The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine and analyze what discourses about children that can be found in three Swedish culture publications, and also to identify the different social roles that are attributed to children in these publications. The theoretical and methodological background is discourse theory, as described by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Additional theory used is social constructionism and Norman Fairclough?s critical discourse theory. Three questions are asked: What discourse/s can be found in these publications? What do these discourses tell us about the view on children within the library domain? What social roles are attributed to the children in the texts and what consequences do these have for the power configuration between children and adults? Furthermore there is a discussion concerning what effects these discourses might have on the direct and indirect reception of children in the library.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to investigate the reading habits of six men who do not read fiction. The reason for my interest is the fact that men statistically read less fiction than women, and that there are few existing studies of this subject. The study investigates why these men do not read fiction, their attitudes towards literature, their reading habits, their leisure-time interests and if they experience fiction from other activities. Furthermore the study includes a discussion of whether or not there might be a connection between the men?s reading habits and their identity as men, as well as a discussion of all of the above in relation to their social background.

We live in a society that has changed rapidly in recent years. The Swedish welfare state identity consisted of structures that had been formed from an emancipatory project. Today, these structures seem to have been erased and replaced by a different form of society. When a society is changing it affects the political, social and economic levels.In this social change Social Democracy seems to have lost its hegemonic position in society and describes itself as standing in a crisis. An effort to modernize the party has therefore begun.

This study focuses on why people not longer want to be a part of a religious communion they have earlier been a part of. To examine this I have made seven interviews with people who have left their previous communions. Together with the methodological and theoretical discussions on discourse analysis, Richard Jenkins discussions on identity and theories concerning the post-modern society, I have made an analysis on how these people consider their previous communions and its members. They refer i.e. to the social control, the ?closed? culture and the non-questioning-culture that constitute the communions and its techniques.

This study aims to describe the conditions, of which some youths who live in a segregated area in Sweden, see as important for their development of an identity. The study have been conducted in a manner where we put the youths own words in focus. The youths are in charge of deciding what they regard as important for their own development of their own identity. In this study we assume certain contexts, of which we base the study. These contexts include the society, the urban districts, the school, the family, and the language.

The purpose of the study isto,based on network theory, systems theory and development ecological systems theory,understand parent?sexperiences of having children with autismspectrum, as well as understand the importance of social networksfor the parents. All of the intervieweeswere mothers. The results showed that it is important to parentsto have contact with other parents who are in the same situation as them. Many of the interviewees had a small social network.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to examine how individuals, part of a rural Christian parish,express their religiosity and beliefs in a Swedish context. Furthermore this study seeksto understand these religious expressions through different views on social construction,secularization and the privatization perspective, such as lived religion, in particular. Byusing qualitative interviews with 8 individuals analyzed with the theories mentionedabove my results show that secularization has provided many individuals with aChristian identity, however, not necessarily a Christian faith. Instead several of theparticipants show a self-developed religious expression not automatically connectedwith Christian religious practices. One of the participants has, despite a Christiansocialization, developed a non-religious identity.

Social movements have long been valuable components of the struggle for a world with true justice. Along with the changing and modernization of society these movements also change, both in their actions as well as in the goals they want to accomplish. Technology is taking a greater part in many aspects of social life, creating new dimensions but also new social divides. This thesis examines how new social movements make themselves visible and affect the world around them through different kinds of networks. For the purpose of this study, we have chosen to study two social movements; the Zapatistas in Mexico, who have become known worldwide for carrying out the first informational revolution, and MoveOn.org, an American grassroots organization that struggles for increased democracy in the US.

The purpose of this essay is to examine Marjane Satrapi?s comic novel Persepolis from a gender and postcolonial perspective. To reach this I have used several theories from mainly three different fields of theory: gender studies, postcolonial theories and theoretical texts which focus on the form of comics.My analysis has shown that idols, heroes and other cultural symbols are important for the creation of the main character Marji?s identity, but that she at the same time has many Marxistic influences. These casts of mind do not stand in opposition, but become an expression for her hybridity.

Weblogs, or blogs, are frequently modified web pages with a series of archived entries, generally in reverse chronological sequence. This thesis focuses on the rapid-growing phenomenon of weblogs and the fact that individuals with a background in library and information science are frequent users of weblogs. Since this is an explorative inductive study the ultimate purpose can be described as to find out what ?blogging? as activity is about. The research questions posed are: Why do individuals with a background in library and information science use weblogs? How does their professional identity affect their blogging? And finally; how do they use the weblog to create networks with other bloggers? The empirical material consists of audiotaped interviews with five informants who are all employed in knowledge work, either as librarians or information specialists.

Begreppet organisationsidentitet har vuxit i popularitet, bÄde som teori för forskare och som strategi för företagsledning. Samtidigt ser vi en trend pÄ den svenska arbetsmarknaden dÀr det blir allt vanligare att hyra in arbetskraft istÀllet för att anstÀlla direkt i organisationen. Men vad hÀnder med organisationsidentiteten nÀr de anstÀllda Àr tillfÀlligt dÀr och dessutom har en dubbel organisationstillhörighet, bÄde till konsultföretag och till kundföretag?Den hÀr studien riktar in sig pÄ konsulternas upplevelser av organisationsidentitet. Syftet Àr att bidra med kunskap till det teoretiska begreppet organisationsidentitet som tidigare inte har inkluderat tillfÀlliga medlemmar i en organisation, som till exempel konsulter i bemanningsbranschen.

The way in which media discusses religion has changed over time. Due to the separation of state and church in 2000, the Swedish state to a lesser extent legitimizes its political ruling with references to religious concepts. As a result, a higher tolerance towards religious minorities can be said to have taken place. This is an ambiguous change however, where critique raised towards religious practices and expressions of minorities also occurs to a higher extent. The public debate is in large part conducted through the media, but is also seen to be produced and reproduced through the media?s discourse.

The aim of this study was to examine how individuals who have left a criminal lifestyle may experience their present life. A symbolic interaction approach was the theoretical framework for this research. Qualitative interviews were conducted with seven individuals who have stated having had and left a criminal lifestyle. The results showed that how individuals experience their present life is highly dependent on individuals? own view of themselves as well as on how others view them.

My essay is fundamentally about an idea. It could even be placed in the study of the history of ideas by the fact that it could be seen as if I am trying to reflect upon how one single idea can get a strong societal and historical impact. How thoughts, visions and then inventions are constructing societies and everything that derives from them. In my text I try to illuminate and connect social theory to our social reality and by using discourse (theory) analysis I try to study central terms in the discourse of surveillance. The question which is of social psychological interest would be that of how the individual in dialectical relation to thesurrounding society is free and how he then would get inflected by this surveillance.

The purpose of this qualitative sociological law study is to examine the relationship between the social services and civil court to apprehend if knowledge about the child's best interest is transfered from social workers to the legal system. This have been done by investigating civil court cases concerning custody transition from biological parents to foster parents according to 6 chapter 8 paragraph in the law of parenting, built upon the legal principle of the best interests of the child. Eight cases has been examined by using a method of qualitative text analysis and categorised into five primary categories and three concepts linked to sections of the law. The material has been analysed through a sociological law perspective, social constructionist theory and attachment theory. The study shows that a variety of factors interacts when it comes to determining what?s in the best interest of the child .