In 1974 the three municipalities of Åsele, Dorotea and Fredrika were amalgamated despite of hunger strikes, mass protests and a serious threat of violence. But after six years the marriage shattered as Dorotea left the other two after years of continued struggle. In 2005 the idea of an amalgamation of Åsele, Dorotea and Vilhelmina municipalities was brought to life by an older and ever declining population.By creating a democratic ideal type consisting of the three variables ? legitimacy, participation and identity ? this study assesses what impact an amalgamation of the three municipalities might have on local democracy.Combining a qualitative and a quantitative approach this study concludes that amalgamating the municipalities today could create a democratic unit lacking legitimacy, having a weak identity and impeding participation. But the study also brings forth that the impact of an amalgamation upon the variables of the ideal type as defined is not written in stone.

This thesis highlights the importance of social relationships for high school adolescents? identity in a multicultural school in Stockholm?s suburb. The second purpose of this thesis is to shed light on, if the school sees the students? cultural background as an asset and how teachers can take advantage and implement it to the way they teach .The theories in the study were developed by Urie Bronnfenbrenner; The ecological theory, Pierre Bourdeau; The three forms of capital and George H. Mead; The significant other, The generalized other and "I" and "Me".

The purpose of this thesis is to explain one aspect of how and why the development in the third world is lagging behind. The precondition is that development through an agricultural revolution is necessary and that all countries benefit from trading. But these two conditions are not met today. By using the urban-bias and the world system theory I have analysed how the situation appears to be according to the precondition. It appears that both the urban-bias and the world system theory are essential to understand how and why the situation in third world still has not reached the same development phase as most other countries.

What impact has volunteering on the individual and their career development? For the young man about to enter the world of work, for the non-profit organization that needs to recruit new volunteers or employers who are facing hiring new staff. This study may provide a new approach in their search for work, volunteers or employees. The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences of volunteering for individuals' personal learning and development, and the importance of volunteering for their career development. The study has a qualitative approach.

In this thesis I have criticized traditional nationalism theories formulated by Eric Hobsbawm, Ernest Gellner, Benedict Anderson and Anthony D. Smith. The critique has been based on my belief that nationalism theories do not explain nations whose foundation is built on forward-looking, dynamic aspects such as economy, human and civil rights, and democracy. Traditional nationalism theories have been focused on historicizing perspectives whereas I want to draw attention to non-historicizing perspectives within the field of research. So far nationalism theories has had a shared past or a shared ethnicity as its focal point.

Rural development in Southeast Sweden- three different views and their consequences for the agrarian landscapeThis paper deals with the future for the rural areas of the southeast province of Östergötland, Sweden. The aim is to unveil, analyse and compare different views on rural development and their consequences for the agrarian landscape. Three views are considered, namely that of the different levels of Governments and their departments, that of the farmers and landowners and, finaly, that of the inhabitants of the rural areas.Differences in the views upon rural development is reflected in differences in the ways of thinking of landscapes. Is the open, and actively cultivated, landscape the ideal for all? Who is to decide what needs or ought to be done to achieve certain desired values and/or goals ? and who pays for it? The one thing that is, and should be, clear from the beginning is that all development, whether positive or negative in an area, bears consequences for the landscape.

The focus of this essay is Swedish bilateral development aid. With the help of organization theory I analyse the development aid strategies and policies of the 1990s, in order to examine how and why they were introduced. I investigate three different types of aid organization, namely structural adjustment programmes, political conditionality tied to aid co-operation, and equality policy as part of development co-operation. I analyze the introduction and subsequent use of these three co-operation forms to see whether they were applied and adopted into Swedish development aid because more efficient measures were required or because they were the most recent and modern ways of dealing with development co-operation.Organization theory presents these two ways of analyzing organization. They are occasionally competing and sometimes complementing each other in explaining organization.

If one looks at physical planning in Sweden today one can see that while talking about densification of existing development, reduced emissions and careful use of important land, urban sprawl is a fact with development of sheer residential districts in the urban edges and shopping malls in each and every municipality. As sustainable development is an essential goal for physical planning to strive towards, it is worth questioning if the direction of today?s planning will lead to the goal. A sustainable development can be seen as an obvious to goal aim at. In reality the aim means a hard and complex work.

Internet and social media have opened up new possibilities for companies and organisations tocommunicate their brand. It only takes a few seconds to communicate the message of a website to theuser. This indicates the importance of having the intended message of the website communicated clearlyin order to give the user a correct impression of the company or the organisation. When it comes to theconcept design of a website, it?s important that all different parts is presented uniformly.

AbstractThis paper discusses how system development methods today support communication between system developers and their customers and end users. Today there are many system development methodologies with different aims and emphases. It is difficult, however, to find among these methods those who promote good and effective communication with customers because so many of these are very technically rooted and not as much directed towards the soft aspects of systems development - i.e. Human aspects. Our own experiences tells that a simple interview can be initialized without us having an idea what to ask the customer about or how to structure it up - nonetheless it?s done, but the outcome is just chance.

Organisations tend to focus more and more on product and process development to increase their competitiveness. Several major organisations, among them ABB, have developed models aimed to more effectively control and manage product development processes. ABB is using its standardised model ABB Gate Model for this. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the introduction of ABB Gate Model has affected the outcome of decisions and also the decision-making in the product development process. The study is limited to elucidate the version of ABB Gate Model handling product development projects.

This paper aimed to investigate how Swedish politicians use social media Twitter and Instagram and if there was evidence to discern of personal branding and identity creation. Main method used was the observation of four politicians? shared content on Twitter and Instagram. In order to strengthen the results of the study, interviews were also made on the same politicians, of which two responded. The study showed, among other results that Twitter is used more for political aspects and Instagram to show personality and lifestyle.

The focus of this study is to identify important factors affect, how teachers' professional identity and role are shaped and changed during and after teacher training. Study's focus is to identify important factors bearing on how teachers' professional identity and role are shaped and changed during and after a teacher training. Respondents included in study are all teachers in vocational subject in upper secondary school. They also have experience from at practical profession before they began to work as teachers and started the teacher training. Method used in this study is the life stories of narrative nature.

Objective: The aim of this work is to find out how a number of educators work when giving children support and opportunities for language development.Questions:What have preschool for policy to monitor/assess the children?s language development?What experiences do teachers have of children who need support in language development?How do educator?s regard support from specialised educator?s? Do these efforts support the children to enhance language development?Methods: Qualitative methodology, Interviews with six teachers and two specialised educators from three kindergartens in the municipality.Summary of conclusions: The municipality in which the survey was conducted has a document that provides guide lines on how to work with children?s language development in school and preschool. Pedagogical documentation is a tool that teachers use in nursery school which educators and parents can follow, which shows children?s learning processes and learn strategies. Research shows that through play, music, creative activities, photos, etc.

This is a study of the trade union journal for female blue collar women in Sweden, Arbetets Kvinnor, between 1927 and 1931. The purpose is to examine how a female trade union activist's constructs collective identity by those notions of social class, sex, and moral values that are articulated in the journal. The main theoretical basis is Alberto Melucci's analysis where he argues that a collective identity in social movements is made in an interaction between individuals, where the action possibilities and limits are defined. Another purpose is how the female blue collar worker's resistance and/or adaption to the male hegemonic trade union and the bourgeoisie hegemonic society are presented. The essay shows how the collective identity is made of both historical and contemporary images of the working class women as workers and trade union activists.