Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

The purpose of this study is to find, understand and discuss the experiences of former employees at SAAB, and present how this can be understood according to my core theoretical concepts, which are participation and identity. The questions asked in the study are based on how the labor is described, characterized and what comes forth as valuable, which is compared to absence of labor work.First, labor is described in an historical and social context, and at the same time related to the core theoretical concept. Second, the methodology chapter is presented, which mainly consists of 11 observations and 10 interviews. Third, the chapter regarding former theory leads to an analysis model, which is used on the empirical material of the study.The result shows that labor work at SAAB primarily is described as important for socializing, security and the possibility to be independent. The tasks at SAAB are described as backbreaking and monotonous, while the lack of labor work influences the physical and mental wellbeing.

This study concerns digital stories told by five young Romani students and one teacher from Roma Culture Class in Stockholm, Sweden. The theoretical framework draws from theories concerning identity, culture,Romanipe, the Romani value system and social semiotics. The material for the study is the digital stories that were analyzed qualitatively. The results show that the young Roma in the study demonstrate pride in their Romani background and culture, but also signs of changes and development in their culture. Some of the participants do not show external signs of Romani traditions, for example in the ways of dressing.

This master?s thesis has the intent of showing that the tattoo can be regarded as an individuals document according to prevailing notions in archival science. Suzanne Briets definition of the concept of document is used in this thesis as a widening definition, a document does not have to presented in a defined form, it is only required to represent an object or intellectual phenomenon and to be informative.Tattoos are presented in this thesis as informative with regard to the status and position of russian/soviet convicts and as such presenting an individuals identity within a specific context. As documents they also provide the individual with the essential evidence of his or her endeavours in a criminal environment. Also, they have the ability to function as an individuals memories of relationships, hardships and comradeships.

Muslims and islam are unquestionably a part of European social life. In recent times, however, different events, such as the enlargement of the EU and the fact that muslims to a higher extent demand their rights, have brought a number of questions to the fore concerning muslims and islam in Europe. Moreover, we can see an increasing level of islamophobia in contemporary Europe, but also that the EU has launched several programs to increase both the diversity and the unity throughout the Union and to combat islamophobia. However, most of these programs focus on islam as religion and muslims in general, and such a narrow viewpoint runs the risk of missing important issues.In this new context it would be interesting to widen the scope and ask what place not only the muslim community and islam, but also sharia (an important element in islam), may have in future Europe ? especially when it comes to muslim identity?My main objects are to see how the concept of sharia is constructed in the debates in the European Parliament, how that discourse relates to a social practice ? the increasing islamophobic ideas in Europe ? and what effect this may have on muslim identity in a European context.The results shows that the Parliament constructs sharia as, for example, something archaic, threatening, inhuman and misogynistic.

This essay aims to investigate young people's vision of clothes as a means of communication. Focus lies on what message the clothing we have on sends out and how they are interpreted by our surroundings. Do other people interpret us the way we intend to through our clothes? The theoretical frame of reference that applies is Thomas Ziehe?s theories about Clothing and Identity, Anthony Giddens? Reflexive Identity Processes and the Uses and Gratification?s theory. The researches were carried out with a comprehensive questionnaire survey among high school students, at Lars Kaggskolan in Kalmar, with an associated image, and two personal interviews.

In the process of globalization, identity has become one of the central factors.An understanding of the difference that makes up our society has made thequestion of weather is it possible to envision a society where difference is thecommon ground, one that has been up for contest. To answer this we need to seeif this kind of democracy is possible at all. For this I?m turning to the socialmovments who while they are working close to the reality also can give us somereal answers. Therefore I have looked at how social movements adress identity,difference and conflict and concluded that three things are crucial in organizing ongrounds of difference.

This study analyses two non-western novels used in the subject of Swedish in upper secondary school: Fatou Diomes The Belly of the Atlantic and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Half a Yellow Sun. Looking at how the books female main character relate to Stuart Halls theory of cultural identity, I come to the conclusion that they somewhat differently relate to an essential ?authentic? self. Salie talks explicit about a generic African soul that she possesses. Olanna never talks about anything ?authentic?, but her narrative and contrary subject positions can be read as a way of demasking her European ?white? self in favour of a truer Igbo self.

The purpose of this study is to gain insight of four preschool teacher?s perspectives and reasoning in two different local if they working to counteract exclusion. The questions this study assumes are: How does the teachers in preschool reason about how they working against exclusion of children with diagnosis in the free game, if there are? How does the teachers reasoning about their methods and personal strategies they uses to include children with diagnosis in the free game, if they are excluded? How does the teachers reasoning about the diagnosis effect of these children?s social interaction with other children if the diagnosis became their identity? The method in this study to collect material about the teacher´s perspective on the subject is semi-structured interviews. The collected material has been analyzed and interpreted from a socio-cultural perspective.

The purpose with this thesis was to describe the importance of the creative industries for a town. We thought that towns could design a strategy to attract creative industries and creative people to establish their business in the town. During the study some important topics, such as a town brand, a town image and a town identity has been identified as factors that can influence and attract people and creative industries. Towns can use these topics in their marketing of the town. The method that we used was a case study: we conducted interviews to collect information about the chosen case study, the town of Skellefteå.

The focus of our dissertation is masculinity which is often a topic of debate in today?s society concerning areas such as violence, sport and paternal leave. Male studies are a relatively new field which means there is a lot remaining to be explored. We have chosen to explore how social class reflects on male identity. The reason we have chosen social class as a variable is due to a focus in the general debate of identity amongst the social sciences towards identities formed through consumption in the world of global mass-media.

This is a qualitative study which purpose is to examine the experiences of the recovery process after a treatment for eating disorders.                                                         The questions we have decided to examine are; how did the women adapt to a healthier life after treatment, what are the women's perceived experiences of the aspects related to identity and identity work, and what external social influence was seen as important for their adjustment process to a healthier life?Methods: We have used computer-supported and semi-structured interviews. There were a total of nine women who took part in the study.                                                                                                                    Results: Majority of these women have been recovered from their eating disorders, but some still have major or minor problems. They found it rather difficult to adjust their life's without an eating disorder.Conclusions: Increased self-awarness led to greater control over the eating disorder. The women could begin to confer the new features that they identified with.

This study aims to investigate, describe and discuss the views of a group of adolescents on their identity and the process of second language acquisition. They all came to Sweden and started studying in Swedish schools in the last three years without any knowledge of the Swedish language.The study has been conducted with respect to the adolescents own perspectives and what they consider important.The methods used are group discussions/ interviews, observations in class and informal discussions with teachers and adolescents.Their voices are described and discussed in this paper. One must take into consideration that there is no objective of being neutral or to generalize the results to any other group or category. On the contrary the study has involved critical self- scrutiny and active reflexivity according to ethnographic tradition.Symbolic interaction has provided a theoretical framework for the study. Looking into how social identities may be constructed or communicated from the adolescents voices and looking in to their use of language the study reveals that several expectations and situations need? to be met by different identities.

The purpose of this paper has been to study and to compare three novels, written by Katarina von Bredow, Syskonkärlek (1991), Som om ingenting (1999) and Som jag vill vara (2007), with focus on the protagonists. The aim was also to map how the novels relate to the contemporary youth novel, the girl book, Chick lit and Chick lit junior. The protagonists were compared on the basis of themes, sow as relationships within the family, boyfriend and friends, as well as identity. The protagonists have in common that the relation with their family members is important. The three protagonists consider that friendship is important.

Background: The district nurse's competence description is comprehensive and sets high standards for a wide range of skills. The population's need for health care will rise according to life expectancy, lifestyle diseases and multi-morbidity increases. To graduate as a district nurse, 75 higher education credits are needed and after graduation, the district nurse must have developed both personal qualities and gained skills that makes it possible to work in primary care, child / school health care and home care. Aim: The aim of this study is to highlight the newly qualified district nurse experiences in developing professional identity and describe on how this development affects nursing.Method: In the pilot study a qualitative method with an inductive approach was used, and data collection was made by four semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.