Historically the library has owned more than silent, book-filled halls; it has been a center for learning and ideas, a source of both freedom and oppression, in other words, a medium for knowledge, truth, and power. Cultures have been divided into powerful and powerless through access to the library's content; those who have - and those who do not have - access to information determine which voices are heard and which are ignored, thus determining the outcome of the future. This thesis investigates how The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence portrays the relationship between knowledge and power using Michel Foucault's discourse theory. More specifically, how this relationship is manifested through the structures and norms of society, and how the library as a place and institution serves as the means by which this relationship plays out. An established classic like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is placed as a contrasting reference point to help deepen its thematic message of information control and cencurship. Furthermore, the agency of one of the main characters is also examined in the light of Anthony Giddens' stratification model, as an actor with the potential to move beyond the confines of the power structure. The analysis demonstrate how knowledge, truth, and power remain continuously thematically relevant within literature, and how the reality of our time may be better understood through literary contributions.

This thesis explores how the concept of ?legal corruption? manifests itself within the European Investment Bank with a modern approach to the theoretical understanding of anticorruption efforts. This approach conceptualises the idea of complementing theories based on contextual applicability rather than focusing on their competing qualities. The European Investment Bank (EIB), as the world?s largest multilateral lender, is an underexplored yet vital organ of the European Union, which has recently faced criticism for its alleged lack of transparency and dubious application of policy.

The intention of this thesis is to examine "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and its position and functions in the public sphere. Particularly interesting aspects are like the linking of private and public issues, the show's potential as a forum for debate and dissemination of knowledge, and what types of criticism the show has been subjected to. The methods used dealt with the textual aspects of the show. Semiotic analysis and conversation analysis were applied to five episodes and a search of literature was made. The thesis rests on theories concerning television studies and talk shows, in addition to theories on modernity and identity.

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze if and in that case how project Speaking English contributes to improved skills in English to pupils in reading and writing difficulties. The project started out in order to give pupils in reading and writing difficulties an alternative to the regular English teaching. The study was carried out in two nine-year compulsory schools. We have conducted interviews with both teachers and pupils to see what they think about the project. According to the teachers we interviewed Speaking English contribute to improved skills for the pupils and they also believe that their chances to pass the 9th grade will increase.

International regulations target a global reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through the allocation of national reduction targets and the definition of mechanisms to achieve these targets. One of these mechanisms is international emissions trading, these trading programs have been the targets of widespread criticism since they were introduced into the policy-making arena. The point of departure in this study has been that the trading raises questions about morality, since it implies signals, which legitimates pollution. The main purpose with this study has been to find out if emissions trading systems can be morally justified with the method of wide reflective equilibrium. From the study it was found that the moral intuition; it is wrong to pollute the environment, and perform activities, which legitimates pollution, finds support from the different theories within environmental ethics and Kantian ethics.

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.

The aim of this research review is to map research about how children relate to nonfiction, and how adults, represented by parents, librarians and teachers, relate to children?s nonfiction and its possible purposes, and also the similarities and differences between them, according to current research.A theory of three different ways to look at reading is applied to the material concerning adults? views of children?s nonfiction. To show children?s views, themes are extracted from the research material, using an analysis model of four different ways to read.Studies show that most children as well as adults perceive children?s nonfiction in a traditional way as a means to gain knowledge and facts, and primarily related to school work.Nonfiction can also help children with reading difficulties to practise reading, by stimulating their interests. Many children read nonfiction because they prefer to read ?real stories? about actual people and events.

Denna uppsats undersöker hur tematiken i Nils Ferlins lyrik gestaltas i samtliga diktsamlingar utifrån några valda teman. Först undersöks dödstematiken som på grund av sitt omfång delas in i två kapitel, ett där döden ses som en räddare undan livsångest och ett där döden skildras som skrämmande. Vidare undersöks den religiösa kontext som är förknippad med dödstematiken. Därefter behandlas kärleksmotivet och tematiken kring detta. Slutligen undersöks dikterna där samtiden skildras utifrån Ferlins syn på människan och sin samtid.Till undersökningen används ett biografiskt material för berika analysen.

The purpose of this study is to examine the medial depiction of Muslims in the case of Pastor Terry Jones' intention to burn the Quran. Our study is based on theoretical framework regarding an alleged clash of civilizations, how that leads to global conflicts and controls the world politics. It?s also based on the western way of characterize Muslims as violent, irrational human beings, and how mass media have a tendency to depict Muslims as ?the others?. The questions we aim to seek answers to are: How were Muslims portrayed in CNN's and Al-Jazeera's reporting regarding Terry Jones plan to burn the Quran? Which discourses exist about Muslims in each news channel and what are the main differences between them? The qualitative method used is a critical discourse analysis on empirical data consistently of twelve articles.

The aim of this master thesis is to create an understanding of what it can be like to grow older as a homosexual man in Sweden today. The study has an intersectional and queer theoretical approach and is based on eight in depth interviews with men who are aged between 68 and 82 years old. In the analysis I deal with the problem of how sexuality can be inter- preted with the experience of aging. Central to the analysis is the criticism of norms connected to age, sexuality, social- and family life and gay culture.The results show that the norm-breaking sexual orientation of the men affects their life path in terms of how to organize social life, where friends often replace the traditional family. New ways of forming relationships and living their lives imply other obligations rather than the traditional for significant others, which was shown to influence the expectations and outcome of old age in terms of care and support.

Young councillors are currently under-represented in Sweden's municipalities. Young councillors are also stepping down in greater numbers than older members. This paper explores the reasons why young councillors choose to resign from their mission, so to identify possible remedies to the problematic trend of underrepresentation of younger people in local authorities in Sweden.This qualitative essay intends, through interviewing politically-active young people who has left their assignment, to study the reasons for resignations from elected posts. To see what could be the reason I have looked at previous studies and theories about opting out but also tried to remain open to identifying new and emerging trends previously undetected in existing surveys.The results showed that the political assignment proved to be too time-consuming, with young people choosing to spend their time on career and leisure. Those who resign from political life often express criticism towards the Municipal Council; they consider it tedious and many complain of having little influence.

This essay ? Discourse and Dissonance ? deals with Mary Shelley?s gothic novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818). The focal point is the construction of ?Them and Us?, as defined by scholars such as Stuart Hall, viewed in terms of the following categories: race, gender and family, class, and sexuality. Rather than applying an outside perspective, e.g.

The written sources concerning the process of christianization in Sweden has for a long time been limited to two main texts, Rimberts vita of St. Ansgarius and Adam of Bremen´s History of the bishops of Hamburg. This is due to a rigid source criticism in the beginning of the 20th century, which put other material ? in particular the norse sagas ? out of consideration. The last twenty years however, new questions have been raised concerning the christianization, partly because of new archaeological findings, new interpretations of the significance of runic stones and the recent debate about the formation of the Swedish medieval kingdom.

This is a qualitative study aiming to examine peoples? experiences when retiring. In that purpose a criteria based sample has been used, participants have been asked in that they fulfilled the criteria?s to be a retiree within the age of 65 to 71 years of age. The reason of the age criteria was that the experiences should not be so far away in time.

The role-playing game attracts a growing number of practisers. The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine role-playing literature as phenomenon in libraries through librarians´ attitudes. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with eight librarians: one personal interview with two librarians and six e-mail interviews with six librarians at different libraries. The paper starts with a definition of the term ?role-playing game?, its different categories and genres and a description of its background.