This thesis rests on the theory and methodology of discourse theory. By viewing social reality as constituted by discourses, meanings that are taken for granted can be challenged.The events of September 11th 2001 resulted in the American war on terror. This thesis explores the impact of 9/11 and the war on terror on the Russian image of the conflict in Chechnya.Discourse theory is applied to shed light on how the conflict over Chechnya is discursively constructed by the Russian state and media. The discourse is organized in three thematic sections: Identity, Enemy Images and Islam. Russia establishes itself as a member of the Western civilisation.

This thesis analyses how romanies look upon schooling and how they reflect upon the possibility of getting an education. Many inquiries relating to romanies have been published in Sweden but very few are based on fieldwork among romanies. The aim of this thesis is therefore to through fieldwork focus on how romanies themselves look upon their educational situation.The main questions for this study are: How is the image of romanies as a problem constructed in school? How are romanies separated from other students? How is the interplay between romanies and school representatives formed? How do romanies look upon the possibility of getting an education and does their perception differ from the usual official apprehension?An important conclusion concerns how social workers and teachers continuously categorize romanies as different. The group is constantly differentiated from other ethnic groups and is often the target of integration projects.

Based upon theories founded on social constructionism, and criticism raised against these theories, this study aims to present a more complex perspective on non-heterosexuality from what has earlier been presented in Swedish lesbian, gay, bisexuality and transsexuality research. Fourteen semi-structured interviews with non-heterosexual women were analyzed using a discourse analytic approach. Four discourses about sexuality were described: "definition, preferably as either-or (heterosexual or homo-sexual)", "normality", "sexuality as constant and unchangeable", "sexuality as homogenous". Different ways of relating to and challenging the positions offered through these discourses were discussed. In conclusion, the study discussed which implications these findings have for psychologists working with non-heterosexual women, and how discursive positioning can be understood from within a psychological framework..

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.

Our purpose is to analyse three different epistemological discourses that exist in the social practice, Library and Information Science LIS, using the strategy for interpretation from the mimesis model by Paul Ricoeur and the terms from the critical discourse analysis by Norman Fairclough. The aim is also to explore there different views of knowledge organisation. We review previous research involving epistemology, knowledge organisation and discourse analysis in LIS. These show that there are many different epistemological standpoints and that later research has shown a more critical and sceptical state of knowledge organisation than earlier traditional positivist ideals. Discourse analysis is described as an important theory and method in LIS.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to identify and describe thedifferent roles that are expressed in a public library by researchingthem in the four policy documents concerning Västerås public libraryin 2010 and by interviews with three specially chosen key persons.Further studied are the discourses that can be perceived in thematerial and whether or not the roles could come in conflict witheach other. Laclau and Mouffes discursive theory constitutes themethodical frame for this thesis and by using terms from discursivetheory the analysis was made in four steps.Seven roles were identified from the policy documents concerningVästerås public library and the interviews with the key persons. Thefirst role of the public library was the intermediary of knowledge andinformation, the second was viewed as a democratic role, the third asa marketing role, the fourth as a role that handled the collaboration,the fifth role was to improve literacy, and the sixth and seventh roleswere as a culture centre and a meeting place. With the help fromkeywords five major discourses were found within the material.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate how individuals diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome experience stigma as a result of their diagnosis. The paper was based on a qualitative method, consisting of six interviews with booth male and female participants. We took part of previous studies and research as well as existing theories on the subject, in addition to the analysis of our empirical material. Significant in this study was that all participants were relieved when getting the diagnosis, as they finally got an explanation for what was wrong. The results indicated that the majority of the informants felt worried of the possibility to experience stigma and discrimination, which resulted in that the majority of the participants tended to use an avoidance coping strategy.

Turkey has recieved recurring criticism on their disrespect of women and their rights and The European Union Commission and CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, are two examples of critics. However, during the last years Turkey has shown a number of improvments and positive developments. Two flagrant examples of the extended debate of the above mentioned scarcity is within the area of legislation and the large number of womenNGO´s.The aim of my thesis is to investigate which strategies womenorganizations in Turkey are using to affect the political agenda from a genderperspective; do they choose an international or a national strategi? The analysis is based on four womenNGO´s and their efforts of influence and effects on the political agenda and how they experience the link between themselves and the Turkish government. My findings suggest that a national strategy is chosen before an international strategy, but the choice seems to depend on specific goals of the organization and the national climate.

The purpose of our thesis is to understand the opportunities and obstacles that administrators in the municipalities and work intermediaries in Halland experience in their work with the introduction of newly arrived refugees in the labor market. In this study we have done 8 qualitative interviews with employees in the municipality and the employment in work intermediation in Halland to illuminate the underlying factors of why the report "A lost year" of the Swedish Integration Board shows that few newly arrived refugees get a job in the first year after they have been received a residence permit.The study showed that newly arrived refugees have it more difficult to be introduced in the labor market in Sweden. The underlying causes of the situation are many, according to those interviewed. Knowledge in the Swedish language is most important for the introduction of the newly arrived refugees'. Other factors that affect the newly arrived refugees? opportunity to be introduced in the labor market are the discrimination that exists in society.

The focus of this study is the ways in which the discourses of the three largest right-wing populist parties in Scandinavia ? Danish Dansk Folkeparti, Norwegian Fremskrittspartiet and Swedish Sverigedemokraterna ? are articulated and on defining which individuals they include and exclude. The discourses of the three parties are compared and analyzed to determine whether they constitute specific nationalist and culturally racist discourses. The problem is addressed by applying a social constructivist theory of nationalism and cultural racism, and specifically the binary opposition ?we? and ?them?, on a material consisting of the respective parties? member magazines from 2007.

Author: Camilla AnderssonTitle: The depiction of female and male elite soccer players in Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter ?  A quantitative and discursive analysis of the World Cup 2002 and 2003Level of education: CSubject: Media and Communication Studies Umeå University: Department of Culture and Media Studies Term: Spring 2004 Pages: 70 The purpose of this essay is that from a gender theoretical and critical discourse analysis perspective  study how the image of the Swedish football national teams and players in the 2002 World Cup (men) and 2003 (women) were constructed in the media coverage. I analyze articles published in Dagens Nyheter, Swedens biggest morningpaper and Aftonbladet, biggest eveningpaper. The method is based on a quantitative content analysis, and critical discourse analysis in which I use van Dijk's analytical approach. Issues :1. What constructed the World Cup in 2002 and 2003  players and teams, from a gender theoretical perspective in the mediatexts?2.

The object of this essay is to discuss the relationship between the definition of the concept of gender equality and attitudes towards gender equality and their consequences for gender equality measures. The point of departure is feminist political theory and interviews about attitudes towards gender equality at a department at the University of Linköping. The conclusions of this study is that there are a wide range of definitions and attitudes, and these conceptions are not necessarily the same as those being pointed out in the official gender equality policy at the University of Linköping. In this study the opinions of measures for gender equality among the interviewed are widely spread. Some finding Swedish men and women already being equal and therefore there is no need for measures, since this would result in discrimination of men since women would gain advantages from being women.

Den här uppsatsen har haft som syfte att undersöka hur fem unga transsexuella upplevt sin skoltid och hur detta har påverkat deras identitetsskapande. De tre frågeställningarna har varit:Hur har intervjupersonerna skapat sin könsöverskridande identitet i en skolkontext?Vilka är de praktiker och diskurser som de format och formar sina "jag" genom?Mot vilka diskurser, om några, gör de intervjuade personerna motstånd genom sitt identitetsskapande?Uppsatsen poängterar att forskning inom utbildningsvetenskap med koppling till sexualitets- och identitetspolitik är essentiellt för lärarutbildningens och läraryrkets utveckling. Det finns redan uttryckligen formulerat i styrdokumenten men verkligheten i verksamheten tycks se annorlunda ut. Skolan har ansvar för alla barn och unga som befinner sig i verksamheten.

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.

AbstractOne aim of this thesis, has been to explore how discursive frames are constructed, frames to relate to, compare with, and therefore be part in shaping political subjects. The other aim has been connected with a more empirical platform, where I wanted to discover how these frames are established and structured discursively within a political organization, among its members; in this case with a foucs on the Swedish social democracy and its former leader Olof Palme. The thesis starts with a theoretical presentation and discussion, where focus is on the concepts of ideology, discourse theory in the form of Laclau and Mouffe, and narrative theory. The concepts will be presented and discussed, and also related to the other concepts to see their theoretical potential, both ontologically and epistemologically. Finally the theoretical rudiment is linked and analyzed with the empirical material.