The aim of this essay is to examine whether democracy in St Petersburg isconsolidated or not. Since studies of democratic transition have been rarelyconducted on post-communist cities, this study seems fruitful. Using the Linz andStepan theory, where democracy is considered consolidated when it has become?the only game in town? and Orttung's three criteria legitimacy, politicalpolarisation and policy effectiveness; this essay analyzes people's attitudes,political behaviour, the rule of law and civil society in St Petersburg. Theory isused to interpret the material mainly consisting of two interviews and newspaperarticles.

Denna uppsats undersöker vilka litterära gotiska motiv och begrepp som rockbandet The Cure använder sig av i sin visuella estetik, närmare bestämt i tre av deras musikvideor: "Charlotte Sometimes (1981), "The Lovecats" (1983) och "Lullaby" (1989). Analysen och undersökningen utgår från teorier kring semiotisk bildanalys samt ett intermedialt perspektiv där det tidigare skrivna ordet transformeras till visuella bilder. Andra teoretiska inriktningar som används i denna text är bland annat genusteorier kring receptionen av bilder samt ett psykoanalytiskt perspektiv där främst det undermedvetnas funktion inom den litterära texten granskas. Undersökningen kring och om gotiken utgår ifrån Mattias Fyhr definition av den litterära gotikens kännetecken. Undersökningen visar att The Cure använder sig av typiska gotiska motiv och könsstereotyper i sin visuella estetik men anpassar samt omvandlar gotikens uttryckssätt till att fungera i en postmodern kontext.

The use of technology in today's society is frequent and often necessary, but how, when and where are we supposed to learn how to use it? And if it is such a big and important part of our society, then why don?t teachers get more training in how to use the technology? The purpose of this paper is to examine whether teachers attitudes to technology affects their use of technology in their teaching. In school technology can be a complementary to other material, if teachers have the necessary skills to use technology in a pedagogical way. I have chosen to do a qualitative study in form of interviews and observations at a school outside of Stockholm. The results show that both school and teachers must want to work with technology if anyone will be getting something out of it.

The first aim of the thesis is to analyse the problems of trust, according to game theory, in the Russian market for private pensions insurance. The second aim is to find suitable strategies to solve the problems. Problems of trust have arisen because, (i) buyers of insurance have had negative experiences when dealing with insurance companies and corruption has decreased trust for all players in the market, (ii) incomplete information makes it difficult to separate honest actors from dishonest, and (iii) dishonest insurance companies do not get punished because of corruption and weaknesses in the law. Mutual risk-sharing is a potential solution as necessary conditions already exist in the Russian society. There are groups who (i) share the same type of risks, (ii) are aware of moral hazards, and (iii) are able to control each other.

We live in a society where we are not bound to one place. We are encouraged to be mobile and constantly moving between different locations. The life in a convent is a contrast to this; nuns live at a specific place they are bounded to by vows and can not leave. The sisters in the convent of St. Birgitta, Pax Mariae have promised to stay at the same place and live by the rules of the convent.

This study aim to explore how the conditions of an individual's childhood may affect their coping with trauma. The individuals represented in this study, for the purpose to explore coping with trauma, are individuals grown up under insufficient childhood conditions. This study is based on the assumption that childhood conditions, are a factor of influence on coping with trauma, in a greater extent than it is understood and given credit for in todays society. Our result shows that there is an obvious correlation between insufficient childhood conditions and destructive coping with trauma. There is a need of larger general awareness that an individuals resources for coping with trauma is affected by the conditions growing up.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

The reason why this essay is written can be parted in two, whereas one would be the global trend of urbanization that occurs to this moment and forward, whereas the other would be the debate of how motorism has come to be an issue of sustainable management of our cities and our environment. In purpose to deliver a thorough understanding of how the car and its capacity has come to shape the society of today, and to emphasize the problems it´s brought, a historical survey has been made, followed by the report of problems to the society formed by the needs of the car, discussed in several environmental issues, such as jamming, noise and air pollution. This is followed by the discussion of potential solutions for how city planning could return to the focus of the human scale and perspective, in purpose to correspond with the issue of ways to decrease the car use in towns. In conclusion, the given solutions are discussed, where examples like shared space, investment in public transport, mobility management and the theory of the assembled city are included, with aid from literature, to finally conclude the essay with personal thoughts of how the planning of today, or the given solutions, really are the result of sustainability for city planning from a human perspective.

Narratives about life-changing events like cancer have become more common in today?s society. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether gender patterns in society can also be found in pathographies about cancer, and further to investigate how gender is expressed in these cancer related narratives. Questions were posed on characteristics of the autobiographical cancer narratives, how gender is constructed by the authors of these narratives, and what these narratives say about gender structures? liability to change in the individuals affected by this disease.

This work has treated the subject of gender, with demarcation against the norms regarding appearance and beauty, conveyed by the media and how it affects society. This is expressed through social satire cartoons. This work has also led to an exploration of the importance of a personal drawing style and how it manifests itself..

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the processes and efforts involved in rebuilding the war-torn state of Afghanistan. The examined period span from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, to the elections in 2005. This period, commonly known as the Bonn-process, sets out the initial time for the reconstruction of the state.A theoretical framework, which considers the necessary mechanisms for successful state-building, will be used to analyze Afghanistan's re-building process. The mechanisms include the prerequisite of a stable security environment, emerging from a cease-fire, together with the development of a well-functioning economy, re-introduction of rule of law and rejuvenating civil society.The failure to establish a secure environment has had a devastating impact on all analyzed aspects of the re-building process. It is therefore crucial that the international society continuing to assists the Afghan government in its efforts to strengthen its capacity, in order to improve the security situation.

The purpose of this study is to look into what part libraries take in the integration of mentally disabled persons into the society. What I wanted to know more about was how the mentally disabled persons experience the library. I also wanted to find out what librarians and persons working with mentally disabled persons have to say about the part libraries take in the integration of mentally disabled into the society. The study is based on interviews and literature studies. I have interviewed two librarians, four mentally disabled persons and two persons working with mentally disabled people.

Aim Capoeira is a sport and art form strongly associated with the Brazilian culture. The main aim of the study was to examine how the capoeira is introduced into the Swedish society. Also to study the practitioners and trainers experience around the culture meeting. The questions were the following: What differences and similarities exist within capoeira in Sweden and Brazil? How are Swedish practitioners and trainers from a Western culture affected by the culture meeting? How are the Brazilian coaches in Sweden affected by the culture meeting? Is there a Culture crash between the Brazilian and Western cultures in capoeira? MethodQualitative interviews were chosen as an approach because it was considered appropriate in terms of the purpose and questions of the study.

AbstractAuthor: Josefine KostinTitle: A succesful work of integration? ? a case study of the integration work within the Botkyrka municipalityThe last decades, Sweden has become more ethnic heterogenetic. Generations of immigration have affected the Swedish society in many ways; the language that are spoken at work and in schools, culture and the political agenda etcetera. In 2008, Botkyrka municipality was chosen to be the second best at working with integrating immigrants. On the other hand, Botkyrka has been referred to as a municipality which has failed with the integration of immigrants; for example, unemployments amongst the immigrants and segregation.