The aim of this bachelor thesis is to study how Catalans´ identifications, with respect to their city (Barcelona), their region (Catalonia), their country (Spain) and Europe, are related to each other. Furthermore it deals with whether they use cultural or civic notations when they speak of their identification with the different territorial levels.The thesis is based on a qualitative method with interviews with ten Catalans living in Barcelona, aged from 18 to 58. The result showed that Catalans´ identifications with different territorial levels vary in how they relate to each other. This variation can be classified using three models, namely; ?The Russian doll model? which implies that the identities are ranked hierarchically, ?cross-cutting? that is people can identify themselves with the different levels depending on various situations, and also ?The marble cake model? which means that the different identities are so intertwined that they cannot be separated.

Abstract This essay has grown out of an interest for the subject of religion and religious education for upper secondary pupils in Sweden. Our society is characterized by cultural, religious and secular diversity, which also reflects in the classroom where individuals with different religious preferences share space and participate in discussions. One of my aims is that this essay can be a contribution for future studies in the religious field. Previous research has shown that Swedish pupils increasingly lose interest in the subject of religion (on a personal level but also more in general). There is a possibility that this picture might have changed since these studies where done, and that is what I want to investigate in this essay.

This thesis studies private equity firms' implementation of management control systems in their portfolio companies and whether the systems are affected by cross-national differences. A comparative case study examines five different private equity firms to derive if there are any differences between the private equity firms' management control systems in the United States, Europe and China. The empirical observations are categorized according to the framework developed by Merchant (1985) and further developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003). Theory on the effect of multinationality on management control systems, also developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003), are used to explain possible findings. The applied theory includes the cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (1984) and Hofstede and Bond (1988).

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine how the European Union through the Directorate- General (DG) of Education and Culture, are calling forth a constructed sense of European identity amongst the citizens of the Union.It is a discourse analysis, which can be described in twofold. Firstly, it is a mapping of the European discourse; i.e. how the European Union defines the identity it seeks to mobilise. Secondly, it examines whether or not there are similarities in the European discourse of identity and the traditional nation-building discourse of national identity.According to this thesis a European identity is articulated in cultural terms, whereby its members are said to share the same values and a common cultural heritage.To bring the people of Europe closer together and to deepen awareness of their "common" history, the European Union encourages all manner of meetings and exchange schemes between Europeans. Although its goal is to develop a feeling of belonging to a shared culture, the EU is also keen to preserve the specific aspects of Europe's many cultures.

This is a tale about energy and power. It describes the geographer Halford Mackinder?s geopolitical theories and compares them with current views outlined by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Michael T Klare, among others. With a critical approach it also provides a historical account of a Europe that stands in front of an energy struggle so severe that the current world order seems destined to fall. Oil and natural gas, has since the beginning of the 20th century, been used as a geopolitical tool in order to create dependence, control and even sometimes overthrow empires.

This essay discusses the development of swords in the southern region of Sweden, Skåne. It attempts to locate the areas in Europe where the swords were first made and, in doing so, trace the communication routes by which people traveled. The essay deals with aperiod of a few hundred years, from the late eighth century to sometime around 1300. In that sense, it is therefore also a time study tracing the cultural changes and developments in Skåne during the era of Christianization. Does the development of swords follow the overall changes in society, from an isolated pagan district to a Catholic European community, or not? In answering this question, eight swords were selected and put under closer observation.

The European Union has faced lots of criticisms over the last couple of years when it comes to how refugees are treated in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty states in Article 2 that the European Union is founded on respect for human freedom, dignity and equality. Values such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and that the rights of persons belonging to minorities should be respected are also something that the Union should be based on. How is it then that the Roma people, which are Europe's largest minority, are being persecuted all over Europe, that they get deported and have their camps destroyed? Why are refugees from North Africa being sent back before they even have a chance to seek asylum?  In this essay I have examined how the EU are treating refugees and tried to distinguish if there are any differences in how they treat internal and external refugees.

In this essay the morphing of the interstate relations in the post-World War II Western Europe is taken in to consideration in discussing how these relations were stabilized and consolidated through community cooperation to achieve a state of stable peace. It concludes that the early 1900's of Western Europe comes close to being conditioned by Herz's security dilemma and then continues to analyze the development from this state to one of stable peace. In this analysis pivotal features of the ECSC, EEC and the EC are being scrutinized through the use of Boulding's Stable Peace theory and developments of the very same, in separate case studies, in order to account for the Communities? influence on the peace process.In doing this, conclusions are drawn that external pressures can be very effective in creating an incentive to move beyond an initial state of conflicting self-images and that a stabilizing process has got to provide a long term solution in order to sustain a trustful relationship. In order to provide this long term solution the community cooperations suggests that locking in through institutionalization, harmonization, and the creation of a state of irrevocable interdependence are highly effective..

White-Nose Syndrome, WNS, is an emerging fungal disease in the Northern American bat population causing mass mortality in infected hibernacula. Geomyces destructans is a newly discovered psychrophilic fungus causing WNS but the pathogenesis and epidemiology of the disease is not yet fully clarified. Geomyces destructans has been found in Europe but has not been a cause of mass mortality there. This study is the first investigation done to see if G. destructans is present in Sweden.

This thesis explores how Muslim youths? lifeworlds are depicted and narrated in the following two studies on Muslim youth in Sweden and Denmark: Muslima (2007) and Samtidsislam (2010). The aim of this thesis is to answer the following question: In what ways do these works treat the aspects of the lifeworlds that are being highlighted in their studies of Muslim youth in contemporary Sweden and Denmark? An underlying aim is to analyse the results within the framework of theories of socialisation, cultural emancipation and rituals and traditions.With a hermeneutic approach I analyse the texts and operationalize the research question into four themes: the effects of socialization, cultural emancipation, rituals and traditions and secularization. The texts are treated in the analysis with textual analysis and hermeneutic method.

In this thesis I discuss and analyse the relationship between USA and Europe since the end of the Cold War. Many authors claimed that the Soviet threat was the glue that kept the continents together. Now that threat is gone and new challenges have risen. In what way has this relationship been influenced by the new challenges this new era stands for? By doing a case study and by using two quite different theorists, John Mearsheimer an offensive realist and Joseph Nye who is a liberal institutionalist, I?ll try to show how for example September 11, anti-amerikanism and NATO can be explained and understood.

This study focuses on nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Anchored in theories that this region historically has been characterized by a nationalism that is based on the ethnic group rather than on liberal or civic concepts, it is the purpose of this study to explore whether these theories still apply in recent times when the region has been liberalized, for example manifested in the entry to the European Union. The research question has been tested through analysis of the constitutions of a number of Central and Eastern European countries in order to investigate what type of nationalism that the states have codified in their basic political documents. The results show that some of the states give expression to the historical ethnic nationalism in their constitutions, which indicates that the theories still are relevant..

Our thesis is conducted in collaboration with Draper Europe AB in Halmstad.The goal of the project has been to construct a baseline concept for the instaling of aprojector screen. Draper Europe AB, in the curent situation, have several kinds of fabrics and designs on their sceens and the cases they are in. Today if you select a screen you can´t chose the design and function of the sceens case.The arrangement of the components inside the cases was to be constructed so the assembler simply could move them to different cases. To make it even easier for the assembler and to save time, the desire of less component was mentioned. Another problem that needed to be solved was the mounting of the projectionscreen at the customer place.

The object of this essay was, first, to study what advantages parliamentary members in the participating countries argue that their country gains when university students study abroad via ERASMUS, and, second, to study two factors that might affect what advantages that are emphasised by the parliamentary members in the participating countries. To achieve this object, two research questions were posed regarding what advantages of the ERASMUS Programme are mentioned in the parliamentary debate in three countries, United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, and regarding whether the parliamentary debate is different between the countries as concerns what advantages are emphasised. Subsequently another two research questions were studied, regarding whether the countries? different positions in Europe and the existence of euroscepticism in these countries affect what advantages of the ERASMUS Programme are emphasised in the parliamentary debate. The study was carried out using argumentation analysis, in which the arguments for participation in the ERASMUS Programme presented in the parliamentary debates were compiled and grouped together according to whether they refer to economic and professional advantages or to cultural and social advantages.

With a base in Ian Manners? theory about Normative Power Europe ? that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military ? this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union?s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy.