AbstractThis paper is a comparative study of the final reports of the Norwegian and Danish power studies performed in 2003. While the Danish study found that democracy is thriving, the conclusion of the Norwegian power study was that democracy is in a crisis. The purpose of this paper is to find explanations to why the studies in two Nordic countries arrived at such different results.Methodologically, the paper consists of an ideological text analysis and critical analyses of the discourse. In order to study how the results of the power studies can differ so considerably, the following aspects have been surveyed; 1) external contexts (government inquiries); 2) work process (the researchers? background, role and co-operation); 3) the problem areas and themes studied; and 4) power perspectives.

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.

This essay is a comparative analysis of ideas about how Islamic terrorism is understood in terms of narrative. The narrative being studied is Occidentalism, Orientalism and postcolonial theory; based on these perspectives are possible explanations analyzed of what Islamic terrorism is all about..

How the Eucharist?s motive of communion in combination with Lögstrup?s ethics could motivate a non-alcoholic sacramental wine in the Church of Sweden.The purpose of this essay is to illuminate the meeting between the person who gives out bread and wine in the Eucharist and the person who receives the wine, from tree perspectives: the communion in the Eucharist, the ethical demand of K.E. Lögstrup, and today?s knowledge of alcohol and it?s negative effects on the human being. I want to study how these three perspectives can affect the interpersonal meeting in the Eucharist when it comes to giving out alcoholic wine, and to investigate if Lögstrups ethical demand could be used by the Church of Sweden when to decide about a sacramental wine with or without alcohol.I have started to study K.E Lögstrup and his theory about the ethical demand, and then researched the Eucharist in the Church of Sweden and the results of recent sociological and medical research of alcohol?s effect on the individual and on society.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, analyse and interpret the educational ideals of the ABF (Workers Educational Association) as they are understood by five members within ABF. The paper also examines how the educational ideals are represented in the national guidelines and statues of the ABF. The basic Theoretical perspectives are intercultural theory and theories about Bildung and adult liberal education in a multi-cultural pedagogical environment presented by Bernt Gustavsson and Hans Lorentz respectively.The empirical study consists of five semi-structured interviews and a text study of the official documents of the ABF. The data is interpreted with hermeneutic and semiotic tools. Organisational theory focusing on organizational culture has also contributed to the study.The result of the study, when analysed in accordance to the methods, shows mainly four things.

The climate crisis represents a serious threat to both people and nature and it will exacerbate existing inequalities, especially for women and girls who are most at risk yet have contributed least to the problem. Climate adaptation is critical to addressing the challenges of climate change, and it requires integrating a gender perspective to take into account the specific vulnerabilities faced by women and girls, as highlighted in the Paris Agreement. This study examines the implementation of gender perspectives in Swedish governmental climate change adaptation strategies. By applying a qualitative content analysis to 24 government agencies? action plans, the study investigates how gender equality is addressed in the context of climate change adaptation.

The aim of this thesis is to study the possibility of the existence of a specialist in bone tools manufacturing during the Mesolithic. The thesis describes the climate during the Mesolithic, argues for an experimental approach, and describes social organization in hunter-gatherer-groups and the processes behind cultural transmission. It also gives some examples of excavation sites in Scandinavia. An experiment simulating a teaching situation is made, in addition to the theoretical information, with the intent to explore how advanced the crafting of bone really is. The physical result is then studied and documented.

The purpose of this essay was to examine the different aspects of motivational work with active heroin-using clients from a social workers point of view. The further purpose of this essay is to also examine what the advancements and discouraging factors in such a motivational work might be. To attain this purpose we focused on these following questions:What might motivational work with active heroin-using clients look like?According to the social worker, what factors constitutes for a beneficial progress in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?According to the social worker, what constitutes for discouraging factors in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?We chose to do a qualitative study by conducting separate interviews with six social workers working in a social services agency, all of whom are working with drug-addicted adults. We then analyzed the answers by using an abductive research strategy, testing the collected empirical data against our chosen Theoretical perspectives.

The main aim of this study is to investigate which structural ideas that lies behind the European Union?s marine operation Atalanta that has been put into motion to counteract piracy and robbery outside the coast of Somalia. In order to do this, we have with the use of the theory of weak states, intervention as well as sovereignty, investigated EU?s document in the question with the use of the idea centered analytical method. The questions that has guided this study, lies both on an empirical and theoretical level.

Our aim with this essay is to examine if social work in the care of elderly tends to be salutogenetic or patogenetic oriented. A salutogenetic oriented activity means that the social workers focuses on the elderly peoples individual possibilities, and collaborate with the receiver of care in order to offer him or her aid and resources for meaningful living conditions. A patogenetic oriented activity on the other hand means that the social workers focuses on the elderly peoples most primary needs, their illnesses and to introduce adequate treatment. We also examine if social workers in the care of elderly tend to prefer male or female characteristic features in the receivers of care. Finally we wanted to find out if there were any gender distinctions, if the appraisal of aid were more affected by a male or female receiver of care.

The aim of this study has been to examine, describe and analyze how masculinities can be represented and understood among boys in a Swedish primary school context. The study was conducted within a school located in a small community on the country side. Through the use of a qualitative research design we interviewed 13 boys from the fifth grade of this school, who all got to express and reason their perspectives of what it meant to them to be a boy in primary school and how that could impact their social life. For a wider understanding of the different dimensions of masculinity we used R.W. Connell's (2008) theoretical framework, hegemonic masculinity, which implies that there are multiple definitions of masculinities that are constructed in relation to each other in a hierarchical order.

In the school political debate that is conducted in Sweden the question of grading is an ongoing topic of discussion. During the past year there has been a lively discussion about introducing grade from year four as suggested by the right wing parties. The purpose of this study is to set the teaching faculties? view and arguments in relation to the politicians' opinion in the ongoing debate about the proposal of introducing grades from year four. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate how central the didactic arguments are in relation to other arguments in the current debate.

The main objective of this thesis is to study how the structures of a sell dialog, via a web shop, should be designed in order to support and inspire the customer. To get the answer to this question I use a qualitative and quantitative method. The qualitative method is applied in connection with different interviews. The quantitative method is used to analyze different answers given from those who are interviewed. I also use the deductive method due to my interest of studying how reality can relate to the theories with the choice of the subject.Moreover, this thesis is structured by three main perspectives; company, customers and techniques.

This study focus on how physical and virtual meeting places may promote collaboration between firms and academia for the development of innovations. A case study was conducted on a meeting place that aims to support collaboration for the development of innovations in eHealth between different actors in the Linnaeus region. Data was collected through 6 interviews, whereas 3 with scientists and 3 with entrepreneurs. The data was analyzed based on a theoretical framework based on different perspectives on collaboration and networks, meetings and interaction and, physical and virtual meeting places.The results show that the purpose for collaboration is to be included in a network with other actors in the same area, gain increased knowledge of the subject area and to acquire new external contacts. Furthermore, in order to support collaboration, physical meeting places have to organize effective and interesting meetings.

This joint study has researched the use of non-European history in a Swedish textbook for the High School course History 1a1 as well as internet based material regarding the same issue. The aim of this study was to clarify the use of non-European history in regards to the Eurocentric theory.As for the textbook analysis the purpose was to research what non-European history was mentioned in the material with regards to geographical location and the events that were mentioned, as well as to study how much non-European history was included in the material compared to European or Western history.The study of internet based material aimed to show what kind of teaching material could be found on internet based databases by and for teachers. The study aimed to show how well the material handled non-European history, as well as to what degree the material used European perspectives when dealing with non-European events and geographical areas.In our thesis we have created our own definition of the theory regarding eurocentrism. The method used was a combination of a quantitative and a qualitative discourse analysis of the texts.Our results showed that the textbook was overwhelmingly Eurocentric, not only giving vastly more focus to the European parts of world history, but also using European perspectives and ideals to describe non-European events and areas. The internet based material, on the other hand, proved more diverse and less biased, but also more difficult to find and less plentiful.Our conclusion, then, is that teachers have to choose between the risk of letting their students develop a severely limited and heavily Eurocentric view of the world, and the additional workload required to find and organize non-textbook material to broaden their students horizons.We hope our study will contribute to the discussion of the place of Eurocentrism in today?s global and multicultural society..