The aim of this thesis is to seek understanding to how a national identity is constructed. Five women and five men at the age of 21-37 years old have been interviewed during November 2005 and January 2006. All of them lived Oslo at the time. The informants have been divided into two groups, `Swedish immigrants` and `Norwegian immigrants`, none of the people interviewed is ethnic `Swedish` or `Norwegian`. The empirical material has been analysed with the help of Billig´s theory about banal nationalism and Laclau and Mouffe´s discourse analysis.

During last autumn I have been studying the conflict between Israel and Palestine, both through books and at place in the area. The purpose has been to evaluate and reflect over EAPPI`s achievement (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel) and how it`s related to the goals of the organization. EAPPI is an interesting organization, mainly because it stands as a third part in the conflict. I have used a qualitative method for interviews and observations. The accompaniers, whom I have interviewed, represent three of seven placements in Israel/Palestine.

The aim of this thesis is to create an understanding of the incentives for forest companies to invest in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which is termed REDD. The Brazilian Amazonas was chosen as the base for the investment case. Brazil has the largest area of rainforest in the world, and also the biggest problem with deforestation. The Amazon region of Brazil comprises rainforest which is largely intact and unexploited. Accordingly, there is significant potential scope for prospective investments in a REDD-project, and so have a noteworthy impact in preventing deforestation.The research approach used the United Nation?s Clean Development Mechanism concept was used as a framework for ascertaining the investment costs in potential REDD-projects.

The aim of this thesis is to explain what actions Sweden and the international communities have been taking in terms of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in order to realize the Programme of Action from the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo 1994. In a theoretical perspective, donor countries and multilateral organizations are seen as interacting actors involved in global development cooperation. Through applying a human rights approach I will show shortages in terms of supplies to contraception, international agreement on the issue of safe abortions and a new era that comes with new rules for aid and development cooperation. In addition, for human rights to be realized there is the feature of accountability. Without accountability, SRHR cannot be fully respected, guaranteed and protected.

Trots att den svenska policyn, för skydd av nationella minoriteter, infördes med hopp om att lösa vissa problem hävdas i denna uppsats att annan problematik kan ha uppstått i dess kölvatten. Både vad gäller motiv och innebörd kan delar av policyn ses som problematiska, vilket i huvudsak grundar sig i att det har skapats en skillnad mellan olika etniska minoriteter. Policyn innebär att särskilda åtgärder vidtas för att skydda vissa kulturer. Vi sluter oss till åsikten att kulturer är centrala i människors liv, och just därför anser vi det motiverat att diskutera kring vilka etniska minoriteter som inte får tillgång till detta skydd. Vi menar att denna diskussion saknas i svensk policy.

Denna uppsats behandlar den orangea revolutionen ur ett transitionsperspektiv och försöker teoriprövande utröna om denna revolution kan anses som en demokratisk transition i enlighet med transitionsterin.Uppsatsen är teoriprövande till sin karaktär och kontrasterar den politiska processen i Ukraina mellan den första omgången i presidentvalet den 31 oktober 2004 och den tredje omgången den 26 december 2004 med transitionsteorin.Uppsatsen baseras på en fältstudie genomförd under december 2005 i Kiev, Ukraina. Fältstudien består dels av en intervjuserie genomförd med ukrainska politiker, akademiker, tidningsmän, nationella organisationer samt internationella organisationer men också av primärkällor i form av tidningsartiklar från i Ukraina.Denna studie når i sin analys fram till att den orangea revolutionen kan förklaras enligt transitionsteorin men framlägger också de avvikelser som denna uppvisar i förhållande till transitionsteorin.Nyckelord: Ukraina. Den orangea revolutionen. Transition. Förhandlingar.

Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Crop efficiency in utilizing available nutrients is an important factor in increasing produc-tivity and reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. Nitrogen is the nutrient that plants need in the largest quantity and wheat, along with maize and rice, is the world's most cultivated crop. In this work, the Nitrogen Use Efficiency, NUE, during the major growth period, HTP, of twelve different spring wheat varieties, were examined. The NUE was calculated as the product of uptake efficiency of nitrogen, UN, and the conversion effi-ciency of nitrogen to biomass, EN. The purpose of this work was to find if there are varietal differences in NUE and its components among the twelve varieties and to link a high NUE to specific characteristics of the varieties.

Today Europe is faced with an identity crisis concerning its borders. Turkey stands at the threshold for an EU-membership while the EU-Commission is trying to formulate what constitutes a European identity. This identity seeking process will determine the future not only for Turkey, but also for immigrants now living in Europe.In this thesis a discourse analysis, underpinned by socialconstructionist theory, is conducted to explore how the European identity has been constructed throughout history up until today. A starting point is that identity always is defined through a dialectical relationship to "otherness". Therefore the analysis is focused not only on what a European identity consists of but also what and who it excludes.

The Swedish alcohol policy has by tradition a restrictive composition, with high taxes and the Swedish Alcohol Retailing Monopoly as important elements. The Moderate Party has been powerful critics of the alcohol policy and has advocated a reformation. However, today the Moderate Party seems to have changed the attitude towards the alcohol policy and it even supports the Swedish initiative to create cooperation about alcohol matters at the EU level.This thesis examines why the Moderate Party has changed its attitude towards the restrictive alcohol policy. Three aspects have been considered: the rise of a European public policy, strategic choice, and the influence of the political environment. The paper discusses the problem from a strategic perspective, which means that the political change is viewed as a result of strategic considerations.The party has indeed been affected by all of the three aspects, although to different extent.

Due to the globalization today the competition in the market has in- creased and it requires flexibility and produce according to customer demand. In order to reduce the cost of wages industrial companies are now considering moving the manufacturing to low-cost countries. To keep up with the competition in the market without moving the manu- facturing abroad, Lean Automation was developed. The concept of Lean Automation is to reduce the perceived complexity with automa- tion and make automation available for new users and in new applica- tions.Haldex Brake Products are situated in Sweden and want to maintain the manufacturing of the automatic brake adjusters in the country. It is a product well-known and highly exposed to the competition in the mar- ket.

Laser for material processing possesses a number of advantages which mean that it has been and will be an important component for a wide range of industries' future development. Cutting materials processing is the dominant use of laser technology and has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The aim of this thesis is to describe the principles of metal cutting by laser, how laser cutting is applied in practice and to identify how Swedish companies are using laser cutting. For the theoretical and technical description of laser cutting literature studies are the primary source of information. The empirical basis for the mapping of the Swedish industry for laser cutting is grounded on a survey; this includes Swedish companies that use laser cutting in their production.

Studien behandlar försöksverksamheten Region Skåne och deras kommunikation och information via texter om verksamheten till beslutsfattare och medborgare. Texterna ligger till grund för beslutet om fortsatt försöksverksamhet och påverkar även allmänheten. Genom en narrativanalys har vi urskiljt fyra teman; ?Permanenta självstyrelsen!?, ?Region Skåne är positivt och en nydanande föregångare?, ?Införandet av regioner är en naturlig och logisk utveckling?, och ?Region Skåne är konkurrenskraftigt och bidrar till tillväxt?. I dessa narrativa teman använder regionen övertalningsdiskurs och myter, men även grepp som dramatisering och iscensättande.

In 1998 a new regional development policy was introduced by the Swedish government. A central feature in the policy was the formation of partnerships at the regional level. The partnerships were meant to consist of local and regional stakeholders, representing a great variety of interests, who would collaborate in order to improve regional development. The new policy was promoted, besides being more efficient, as a way to broaden political participation and to break male-dominated structures.This thesis discusses whether the regional partnership actually favours ?women's interests?, in terms of how the relationship of power between women and men is constituted by the model.

In his recent article Professor of International Affairs Charles Kupchan claims that Party Politics has become increasingly important for American Foreign Policy since the end of the Cold War. This assertion makes it valuable to assess how the substance of the Foreign Policy differs between the two American parties in various cases and if this difference is characterized by consistency or by change. In this thesis I examine these Party positions in relation to the European Security Policy.In order to examine this I compare the positions of the Democratic and Republican Parties? policy concerning both the European Defence Community (EDC) and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The purpose of this thesis is to examine the hypothesis that the Democratic Party to a higher extent than the Republican Party is more concerned to maintain good relations to Europe respectively EU.The results show that there are small indications that my hypothesis concerning the two parties is valid.