Abstract   The actions of Sweden during the second world war has been richly discussed over the years. Sweden declared itself neutral in the war between the great powers but did not manage to maintain its neutrality. The nature of neutrality has often been discussed; whether it is of a idealistic or more pragmatic nature. Realism, a theory of international relations, would argue that it is of a more pragmatic nature, hence these two are in opposition. Realism also takes credit in claiming to explain how and why a state chooses to act in a situation. The aim of this essay was to, by examining specific decisions made by the swedish government during the Second World War, come to a conclusion whether or not Sweden?s proclaimed neutrality was of idealistic or pragmatic nature, and thereby possibly coming to a conclusion about neutrality in large.It was also to examine the worth of realism as an explanatory theory by applying it to this specific case; to examine its validity.The study was conducted using a qualitative method; presenting empiric facts and then by using a decision model interpreting the actions and results from a realist perspective. The study concludes that realism has explanatory power, although not a complete one.

In the political world of today the discussion of Just wars are very present, since the international law and the UN Charter provides certain rules about when it is justified to go to war (jus ad bellum) and how a justified war should be conducted (jus im bello). The discussion about jus ad bellum and jus im bello derives from the theory of Just war. Both in international law and the Just war theory, focus is on interstate wars were the actors are two sovereign states. Since the end of the Cold War there has however been a change in the way wars are conducted. From interstate to intrastate warfare, where the government in most cases no longer has the monopoly over the warfare.According to these facts, my conclusion is that the Just war theory has to expand and incorporate a focus on the human rights in order to be able to meet the new standards of the new wars.

In today?s modern society with high-speed connections covering the globe people are more than ever finding themselves gazing into the cold lights of the computer screen. On the other side a strange and exciting world yet to be explored awaits. Many are those who spend hour after hour running over green hills swimming in vast blue oceans in the lands of Azeroth, the playfield in the MMORPG game World of Warcraft. In media we often read and hear alarming reports on players stuck in this virtual world, ceasing to play a part in the real world.

In recent years, the characterization of the Third World and its inhabitants in West-originated children?s books has been subject to debate. Media attention around a selection of books has generated discussions on how this relates and aligns with Sweden?s national teaching curriculum. The objective of this study is to explore how a selection of authors, born in Western countries, have characterized and presented the Third World and its inhabitants in its literature.

The main aim of this thesis is to introduce a normative perspective to surveillance studies. I examine how the use of videocameras or CCTV-systems can create a social sorting and, then, try to answer why it ought to be reconstructed based on a normative study.For the empirical analysis I use Foucaults theory about the panopticon, maintained by the psychological subjection of the common citizen in the modern world, together with Lianos theory of a more socio-cultural surveillance in the post-modern world. The empirical examination is, furthermore, guided by a theory that describes the construction of the stranger, which today, is not explicitly excluded, because everyone is a stranger in some way, but rather depicted as the other due to institutionalization.The post-modern society today can no longer be built upon a common or divine moral or norm. Thus, I have chosen a normative method, using a deliberative democracy derived from Habermas, focusing on the communicative practice, that can engage and include every citizen in a democratic process. This is necessary for both deciding whether videocameras should be installed and whom and why some should be under surveillance ? to avoid a social sorting that both can constitute and undermine social trust and increase the gap between the governing and the governed..

This essay is a study of the portrayal of the theme of alienation in Eugene Ionesco's novel The hermit. In my study I examine the different ways in which the theme of alienation is portrayed and how the cause of the narrator's experience of alienation can be found in ideological, psychological and existential conflicts that the narrator has to face. The result is an experience of das unheimliche, a Freudian concept, which is a kind of uncanny detachment that the narrator experiences, when he is put up against an invisible force that lurks in the perifery of the world, which is portrayed in the story. The meaning of the ideological conflict is a portrayal of man's situation in a world that is ruled by capitalism, with marxism as a positive leveler and the meaning of the psychological conflict is a conflict in the narrator's own inner reality. The meaning of the existential conflict is a portrayal of man's situation in a world absent of God.

The aim with this paper is to study Karl Popper?s view on realism and relativism. Further aim is to see whether those ideas have been consistent over the years. The paper argues that Popper since his first interest in philosophy has taken a realistic and antirelativistic attitude. Only his arguments for this position have been developed to meet his critics.Common sense speaks for realism but can neither be proven nor refuted.

The purpose of this study is to gain insight on how art teacher?s reason about what is ?plagiarism? in the subject of art. This study focus on how different art teacher´s reason on the boundaries of plagiarism. What are the rules of duplicating an image before it is looked upon as plagiarism? The five interviewed teachers refer in its reasoning to the main curriculum and the rules of copyright; they also support the negative view of the plagiarism in the world of art. The theory of originality is a theory that deals with the vision of the originality in contemporary time.

This essay examines fans contributions in a transmedia culture. I examine how fans relate and use the fictional worlds in the creations of their own films. The study focusing on the use of graphical elements and character design in some fan films. The examination is done by using two intertextual theories. One of the theory is Lubomir Dolezel theory on transfictional relationships and the other one is Gérad Genette theory on the realtion in transtextuality.

The aim of this essay was to investigate the effects of adopting a site to the UNESCOs World Heritage List. Thefocus laid on the example of the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland, which was the most recent Swedishadoption. With the question of impact of the World Heritage List in mind, the region of Hälsingland became themain focus. The study was made with particular focus on Gästgivars, a farm located in the municipality ofBollnäs, to which the theory of social life of things was applied. The result of the World Heritage was, in the caseof Gästgivars, an increase of the cultural value and social status.This case study has shown that the impact of the nomination has not been immense, but suggests that longtermeffects can show.

Contents:The evolution of today?s computer influenced society has taken giant steps towards virtual reality, game addictions and the possibility of not having to meet the people we communicate with. What is a reality today?To give a more concrete image of our question we?ve chosen the online game World of Warcraft as an example and to describe our connection to an alternative reality. We have performed different investigations, interviewed both gamers and non gamers, all this to give us the opportunity to see if the term reality has started to change in a direction that will allow us to call this alternative world a reality, or if it?s just a world wide phenomena of for example gaming addiction.

The purpose of my work is to understand and examine the reasons why Ethiopia has not developed a larger decline of female genital mutilation, despite their ban on it? A ban that has been operating for ten years should reasonably have reached a greater change than the one Ethiopia has developed today. Based on two different branches of feminist theory, the liberal feminist theory and radical feminist theory, I will try to understand the potential power relationship that can be a immense reason for Ethiopia's continued practice with regard to female genital mutilation. I will examine the liberal feminist approach when it comes to seeing the state as the source of the balance of power that generate inequality in the world between men and women. I will also apply the radical feminist theory on my case study and understand the problem of patriarchy and its already set roles for men and women that we are following in the society today, resulting in gender inequality. The result shows that the radical feminist approach with patriarchy as essential explanation, which articulates that because of ancient traditions and the exercise of power, the amendment must be the changing of power relations between men and women in the private sphere rather than the liberal feminist approach which applies that the state repair the problem..

Syftet med studien har varit att introducera den kognitiva receptionsteorin om textvärldar (Text World Theory) samt undersöka utifrån vilka textvärldar barnen på en förskola i Mellansverige interagerar med upplästa texter.Studien har genomförts på avancerad nivå inom Högskolan Dalarnas lärarprogram där huvudområdet varit pedagogiskt arbete. Detta är en kvalitativ studie i vilken två observationer samt två samtal med barngrupp med åldersintervallen tre till sex år har dokumenterats och därefter analyserats i relation till ovan nämnda teori.Av analyser framkommer att öppna frågor i större utsträckning leder till ett byggande av föreställningsvärldar och även en mer avancerad dialog med den diskurs författaren utgår från, än då givna ingångar är utgångspunkten. Studien visar även på att barnen redan tidigt har en avancerad förmåga till textrörlighet samt att de är multimodala i sitt tolkande av texter beroende på vilka textvärldar de relaterar till..

The purpose of this study was to examine the foreign news flow in Sweden´s largest news agency TT. Since TT has an important position as a news provider to most of Sweden´s local and national news outlets, it was important to examine exactly what their news stories consisted of.The theoretical background of this study consist of theories of news values, agenda setting, dependency theory and the theory about the ?news shadow? a lack of coverage leads to.In our quantitative study we have looked at 506 articles taken from the TT news flow during two weeks In November 2013. We have studied which continents and countries the news origins from, who have supplied the text, the topics of the news, which one gets to speak in the text and what general tone the story has.The study shows that the supply of news follows the criteria of news values. It also shows that in some regions of the world the coverage is almost nonexistent.

The aim with this study was to gain knowledge about how parents who are visual impaired experience and manage the meeting with the world around them. To have children and to be visual impaired creates a complex situation. There is not only the problem how to manage the parenting in technical terms. The disability is also filled with stigma because it diverges from the norms of society. There is not only demands from society about how the parent should behave, the parent also create demands of themselves.