The aim of this thesis is to illustrate the principal problem of the study of national self-images and by questioning the congruent existence of one in the case of Sweden. Through the use of qualitative method and semi-structured interviews the ambition of the study is to compare and to understand the national self-images portrayed in a major Swedish town, Stockholm and to that of a smaller town on the countryside, Sjöbo. A social constructionist approach in co-operation with key temporal and spasial dimensions are used to penetrate the interviews at hand. The main conclusions drawn from this study highlights the difficulties in addressing the concept of a congruent national self-image. Several major discrepancies appear in the analysed material, mainly in the past and the external dimensions, both from a regional approach, but also very much within the local entities themselves..

The aim of this study is to combine queer theories with quantitative methods. In social sciences, queer theories are being widely and increasingly used. Quantitative method is also widely used, and as a traditional method it can be regarded as a cornerstone in social sciences, sociology in particular. However, the two perspectives, queer theories and quantitative method, seem at a first glance to be very different in their understanding of social phenomena. Queer theories have, with some exceptions, mainly focused on qualitative research concerning such phenomena as sexuality, while the field of science is quite diverse.

In this thesis I analyse civilizations in South America. I construct civilizationalnarratives through the method of emplotment, to build a historic continuity, whichI subsequently connect to the theoretical framework. The theory emphasise that,when confronted with globalization and free market capitalism, civilizationsembark on different strategies to challenge the power of transnational marketforces. I find that South America is a polarised continent, and is divergingconcerning the relationship towards the USA and free trade agreements. On thesame time the issues that concern the social movements are not being reproducedin a significant matter at state level.

MST, eller O Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurias Sem Terra (Rörelsen för Lantarbetare utan Jord), är en av latinamerikas och kanske världens största och mest inflytelserika sociala rörelser. Rörelsen är dessutom verksam i en av världens största politiska, ekonomsika, kulturella och sociala smältdeglar.I vår uppsats vill vi undersöka, dels vilka metoder som en social rörelse kan tillämpa när det gäller att driva frågor om demokrati framåt. Som teoretiskt ramverk tillämpar vi befintliga teorier i kombination med egna begrepp. För att kunna svara på frågeställning har vi genom en bred empirisk bas försökt åskådliggöra den kontext i vilken MST arbetar och utifrån denna information dragit våra slutsatser..

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om vistelse på hög höjd påverkar den anaeroba arbetsförmågan. Sex aktiva universitetsstudenter, fyra män och två kvinnor, deltog frivilligt i studien. Expeditionen till Nepal varade i 40 dagar och under den perioden sov och vandrade försökspersonerna mellan 1400 och 5100 meter över havet. Före och efter expeditionen genomförde försökspersonerna ett anaerobt wingatetest där peak power, average power, minimum power and power drop uppmättes. Resultatet visade en signifikant sänkning av average power efter den genomförda expeditionen på hög höjd, med ett medelvärde på 8.44 ± 0,84 w/kg före expeditionen och 7.81 ± 0,87 w/kg efter expeditionen.

Title: Images of Sweden in ItalyNumber of pages: 5252 (589 including enclosures)Author: Oskar GustafssonTutor: Martin NilssonCourse: Political Science C level ? Bachelor?s ThesisPeriod: Spring term 2010University: School of Social SciencesLinnaeus UniversityPurpose/Aim: The purpose of my research study is to, through the use of political science theories on soft power and marketing theories about nation branding and in comparison to previous studies on the image of Sweden in Italy, gains a better understanding of the image of Sweden in Italy, with special focus on national political institutions and young Italians.Method: The method of analysis is a combination of qualitative methods: interviews where information about the image of Sweden amongst national political institutions were gathered and a survey where information was gathered about the image of Sweden amongst young Italians.Main results: On the basis of the results I have gained it can be concluded that a positive and well informed image of Sweden emerges when it comes to cultural and social factors but a more restricted and somewhat negative image come to light when asking national political institutions and young citizens in Italy about their views and knowledge on Swedish domestic and international politics and economics.Keywords: Soft power, Public Diplomacy, Nation Branding, Images of Sweden, Italy..

The increasing significance of social economy as a concept is linked to general global processes such as the crisis of the welfare state, neoliberal globalization, anti-bureaucracy tendencies and decentralization, but also to a growing political interest in human rights and social development. In Sweden the idea of the social economy generates wide support within civil society as well as within the government and across party political boundaries. Furthermore, what is problematic in this context is the fact that the discussions on the subject tend to be relatively uncritical and often it seems as if though the expansion itself is the main objective. The emphasis on cooperation and the third sector in terms of welfare production implies a set of risks in relation to state responsibility, democracy and the autonomy of civil society. This paper aims to explore those risks and how they can be dealt with within the Swedish context..

IIUniversity of KalmarSchool of Human SciencesPolitical ScienceTitle ? Jag förstår inte varför svenska manliga politiker är så rädda för de kvinnligapolitikerna?Author: Git Franzen Ekström  IIUniversity of KalmarSchool of Human SciencesPolitical ScienceTitle ? Jag förstår inte varför svenska manliga politiker är så rädda för de kvinnligapolitikerna?Author: Git Franzen EkströmAbstractIn the year of 2007, Sweden was the most equal country in the world, and the Philippines wasranked as number six of 128 countries, by the organization World Economic Forum. Thisthesis is a study of female politicians and power in Sweden and in the Philippines. Do thefemale politicians perceive that they have just as much power as the males have? I haveinterviewed 18 female politicians in a small city in Sweden, and 12 female politicians in thelocal and provincial politic in the Philippines.

This study is intended to study how the social worker in financial assistance relates to the social workers exercise of its authority, regarding the Social Services Act and the Administrative Procedures Act. In concerning how the social worker treats and handles the cases of their clients, but also what significancethe organization's policies and goals have on the social worker?s role and the formation of their professional identity. To answer these questions the study chose a qualitative approach. Because the purpose of this study is to investigate the social worker?s personal beliefs about their way of conducting social work.

On the 8th of May 2007 a local power-sharing goverment consisting of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was formed in Northern Ireland. The aim of this dissertation is to explore why the DUP, who in the past have opposed all forms of power-sharing decided to form a goverment and take active part in a power-sharing agreement. The study is based on a consociational theoretical framework developed by Arend Lijphart and further developed in a Northern Irish context by John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary. Using this theory the study seeks to understand the broad conditions surrounding the DUP's power-sharing. After a description of consociational theory and the road leading up to the Belfast Agreement,three possible explanations for power-sharing, based onconsociational theory are discussed.

I denna uppsats behandlas ämnet politisk organisering. Frågorna som tas upp är huruvida globaliseringsrörelsen bör organisera sig i partier eller agera utomparlamentariskt i sociala rörelser och om deliberation är ett effektivt påverkansmedel för att förändra de institutioner de vänder sig emot. Utifrån en teoretisk diskussion om hur företag de senaste decennierna omorganiserats som en följd av bland annat 60- och 70-talens uppror och framstegen inom digital informationsteknologi samt debattmaterial från globaliseringsrörelsen diskuteras frågorna.Uppsatsens resultat är att den mest effektiva organisationsformen i dagens läge är nätverk av sociala rörelser. Deliberation framstår inte som särdeles effektivt kanske främst på grund av att det skulle innebära att rörelserna tvingas anpassa sig och bli mer lika de hierarkiska institutioner de vill förändra..

Wind power is expanding rapidly in Sweden. Increasing amounts of wind power sets higher requirements on balancing power and grid expansions and would affect the whole Swedish electricity system. The aim of this report is to examine the factors affecting the wind power expansion in Sweden. How many wind power plants projects will obtain building permissions and what costs and revenues can be expected? How much balancing power will be required and does a changing geographical distribution of the wind power plants reduce the need of balancing power?A survey of the county board?s official applications has been made and out of all the applications, corresponding to 80 TWh produced per year, about half of the applications are expected to obtain a permit with a major portion of them located in the north of Sweden.Especially older wind power plants, deriving revenue from Nord pool, find themselves today in a complicated financial situation.

This essay is built upon the thoughts of Joseph S. Nye concerning power, and the different ways of exercising that power. The characteristics of Nye's theories are the thoughts about the second face of power, or what he describes as the soft power. The essay seeks to examine what kind of power the US has been in their work for non-proliferation and democracy promotion in the Middle East. It also seeks to find what it is that makes the US to choose to exercise the specific powers.

This work applies intersectionality to five Somali women self-narratives and focuses on their identities and positions in Swedish society, but also their relation to Somali society. Since people constructs in relation to the environment, this work studies the impact of environmental confirmations of their own self. Intersectionality is brought into the social work with an operational attempt, and shows how critics of power and interplay between theories and empirics can provide new knowledge. Intersectionality also demands some alterations of the social constructionists? idea of the ego.

Uppsatsen tar en utgångspunkt i Dahls pluralistiska demokratimodells syn på information som centralt i det demokratiska samhället. Politisk PR (spin) problematiseras utifrån detta och en rad krav på journalistiken sätts upp. Metakommunikation, som den presenteras av Frank Esser m.fl., ses som ett bot mot en del av den demokratirelaterade problematik som politisk PR innebär. Innehållsanalys utförs på svenskt pressmaterial för att se om rapporteringen kring organisationen Greenpeace är metakommunicerad..