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..

Since 1979 when homosexuality no longer was classified as an illness the Swedish authorities have been working on increasing the LGBTQ community?s rights and living conditions. How is this work reflected within the Cultural heritage sector, especially since the adoption of Agenda 2030. The purpose and goal of this study is to examine whether the cultural heritage sector actively works to include the LGBTQ perspective in their preservation work by using a quantitative method. Through a document analysis and a survey, it examines this on a national, regional and local level within ?sterg?tland county and its 13 municipalities. The study shows that at a national level there are no specific strategies for working inclusively with an LGBTQ perspective in cultural heritage, however, there is almost always a general level where concepts such as equality, gender equality, inclusion and intersectionality are mentioned.

This essay analyses the existence of a literary tendency in Sweden the last decade, which shares many similarities with magical realism. The study includes the work of three writers: Majgull Axelsson with Aprilhäxan; John Ajvide Lindquist with Hanteringen av odöda and Låt den rätte komma in; and finally a short story of Alejandro Leiva Wegner, ?Elixir?.Focus for this work is to expose how these writers use supernatural events/people as a strategy to create a new identity and to effect social criticism, strategies that are common to magical realism.The aim of this work is therefore to clarify generalities about magical realism as a genre and give it a place in Swedish literature and in a changing Swedish society. Furthermore this essay defines a unique term for the genre as adapted to the Swedish reader and with some characteristics of its own: ?övernaturlig realism? (supernatural realism)..

Studien utforskar området mellan den svenska integrationspolitiken som aktivt försöker komma ifrån nationalistiska uttryck och den svenska försvarspolitiken som tycks underhålla dessa. Integrationspolitiken har beskyllts för att ha varit allt för fokuserat på en uppfattning om att invandrare och svenskar har varsin kulturell särart. Detta har lett till en uppdelning om ?vi? och ?de Andra? och därmed integrationspolitikens misslyckande. Studien undersöker spår av denna uppdelning i försvarspolitiken.

  This is a qualitative study aiming to illuminate and gain better understanding of deliberate self-harm. The study has a narrative perspective and is based on three women?s life stories, focusing on a period when they had an active self-harming behaviour. The study examines what the participants experienced as important to the initiation and the cessation of the deliberate self-harm. It is also examining identity performances and turning points which can be discerned in the life stories.

Japan's foreign and security policy has seen some substantial changes as a result of events like the first Gulf war and 9/11th. This has been taken as proof, by some, that Japan is abandoning its antimilitaristic stance and pursuing a more traditional hard power role through military means. This essay aims to explore if these shifts have coincided with any substantial shifts away from antimilitarism, which has had a strong influence on the country's security policy since the end of WW2.To do this I use constructivist theory, specifically regarding the impact of norms and identities on states security policy and briefly look into the problem of actor designation. The thematic focus is on security policy, from a narrow perspective, and thus I examine areas like the input and output to the Japanese military and the actual applications of this force. State identity is used to explore the prevalence of nationalistic sentiments and support for anti militarism in the public opinion and the political elite.The result of this study points to the further relevance of constructivist theory and especially the application of norms and identity.

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors affecting an individual's working life mobility and how this mobility is perceived by the individual. The study has a qualitative approach and the theoretical part is based on Castells', Giddens' and Bauman's theories of modern society and employment in relation to the individual. The study concludes that external circumstances in combination with internal driving forces are the reasons behind changing careers. The process is predominantly perceived as positive, especially education tends to strengthen self-identity. Work in general is regarded as important for a person's identity and new career changes are expected in the future..

The harmonization within EC Company Law has been relativley successful. Despite its relative success; important differences still remains in European company law.The freedom of establishment itself, and the ECJ?s interpretation of the freedom provides European companies with a substantial cross-border mobility. As a consequence of this mobility, together with the differences in national legislation; mandatory rules in company law can be easily evaded. A typical example of this is that a Swedish enterprise, by running their business through a British private limited company, can escape the Swedish legislation on capital contributions when forming a company with limited liability for its members.

Many questions are still left unanswered regarding the period c. 450-700 AD, when hordes of Anglo-Saxon migrants landed on the British Isles and by doing so made the starting point in the foundation of England. Who were these Germanic tribes? The theories of how the migration proceeded are today many. The two major theories today concerns whether it was a question of a mass migration or a gradual migration proceeded by smaller groups of military elite.

ABSTRACTBjelkenbrant, Pernilla, 2006: ANC-galan i Göteborg 1985: en analys av sången Soweto som politisk mobilisering (The ANC gala in Gothenburg in 1985: an analysis of the song Soweto as a means of political mobilisation)The political scientists Abdul Karim Bangura, Ove Nordenmark and Tor Sellström, all believe that there, during the 1980s, existed a strong and unified ?Swedish? attitude against the South African apartheid system, and Sellström points out that this position had a strong anchorage in the ANC gala in Gothenburg in 1985. Over the past few years, singing has been identified as playing a crucial role in the struggle against apartheid. The aim of this study is twofold: firstly it presents a comprehensive discussion on how song is generally considered a tool of political mobilisation, secondly it discusses how that process can be applied to the ANC-gala. Consequently, the theoretical discussion constitutes the initial part of the study.

Children of school age, who have just moved to Sweden can either start in a preparation class or in a normal class. There is no Swedish law or national policy that determines how new children will start and continue their education in Swedish schools. The decision is up to the schools or the communes.This study investigates what kind of educational methods teachers, from a sample of two different schools, are using to educate the newly-arrived students and if these methods are making any contribution to integrating these children into the Swedish school system. The study will raise questions like, how are the new students introduced to the Swedish school, what is the purpose of having the children in preparation class as opposed to normal class, and what methods do the interviewed teachers use to integrate the new children into the school system?Interviews were conducted with four teachers, an associate professor and a senior lecturer in education, who has done several years of research about children from abroad coming in to the Swedish school system.

The main purpose of this essay was to study the program "Nationellt stöd för kunskapsutveckling inom socialtjänsten" ("National support for knowledge development within the social services") from the National Board of Health and Welfare on the basis of how such a development, as represented by the program, could affect clients' possibilities to participation and influence within the social services.To respond to the purpose I used the following questions at issue:* How is client participation and client influence defined in the program?* What arguments for and/or against client participation and client influence are stated?* Which patterns and similarities/differences are possible to discern between the municipalities and universities that participated in the program when it comes to client participation and client influence?The study was conducted as a document analysis. I studied documents from the program both on a national and a local level. The essay uses empowerment theories and theories concerning client participation and client influence. The main conclusions were that on the national level the authors of the documents spoke with caution about their view on client participation and client influence and expressed that it had to be balanced against the rights of the citizens and the social workers for example.

It is important for all companies to be seen on a competitive market. It?s all about positioning yourself so that you?re seen and that you?re are attractive for both customers and employees. A crucial factor to achieve this are how the brand are handle directly by the company it self and by the market. Establishing a brand on the market is not easy and it takes time to establish what the company stands for. To be able to succeed with this you need to have a strategy and a strong belief on the brand.

This essay is about Swedish government cultural policy.The premise is that cultural policy is a form of welfarepolicy. The welfare state has changed and this affects theconditions for the cultural policy. Welfare is funded andorganized in different parts of society, in three spheres thatcan be said to represent society as a whole. These spheresare the public sphere, the market and the civil society. Theaim is to analyze how the national cultural policy appearedin the 1970s, compared to how it appears today.

Media has an influence on millions of people around the world, this influence can be positive as well as negative as a consequence of how phenomena and a certain event are interpreted. Mass media tend to magnify and dramatize events in form of attractive headlines in order to get as many readers as possible. One of the countries that the media spotlight focused on in recent years is Greece. However these attractive headlines, have not contributed anything positive for the country and one can say that it has done more damage than good. In the media the Greeks have been stereotyped, radicalized and labeled as "lazy" due to the representation of media.