This study examines how the American comic book industry?s output is addressing the issue of Islam and in which manner the portrayal of Islam in the great American comic book universes have changed since 2001. The comic books are examined from the postcolonial perspective as formulated by Chandra Mohanty and the power and resistance-perspective as formulated by Michel Foucault. Examination of the comic books reveals far greater focus on universal values, orthopraxy and inclusive perspectives than it does on dogmatic teachings, orthodoxy and sectarianism while at the same time partly relying on generalizations and archetypes concerning Islam. To change the power balance requires what I call intervention from the objective, that is to say that ambiguity regarding Muslim characters has to be eliminated by the narrative.

In this thesis, the Swedish venture capital market and its profitability is analyzed. Venture capital is defined as capital that is invested in the early stages of a company's life cycle, in the two investment stages seed/start-up and expansion.A common view is that the profitability of Swedish venture capital has not been, is not and will probably not become high either. With this in mind, we try to answer to the following questions in this thesis:? What has the profitability of Swedish venture capital actually been historically?? Which reasons could be found in order to explain the historical returns for Swedish venture capital, and which factors has been identified in international comparative studies between venture capital markets?In order to answer these questions, data showing historical returns for the Swedish, European and American venture capital market has been gathered, an extensive literature study has been performed, and three interviews with participants from the Swedish venture capital market has been conducted.We conclude that the historical returns of Swedish venture capital is in line with the general view that they have been low. We also see a trend where Swedish venture capital funds that are not specialized in one investment stage generate lower returns than more specialized funds.

Piratkopiering i Kina har varit ett ämne som flitigt debatterats internationellt de senaste åren. Denna uppsats ämnar analysera åtgärder vidtagna för att implementera immateriella rättigheter i Kina i en ekonomisk, politisk och historisk kontext. Sedan Kina gick med i WTO har landet varit tvunget att ändra sin lagstiftning inom många områden, speciellt rörande immateriella rättigheter. Positiva och negativa aspekter av full implementering av dessa regler i Kina analyseras även..

The aim of the study has been to explore what participation and hope means for persons with disabilities living in an institution called Horizon House, in Stellenbosch South Africa. The aim has also been to discover the South African approach to disability and how Horizon House fits into this approach. Horizon House is an institution and a protective workplace in Stellenbosch for adults whose main impairment is of an intellectual nature but there are also physical and emotional disabilities. Another aim has been to explore the perspectives of the residents. The research questions of the study are: ? What does participation imply for the residents of Horizon House?? What does Hope represent for the residents of Horizon House?? What importance can hope have for people with disabilities, in their approach towards increased participation? We travelled to South Africa during a two week period in March 2009, where we participated at the protective workplace of Horizon House.

This thesis examines Jews and Catholics views on immigration to the United States in the late 19th century. It is qualitative analysis of how immigrants and immigration is treated in two different magazines, The American Jewess and Catholic World. The findings are then put in the context of contemporary nativist ideas. This thesis states that both The American Jewess and Catholic World are, principally, in favor of immigration and do not want to restrict immigration at that time. Catholic World is somewhat more open to the idea ofdiscussing harder immigration laws but the overall tendency in both magazines is that immigration is not a problem to the United States.

This paper aims to analyze the effect of the American Subprime crisis of 2007 through the perspective ofHaynes Minsky?s model according to Charles Kindleberger. The investigation revolves how the anatomyof a financial crisis develops and how it is applicable to the Subprime crisis. More specific conclusionsare derived from applying Minsky?s model to the three largest American indices; Dow Jones industrialaverage, S&P500 and NASDAQ.To deepen the analysis the Case-Shiller home price indices acts as a second parameter tocompliment Minsky?s perspective with Robert J.

The purpose of this essay is to see if villages or bigger settlement locations can be found in south-eastern Blekinge during the viking age. There have been many archaeological findings from this period in Blekinge, for example grave findings, ring-forts , old roads and ancient harbors. But no evidence of a village has been found yet. If south-eastern Blekinge is compared with the area surrounding Järrestad on Österlen in south-eastern Skåne and the area surrounding Sorte Muld on Bornholm, many likenesses can be seen. In this essay, the findings in Blekinge will be used as different components when the three areas are compared with each other.

In todays sociaty the use of information systems is wide spread and many corporations and buisnesses both in large and small spread make use of more advanced and sopisticated systems. Larger corporations have their own IT sections that maintain and updates their systems on a daily basis. They have the money and resources for it by how do the small businesses coop with it. How satisfied are the small businesses that are maybe runing on systems that might not be supplying the needs that the business is in need of. In this paper we investigate this question in the form of a questionnaire.

This paper aims to analyze the effect of the American Subprime crisis of 2007 through the perspective ofHaynes Minsky?s model according to Charles Kindleberger. The investigation revolves how the anatomyof a financial crisis develops and how it is applicable to the Subprime crisis. More specific conclusionsare derived from applying Minsky?s model to the three largest American indices; Dow Jones industrialaverage, S&P500 and NASDAQ.To deepen the analysis the Case-Shiller home price indices acts as a second parameter tocompliment Minsky?s perspective with Robert J.

The aim of this thesis is to discuss and analyse the American cotton subsidies? effect on the world market in general and developing countries in particular. The amount of U.S. subsidies is substantial compared to most other countries, but a great deal of the effect is due to the USA?s significant share of the market.

South Africa has been among the top ten wine producing countries for at least 20 years. Even though the land under grapevines is decreasing globally it is still increasing in Africa. The awareness of environment has strengthen the last years and South African producers experience a high demand of environmentally friendly produced wine, especially from the European market. This demand was the driving force behind the development of the world unique sustainability certification, Integrated Production of Wine (IPW), which is inscribed in the South African legislation. What makes this certification unique is that consumers can trace their product all the way back to the farming practices owing to the identity number specified on the IPW Integrity & Sustainability seal on certified products.

The controversial phenomenon of ?seeker-oriented? megachurches are currently transforming the American religious landscape. These churches, some housing up to 30,000 worshippers every week, are targeting religious seekers as their primary objective. Their success in attracting and converting those who usually wouldn?t even think of attending church can in large parts be explained by changes in liturgy, the removal of visible theological discussion and use of shopping mall styled buildings, designed to make the religious seeker feel like home.

I denna uppsats behandlar vi projektplanering med Visit South East Sweden, ett samarbete mellan Ölands Turist AB, Destination Kalmar, AB och AB Glasriket, som praktikfall. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur aktörer inom ett samarbetsprojekt arbetar för att alla medverkande ska sträva åt samma håll och undvika konflikter inom projektet. Vi undersöker vilka de viktigaste faktorerna för ett lyckat samarbete är samt huruvida det finns konkurrens trots samarbetet. Vi har arbetat enligt kvalitativ metod och utfört intervjuer hos de berörda företagen. Resultatet av vår studie har visat att det är viktigt att fokusera på företagets, eller projektets, interna styrkor, såsom kommunikation och planering för att lättare kunna hantera de externa faktorerna som inte är påverkningsbara i samma utsträckning som de interna.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the handling of difficulties encountered by Swedish managers in Swedish subsidiaries in South Korea. By identifying the most common and possibly most manageable difficulties specific to the market we categorized them into three different groups; external difficulties, internal difficulties and difficulties related to the leadership. Depending on where in the environment and in relation to which stakeholder the difficulties originate the managing process comes to be supported through sometimes contradictory theories. Our study implies that the proper handling is crucial to satisfy local expectations which are critical for survival of Swedish companies. It also implies that the leadership skills acquired by the Swedish managers combined with the level of acceptance for foreign managers among the Korean coworkers affect how influential the manager?s ambitions are.

The aim of this master thesis is to analyze how and why Scandinavian-American history has been used in exhibitions in both Scandinavia and the United States after the end of the Great Migration. More specifically, the thesis deals with the Swedish and American exhibitions of the controversial Kensington Rune Stone, discovered in Minnesota in 1898. Despite the fact that its authenticity has been disputed by academic expertise, it has been displayed by many prominent actors. The Rune Stone is one of many purportedly pre-Columbian artifacts found in the United States. Moreover, it is an identity marker, harboring many kinds of identity constructions. The thesis therefore focuses on the meanings that the Rune Stone has been charged with since its discovery, as historical culture and in specific exhibits, on how it has been displayed, and on why it has been exhibited at  national museums in both Sweden and the United States. The principal source materials are five exhibitions of the Kensington Rune Stone.