The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to communicate messagesrelated to sustainable development through cultural works. Culture is here synonymous toliterature or, more specifically, the fiction genre. According to ecocritical research, this genrehas the capacity to contribute to a more sustainable development and is therefore interestingto analyse from an environmental point of view.The novel selected for the study is Vips så blev det liv - eller en hyllning till blågrönalgen(2010), written by the Swedish author Bob Hansson. The analysis is mainly focused on howthe book?s climate related messages are formulated and integrated in the story.

This thesis analyzes contemporary Swedish discourse on Russia, i.e. the ways Russia and Russians are perceived in Sweden today. After a summary of historical Western and Swedish perceptions of Russia, and a discussion about the treatment of these tensions within modern research, contemporary Swedish discourse is reconstructed based upon analytical articles in three major newspapers during the period 1992-2007. It is argued that the prevailing image of Russia contains the reproduction of old stereotypes and prejudices. The five major representations of Russia in contemporary Swedish discourse are: non-Western, unreliable, authoritarian, threatening and eternal, with the last one being a meta-representation functioning both as a representation of its own and a mechanism for the reification of the others.

Our essay is about children's exercise of power, oppression or domination in games or when playing on school grounds with one and other. We thought it would be interesting to look into how children in preschool and up to the fifth grade use power acts respective power plays in leisure-time. During four days we visited two different after-school center and carried out observations of children during the school day and later inside the recreation centers during leisure activities. In order to analyze our empirical material in relation to power, we have used Magnus Hörnqvist (2012) interpretation of Michel Foucault's theory of power - Another Foucault. We have also used Åsa Bartholdsson (2008) thesis about The regular exercise of power regime ? about normality and power in school.

?Fröknarna von Pahlen?, is a series of novels written by the author Agnes von Krusenstjerna. Especially the fourth and fifth parts, published in 1933, raised questions about sexuality, especially about what was conceived as perverse and provoking descriptions. ?Fröknarna von Pahlen? became a part of heated debates about what is acceptable to write about.

This study deals with the distinct difference in media attention the earthquake-disaster in Haiti and the flood-disaster in Pakistan got in 2010. There may be many reasons to this divergence, but this study focuses on how news articles can create compassion.   This study, with its critical perspective, examines how two daily papers in Sweden portray the suffering of the victims of the catastrophes in Haiti and Pakistan, and create compassion for them. Furthermore it asks the question who benefits from the newspaper?s description of human suffering in the third world.   The result shows that the manner of which Swedish daily newspapers report from the catastrophe in Haiti creates an emotional involvement, which most likely leads to compassion. Furthermore it shows potential to lead the readers to identify with the suffering people in Haiti.   The Swedish daily newspapers report of the catastrophe in Pakistan on the other hand, does not involve the reader on an emotional level, but gives them the role of a spectator.

This study examines how Qatar and Russia utilize football as an instrument of foreign-policy. While previous reasearch has primarily focused on mega-events, such as the Olympic games and the FIFA World Cup, this thesis expands the scope by analyzing how footbal functions as a strategic tool for nation branding in both countries. The study employs a comparative qualitative case study appraoch, based on Simon Anholt?s nation branding framework, modified to include four dimensions instead of six. The analysis demonstrates that both Qatar and Russia leverage football to advance their foreign policy objectives, but in markedly different ways.

The aim of this thesis has been to discuss whether remainders of colonial influences exist within the UN's definition of torture or not. The discussion has been presented from a postcolonial point of view, in dialogue with contemporary power critical theorists. In order to raise awareness of a potential colonial influence, the following questions were intended to be answered:?                                        Are there any reasons, if so ? which ones, to regard the UN's definition of torture as a colonial project? And;?                                        To what extent is the term ?inhumane? limiting for the prohibition against torture from a postcolonial perspective?One of the most central arguments of the chosen theories is that the term ?inhumane? evokes prejudices that a racializing apparatus within the social norms of the UN automatically produces. These prejudices are, according to the theorists, influenced by images of people in non-western and non-secular (especially muslim) societies as more prone to exercise ?violence? and ?cruelty? towards their own citizens as well as towards the population of the world in general.

From a social perspective, I have been working on how to change current consumption patterns through a change in people's behavior and attitude towards their possessions. The concept is based on how we can value, care for, and preserve our belongings by using theories in the empathic design field. I have created a structure that allows people to become an active part of a creative process and create their own products. Through this commitment, an emotional relationship is built between the user and the product, and the product tends to gain a longer life. Based on a method to manufacture your own yarn by reusing old clothes, I want to provide the basic tools for an easy and playful way to build the knowledge needed to produce something useful..

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationship between feelings and visualizations of climate change. A case study was done on visualizations of climate change from a web page concerning climate change published by the Swedish newspaper Expressen and from the American photographer Gary Braasch?s web page ?World view of global warming?. The thesis is based on the article ?Emotional anchoring and objectification in the media reporting on climate change? by Birgitta Höijer.

”Fan fiction writing”, or the writing of stories based upon a popular entertainment franchise, has become a topic of academic discussion. Fan fiction writers have waked the ire of movie producers, since they often write fiction that is in direct contradiction to the movie’s plot or spirit. While most academic studies on fan fiction have concentrated on his confrontational aspect of the writers’ psyches, we have found that the writers actually have a much more nuanced approach to their work, and are not necessarily hostile towards the directors and producers. Even more surprising is the fact that the internet, beyond giving the writers a forum to post their writings, has potentially had a transformative impact on how the writers interact with each other and with the outside world. .

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur poliser inom den ingripande verksamheten hanterar de emotioner som uppstår i arbetet. Vidare avser studien även att undersöka vilken påverkan de emotionella aspekterna av arbetet får för poliserna.  Detta görs med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod i form av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med poliser inom ett polisdistrikt. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av begrepp inom emotionssociologin och socialpsykologin.Följande frågeställningar behandlas:Hur hanterar poliserna de känslor som uppstår i arbetet och hur kan detta karaktäriseras?Hur påverkar de emotionella aspekterna av arbetet poliserna, har det konsekvenser? Sammantaget visar resultatet att poliserna följer informella känsloregler som finns inom yrkesrollen och att dessa regler skiljer sig beroende på den situation poliserna befinner sig i. De hanterar även känslor i arbetet på ett sätt som kan beskrivas med Hochschilds begrepp surface acting och deep acting.

Background:There are approximately 45 000 people in the ages over 65 years dies outside the health facilities of the hospitals in Sweden in every year. Previous research has shown lacking knowledge in taking care of the next of kin during and after a sudden death. However, conducted research has emphasized that ambulance nurses often are the next of kin?s first contact with the health care system during sudden death at home. Research has also shown that the mourning of the next of kin is affected by the ambulance nurses? way of announcing the next of kin when someone close dies.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the processes and efforts involved in rebuilding the war-torn state of Afghanistan. The examined period span from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, to the elections in 2005. This period, commonly known as the Bonn-process, sets out the initial time for the reconstruction of the state.A theoretical framework, which considers the necessary mechanisms for successful state-building, will be used to analyze Afghanistan's re-building process. The mechanisms include the prerequisite of a stable security environment, emerging from a cease-fire, together with the development of a well-functioning economy, re-introduction of rule of law and rejuvenating civil society.The failure to establish a secure environment has had a devastating impact on all analyzed aspects of the re-building process. It is therefore crucial that the international society continuing to assists the Afghan government in its efforts to strengthen its capacity, in order to improve the security situation.

When discussing local development attention is often given to the problems involved. Factors like decreasing population and inadequate infrastructure are two examples. Local politics has, however, lately been argued to have possibilities to affect its own development and its chances to achieve growth. Some of the most important factors from this debate are to make a community attractive for people and companies, committed leadership, the local business world with entrepreneurialism and a good business climate. These factors serve as a starting point for this discussion where focus is on the possibilities to achieve growth on the local level and the politics that is used for this purpose.To illustrate the chances to affect local growth I apply the theoretical perspective of regime theory and thereby examine the governing coalitions "power to" govern and not "power over" as the earlier theoretical perspectives in the area.

This thesis examines the boundary-work between the discipline of psychology on one side and religion and spirituality on the other. In Sweden, a country viewed as one of the most secular in the world and which has a rising interest in the neo-spiritual, this boundary-work is under-researched within the history of ideas. The research question for this thesis concerns how the contemporary dominant discourses in Psykologtidningen between 2010-2024 relate to the historical boundary-work that has taken place within the discipline. In this study the boundary-work will be examined through a combination of digital text analysis and discourse analysis. The analysis shows that terms such as mindfulness and soul have gone through a decoupling process: meaning that the terms are secularized and modernized to fit within the truth-narrative and the leading discourse of psychology. This discourse falls under a larger regime of truth where secular thought is seen as the main worldview which is compatible with the scientific ideal.