UN is a non-governmental organization which should promote gender Equality within the organization. It is an organization which is based on human rights and claims that in order to solve the problem of poverty, famine and development we need to promote women?s status. In Sweden there is a strong tradition of gender balanced representation at the governmental level and this perspective raise the question if there is a spill-over effect to the civil society as in the case of a non-governmental organization. This makes it interesting to look at if a non-governmental organization which is not under state control work for gender Equality within their own organization.

This thesis investigates gender Equality at a few Swedish elementary school libraries, and how school librarians at these libraries work with gender Equality issues. It is a semi-structured interview study conducted with staff at seven elementary school libraries. Several policy documents state that the school should be a gender-equal environment, but previous research shows that there is still a lack of gender Equality, and that staff often treat boys and girls differently. It also shows that boys and girls are often portrayed in a gender-stereotypical way in children?s literature.

The European Union (EU) has since the Treaty of Rome 1957 pursued the goal of gender Equality and one effort is through their gender Equality strategies. In recent years EU also has had an increased emphasis on intersectionality. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine how intersectionality is portrayed in EUs three gender Equality strategies between 2010 and 2025. To investigate this, the problems and solutions presented in the strategies have been reviewed. The study uses a qualitative content analysis and a theoretical framework of intersectionality with an analytical scheme to study the Equality strategies.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate and analyze the term diversity in five Swedish municipality?s combined gender Equality- and diversity plans. The purpose is also to investigate who or whom of the employers that are included in the term diversity and if gender Equality is included in the diversity work. The material is analyzed on the basis of theory of intersectionality and discourse analysis. The outcome of the analysis indicates that the municipalities use the term diversity in many different ways in the combined gender Equality- and diversity plans.

AbstractParticiapation from the citizens in a democratic society is one of the ground pilars for the function of the democratic society. The goal for the Swedish contemporary democracy is to complement the representative democracy with different kinds of participatory activities for the citizens. But is it working? The purpose of this essay is to exame the problems that might occur when the citizens participate in a wider extent than just voting. The focus is problems connected to the democratic value political Equality.

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) Equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political Equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s Equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political Equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sEquality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s Equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political Equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's Equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

Before 1944 homosexuality was an act of crime and you could be sentenced to prison for up to 2 years. This law only included men, women where not thought having homosexual activities. Although homosexuality was not a criminal act after 1944 it was still on the list over Swedish diseases, a list maid by the Swedish board of social affairs.The years between 1978 and 1984 a study of the homosexual life in society was maid. The most important thing that this study showed was that homosexuality means that you love someone of your own sex, and that you aren?t different from the rest of the society, except that you choose to love someone of the same sex.The work for Equality between these two groups started after 1979 when the Swedish board of social affairs took homosexuality of their list over Swedish diseases.

This discursive policy study has its starting point in the criticism of the Swedish gender-Equality policy is depoliticised. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Swedish gender-Equality policy was problematised and designed during the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is also to investigate whether the Swedish gender-Equality policy can be defined as a depoliticised policy or not. The research questions of this study are: What´s the problem of gender-Equality represented to be in the specifics policies and what effects are produced of this representation? Can gender policy, as it is designed in the various policy documents, be understood as a depoliticised policy, in the sense that sex is not articulated on the basis of a conflict dimension?To find the answer of theese questions I use the method ?Whats´s the problem represented to be", which is an inductive approach where the researcher sets selected questions to its material.

This master's thesis analyses the concept of Equality between men and women in parts ofRegion Västra Götaland's area of operation. With critical policy analysis I analyse how theproblem of inEquality is represented in the European charter for Equality of women and men inlocal life (CEMR) and the Region Västra Götaland's plan of action for the charter. Throughinterviews with people responsible for gender Equality in different areas I analyse, withdiscourse theory, the ways in which the concept of gender Equality is articulated in differentareas of Region Västra Götaland, and what kind of politics these articulations enables.In the analysis I show that a discursive struggle of how Equality is to be defined canbetter be understood as a discursive negotiation. Equality between men and women isunderstood in several ways at the same time, as antidiscrimination and basic human rights, asbalance between the sexes, and as an approach critical of norms and stereotypes. Within thesenegotiations certain understandings of gender are made possible or impossible.

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) Equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political Equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s Equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political Equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sEquality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s Equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political Equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's Equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

This study is an assignment from the council of Södra Småland county to investigate how Equality between boys and girls progresses at compulsory schools in Kronoberg county. The study was undertaken to find suggestions on how work with Equality could best be stimulated.The key question was to elaborate how a decentralized rule and structural context of an organisation can affect an implementation of political decisions. The methodological approach adopted can be defined as inductive, it was analysed how the respondents from some selected schools in Kronoberg county themselves relate to the concept of Equality between men and women and their experience and understanding of how the concept of Equality between sex is understood in their work at school.School-legislation today demands that active measures are undertaken to promote Equality between boys and girls and in general almost all the respondents of my study describe Equality as an utterly important question. My findings although, at the same time, indicate a gap between rhetoric and practice. The findings of my study suggest that structural relations and a decentralised organisation can constitute a hindrance for implementing Equality between men and women in schools.

This masters thesis investigates how the Swedish county libraries relate to Equality between men and women. The thesis treats the county library both as a place of work and as a part of the national library network. One of the reasons why this study focuses on county libraries is because of their special position in the Swedish library organisation as a link between the national policy and the public libraries. The analysis in the study is based on theories that argue masculinity and femininity as social constructions, and therefore can be affected by a different type of conduct. Data was gathered using qualitative questionnaires combined with some quantitative elements that were used to gain fundamental facts regarding the distribution of employees between the sexes and the existence of Equality policies.

This work presents the way exiled Tibetans I?ve met view gender and Equality. The world is becoming increasingly global and in order to educate future world citizens it is important to make sure that they learn about gender and Equality. Males and Females have different cultures and where manly is the norm female is the exception, but it is important to try and level out these differences while children are still in school. This work originates from studies of literature and several interviews with exiled Tibetans in the Indian city of Dharamsala. They are Tibetans with different roles in the exile-Tibetan society and also of different generations and gender.

The aim and purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the effects of affirmative action as a tool to improve the Equality of the sexes in a male dominated organisation such as the Swedish armed forces. The study takes a qualitative approach, using feminist theory as a point of departure. Primarily socially based differences between men and women are identified and the resistance towards change is taken into account.To understand the impact of affirmative action I have observed the political debate on the subject and contrasted it to the ongoing debate from within the armed forces. Extensive interviews have been held with both men and women from varying ranks and ages to understand what the overall opinion of the method is.My results show that there is a widespread animosity towards affirmative action as a method of improving Equality. Both in the political debate and within the organisation in question.

Thirty years of gender Equality politicsFrom women?s work to gender mainstreamingThis Bachelor thesis examines how the Swedish state has practiced gender Equality as a political project during 1972 until 1999 through the budget bills, using a ?What?s the problem represented to be?? approach aiming to uncover which discourses policies are based on. The method also studies what assumptions underlie policy problems, what is left as unproblematic within the policies and what effects are produced by specific problem representations. A central question for the thesis is what has remained and changed within Swedish gender Equality politics. The history of the Swedish welfare state is presented as a background on how gender Equality policy has affected the everyday life of women and men.