The thesis explores how the category religion is used discursively in Swedish public debates and in what way the discourses can be related to debate-positions. The thesis also exploresquestions of power and how social identities are negotiated: which identities are madepossible ? and encouraged ? by the discourse, and which are being excluded?The specific cases chosen are: (i) the election of Omar Mustafa as a substitute member of the governing board of the Social Democratic party in April 2013, (ii) the appointment of Elisabeth Svantesson as Minister of employment in September 2013, (iii) the debate concerning male circumcision (2011-2013), and, (iv) the debate about Jewish home education(2012-2013).The theoretical and methodological perspectives used in the thesis are discourse analysis and Pierre Bourdieu?s theory of social fields, usually interwoven together. Discourse analysis is mainly used to explore how the category of religion is attached to central binaries in the debates such as faith/politics, private/public, secularism/fundamentalism, etc., and also how chains of equivalences are established. Bourdieu?s theory of social fields is used tocontextualize the discourses in the specific debates and relate them to orthodox and heterodox debate-positions.

The outset of this study is to contribute to the literature concerning China?s increasing economic interest to engage in the African context, its economies and resource abundandce. The overarching research problem is that the approaches held by the respective African state entities may facilitate increasing development gains for the recipient state of this economic interest in principle. To adress this research problem the study is undertaken by conducting a comparative case study where three cases/states, with presumably diverging economic and political status, are likely to effect their overall state approaches differently.Research questions, which are addressed by the creation of an idealtype analytic matrix, concern whether the states of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe take on a more ?permissive? or ?restrictive? approach towards China?s economic interst and whether the approaches can be looked upon on both aggratege and case/area-specific levels.The main findings are that a clear tendency of the ?permissive approach? may be noted on a aggregate level for all cases.

The aim of this paper is to analyse how the term attractiveness is interpreted in Swedish contemporary urban planning. The focus is to analyse how the term is discursively constructed and by this highlight the conceptions that exist around what makes a city attractive. We want to emphasize the importance of a deeper understanding of how attractiveness is used in urban planning and how the term is a part of the development of our cities. Given the use of attractiveness as a part of visionary goals for Malmö´s and other Swedish cities future development, our intention, therefore, is to enhance the understanding of what the use of attractiveness means in respect of the creation and construction of power relations in time and place. The framework of our analysis is based on the discourse theory approach and used as a way of understanding how urban ideals is discursively constructed.

The purpose of this essay was to analyze the management and steering of the social welfare service. The objective was specifically to examine how the leaders approach their position as managers of the social welfare service, and also how they approach their way of steering. The social welfare service acts under political decisions, but the management interpret and transform these decisions into actions. The managers of the social welfare service are therefore important from a democratic perspective. The study was based on five qualitative interviews with two managers of the unity, two departmental managers and the head manager of the social welfare service.

The thesis is an examination of the methods that are appropriate and long-term choice to obtain clamping force and secure screw joints in production. The employer, Scania CV AB, transmission manufactures axle gears to all trucks produced in Södertälje. One of the most common assembly elements is screw joints, where the clamping force is essential to achieve a secure joint. Current methods to secure the joint is due much of the friction effect and is an indirect method to measure the clamping force. The clampforce accuracy becomes more widely with torque angle control.

Det kan vara svårt att göra korrekta bedömningar i konflikter likt Afghanistan idag. Nato har definerat insatsen i Afghanistan som en Counter-insurgency (COIN)-operation. Osäkerhetsfaktorerna är många och där skiftningar i framgångarna varierar kraftigt över tiden. Det gör också att i många fall måste det finnas parallella processer för det säkerhetspolitiska arbetet. Komplexiteten med detta har gjort att det har utvecklats multifunktionella strategier.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the strategic importance of Central Asia as a whole and interests of great powers in the region in particular within the theoretical framework chosen. The work shows Central Asia as an area of the New Great Game, analogue of the original Great Game which was played out between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia in XIX century. The parallels between the original Great Game and the New Great Game are drawn in order to understand the scope and the true intentions of the players of the latter one. Also, the security issues in the contemporary Central Asia are explored and analyzed to provide with the background for future predictions. Furthermore, the indirect purpose of the thesis is to examine whether the international system has changed from that of two centuries ago by comparing the structure of the international systems at the time of two Games.

This essay examines if formative assessment causes any impact on upper secondary school students results in social science. Other questions asked are which group of students benefits most from formative assessment and if any connections can be found between the students result and their cognitive approach to learning, problem solving capability and attitude to school.Two classes from a school in Stockholm were chosen to participate in the study. The theoretical framework is mostly based on former research performed by Black and William (1998, 2003). Multiple methods were used, including an experiment with a parallel-group design with two groups, a survey and a problem solving test. Statistics is used to describe and analyze collected data.Both groups were taught during five lessons in the same field of knowledge with the same kind of teaching, apart from formative assessment.

The Swedish governments goal for the public health is to operate for a society with good conditions to be healthy. Many people today are very conscious about their health, at the same time alcohol is a recurring element in many day-to-day situations. IOGT-NTO is an organization that is working towards making sobriety to be the rule rather than the exception. This work is linked together by the organizations communication, which is a vital part to be able to present a unified view outward. In order to do that, it is particularly important that there are common goals and strategies to work towards.

AbstractThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the professional female members of a board in listed companies. During the 21st century the issue of female quotation into the executive boards was discussed in both the media and politically due to womens underrepresentation in these contexts.The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the professional female members of boards stories of the role models they have, what characteristics have evolved, the views of others, and the self image. In addition, we want to investigate how women perceive themselves in a male-dominated field to identify how the female identity is created at work.Through a qualitative research in the form of personal interviews, we have gathered empirical material that forms the basis of our results. The answers from the interviews have been analyzed with the help of relevant theories and a social constructionist approach throughout the thesis. For our theoretical approach, we primarily chose symbolic interactionism, identity theories, and concepts such as the glass ceiling and gender strategies to analyze the data.The result of the survey shows that there are many elements that play into how women form their identities.

Title: [Frontline bureaucrats discretion in the transition to Establishment Reform]This essay aims to study discretion among frontline bureaucrats as an important factor in the integration of immigrants. In contrast to other studies of discretion this essays has its focus on a new establishment reform that has been recently legislated. The theoretical frame is based on the concept of frontline bureaucracy developed by M. Lipsky (2010). In the analysis of the discretion in this specific area I have been inspired by I.

In the dog breed Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (NSDTR) several dogs suffer from joint pain and possibly pain from the muscles. This diffuse disease is called Immune-mediated Non- Erosive Arthritis in Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. The disease is most likely of autoimmune nature where the etiology still is unknown. The musculoskeletal symptoms of stiffness and shifting lameness are intermittently seen. Some dogs also have dermatological changes and some dogs suffer from pain when opening their mouth. The study included 20 diseased and 20 healthy NSDTR. The purpose was to describe immune-mediated arthritis in NSDTR based on symptoms, results of analysis and effect of treatment. Among the diseased dogs 65% had serum positive for antinuclear antibodies by indirect immunofluorescense (IIF) ANA-test.

In the post Cold-War era, world politics was transforming itself through its emerging complex issues such as terrorism and influential and interdependent actors such as the European Union. In this new era, the European Union was developing its Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar both to present a coherent and unified EU policy and to prove its political potent in order to become an influential actor on world politics. On the other side, security environment was also transforming its content through emerging actors and issues. As one of the most prominent actors of the world politics, the EU was influenced by the transformation of security environment, whose economic ?soft power? proved necessary but insufficient for being a global power in this emerging security environment.

With this research we aim to examine foster parents and social workers perceptions about the relationship between foster parents and the foster child?s biological parents and their perceptions about the support to the foster parents in the contact with the child?s biological parents. The research will provide a deeper understanding of the actors? perceptions and explain possible differences in their opinions. This study has a qualitative approach and contains eight semi-structured interviews with foster parents and social workers in a smaller town in the south of Sweden.

The aim of this study is to investigate the problematisation of the swedish railwaysector during the early 1990?s from a New public management-perspective. The method of approach is a ?What is the problem represented to be?-analysis as advocated by Carol Bacchi. By applying this method to the official investigation aimed at providing suggestions for increasing competition in the railway sector it has been shown that the process of deregulation has strong connections to the ideas and models suggested by the New public management-ideology of organisational theory. .