The aim of this study is to examine the democratization process of Kosovo in the years after the countries independence was assured. Two central questions for the case study consist of whether a democratic improvement in the country has occurred and which factors, positive and negative, are present to further improve or impede the democratizationprocess. The study builds upon two central definitions, democratic states and democratization in order to gain theoretical background to be able to measure these two quite abstract expressions. A socioeconomic model is used to measure favorable or negative developments within Kosovos society and the findings of this model confirms the hypothesis of modernization theory, namely that increased socioeconomic development increases the chance of a positive democratizationprocess. There has been a positive democratic development aswell as socioecomic progress but since the nature of this study is merely descriptive and not explanatory, it doesnt make claims on the explanatory power of modernization theory.

Abstract The people of Colombia suffer from a deep spiral of internal conflicts and unstable social conditions. The aim of this study is to highlight inequality in Colombia by applying Charles Tilly?s theory of durable inequality through categorical pairs. A qualitative method is applied in order to gain deeper insight to inequality in Colombia. The essay examines the phenomenon by completing a content analysis.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how librarians talk about users in social media. Using a method of discourse analysis based on Ernesto Laclau?s and Chantal Mouffe?s theoretical concepts it seeks to answer the following questions: How do librarians describe and comment on users in social media? In which contexts do librarians talk about users in social media? Which ideas of the relationship between the librarians and the users do the user discourses present?The study focuses on a Facebook page called ?Arga Bibliotekstanten? (The Angry Library Lady) and all its posts and comments during the period of January to June 2013. This is an ?open? page available for anyone to follow; at the time of the study it had approximately 1800 ?followers? and 4000 ?friends?, both librarians and users.The results show that librarians talk about the users in a variety of ways, but mainly concerning money, behavior and task.

Gender equality is a political issue that has gained a lot of support in the last decades. Researchers have however pointed out that gender equality has a wide variety of understandings.SKL (Sveriges kommuner och landsting) is an organization that looks after the interests of local authorities and county councils in Sweden. SKL has by the government been granted 145 million Swedish crowns to support gender mainstreaming at a local level. During a period of three years, 2008-2010, funding has been given to 89 projects for this purpose.The aim of this study is to examine what meanings are given to the term ?gender equality? in these projects.

The question of direct citizen participation in politics and administration is a contestable one. Its proponents claim that it has positive consequences even for the more "traditional", representative democracy, since participation leads to an increased political knowledge and increased political interest, and thus creates a revitalised democracy. Critical voices have however been raised to the validity of this claim. Critics have also pointed out direct participation as problematic, because it leads to problems of political inequality: a difference of political influence between ? on the one hand, the citizens participating directly and those that restrict their political participation to voting, and ? on the one the other hand ? between the institutions, for example schools, that employ, and don?t employ this method of direct citizen influence.In this essay, these two points of criticisms are tested in the context of user-boards in elementary and secondary schools.

This master?s thesis investigates how six Swedish public libraries integrate equality aspects in their user oriented activity. The theoretical starting point for the study is that Sweden is a part of a gender system characterized by gender separation and male superiority, as described by the Swedish historian Yvonne Hirdman and theories that argue that femininity and masculinity are social constructions. Another starting point is that the library sphere cannot be separated from the gender inequality in society. Since the library is part of a gender system that value individuals who are seen as males and separates men and women, some of the library users may be neglected.

The purpose with this essay is to look at how categories of "us" and "them" are created, reproduced and categorised. The areas of politics and media are in focus, though they are powerful and influential actors in generating discourses.The method is qualitative analyses of current research and analyses of discourses, contexts and resources from an intersectional perspective. Intersectionality presents a theoretical tool for complex understandings of power as it takes its point of departure in an understanding of power as multidimensional and one where gender, ethnicity and class are constitutive and bearing principals. Intersectional analyses aim to understand how these dimensions are created and changed in relation to each other and how they interact with specific gender orders in specific contexts.The analyse shows that "immigrants" are in a subordinate position compared to "Swedish" when it comes to resources, contexts and discourses. The analyse indicates the relation of power between "us" and "them", where "us" have the power and with that preferential right of interpretation in discourses, contexts and resources.

Modern democracies rest on a foundation of values essential to their prosperity. Two of those values are freedom of speech and political equality. To many, these values appear to coexist effortlessly. However, what this thesis aims to expose are some of the problems that quickly arise when attempts to interpret the values fail.The thesis investigates a specific US Supreme Court ruling called Citizens United. The ruling enabled corporations and unions to use their own treasuries for unlimited independent political expenditures.

Smallholder farmers in low-income countries face a number of challenges in animal production. Animal husbandry carries great potential in reducing poverty, hunger and gender inequality, but at the same time infectious diseases are prominent threats to farmers? livelihoods and their animals. The objective of this study was to investigate the socioeconomic impact of infectious animal diseases on smallholder farmers in low-income countries, using African swine fever (ASF) in Uganda as an example. The study was conducted in two parts. The first part of the study was questionnaire-based and performed in Gulu district, northern Uganda.

The object of this essay is the Swedish author Agnes von Krusenstjerna's novels Ninas dagbok (The diary of Nina) and Helenas första kärlek (Helena's first love) as well as the cycle novel Fröknarna von Pahlen (The misses von Pahlen). The purpose is to explore her use of the discourse of girls' fiction, which I analyse by the depiciton of women's sexual awakening, and her depiction of sadomasochism. The theories of Elaine Showalter, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler are used.Women's sexual awakening is depicted similarly in the novels but more explicitly in Fröknarna von Pahlen. In Ninas dagbok and Helenas första kärlek there is an eroticization of dominance and submission, which is not explicitly sadomasochistic. In Fröknarna von Pahlen, sadomasochism is explicitly described as a "perverted" sexuality and reveals the inequality in the violent sexuality, which is described as "normal".

This master?s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ?Year 2010 against Poverty?. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe.It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty.

Sweden's population holds today one of the highest life expectancies in the world and an increasing number of Swedes believe that they have good health. However, the problem still remains that there exists significant differences in health between different population groups and neighborhoods. Two neighborhoods that demonstrate high inequality in health status are Rinkeby and Danderyd in Stockholm County.    The purpose of this study was to examine why health differs between different neighborhoods and how residents experience the area and their health. To answer this purpose a combination of statistical data and qualitative interviews with residents in Danderyd and Rinkeby has been used with an additional literature review.      The study showed that the causes of health inequalities between these neighborhoods was primarily concerned with the factors of education, economic conditions, ethnicity, conditions of comfort and companionship and the surrounding residential environment. The population in Danderyd, made up largely of people with high education, good economic conditions and few foreign-born, while the majority of Rinkeby?s population consists of individuals with low education, poor economic conditions and a high proportion of inhabitants of foreign origin, which are determining factors leading to poorer health status among the population.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka Pantrarna genom att se på vad för typ av social rörelse Pantrarna är. Sociala faktorer som låg bakom bildandet, deras förebilder, metoderna de använde, hur de organiserade sig och vad de ville uppnå undersöktes. Bakgrunden till bildandet av en social rörelse som Pantrarna var komplex och flera teorier och begrepp fick därför användas för att försöka förklara kontext såväl som Pantrarna som social rörelse. Uppsatsen är gjord genom en kvalitativ metod bestående av intervjuer, innehållsanalys på filmen om dem, observation vid deras festival, netnografisk studie av rörelsen där Facebook,Youtube och deras hemsida studerats. De viktigaste resultatet som hittades var att Pantrarna är en social rörelse som bygger på ett konfliktperspektiv där de använder metoder som att storma politikers möten och genom demonstrationer.

SammanfattningDenna uppsats utreder sambandet mellan privatiseringsreform av vattendistribution och det teoretiska begreppet ojämlikhetsfällan. En ojämlikhetsfälla är ett tillstånd av relativ brist på tillgångar och möjligheter, skapat och bevarat av en snedvriden institutionell miljö. Vår frågeställning är huruvida ojämlikhetsfällan som fenomen består efter en genomgripande privatiseringsreform. Det fall som vi undersöker är Buenos Aires, som 1993 genomförde världens hittills största vattenkoncession. Koncessionen annullerades 2006, sjutton år i förtid.

Kapaciteter kan vara till stor nytta, bland annat då partiella differentialekvationer ska lösas. Kapaciteter är dock i många fall väldigt svåra att beräkna exakt, speciellt i viktade rum. Vad som istället kan göras är att försöka uppskatta kapaciteterna, vilket för ringar runt en fix punkt kan utföras med hjälp av fyra olika exponentmängder, underline{Q}_0, underline{S}_0, overline{S}_0 och overline{Q}_0, som beskriver hur vikten beter sig i närheten av denna punkt och i viss mån ger rummets lokala dimension.För att kunna dra nytta av exponentmängderna är det bra att veta vilka kombinationer av dessa som kan förekomma. För att få fram nya kombinationer använder vi olika sätt att mäta volym av klot med varierande radier. Dessa mått är definierade genom olika vikter.Det har tidigare funnits ett fåtal exempel på hur olika kombinationer av exponentmängderna kan se ut.