The way society categorize different people into groups is problematic in the sense that the categorization can seem stigmatizing and have social consequences for those being categorized. Immigrants are one of those problematic categories.The following essay studies this categorization of ?immigrants? based on a governmental investigation of structural discrimination that took place in 2002-2008. The aim is to study the use of the category ?immigrant? and the consequences that follows such a categorization.

This essay aims at understanding the experience of the use of ayahuasca, and similarities and differences between interview protocols and socio-cultural identities. The work is based on field studies conducted in the Peruvian Andes, in the village of Pisac September to November 2009. What has emerged is that the experience does not seem to be dependent on cultural manifestations as much as it is dependent on general human cognition. Theories have been applied on an empirical phenomenological descriptive study. Various brain activities, along with mental mechanisms contribute to a deeper understanding of the findings in the descriptive analysis.It seems that the cultural differences, which I have classed as typological in the phenomenological study, mostly are expressions of meaning for the informants.

This thesis discusses the existential consequences for the human being in creatio ex nihilo, where the main subjects of discussion are contingency, freedom and identity. The starting-point of the discussion lies in the presentation of the history of the doctrine of creation, especially the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. Once the historical and philosophical importance of the doctrine of creation is clear, the anthropological and theological consequences are obvious; creation is contingent and at the same time deeply dependent upon God. The contingency of creation may bring a sense of non-necessity among people, and therefore it makes the question of human freedom and identity in the doctrine of creation utterly important..

Since 1979 when homosexuality no longer was classified as an illness the Swedish authorities have been working on increasing the LGBTQ community?s rights and living conditions. How is this work reflected within the Cultural heritage sector, especially since the adoption of Agenda 2030. The purpose and goal of this study is to examine whether the cultural heritage sector actively works to include the LGBTQ perspective in their preservation work by using a quantitative method. Through a document analysis and a survey, it examines this on a national, regional and local level within ?sterg?tland county and its 13 municipalities. The study shows that at a national level there are no specific strategies for working inclusively with an LGBTQ perspective in cultural heritage, however, there is almost always a general level where concepts such as equality, gender equality, inclusion and intersectionality are mentioned.

This master thesis aims to describe and examine Haninge cultural centre, inaugurated in 2002. We study the centre from an organization theory point of view, with focus on the buildings physical appearance. The question we want to answer is to what extent, and if, Haninge cultural centre fulfills the underlying vision, formulated by the municipality of Haninge. Is the centre the symbol of a new era of Haninge and a vivid democracy as it was meant to be? Is there a congruency between the image the building creates and the vision that was formulated by the municipality? We also seek out to see how the cultural centre relates to an older tradition of cultural centres.

The aim of this study has been to achieve an increased understanding of the meaning of home for people in homelessness. The study is based on texts written by people in homelessness and a qualitative content analysis has been used to process the material. The result has been analysed with an inductive approach, using parts of the analysis method grounded theory. Three aspects of the meaning of home was identified in the texts; control, self-determination and independence. The lack of a home means a major limitation concerning these aspects, according to the texts.

The purpose of my study was to find out about the newly arrived students? views and perceptions of the Swedish high school, how this vision and perception looked like before they moved here, and if it has changed. I also wanted to find out how they perceived the meeting with the Swedish school, and if they believed that this meeting should or could be improved. In this study, I used a qualitative research method, the phenomenological method, in which I have used qualitative research interviews to collect the empirical data and detect patterns in my research. The theory I used is cultural encounters, and with it, I try to understand how people with different cultural backgrounds create interactions to work together in communities.

Today's young people increasingly tend to sit at home and relax, instead of being out and meet friends. This is based on my observations from my experience as a teacher. They are more and more in front of their computers and living their lives through their various Internet sites. There I was, stuck on how they behave in their environment, both private and public but also to their friends and their families versus their "internetlife". Young people are more and more at home and even the daily discussion are now placed on the internet instead of face to face communications or on the phone.This essay deals with the subjects selfrepresentation and self-identity that Erving Goffman handled in his bookThe self in everyday life respectively Anthony Giddens in Modernity and Sef-Identity.

How can man´s place preferences be explained? What aspects influence our experience of place? This essay attempts to define a good place to be drawing from sources of environmental psychology as well as other landscape theories and relating these findings to the landscape architect?s field of work. Physical place properties, like physical elements and their juxtaposition in space are examined in relation to place preferences as well as psychological properties, such as place attachment and place identity due to cultural or social aspects.There are strong cross-cultural similarities in our place preferences but there are also some differences. Natural elements, like trees or water, are widely preferred over man-made ones, like buildings, roads or fences.Man seems to be sensitive for the balance between different place characteristics, like the balance between ?soft?, natural, elements and ?hard? man-made ones or the complexity versus the legibility of place.

The key purpose of this research has been trying to understand, and study how assyrian/syriac youth create their identity under the influence of two or several different cultures. We have also looked upon how different factors such as history, religion, language, family and school play a role in the youths identity development.We have used a qualitative method in our study where we have interviewed six assyrian/syriac youth. Because of their Christian faith the assyrian/syriac group has been forced to migrate from their countries to different parts around the world. In the new countries the group has been forced to create and live in a diasporaculture. The city Södertälje in Sweden has developed to become a metropole for this ethnic group where they have founded a substantial diasporaculture.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how young members of Free Churches relate to issues connected with lifestyle and identity, based on the changed conditions for the self in late modernity. More specifically, I want to examine how they deal with the increased degree of detraditionalisation and institutional individualization in late modernity.My research-question is:How do young members of Free Churches relate to issues connected with lifestyle and identity, with the increased degree of personal freedom and institutional individualization in late modernity as a starting point?The empiric part of the essay is carried out by qualitative in-depth interviews with five young members of Free Churches. These semi-structured interviews are focused on a number of different areas of the changed conditions for the self in late modernity.My theoretical perspective has been constructed from the theories of Anthony Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman, Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim. From these theories a focus on certain relevant areas of the condition of the self in late modernity, has developed.

Vi strävar alltid efter att förstå det som sker i den värld vi lever i. Till vår hjälp har vi olika referenser och kunskaper som vi har lärt oss under våra liv. Dessa referenser och kunskaper förenklar och förklarar våra upplevelser och sätter in dem i ett sammanhang. Utan detta sammanhang blir enskilda händelser omöjliga att förstå och vi tvingas navigera oss fram med förbundna ögon. Kultur är ett av de verktyg vi människor använder för att förklara den verklighet vi lever i.

Quality is a vague concept, it seems to be about a ?gut feeling? but is used as if it were a concrete property. This paper examines the defenition of the concept of quality, the relation between quality and gender equality and also what the representation between the genders in exhibitions, purchases and donations looks like in this day. As method for this paper text analysis, with searchlight on the two parameters of quality and equality, have been used on documents that provide a historical and a cultural policy perspective. The main part of the paper is an analysis of the visual arts on Värmlands museum, Kristinehamns konstmuseum and Rackstadmuseet.In the discussion of the paper, chapter 5, the result of the research is presented.

The aim of this work is to give an example of how archaeoacoustics can broaden our understanding of archaeological remains and to further contribute to the almost non-existing research of ringing stones. With a theoretical discussion about sound from three different perspectives and by means of using different kinds of analysis, this essay will show that there are unknown relations between the three known ölandic ringing stones and the cultural landscape of Öland. Possible patterns in the placement of the stones and the possibility of the sound in this soundscape will be investigated. The essay will also suggest a resonant stone typology and discuss the necessity of one. Finally, the intention is also to shed new light upon the discussion on what the uses of the ringing stones might have been..

How do museums work with plurality in their organizations and in the production of exhibitions and other activities? This paper examines how civic museums, provincial museums and state museums work with plurality from a perspective of culture policies, particularly in relation to the government bill Tid för kultur, issued by the Swedish government in 2009.All together I examine 25 museums and their efforts to include marginalized groups in their activities and exhibitions. To do so I have studied four possible measures that are available for the museums. This includes the following: projects that pay attention to a marginalized group or their living conditions; projects that are specifically created for a marginalized group; projects that include a marginalized group in the museums preparations; and projects were museums give full responsibility to a marginalized group. I have also examined how plurality have been presented ? as isolated cultures and cultural expressions or as hybrids and interchangeable phenomenons ? and to what extent the museums are ready to involve marginalized groups in their physical environment and in their exhibition and activity programs.