The aim with this essay has been to see how students use drinking-songs and what function they have. I have also wanted to see how the traditions are carried on between the students. In order to do this, I have been observing three parties organised by three different student associations at Växjö University: Västkustens nation, Föreningarnas Festeri and Isterbandet. I have interviewed five people that have been attending the dinners. I have used Alan Merriam?s theory of use/function and made interpretations of his theory.

The newspaper industry changes with the society. New trends and developments affect how layout and design are perceived. Therefore it is important for the survival of a news­paper to catch up with trends and retain contemporaneity. This demands that a daily paper frequently updates its appearance and sometimes even redesign the whole newspaper. Folkbladet, a newspaper in Norrköping, is currently in need of a new layout. The employees often deviate from the graphic guidelines that exist at the company today, due to that it doesn?t feel contemporary, but also because they don?t appreciate the appearance as it is today. This thesis is based on a study of the layout of Folkbladet and analyse: which tools can be used to create a distinct identity regarding layout, which tools you can use to create a clear structure and readability in a newspaper, and how Folkbladet can make use of these tools. To find out about the company?s situation today and their identity, interviews have been made with employees.

In recent years, the Internet has exploded with different kinds of social media, where a significant function is to share your life in text and images. This changes how we form our identity, our religious identity included. The aim of this paper was to study how Instagram forms a space for the creation and development of religious and spiritual beliefs. For this purpose, Instagram updates from five women with yoga oriented Instagram accounts have been analyzed in relation to two theories: Paul Heelas? och Linda Woodhead?s theory of a spiritual revolution and Heidi Campbell?s theory of networked religion.The aim of the study was to explore how these women presented themselves in their Instagram flow and what part religion and spirituality had in their presentations.

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.

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 purpose with this study is to examine and analyze the eldercare staffs conceptions and perceptions about the construction of ethnicity and aging, in Swedish eldercare, to illustrate the process of othering. The authors interviewed eight people who work in the eldercare by using a vignette. We have analyzed our result from the interviews through several theories and earlier research pertinent to the subject. The study has shown that eldercare staff through their conceptions and perceptions unconscious been conducive to make and recompose constructions of ethnicity and elder. The constructions of ethnicity and elder can be conductive to processes of othering..

ABSTRACTEssay in Political Science, Advanced Continuation Course, 61-80 credits, by Jonas Nilsson?The democratic islamist? - a study of three islamist movements and their potential role in ademocratization process?Supervisor: Jonas LindeThe purpose of this work has been to explain to what extent islamist movements can be said to bebearers of democratic values and if they have a role to play in future democratization processes. Thepurpose of this work is also to examine the democratic views of the different islamist movements andto compare them with each other in an effort to find a specific islamist definition of democracy.The essay is a qualitative analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Front Islamique du Salut inAlgeria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The analytical framework is based on the political institutionsincluded in Robert A. Dahl polyarchial democracy.

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.