Qigong was initiated by the Chinese government in the 1950´s as a domestic medical tradition to be included within a modern scientific framework. During the first decades it became popular among the élite. During the 70´s and 80´s scientific confirmation of the existence of qi contributed to its immense popularity among the population. Charismatic leaders with a traditional background were leading their groups in parks and the movement was booming. In 1992 Falun Gong was established by Li Hongzhi as qigong taken to a higher level.

Research regarding the maintenance of the Sami language shows that the Swedish society has a big influence on the development of the Sami identity and also the maintenance of the Sami language. The assimilation of the Sami language and the traditional Sami religion was forced mainly by the Swedish education form and the Swedish church. In modern times many different forms of Sami identities have been developed due to the scattering of the Sami people, and also because of the urbanization of the Swedish society. The Sami nature religion is still alive in the Sami group, thanks to the mythological stories told and preserved by their oral  tradition. The purpose of this assignment was to make research of how the Sami identity is being presented in three current Swedish books.

We are in an emerging digital society where we are increasingly dependent on the mastery of IT and digital technologies to better carry out our everyday tasks. They cover everything from keeping in touch with family and friends to pay bills and declare. At the same time there are those who have not learned how to use the new technology and live their lives outside of the digital society. What happens to these people, in a society that is becoming increasingly digitized? Do they take harm by being in digital exclusion? It looks like this are issues that will not become less important as digital technology constantly changes.

Det är en betydande andel svenska resenärer som idag reser till och runt i Thailand som ?backpackers?. Mitt syfte är att ta reda på om den svenska backpackerdominansen i Thailand skulle kunna betecknas som en kolonisering. Material och metod består av intervjuer och deltagande observation med sju informanter, samt fältundersökningar som bedrivits i Thailand. Slutresultatet tolkas med hjälp av den postkoloniala teoribildningen.

The purpose of this essay is mainly to study the reason behind students' visits to restaurants, and also their restaurant habits. The study also intends to find a possible difference in students dining habits among the different social classes; working class and middle class.  This study contains qualitative methods. The qualitative research method is in the shape of deep interviews with ten students from different social classes who?s registered at Södertörns  högskola. The results of this investigation show that the consumer society along with the respondent?s habitus and access to capital, has influenced and created their opinions and habits around eating out. This has also created the similarities and differences between them. Keywords:Habtitus, consumption, restaurant, social class, consumer society.

This essay studies what has been written about religious experience and visions both in the past and now. It deals with both the religious experience and tries to explain how and if there is any place in the modern society for religious visions and experience. The essay has a strong theoretical perspective to psychology of religion as presented by Anton Geels whose writings in the subject have been of one of my main sources.The study shows that people of all times and cultures have had religious visions and the feeling of a divine experience even if this has changed because of tradition, time and place. Religious experience and visions can furthermore occur both in a spontaneous, unprepared way as well as being cultured through ascetic practice in order to facilitate the divine reception. The study also shows that religious experience in no means is reserved for special ?chosen ones? but can occur to each and every one, no matter what class, race or position in life.

The theory of deliberative democracy believes in collective decision-making to achieve an expanded legitimacy and rationality in the political process. It is argued that those good public dialogues best take places in public spheres between citizens, where the common interest is carefully thought about. This thesis was done with the assumption that theatre can strengthen the idea of the public sphere and create a meeting place in the civil society, where a good public dialogue can appear. To create a good public dialogue you need citizens that are corresponding and participatory. Citizens who participate in the political process develop an increased knowledge about the society and the more knowledge about the society the larger reason to participate.

What is an economic crime? Who is an economic criminal? How do we speak of the phenomenon and what does they way we speak mean? The immediate result of the study is that there is a stereotype image of the economic criminal that is produced within peoples speech. This image contains characteristics that bring the subject, the economic criminal, far away from the traditional crime subject, and brings it closer to a non-criminal subject. This motion render possible that economic criminals can talk of themselves as ?not bad people?, ?normal? and ?like everyone else?.

People?s perceptions about health are very complex. In today?s society there is a moral value in being healthy, and a healthy person is seen as a person with strong willpower and self-discipline. But people also tend to go against the norm in the society to experience autonomy and therefore choses to live unhealthy.

My intention with this paper is to try to understand the meaning of the double sex symbols which can be identified on a number of Neolithic so called battle axes from the region round the lake Mälaren in Sweden. My conclusions are drawn after having studied a number of archaeological thesises. I have realized that the society was egalitarian from what is said about the funeral habits since women and men were buried with the same care. Ceramics from the Skogsmossen site show a very long continuity over 15-20 generations. These facts indicate a peaceful society without traumatic breaks where knowledge would have been lost.

Social inequality, economic imbalances and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the greatest risks threatening society today. Society has become more aware of these risks and has started to demand firms to take more responsibility. During the last 30 years firms and mainly large firms has chosen to work with something called CSR. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility which is the work firms engage with to take responsibility for environment and society as a whole. Scientists and business people has taken two sides towards CSR, one side argues that CSR cost more than it tastes and the other side argues that firms which engage with CSR will gain economic benefits.

This essay captures the process toward a democratic transition in South Africa and tempts on analyzing the efforts made by civil society before the negotiation with the government in the beginning of the 90´s. The method used is a case study.By applying the theory of Elisabeth Jean Wood about the importance of continued mobilization, I try to answer the question: to what extend did civil society influence the democratization process. The focus of the study lies on the years of intensified popular mobilization, from the start of the 80´s until the beginning of the 90´s.The results following this study shows that COSATU, Congress of South African Trade Unions) and ANC(African National Congress) played both a crucial role for the democratization process in South Africa. UDF, however played a role in the process, but not in the same significant way that COSATU and ANC..

One of sociology´s to assess the effects of political decision. According to sociologist Anders Persson the society is changing, and in that change social fear appear. In the reaction of social fear some people are being excluded. In that more narrow frame for normality laws are created that makes some parents and their children ?the other?.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to find out in which ways a group of first generation immigrants use Swedish papers and magazines in a public library and which information needs this group has about Swedish society. One important aspect in this essay is integration of immigrants in the Swedish society as a possible effect of newspaper reading. The method used in this study is qualitative. Data is generated through semi-structured interviews.

Modern forestry management may disadvantage some mykorrhiza forming fungi because; they are dependent on late successions and cannot survive the constantly recurring breaks in the continuity of their host tree. For this study the specie goliatmusseron (Tricholoma matsutake) was chosen to investigate this possibility. In Sweden T. matsutake is found in greatest amounts north of Örnsköldsvik on glacifluvial sandy soils in association with pine trees and reindeer lichens. Seventy two forest stands where the specie previously had been found were studied; 62 in the northern part of Sweden and ten in the southern. Several indicators were studied to find out if these stands have had a continuity of living trees.