The purpose of this essay was to compare the Swedish and the Japanese pension system and see if there were any big differences or similarities. I was looking for answers to such questions as if the systems were modelled with the problematic demographic situation in mind and also how these two countries had tried to manage the problems. Path dependency was also a central conception when I studied the reforms of the two pension systems. I mainly used literature and Internet sources in my study. There were many books on the Swedish pension system and the debates that had been going on since the 80's.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether or not capitalism, viewed here as the system that is currently the dominant economic system in the Western world, can be seen as a modern myth or not. An author, Brian Tracy, of several popular self-help books is the target of this investigation and the language he uses in his books have been scrutinized in order to see whether or not he uses a religiously influenced, and more importantly, myth-creating language. In order to do so, Bruce Lincolns theories of myth have been used in correlation with Stefan Arvidssons definition ov myths. Also of interest is whether or not Tracy in his books uses any of the instruments of power defined by Michel Foucault to support his claims.The investigation shows that capitalism indeed can be seen as a modern myth. This claim is supported by the facts that Tracy not only uses a language heavily influenced by Christian texts and belief but furthermore because he descirbes himself and the people he claims to have helped in a way that strongly resembles the narratives of myths.

In this essay the aim is to look at difficulties in preservation of buildings in general, andespecially the ones of the modernist era. To navigate in this huge field the study is narroweddown to take place in Finspång, a small Swedish town. In Finspång there was a swimmingpool facility built in 1967. In 2003 the facility was closed down due to its unusable conditionsand then after seven years with discussions of different plans about what to do with thefacility it was demolished in 2010. This case is the base in the essay, and why it was notpreserved.The purpose of this essay is to look at what the people in Finspång think about preservation ofbuildings with the demolished swimming hall facility as base, and what impact materiality hason questions regarding preservation, cultural heritage, memory and history.

The purpose of this essay was to try to understand the relationship between the horse and man during the last part of the Iron Age and trough out the Medieval Age. To be able to get a result I investigated the horse's tending, work within agriculture, riding, warfare, breeding, to stable horses, oxen, sports and hunting, eating of the horse and age at slaughter and more. The results showed that the horse's position changed from the later part of the Iron Age throughout the Medieval Ages and in different ways for, respectively, the elite as for the peasant culture..

Today the talk about global warming and climate change are on top of the public agenda. There for schools and schoolbooks also debate the issue of global warming. A newcomer on the school stage is the sponsored school materials that studies show to be a growing phenomenon. In a debate like that of global warming which is filled with uncertainties and so much political and economic interest, I find it interesting to study how these schoolbooks talk about the issue.In my study I have tried to analyze and compare how school materials for primary school discuss the phenomenon of global warming. I have compared two different types of schoolbooks.

The main purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine how Braille users needs are satisfied by The Library of Talking Books and Braille TPB. The other issues are: How do some of the library workers at TPB experience that the needs of Braille users are satisfied? Is it possible to make the service better in the future for Braille users and in that case, how? The study is based upon interviews with five persons, who have defective vision and read Braille. I have also interviewed two employees at TPB who have defective vision. To build up a complete background presentation of the subject I have chosen a book about hermeneutic interpretation to understand how historic facts influence the function of the subject today and in the future.

The contemporary angel-symbol is deeply rooted in our cultural history, with connotations and implications leading to that inner transitional space where all creative activity takes place. This essay investigates the history of the depiction of angels, visions of angels both ancient and modern, and includes psychological aspects of symbols as such. A closer look at surrounding symbols of angels will hopefully result in a greater understanding of the role of the angel-symbol within the context of visual culture, seen in the light of our own symbolic universe..

In recent years coaching has become an increasingly popular phenomenon outside of the sports world. More and more people have found coaching to be a helpful tool for achieving greater performance and fulfillment in their lives. This thesis is a comparative literature study of three books about coaching where the authors use different theoretical bases to explain and teach coaching. The aim of the thesis is to explain how coaching as a phenomenon is described and compare these descriptions as well as to look at the ideals and norms that are produced and reproduced in the use of coaching. The study compares the three books from six different themes and shows that, in the use of coaching, the ideal of a rational and action oriented individual is constructed and the aim for this individual is some form of success.

AbstractThis research is about how some swedish teachers in high school choose literature in schools. The purpose is to underline the reasons for how some teachers think about selection, canon, classic and contemporary literature. Two survey methods were used to find the answers, wich consisted of interviews and questionnaires. The letter methods was used to obtain informations about student´s views on literature.Previous research shows that there are different opinions in what kind of literature the pupils should read in school. The results of literature, questionnaires and interviews also showed that the underlying reasons for the choice of literature, varied among those interviewed further forward ofthe students also prefer to read books during lessons, and that they prefer reading books by popular contemporary writers..

I uppsatsen analyseras hur Evert Taube skildrar Det Utomeuropeiska i sina sångtexter. Edward Saids Orientalism används som grundteori..

The purpose of this study is to examine, from a gender perspective, Utbildningsradions TV-program Hej Litteraturen! in the light of feminist literature studies conducted during the last twenty years. I want to examine if the feminist literature studies have had any impact on contemporary teaching material regarding the question of how much space in time is given to men versus women and which female authors are included in the literary canon. Hej Litteraturen! is a TV program produced in 2010 intended for high school teaching of literature history.   By conducting a content analysis in which I divide the study in a quantitative and a qualitative component, I have investigated how much space and time is given to female writers and how they are presented. My analysis draws on use Yvonne Hirdman?s theory of the gender system.   The result shows that the female authors get 37 percent of the total reference space and 42 percent of the time-space. The program has sought to describe male and female authors equally and gives them weight and relevance to the sections in a similar manner.    In conclusion, Hej Litteraturen! is a tutorial which embraces parts of the criticisms that have existed in historical literature review papers in general and literary history textbooks in particular. Hej Litteraturen! has worked on gender aspects of the program and by picking up contemporary authors as reference points for literary history in the present, the program contributes not only not only in renewing the literary canon, but also in balancing out the dominance of male writers in the history of literature..

Rapid development in the realms of electronic publishing has had a profound impact on information services in general and the academic library in particular. Since mid 1990´s an increasingly number of scholarly journals and other information resources have been made available electronically. Electronic books are the newest electronic service in the hybrid library and can be seen as the third wave in the digital library. Although electronic books have for a long time existed as electronic texts such as digitalized classics or other texts in the public domain, it is not until recently that e-books have been distributed and packaged in a commercial form. As more e-book models are being developed, libraries are being forced to take e-books into consideration when planning their information services.The aim of this master thesis is to describe the first stage of implementation of the new electronic media, the electronic book or e-book, in Swedish academic libraries.

The aim of this paper is to elucidate and analyze history teacher's didactic choices in the conflict between unequal educational materials and the requirements of equality in the curriculum of Swedish secondary school. The empirical data consists of interviews with five secondary school history teachers, observations of their lessons as well as analysis of their tests. The starting point was to investigate teachers' didactic work in the role as a bridge between the non-equal historiography presented in textbooks in history and the curriculum?s demands for equality. Three different approaches have been observed in the teachers' didactic work when considering gender perspective into their teaching: that women become extensions in a male-dominated historiography; that another part of the story is presented when a gender perspective is considered; and that the gender perspective is included in history teaching and becomes an integral part of all the content of the subject.Several of the teachers acknowledged that gender equality is less prioritized than the courses core content and related assessment criteria.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how homosexuality is portrayed in young- adult novels. I use books published in Sweden from 1977- 2003. Three of the books have female main characters and the other three have male main characters. My purpose is therefore to compare the different results between the sexes.I will examine and discuss the homosexuality in the novels with focus on the homosexual identity of the young characters and how it is formed. I relate the results to a queer discussion about identity.

This thesis concerns the term contemporary history and its role in landscape architecture. Today?s contemporary history is defined as the planning and architecture connected to the 60s and 70s, in Sweden carried out as a large scale planning project called ?Miljonprogrammet?, which set out to build one million new residences in ten years. Initially, the term contemporary history and its complex of problem are examined. To deepen the picture of today?s situation, a historical review has been made, starting in early 1900s ending in 2000s concerning how different planning and architectural influences has varied through the years.