NCC has given us a commission to investigate a planned housing area in Haga, Karlstad, situated close to the traffic route Hagaleden and the railway. The housing area consists of one hundred apartments in five different houses. The houses are linked to each other by balconies with glass panels. A long carport is situated between Hagaleden and the housing area to absorb part of the noise from the road. The design of the housing area is creating a silent backyard.

My thesis deals with the novel Ladies, written in 2007 by the Swedish author Mara Lee. When published, it was received as a book belonging to the chick lit genre but still got good reviews. This combination is really unusual and awoke my interest in the novel. My thesis is therefore an analysis whether Ladies can be considered a chick lit novel or not, and in what way it is similar to or differs from the genre. I start my thesis with an overview of former research of chick lit and what earlier was called trivial literature.

Abstract Forskning har visat att kön spelar roll för hur ungdomar bedöms inom det sociala arbetet. Mot bakgrund av detta har ett intresse väckts för hur socialarbetare arbetar med och förhåller sig till den könade praktikens ojämlika villkor. Uppsatsens syfte är att utforska om, och i så fall hur, tjejers sexualitet görs till sociala problem inom några delar av det sociala arbetet, med hjälp av socialarbetares egna berättelser. Inledningsvis diskuteras centrala frågor som vad ett socialt problem är, vem som har makt att definiera detta, hur tjejers sexualitet historiskt har gjorts till problem i högre grad än killars samt vilken betydelse kön har för det sociala arbetet. Genom djupintervjuer med olika socialarbetare utforskas vidare föreställningar och konstruktioner av problem, förhållningssätt till dessa och förändringspotential för arbetet.

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 Master's thesis explores representations of sexual agency in contemporary, Swedish novels for young adults. Using a representational theory approach the thesis analyzes 24 novels published in 2000 ? 2013. Addressing the following research questions: how is sexual agency constructed and regulated relative to gender performativity in Swedish novels for young adults? How are situations of sexual abuse and sexual ?grey zones? (situations that border on abuse) represented and being made intelligible in the texts? What are the consequences of representations of sexual agency? In the readings of the novels discourse analysis and theories on cultural representation and power have served as the critical points of entry, as well as the methodological basis for the study.

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.

For centuries, the human body has been used as a mean to project the Norms, moral values and aesthetic preferences that exist throughout society. It has been controlled through constrictive fashion, family and social virtues and through how we perceive gender and sexuality. This essay strives to show, not only how the body and the aesthetic values coexist, but also how they work together and influence each other, with the body as the aesthetic medium. To do this, Michel Foucault?s writings of sexuality and his theories on morality and discipline, as well as Judith Butler?s works on normativity and performativity are being used.

The aim of this master thesis is to study how the development of a public library by means of ideas and methods from the private sector can be related to traditional core values. We base our study on institutional theory, which focuses on Norms and values in an organisation, and new institutional theory, which focuses on how organisations are influenced by changes in the environment. We also use New Public Management with a market focus to analyze the implications of a development towards a more market oriented view.The method used is that of a case study of a new library concept, Idea Stores in London. Idea Stores are a number of new public libraries in Tower Hamlets developed from the results of a major opinion survey about libraries. The Idea Stores combine traditional library services with elements of adult education and lifelong learning in a partnership with local learning centres.

Authors: Sofia Eriksson and Malin Wändahl Title: To swim with sharks --? a qualitative study of female journalists work situation in Cape Town due to gender Level: Bachelor of Journalism. Autumn 2013 Location: University of Gothenburg Although the distribution of sex in the South African media houses is equal, research shows that the work conditions for women and men are unequal. Therefore, we have studied how the situation looks like beyond the statistics. The aim of our thesis is to examine, due to gender, how female journalists in Cape Town experience and cope with their work situation in a profession traditionally dominated by men.

The main aims of this study is from a gender perspective identify possible reasons why so many men compared to women visited the European football Championship in Poland/Ukraine 2012. The study also aims to classify European Championship visitors from their primary purpose with the trip.To be able to answer the study's purpose and issues, it is important that we get an understanding of the phenomenon so that we can clearly express an opinion on this phenomena. This meant that we chose to use qualitative methods designed to give a deeper insight into what is being investigated. We made use of both deep, email and telephone interviews with our respondents. The six respondents are evenly distributed between the sexes.

This thesis explores how the Swedish magazine Morgonbris depicted women's new roles in the workforce during World War I and whether these depictions challenged or upheld contemporary gender structures. The study addresses two main questions, how Morgonbris portrayed women's new roles in the workforce and how this portrayal challenged or upheld contemporary gender structures. And also how the magazine integrated the ideal of respectability to engage and mobilize female workers, analyzed through Ronny Ambj?rnsson's descriptions of respectability ideals. Using Hirdman's gender system theory, which examines the maintenance of gender power structures through separation and hierarchy, and Ambj?rnsson's work on respectability ideals, the study employs a qualitative content analysis of articles from Morgonbris during the war years. By identifying and analyzing expressions of class and respectability ideals, the research uncovers strategies used to engage and mobilize female workers. The results show that Morgonbris portrayed women's entry into traditionally male-dominated labor sectors as a significant shift that challenged established gender roles.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka på vilka sätt köns- och sexualitetsdiskurser kommer till uttryck i sociala medier i relation till framställningen av kön och sexualitet i tv, och vad det kan bero på. Syftet är även att undersöka vilken betydelse meningsreproduktionen och diskurserna på sociala medier kan ha för användarnas föreställningar om kön och sexualitet. Frågeställningarna är: ?Reproduceras köns- och heteronormer under hashtagen #paradisehotelse på Twitter? I så fall, på vilket sätt och vad kan det bero på?? och ?Skulle interaktionen med tv-programmet Paradise Hotel via Twitter kunna ha någon betydelse för Twitter-användarnas föreställningar om kön och sexualitet? I så fall, på vilket sätt??. För att uppnå syftet genomförs netnografi och kritisk diskursanalys av inläggen på hashtagen #paradisehotelse.

An uncountable number of companies are present in foreign markets as a result of what we commonly choose to call globalization. This is especially true for Swedish companies traditionally operating on small markets. A company that is about to establish on a new market is faced not only with possibilities but also with challenges and risks. Researchers have found that companies that establish on foreign markets will have to deal with competitors on the national as well as on the global market, and therefore need consider how they globalize their brands. In addition to this, a brand can only reach international success if its message is coherent within and across every single market.

Teachers and special education teachers play a vital role in the creation of a study environment that fosters productivity in students. The current study aims to further expand the knowledge regarding teacher?s perception of common work with developing an optimal study environment within the classroom and the educational institution. In order to achieve this, qualitative interviews have been performed and study results analyzed according Nilholm´s model of the three different perspectives on special education: The critical perspective, the compensatory perspective and the dilemma perspective.The study results show that the concept of order and study environment is not clearly defined among the interviewees. However, the concept appears to presuppose the teacher?s responsibility to create the sense of security and effective study environment to those students who express the wish to educate themselves (Children make the things right only if they have been shown the correct way to do it).

Landskrona har under de senaste åren handskats med kriminalitet där gärningsmännen har en ålder under 21 år. De brott det främst handlar om när vi talar om ungdomsbrottslighet i Landskrona kommun är misshandel utomhus och personrån. Trots att kommunen genom framgångsrika åtgärder nått positiva resultat där den tidigare uppåtgående brottstrenden nu stannat av och börjat dala, så ligger de höga siffrorna kvar som pekar på att ungdomskriminaliteten inte minskar i samma utsträckning. Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att finna och förstå den normförändring som skett i Landskrona. För att studera detta har jag fört samtalsintervjuer med polis, Blåjackor, enhetschef med anställda och ungdomar på Ungdomshuset NOVA, samt använt mig av resultat från en enkät som ca 800 elever från gymnasieskolorna i Landskorna kommun själva fått deklarera sin relation och eventuella delaktighet i brott som misshandel och personrån.