This essay examines wether the prevailing opinion of Machiavelli as a prominent figure in political realism is correct or if the author is misinterpreted and can be said to represent something more. Thus, the puropse of this essay is to revise the description of Machiavelli given in widely used Swedish textbooks. This is done on the basis of a thesis saying that Machiavelli, judged not by his renowned book ?The Prince? (Fursten), but in the light of his extensive work ?Discourses? (Republiken), does not advocate a sovereign power but rather promote a pluralistic society. The method used in this essay is a qualitative textanalysis, which is done on the two books in purpose to examine three central themes in Machiavelli?s writing; the morality, the view on humanity and the state and citizen.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine and analyze what Discourses about children that can be found in three Swedish culture publications, and also to identify the different social roles that are attributed to children in these publications. The theoretical and methodological background is discourse theory, as described by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Additional theory used is social constructionism and Norman Fairclough?s critical discourse theory. Three questions are asked: What discourse/s can be found in these publications? What do these Discourses tell us about the view on children within the library domain? What social roles are attributed to the children in the texts and what consequences do these have for the power configuration between children and adults? Furthermore there is a discussion concerning what effects these Discourses might have on the direct and indirect reception of children in the library.

This thesis is a qualitative study of a new law that was applied in December 2010. The law is called Lagen om etableringsinsatser fo?r vissa nyanla?nda invandrare, and is meant to help newly arrived immigrants that come to Sweden to establish themselves in the Swedish society. The aim of the study is to see what Discourses the Swedish government produces as a result of this new law. Interesting for the study is to see what happens in the implementation stage at a local level, in this case in the municipality of O?rnsko?ldsvik.Theoretically and methodologically I emanate from critical discourse theory and institutional theory.

In 2009 transgendered persons were included in the Swedish law against discrimination. Prior to the inclusion a commission made an investigation of the necessity of such change in the law and how it could be designed. This essay focuses on the Discourses regarding gender that appear in the law and the report written by the commission. Using theories by Judith Butler and discourse analysis inspired by Norman Fairclough it identifies two main Discourses regarding gender: a two gender discourse and a queer discourse. The two Discourses meet in the studied material in an antagonistic way, a conflict that is solved by separating the two and making one part of the law focus on gender and one on transgender.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine the professional Discourses that can be identified in the public library field. My main focus is to look at the professional views on the added value of public library. Questions posed in this study are: how does the professional language look when it comes of speaking and reasoning about the public librarys added value and function, which Discourses can be identified in the professional language about the public library, what could the Discourses entail for the future of public library? The empirical data consist of four interviews where the respondents have been constituted by public librarians.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how health information is integrated into knowledge in an everyday health related context on the web. The more specific aim is, from a LIS point of view, to map knowledge related Discourses with the focus on pregnancy, in discussion forums on Swedish health related web sites. The following main questions in this paper are: (1) a) What Discourses on pregnancy knowledge can be found and b) how are they expressed? (2) What are the functions of the recognised Discourses? and (3) what are the relations between the identified Discourses? The theoretical and methodological starting-point is discourse theory with the main focus on discursive psychology according to Wetherell?s and Potter?s theoretical and empirical work.

The aim of this study was to analyze how Discourses about domestic violence emerges in policy and practice, and to investigate how those Discourses may change from a structural, political level to a local, practical level. The research questions focused how the problem of domestic violence is formulated at national and local level, scrutinizing the different Discourses framing and reproducing the causes and solutions of the problem, and also to deduce how different context affects formulations. The empirical material consists of policy plans and interviews with social workers. The findings indicates that the issue of domestic violence is articulated differently on different levels. In action plans on the national level, the domestic violence is formulated within a structural discourse, being a problem on a (gender-) political level, whereas professional social workers recognizes domestic violence as a personal problem within an individual oriented discourse.

This qualitative study is focused on the way ?papperslösa? (undocumented/illegal/irregular immigrants) are portrayed in Swedish daily newspapers, what images are presented in the articles, what Discourses permeate the text, what identities are being constructed, etc. The empirical data consists of thirteen articles published in Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet (two of the biggest daily news papers in Sweden) during the period 2010-10-01 ? 2011-04-01, and I?ve used a type of discourse analysis called ?diskursanalys med inriktning på identitetskonstruktion? (?discourse analysis with focus on identity construction?), as the method to analyze the articles. The results of the analysis showed that four Discourses and identities were constructed, re-produced and upheld in these articles.

Title: Diversities of diversity - fluctuating talk, meaning and practice of diversitySeminar date: 06.02.08 Course: Masters thesis in Business Administration, Programme for Managing People, Knowledge and Change, 15 University Credit Points (15 ECTS). Authors: Björt Ólafsdóttir & Clarissa Sia Choon YenAdvisors: Mats Alvesson & Susanne LundholmFive key words: Diversity, Discourses, Hypocrisy, Comparison, National contextPurpose: To identify and compare Discourses around diversity within two companies operating in two distinct national contexts. One originated from and still situated in Iceland, while the other is a subsidiary for Asia-Pacific market in Singapore with American values from its headquarters in United States. We wish to explore what are the meanings and implications of diversity for the employees of each company, how their Discourses on diversity reflect hypocrisy in the organizations and if and how national context has an impact on discourse on diversity.Methodology: Interviews were conducted, transcribed and codified. Comparison and evaluation of the different Discourses were examined around diversity and in the talk of interviewees within the two companies.

In 2009 transgendered persons were included in the Swedish law against discrimination. Prior to the inclusion a commission made an investigation of the necessity of such change in the law and how it could be designed. This essay focuses on the Discourses regarding gender that appear in the law and the report written by the commission. Using theories by Judith Butler and discourse analysis inspired by Norman Fairclough it identifies two main Discourses regarding gender: a two gender discourse and a queer discourse. The two Discourses meet in the studied material in an antagonistic way, a conflict that is solved by separating the two and making one part of the law focus on gender and one on transgender.

This study is a discourse analyse of texts concerning the criminalizing of bestiality andonthological questions around it. This essay has been written as an qualitative analyse of three media texts: Swedish and Danish animal protection laws, interpellation of criminalizing bestiality in Swedish Parliament as well as the discussion forum, "Nordisk Zoofil Forum".The study indicates that bestiality can be understood as inacceptable through Discourses about normality, naturalness, moral, sexual pleasure or Discourses which comprehend sexual abnormalities as a consequence of each other. On the other side bestiality can be understood as unaccebtable through Discourses about sexual needs, sexual identities, love or sexual pleasure. Also the idea about one practising bestiality seems to be gendered as a male person..

The aim of this master?s thesis is to study the Discourses on culture as developed by EU Commission. The method applied is a discoursebased historical analysis, where analysis of arguments and metaphors are functional to the enlightening of the construction of Discourses within EU cultural policy. EU official documents constitute the empirical material studied. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws upon cultural public sphere theory as well instrumentalist cultural policy research.

The aim of this thesis is to spread some light over the coming into being of the 2005 Pension Reform in Norway. The point of departure lies within an interest in Welfare State politics and the development in this field. Pensions constitute a cornerstone in the Welfare State. Making use of J. Kingdon´s Theory of the Agenda Setting Process, Discourse Theory and Institutional Theory the thesis seek to visualize the implications of structures, central actors and Discourses on the reform processes.

The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine the Discourses about Malmö public library that can be identified in several documents published by the library, articles, and various WebPages. Furthermore, our intention is to study the relation between the library?s identity, image and profile. The questions posed in the study are: Which identity Discourses are Malmö public library giving expression for? What kind of conflicts between these Discourses can we find? How is the identity, image and profile of the library in relation to one another? How does Malmö public library profile and market itself as a non-profit organization? Our theoretical and methodological building ground is in the discourse analytical field, with Enesto Laclau?s and Chantal Mouffe?s theories about discourse and society, as a starting-point.

In media the debate about discipline and order in school is widely heard. A politician, some teacher or a representative from the teacher´s union, most often speaks these words. The interest for these issues seems to be persistent.This study is primarily about the expression ?discipline and order?. The aim is to find out how the expression ?discipline and order? is used in the investigated material.