The purpose of this study is to hightlight experiences of living in a relationship where BDSM is being exercised. The acronym is an umbrella term for bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadomasochism. The study is based on qualitative interviews with five persons who define themselves as BDSM practitioners. The overall questions of this study are: How does the BDSM practice appear in everyday life? How did the practice start and how has it developed over time? What's included in the sexual BDSM practice? The empirical material has been analyzed with interactionism as the theoritical framework. The picture that emerges is complex.

The aim of this study is to analyse how female neopagan practitioners form their identitiesindividually as well as collectively. Using Ernesto Laclau?s and Chantal Mouffe?s discourse theory and Anthony Giddens? descriptions of late modernity and self-identity, I intend toinvestigate my informants? construction and upholding of a meaningful identity and sense ofself. I will also look at how the neopagan movement can be viewed as a phenomenon closely interwoven with the overriding tendencies in our contemporary society. Neopaganism is an umbrella term that is used to describe a number of modern nature religions that take their inspiration from pre-Christian traditions.

The aim of this thesis has been to discuss whether remainders of colonial influences exist within the UN's definition of torture or not. The discussion has been presented from a postcolonial point of view, in dialogue with contemporary power critical theorists. In order to raise awareness of a potential colonial influence, the following questions were intended to be answered:?                                        Are there any reasons, if so ? which ones, to regard the UN's definition of torture as a colonial project? And;?                                        To what extent is the term ?inhumane? limiting for the prohibition against torture from a postcolonial perspective?One of the most central arguments of the chosen theories is that the term ?inhumane? evokes prejudices that a racializing apparatus within the social norms of the UN automatically produces. These prejudices are, according to the theorists, influenced by images of people in non-western and non-secular (especially muslim) societies as more prone to exercise ?violence? and ?cruelty? towards their own citizens as well as towards the population of the world in general.

The purpose of this study is to hightlight experiences of living in a relationship where BDSM is being exercised. The acronym is an umbrella term for bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadomasochism. The study is based on qualitative interviews with five persons who define themselves as BDSM practitioners. The overall questions of this study are: How does the BDSM practice appear in everyday life? How did the practice start and how has it developed over time? What's included in the sexual BDSM practice? The empirical material has been analyzed with interactionism as the theoritical framework. The picture that emerges is complex.

The purpose of this article is partly to find out how the burial grounds are used today and the needs of its visitors, but also to develop the character and expression of future burial grounds. My suggestions focus on burial grounds without religious attributes; something that, according to the burial law (Begravningslagen, 1990:1144), the manager of the burial ground is ordered to obey. In my design I aim to fulfill any requests regarding the place of burial that have been raised during my study. I have chosen the history of burial grounds as my starting point and will subsequently discuss their significance in today's society. I describe what distinguishes the burial ground throughout history from medieval times and onwards. Tradition and religion are closely linked regarding burial Rituals.

The aim of this thesis has been to discuss whether remainders of colonial influences exist within the UN's definition of torture or not. The discussion has been presented from a postcolonial point of view, in dialogue with contemporary power critical theorists. In order to raise awareness of a potential colonial influence, the following questions were intended to be answered:?                                        Are there any reasons, if so ? which ones, to regard the UN's definition of torture as a colonial project? And;?                                        To what extent is the term ?inhumane? limiting for the prohibition against torture from a postcolonial perspective?One of the most central arguments of the chosen theories is that the term ?inhumane? evokes prejudices that a racializing apparatus within the social norms of the UN automatically produces. These prejudices are, according to the theorists, influenced by images of people in non-western and non-secular (especially muslim) societies as more prone to exercise ?violence? and ?cruelty? towards their own citizens as well as towards the population of the world in general.

Denna uppsats behandlar varför, hur och på vilket sätt fem personer - två kvinnor och tre män födda på 1980-talet - har sett på komediserien Friends; Vänner i svensk översättning. Materialet till uppsatsen utgörs av en transkriberad fokusgruppsintervju med de fem respondenterna, av vilken jag har gjort en tematisk analys. I uppsatsen söker jag även svar på vad serien har betytt för respondenterna, hur själva tittandet på serien har gått till samt huruvida detta kan ses som en medieritual såsom en sådan definieras av Nick Couldry i boken Media Rituals ? A critical approach (2003).Uppsatsen tar avstamp i begreppet mediatization; medialisering i min svenska översättning, som av Johan Fornäs definieras som den process där media fyller mer och mer av vardagslivet, kulturen(1995: 1). En följd av medialiseringen är att kulturella texter blir allt viktigare för människors identitetskonstruktion, hur vi relaterar till varandra och vår kunskap om världen omkring oss (ibid.

The subject of this thesis is the history of the library at The Göteborg Museum of Art. The aim of the thesis is to depict and analyze the emergence and the expansion of the library?s holdings until 1939. To fulfill the aim, two questions are asked. The first question is: Is it possible to argue that the library?s holdings were collected to document the entire world of art? The question is formulated in relation to a comment by Susan Wyngaard.

A church in rural Vester Egede from the earliest Christian period in Denmark e.g. the early 1100, a baptismal font is found showing a woman breastfeeding two animals. She is said to be a typical early roman Luxuria, in mild appearance. However, what makes her unique is that she appears standing on the top of her head, her womb serving as font. The main question is how come that a baptismal font like this is to be found in a church, leading to the sub question, if this font really has a Christian origin or could it be rooted in Norse, pre-Christian tradition, alternatively is the font an expression of a syncretism between the two colliding cultures.

The aim of this Master thesis was to examine news journalism covering expressions of mourning related to violent or unexpected deaths. What Rituals for mourning are brought out in media and do media present guidance to how mourners should behave? The questions examined were: What characterised news events that leaded to texts on expressions of mourning? How was grief framed? Which narrative patterns were there in the texts? How was the deceased represented? How were the mourners represented? 165 texts, from Swedish daily newspapers, covering 93 different news events were analysed. The methods were mainly discourse analysis with focus on identities and relations, but also semiotic analysis with focus on staging and symbols and narrative analysis with focus on patterns for storytelling. The result showed that a news story about ordinary people expressing their feelings of grief has elements of melodrama. The news story is based on the myth of the victim, and formed as a typical story where equilibrium is disturbed when the inconceivable happens and the mourners can by their actions restore equilibrium.

AbstractA Problem to Every SolutionThe Corrymeela Community, René Girard and the ambiguous pluralismThe main purpose of this study is to examine how Girard´s ideas of society, culture andreligion have become part of the reflexion in the praxis of Corrymeela Community through the work of Roel Kaptein and how this praxis can shed light over the work with dissonances of faith and values in education in RE, Social Studies and other subjects.In earlier publications I have studied how dissonances of faith and values can beunderstood in educational settings and in connection with issues of interreligious dialogue.The extensive discussion of how differences in culture, religion and value in a pluralisticsociety are to be analysed and treated in pedagogical reflexion seems to increasingly occupyactors in different parts of the educational system. It is obvious that these issues also arebrought into focus as an important field of research. My main interest in this paper is to study how a reconciliation group in the middle of the conflict in Northern Ireland has developed a view of conflict reason and conflict resolution under the influence of the French researcher René Girard and what aspects of this study that can improve the reflection over pluralism and dissonances of faith and values in everyday praxis in education.For a period of more than a decade I have been in contact with actors in the peace process inNorthern Ireland in connection to different educational projects. The attempts to analyse the different aspects of ?The Troubles? and the efforts to find ways out of conflicts and civil war are many and the literature on subjects related to these tragic history of social, cultural and religious conflicts is difficult to survey.