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..

The aim of this study is to find out if there is any difference between how a state-owned company and a publicly listed private company communicate its sustainability performance in its sustainability report. It also aims to find out if the communication regarding sustainability has changed over time. The poll was conducted in two Swedish companies, Sveaskog AB and AB SCA, operating in the forestry industry and through a quantitative content analysis, the companies' sustainability reports from 2005 and 2010 were examined. To get a result, the reports has been examined by the GRI framework (Global Reporting Initiative) and an assessment of the communication was made based on a scale of 0-3. The results has been evaluated based on stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and the growing interest in CSR. The analyses found evidence that there is a link between the form of ownership of the company and how it communicates regarding sustainability.

AbstractGlobalisation has lead to changes on many levels of our society; -industrial, technological, and corporate to name a few. This is an ongoing process which affects the society we live in today. The process is affecting the working-conditions for everyone through the changes of the relations on the working market. The unions have enjoyed a very special role in Sweden for a long time, but that role is now affected by these changes. The relationship between state and unions is changing, and the unions? influence in politics is decreasing.

This study discloses the responsibility of social work for the Swedish welfare state respective deacons in the Swedish protestant church, which roll the Swedish protestant church have in the existent welfare and also if deacons experience any expectations and how these expectations in that case are expressed.The aim of this study was to investigate the relationbetween deacons working within the Swedish protestant church and social work, as it appears for professional deacons. The method of investigating the questions raised by the aim of this study has been qualitative analysis of answers derived from six deacons working in different workplaces. The data derived from these interviews was then analysed through the theory of Gösta Esping-Andersen about welfare states and also through background research and earlier science research about the social work within the Swedish protestant church and other social work. The result of the study show that the welfare state in Sweden has the comprehensive responsibility for the citizens. Deacons working within the Swedish protestant church does not have the same responsibility.

The Swedish reindeer husbandry has had economic difficulties for some years. Due to this, and the fact that the reindeer husbandry plays an important role in Sámi culture, the Swedish state has chosen to support the industry. If these grants where to be withdrawn, the reindeer husbandry as well as the Sámi culture would decrease, which would cause welfare losses for the people living in Sweden. The aim of this study was to elicit what the Swedes are willing to pay to maintain the amount of reindeer husbandry and Sámi culture. By using Contingent Valuation and a survey the willingness to pay was estimated.

Nowdays an efficient production is critical to achieve for companies competing on the market for steel cutting tools. One of such companies is Halmstad based Tooling Support Halmstad AB that manufactures threading-taps, threading-dies and parting off tools, towards a centralized warehouse in Schiedam, Holland. The large amount of different products, approximately 2500 is a big contributor to the problem along with a new order system that creates a demand of low setup times. Previously the company was forwarded orders through quarter based prognoses which enabled planning of the production over a longer time span. Currently the newer order system ZENIT is in use and the company thereby gets their orders weekly.

This thesis aims at studying the European Union?s actions against applicant states. In this case Turkey has been chosen as a variable, because of its unique applying accession.Turkey is a country which has been applying for a membership of the European Union since 1989 and Turkey is the only state which has been searching for membership for more than twenty years. Turkey has been given a lot of critic of not fulfilling the political criteria of the Copenhagen criteria?s.

Imperialism has for a long time been an important concept in international relations. The literature identifies many different types of imperialism. After the great de-colonization scientists stopped discussing ?classic? imperialism, i.e. using physical strength in the form of conquest and occupation to subdue weaker states.

This Masters Thesis is about the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs and the arms length principle. The principle is used to explain the separation of power between two parts with a common interest. The main purpose is to elucidate if, and if so in what way, the arms length principle can be used to explain the relation between the National Council for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Culture, i.e. the Swedish government, but also to examine the structures of power and relations within the Council. In the thesis we show that in the field of cultural policy the content of the arm lengths principle varies due to the many interpretations of the meaning.

There are three main purposes for this thesis; the first is to distinguish the possible violations that can occur in time of natural disasters. The second is to analyze if there is a correlation between political systems and how the effected country handles the aftermath of a natural disaster. The third purpose is to determine the role of the global community and what responsibility lies with them. The issue is often that the aid becomes the main object for discussion and analysis, but the focus rarely shifts to the effected State. Therefore the focus in this essay is the political system and how they cope with the human rights violations that can occur in a time of natural disaster.

The point of departure for this essay is the observation that themunicipality of Lund is giving priority to handicap associations overother forms of associations. This act can be regarded as trespassinginto the realm of civil society. In respect of this, two aspects appearto be particularly interesting to explore. The first is to determinewhich perspective of freedom the municipality of Lund holds. Ireconstruct how the liberal and the communitarian state relate to thenegative and the positive freedom.

This thesis deals with the legislative problem of thin and thick capitalization of subsidiary companies situated abroad. This kind of companies are often used for tax planning purposes, as means for transferring company profit from a high tax state to a low tax state. Today, the legislative flora around the world mainly focuses on the question"how low/high can the capitalization level of the company be, before thin/thick capitalization can be considered to be at hand?". Instead, this thesis raises the question"how far from the optimal capitalization rate is a probable capitalization level for a company, and can this be an alternative approach to legislation?".

Globalization is one of the most popular catchphrases in the international relations debate today. Globalization is a complex concept with as many definitions as authors. National borders or jurisdictions do not control the phenomenon, instead, it is moving without restraints from region to region. Is this a threat to the sovereignty of nation-state and an end of the system of Westphalia? Does the globalization undermine the nation-state by increased factor-mobility, less tax revenue and participations multilateral co-operations, as the globalists think? Or is it strengthens its importance by offering better allocation of resources through free and healthy competition, as the skeptics believe.The aim of this thesis is to analyze theories of globalization by applying them on Sweden and the Netherlands.

This essay contains a comparative analysis of Erik Olin Wrights Marxist class analysis and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negris post-Marxist class analysis as presented in their books ?Empire? and ?Multitude: War and democracy in the age of Empire?. I discuss the shift in analytical focus from state level to global level that Hardt and Negri's analysis represent and the ensuing relevance of this for contemporary class analysis. The essay also address the challenge and implications posed to class analysis by the ever increasing economic globalization, from a material production to an ever growing immaterial service economy and the decrease in state power in controlling capital and labor movement. I propose that analytical understanding of class conflict help us to a better understanding of the mechanisms and dynamics that generate social and economical inequalities and that an updated Marxist class analysis still have much to contribute to our understanding to how these issues not only shape our society but also our capacity to counteract them..

Container Security Initiative was launched in 2002 by the US Customs and Border Patrol in order to secure the global flow of containers destined for USA. This thesis attempts to analyze Container Security Initiative in relation to a possible future scenario made by the weapons industry where the state's global traderoutes are being subject to militarization. A development which is partly based on the threat posed by global illegal trade. The latter is discussed and defined based on current research made by Carolyn Nordstrom, Moíses Naím and theories on the cosmopolitan perspective made by Ulrich Beck. Strategy documents concerning Container Security Initiative are then analyzed in terms of discourse to try to say something about what the program indicates.