical data have indicated that reggae music is difficult to associate to a distinct lifestyle, which inclines me to argue that it has managed to transcend phenomena such as ethnicity, class and cultural affiliation..

Bullying and harassment is a common phenomenon that usually is associated with schools, but bullying among adults at workplaces is not as much discussed. Previous research shows that discrimination occurs in various social areas because of the individual's gender and ethnicity. Based on this there was a reason to suppose that bullying, which is a form of vulnerability, could also depend of belonging to a particular social category. The aim of this study was to get knowledge about the correlation between bullying at the workplace and concurrent collaboration of class, gender and ethnicity. The results of this quantitative study show that there is no correlation between the simultaneous interaction of gender, class and ethnicity towards bullying and harassment.

The purpose of this essay was to examine class-travellers experiences of having done the class-travel and when they realised they had done it.My questions were: when did they start the class-travel? How do they experience themselves after going through the classtravel? How do they change as class-travellers in their relationship with their surroundings?The study was based on interviews with six classtravellers, trained social workers who have made their journey through studies. In the essay I have analyzed and compared the interviews with relevant litterature/theory.My conclusions are that the experiences of the class-travel are different. The lass-traveller of this study are recognized of being/have been part of two worlds or cultures. How long the class-traveller has been in one of the worlds is of big importance.

The aim of this study was to get insight into refugee children?s perception about experience of the preparatory class, the transition to the ordinary class and the ordinary class. To get access to my informant?s perspective and also to get a more profound understanding of their experience, I oriented the study in a qualitative approach. This study will highlight the refugee children?s personal experiences and their point of view regarding the schools preparatory class, ordinary class, together with other pupils behaviour against them in the social interaction.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine the use of the concept cultural heritage in Swedish governmental cultural policy. Ten official reports, reaching over a time period of seven years (1997-2004) are examined in the following way: What is cultural heritage? What functions/ values does the cultural heritage have? Whose heritage is a cultural heritage? With some simplification you can say that there are two different views on cultural heritage in the documents. The most common way to refer to cultural heritage is a category of chosen historical objects whose preservation is motivated by their function as sources of information and knowledge about the history and development of the Swedish society.

The aim of this study was to get insight into refugee children?s perception about experience of the preparatory class, the transition to the ordinary class and the ordinary class. To get access to my informant?s perspective and also to get a more profound understanding of their experience, I oriented the study in a qualitative approach. This study will highlight the refugee children?s personal experiences and their point of view regarding the schools preparatory class, ordinary class, together with other pupils behaviour against them in the social interaction.

This study aims to deepen the understanding of how belonging and community is created in one of the aesir faith communities in Sweden. The study examines the aesir faith communities ability to develop the community members religious identity as well as their understanding of the importance of cultural heritage and how it affects the members in their practices of their aesir faith. The main argument in this study is that cultural heritage creates a sense of community that makes the members want to stay and develop their religious identity together with the other members of the aesir faith community. I have used cultural heritage, symbols and rituals, belonging, community and religious identity as concepts in order to answer my research questions. The methods used in this study are participant observation during the group's public activities, as well as interviews with the members of the aesir faith community in order to confirm the analysis I made during the participant observation.

The thesis explores what is meant by multiculturalism in today's Sweden based on burial grounds and funerals in a minor municipality. This is done through an ethnographic case study of the municipality of Vara. The study aims to investigate how multiculturalism looks and is responded to. The study maps which aspects are placed on multiculturalism in a minor municipality and which adaptations and compromises are highlighted. This is done within the framework of theories concerning multiculturalism and social identity, and the result of the empirical case study is presented by applying the theories to the material. From burial places and funerals, social collective and individual identities are analysed based on the social categories of religion/faith/secularity and place belonging, based on the perspectives of rituals and traditions as well as the location of the grave. The study finds that there are several aspects of multiculture in the burial grounds, as multiculture not only includes cultural influences from immigrants but also the different preferences of the local villages, in combination with the development of society, and Sweden in general.

Sweden is a country based on democracy and equality. As a result, both men and women areencouraged to aspire equal career opportunities.The aim of this study is to explore how social and cultural contexts, as well as gender aspects,affect Swedish Upper Secondary Class pupils when they choose career. The study focuses onstudents who have chosen an ambitious school curriculum.As method, the study uses both qualitative interviews with students and a quantitative survey.The theoretical framework is based on gender theory and on the social and cultural contexttheory of Bourdieu.The result of the study shows that gender and social as well as cultural context affect students?ambitions and career choices..