The study is divided into three parts ? the development of wage labour towards becoming the dominant norm in society, how this norm is challenged in a specific geographical context, and lastly a study of two unemployed individuals and their everyday activities, what and especially why certain behaviour occurs. The main purpose with the text is to study unemployed people in a specific geographical context in a overall society where wage labour is thought to be the norm. Questions that is being asked is how the unemployed individual works in a society where wage labour is the dominant activity for the day. This is connected to a study of Möllevången, a district of Malmö, where the wage labour norm can be thought of as being challenged.

Queen Kristina of Sweden (1626-1689) was in many ways an interesting, fascinating but also a very complicated woman, who has been studied widely by historians and other scholars throughout the years. However, there are few people who have considered the queens attitude towards the male norm which characterize Sweden, and most of Europe, during the seventeenth century.My purpose with this essay is therefore to apply the historian and gender expert Yvonne Hirdman´s theory about the gender system and the hierarchical order, where the male is the norm and representative of what is considered to be normal in the society, on literature regarding Queen Kristina of Sweden. The historical method of this essay will be historiography, as a result of the fact that my study is based on other historians and scholars research. Moreover, my intention is to include Kristina´s entire life in Sweden, from her birth as far as to her abdication from the Swedish throne and study this through the gender perspective introduced above. With this mentioned my essay therefore is named Against All Odds.

This is a qualitative study that has investigated four people's experiences of making a physical change of life. With narrative depth interviews, the study was characterized by the informants own experience of their experiences and thoughts. With questions surrounding their experiences of alienation, belonging to the standard, people's attitude and prejudices against their appearance. The investigation revealed that the informants experienced shared experiences and things that separated them. The conclusion based on the people in this study was that people with low self-esteem are at greater risk for experiencing alienation.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the benefit of information literacy instruction in two student groups at Kristianstad University, in relation to development of critical information literacy and within the boundaries of the educational goals. This study takes on a critical information literacy perspective that combines critical pedagogy and standards for information literacy in higher education. Two methods have been used for data collection: interviews and questionnaires. According to the results of the study the information literacy instruction provided by the Kristianstad University Library is important and useful for the students in their academic studies. It also becomes clear that the information literacy differs between the two groups as a consequence of the varying information literacy instruction received by the two groups.

This thesis is based on qualitative text analyses of four works of fiction, used as teaching materials in the school subject of Swedish, from a queer theoretic perspective. The purpose of the study is to examine how sexual identities and expressions are being presented, as well as what positions are offered a reader, in relation to the heterosexual norm. Basis for this thesis are the schools fundamental values, which highlights the importance that intolerance be confronted through both knowledge and active measures, and the syllabus, which states that fiction should be viewed as a tool for identity development as well as an understanding of the outside world.The analyses reveals a distinct connection between the generally accepted heterosexual norm and a professed (or taken for granted) heterosexuality which is being carried out by the characters or the books as a whole. Out of the four titles only one disputes this norm, by offering a wide range of sexual identities and expressions. These expressions, however, are being invalidated ? through insufficient ability to relate to the norm ? or made invisible ? through an imagined heterosexuality which, by superiority over other expressions, excludes them..

The purpose of this study is to present a critical analysis of how certain themes of the Norse pagan religion are portrayed in ten selected textbooks used for Religious Science education in grades one through nine. The themes included in the analysis are; the description of the transition from the Norse Pagan religion to Christianity; Adam of Bremen?s portrayal of human sacrifice, and lastly Ibn Fadhlan?s characterization of widow burning. By using a critical knowledge text analysis, and applying a theoretical starting point that pedagogical material analyses and interprets events from a specific perspective; in this case from a Christian perspective, I have from the study concluded that the chapters covering the Norse pagan religion in these textbooks have a distinguished Christian bias seen as the norm. The themes analysed in this study all describe different phenomena in a similar way and make use of the same sources, even though these are often questioned.

Uppsatsen behandlar några personers upplevelser av att ta emot ett särskilt stöd i skolan, i förhållande till samhällets syn på norm och avvikelse från norm. Undersökningens syfte är att ge en vidgad förståelse, från ett inifrånperspektiv, hur det kan upplevas att ta emot särskilt stöd i skolan samt hur dessa personer upplever omgivningens syn på att de tar emot ett särskilt stöd. Fokus har legat på stigmatiserande konsekvenser av att avvika från norm. Forskningsfrågorna är:? Vilka insatser kan bidra till en känsla av utpekande och/eller uteslutning?? Hur uppfattar elever att ha ett särskilt stöd i skolan?? Hur uppfattar elever med särskilt stöd omgivningens reaktioner?För att uppnå undersökningens syfte har jag valt kvalitativa intervjuer som undersökningsmetod.

Hållbar utveckling är ett av de viktigaste ämnena som diskuteras idag. Även när det gäller stadsplanering har hållbarhet blivit en av de viktigaste frågorna att diskutera. I Sverige har vi under de två senaste decennierna sett flera utvecklingsprojekt som präglats av en strävan mot hållbarhet och ekologiska boendemiljöer. Vi frågar oss i denna studie om huruvida utvecklingen av hållbara och ekologiska boendemiljöer kommer att bli en norm i framtiden och hur arbetet mot denna norm bör ske. Vi jämför här två utvecklingsprojekt som har haft stort inflytande på hållbar stadsplanering, Bo01 i Malmö och Hammarby Sjöstad i Stockholm.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze how Bolaget, a paper published by the Swedish alcohol monopoly retailer Systembolaget, constructs issues of alcohol in 18 preventive articles published between 2009 and 2012. More specifically the essay focuses on the consequences of alcohol, as well as its consumers and functions. Systembolaget is a distributor of alcohol and at the same time has an assignment by the state to reduce alcohol-related harm. This double role makes the alcohol prevention of Systembolaget, and their perspective on consequences, consumers and functions of alcohol, an interesting object of study. The theoretical and methodological basis is Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis.

Under de senaste tre decennierna har populära managementböcker erbjudit snabba och enkla recept för hur ledare ska leda personal på ett effektivt sätt. Dessa böcker har blivit bästsäljare och har inspirerat många ledare inför nya utmaningar angående personalfrågor. Kända managementförfattare har alltså stor påverkan för hur individ och ledarskap uppfattas i samhället, samt för att förstärka en viss vision om hur människors beteende borde utformas för att företagsmässiga mål skall kunna uppnås. Denna studies syfte var att öka förståelsen för populär managementlitteraturs maktdimensioner. Tre bästsäljande managementböcker från sekelskiftet analyserades genom en foucaultinspirerad diskursanalys, med fokus på styrningsmentalitet, disciplin och människosyn.

Over the past few years the Åland islands have attracted growing internationalattention as an example of how to successfully secure the position of a minorityregion, and in the current situation the government of Åland has an intention toextend the efforts of spreading the example of Åland. The purpose of this essay isto shed light on the political discussion about the example of Åland, andinvestigate the underlying political reasons for emphasizing the example of Ålandinternationally. Through interviews with leading politicians on Åland I analyzeÅland as a norm entrepreneur. The research shows that besides altruism, selfinterestis a factor behind emphasizing the example of Åland. The essay showsthat the theory of norm entrepreneurship also can be applied on an autonomousarea, but instead of influencing international organizations themselves, theautonomous area use norm entrepreneurship as a tool for influencing domesticpolitics..

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the EU discourse in the Swedish media. The questions that the analysis seeks to answer are; what image of EU is portrayed in the Swedish media? To which degree does the EU discourse fulfill media?s ?news values?? And what are the potential effects of the discourse on EU?s reputation? After several demarcations, I chose 8 articles form Sweden?s four largest newspapers to base the analysis on.    The theoretical and methodical structure behind this analysis is the theories and practices of Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis. Added to the theoretical structure are also theories about reputation and theories about news values. The method used in the analysis is a modified version of Fairclough?s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis.

This thesis takes as its point of departure the Swedish governmental family policy and the debate on the proposed reform ?vårdnadsbidraget?. The supporters of the reform present it as something that will increase the freedom of choice for families and benefit the children, whereas the opponents warn for decreased equality and a return to the male breadwinner-model.From a constructivist perspective, language is closely related to power through defining and ascribing meaning to reality. By applying a feminist political theory on the debate within the Swedish national parliament 2007/2008 and conducting a discourse analysis, the aim of this paper is to analyse which concepts are used and how they construct to what makes a family within the political debate ? is there any difference or similarity between the view of the opponents and the supporters of ?vårdnadsbidraget??The main conclusion of this paper is that even though the political ideal and rhetorical concepts differ between the supporters and the opponents, they still constitute the heterosexual nuclear family as an obvious norm in family politics.

This thesis investigates if privatization of the Swedish healthcare system influences our view on the meaning of equality. This system is based on the principle that all people are equals and that healthcare should be provided on the basis of need. I apply critical ideology analysis to investigate how our view of equality might change because of the evolvement of society. A critical view may be explained as an interest in exploring things that seem obvious to many. Important questions to answer are why equality is regarded as such a natural concept in the society and how healthcare is actually provided.

Since the 1990s, when the number of transnational companies increased, it has created challenges regarding the responsibility of human rights. As a response to these challenges the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unanimously endorsed the new policy UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in 2011. UNGP does not have the status av international law, yet simply as guidelines and its implementation is based on good will and voluntary efforts. Now, 10 years later, this study aims to get understanding regarding if UNGP is considered as norm by the Swedish Government, Volvo and Gothenburg Municipality. The material of the study consists of sustainability reports, annual reports and governmental documents with focus on human rights in relation to business published between the year of 2011, when UNGP was endorsed, until 2020.