Symbols in the hands of politicians can be a powerful tool of manipulation. The usage of symbols in speeches or texts can change a person?s will, without him or her ever knowing it.We have compared the usage of symbols in the articles surrounding the ratification of the constitution in 18th century America with that of today?s European Union, to see if any similarities between these two cases exists, and what implications this could have for the future of the EU. We have divided the symbols in both cases into different categories so as to enable us to compare the cases to each other. With the help of Masters Theory and the writings of Benedict Anderson and Murray Edelman we have concluded that there indeed exist some similarities between 18th century America and the EU.

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.

The purpose of my study is using a narrative approach from a student perspective through the feelings that show the cultural encounters of immigrant students with the Swedish school. I want through my study have an understanding of how students are affected in their interaction with the Swedish culture. I also want to analyze and understand their feelings and experiences. Are emotions negative or positive? My theoretical framework includes the following concepts: Emotions, treatment, ethnicity, identity and code-switching.An important element of my study is to understand students' emotional experiences.

This thesis analyses how the European Unions institutions deal with the issue of illegal and harmful content on the Internet in key documents presented during the period 19961999. Particular attention is attached to content where the legal status is determined in relation to the user and to content that is legal, but characterized as harmful and entailing a need for special protective measures. The theoretical and methodological approach draws on discourse theory as formulated by Laclau and Mouffe. The thesis studies how the problem is represented in key documents from the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, with particular regard to the discourse on harmfulness, the child and Europe. The findings are that the overall discourse has shifted focus over time, from an emphasis on the protection of minors toward a more market-oriented discourse stressing the importance of protecting the competitiveness of the European economy.

The main aim of this study is to examine the development policies of Sweden and the European Union from a postcolonial perspective. Sweden and the European Union are increasingly coming to be viewed as normative powers rather than military powers. So how does the colonial past of the western societies affect the policies of today? Are there any signs of the power structures of the past, and if so, how are these power structures manifested in the development policies of today? Since both Sweden and the European Union have come to be viewed as normative powers they are compared with each other to highlight their similarities and differences. The results of the study shows that both Sweden and the European Union can be seen as carriers of western values and interests.

Since Sweden became a member of the European Union (EU) several constitutional reforms has been taking place. During this time, Sweden has also changed its view on democracy,from a collective to an individual perspective of democracy in the politics. A reasonable hypothesis and the purpose of this essay is to investigate if the Swedish government has beendeveloped towards an Europeanization.The Swedish state audit changed in a pioneering way after the EU- entry, with the formation of Riksrevisionen. Another constitutional change is that the Swedish EU- membership is being instituted in the Swedish constitution. The role of Swedish courts has also changed since the EU- entry.

This thesis focuses on the perception of immigration and refugees in the commonEuropean refugee and immigration policy. It identifies different discourses andstudies their development and interrelated power structures.Using the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, documents from theEuropean Council, the Commission, the Justice and Home Affairs Council andParliament debates are analysed. The study is defined in the time span of 1999-2006, i.e. from the European Council's first agreement on developing a commonEuropean asylum system, following the period up till today.Four discourses are distinguished, focusing respectively on rights, security,European Union's needs, and cultural identity. I use Sandra Lavenex theory ofrealism and idealism to analyse one of the main points in the thesis: There is afundamental schism between the one rights-based discourse, focusing on universalhuman rights, and the three sharing a particularistic focus on immigration as asecurity concern.

The European Union is struggling to maintain democracy and tries to increase the participation among the citizens in Europe. The European Citizens? Initiative, ECI, is a platform established by the European Commission to allow citizens to propose new legislation. ?Water and sanitation are a human right! Water is a public good, not a commodity!? is the first ECI that has met the requirements.

The integration policy in Sweden shall encourage individuals to support themselves and take part in society. It shall alsocontribute to equal rights and opportunities for women as well as for men. In Borlänge this has resulted in a program ofintroduction for new arrivals from other countries. However, at the unit responsible for economic support, they havediscovered that women with immigrant background more often than men seem to have trouble starting or became to anending of the program, which then especially leads women to a long-term dependence for economic support. The purpose of this study has therefore been to investigate what factors affect immigrant women?s participation in theintroduction, and what significance this participation has for their possibilities to become economically self-supporting,and integrated into Swedish society.

The main aim of this study is to illuminate problems related to communication with immigrant patients with insufficient or no knowledge of the dominant language.

In this paper I attempt to analyze the ways the European Union defines its external borders in cross-border co-operation with its neighbours. The analysis is based on case study examining the founding components of a updated version of the Northern Dimension policy of the European Union.The analytical framework of the study is composed of three different perceptions on the cross-border co-operation; regionalisation, integration and flexible integration. I conclude that the model of cross-border co-operation laid by the Northern Dimension policy would have an impact on the EU's external border with Russia, making it more flexible and vague.As far as the geographical terms of the co-operation are concerned, they seem to shift from regional co-operation to greater emphasis the role of networks as basis for co-operation instead of traditional regions..

This study has as an objective to compare and evaluate the living conditions of two immigrant children residing in different places in Sweden. Given that immigrants often are looked upon as a social and physical vulnerable group in relation to disadvantageous socioeconomic conditions the children's lives were analyzed in relation to four public health objects. By using Runkeeper, GIS, Equipop data, time geographic material, telephone conversations and a web survey the children lives are analyzed within their activity spaces. The children formed their lives in different socioeconomic environments and adapted their lives after their conditions. The perspective on individual level can be put in contrast with studies based on society level.

Warmer climate is a driving factor to species expansion northwards. Expansion to new areas can result in escape from natural enemies, resulting in reduced levels of mortality and thereby potentially increasing the rate of expansion. The most important parasitoid species attacking butterfly larvae belong to the families Tachinidae, Ichneumonidae and Braconidae. The aim of this thesis was to investigate parasitism and difference between populations in established area and newly colonized area for the European map butterfly, Araschnia levana, in order to examine if the butterfly has escaped from some natural enemies. In 1982 the first European map butterfly was observed in Sweden and has now established up to middle Småland.

The theme of this bachelor thesis in sociology has been developed through the perspective of ?grounded theory?, where the writers starting point touched the subject of integration in the organization Samhall in Sweden, an organization that hires disabled individuals that do not have enough working abilities to be hired any place else. From there, the methodology moved into a qualitative research through interviews with first generation immigrants hired at Samhall, where the result presented clear patterns of integration problems such as identification with an organization that does not have a normal way of working, the feelings of security which led to an unwillingness to leave the organization (which actually is the main goal of Samhall) and the stigmatized presumptions of the organization as such that makes it even harder to get a regular job on the open work market. These patterns were then put together with theories of stigma, cultural sociology and organizational identification, which three were the theoretical framework of this thesis. This study has contributed with an enlightenment of how it is to be an immigrant in a state governed organization and the consequences that follow when integrating an immigrant in a work disabled working environment. .

This essay is about the integration work in Helsingborg. It's main focus bases on the collaboration concerning the integration work, between the immigrant's organisations in Helsingborg and the municipality. It's also focusing on the results of the survey, Integrationsbarometer 2003, which was carried out in Helsingborg.We wanted to know if the results altered the integration work in the community. The results of the Integrationsbaometer 2003, proved, among other things, that the inhibitants of Helsingborg, regarded dwelling areas whith a large number of immigrants, as negatively, when they choose where to live. Finally, we wanted the politicians perspective of the integration work as well.We interviewed 6 informants in Helsingborg.