The purpose of the present study is to investigate mindfulness as a New Age phenomenon in the modern western society. Since a religious phenomenon does not exist in a vacuum, but is dependent on its historical and cultural context, my aim is to give a broad depiction of mindfulness and New Age in its wider context, the historical background and the societal implications of common values, themes and concepts that are frequent in the literature, how mindfulness is presented by the authors of popular literature and also how it is presented in science. In order to bring forward a deeper understanding of New Age and mindfulness? role in the modern western society, my intention is to see how the authors of mindfulness claim validity of their doctrines in the discourse. Mindfulness attracts a wide range of perpetrators and is used in many areas in the society today.

In tune with the cross-border trade the infringement of intellectual property rights has become a growing problem in Europe and the rest of the world. In June 2008 negotiations about a new international agreement was initiated between Europe, its member states and ten other countries, which will restrict infringements of intellectual property rights. The agreement is called ACTA, which stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. On January 26, 2012 the European Union (EU) and twenty-two of its twenty-seven member states signed a letter of intent to the agreement and the EU?s internal processes of the agreement began.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the implementation of the Solvency II directive will create a competitive advantage for the Swedish insurance companies compared with other insurance companies in Europe.Therefore the theoretical perspective illustrates the specific requirements and risk culture of the insurance industry and defines the critical success factors for a successful implementation of the directive. The empirical foundation is built on the QIS 5 reports for Sweden and Europe, interviews with the financial services and If insurance company as well as information from a seminar organized by KPMG. The analysis shows that the Swedish insurance companies meets the capital requirements of Solvency II by a large margin and that they are accustomed to risk management and reporting requirements from the traffic light model. This implies that the three critical success factors for a successful implementation of Solvency II are met, although with some limitations, and that Swedish insurance companies could possibly have a competitive advantage.     .

The focus of this thesis is upon how conceptions of globalization is created by the labour-organizations Lands-organisationen (LO) and Svenskt Näringsliv. It is possible to discern two arguments for globalization in the texts, economy and democracy, and it is around these that the discourses of globalization are being constructed. Economy turns into a basic logic in the discourses of globalization. How to perceive the role of economy, as positive or negative, differs. Still, there is an agreement of the influence of economy.

A large part of the Iranian population resented the west, in particular USA and Great Britain, during the Islamic revolution in Iran 1979. The people were also resenting the adverse effects of the trumped up frame made in Iran. The last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was detested by many in Iran for its west-oriented regime. The resentment among many Iranians is a consequence of the violations of e.g. the lack of political and civil rights, there were no existing legal security in the society, there were no economic distribution and the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah violated the human rights.The resolution from an Iranian perspective for riot is not new, during the last centuries the abomination against the despotic kings have been existing varyingly and big riots have been raised.  The Islamic revolution in 1979 was new because the revolution added adverse effects of west, the population detested west and expressed it by protesting through demonstration.  The significance of the revolution in 1979 was also attributable to Islam.

AbstractIn this thesis I will discuss the relationship between the European Union and the regions of Europe. The development of the European Union has meant that many decisions are taken in Bruxelles. Many actors participate in the policyprocess ranging from national goverment to policynetworks of different kinds. An emerging actor has been the regions of Europe. Their influence on the policyprocess have grown and today almost all of them are represented in Bruxelles through Region Offices.

Research shows that Muslims are often reproduced within the context that reinforces stereotyping of Muslims, see for example Otterbeck and Schielke. They are often regarded as a collective group with no distinct individuals and thereby the Islamic religiosity is portrayed as different and deviant from the more secular and private practiced Protestantism that is a common belief in Sweden.The purpose of this work is to study the already existing representation of Muslim women in a Western context, i.e. Muslim women in Sweden. This is done through an analysis of two ethnographic interviews and observational studies, written by researchers in Sweden (Karlsson Minganti and Sultan Sjöqvist) to investigate the existence of an "us and them" mindset. The two ethnographic studies which are analyzed in this work, deal with different types of Muslims: women who have been Muslims since birth and converted Muslim women.

In tune with the cross-border trade the infringement of intellectual property rights has become a growing problem in Europe and the rest of the world. In June 2008 negotiations about a new international agreement was initiated between Europe, its member states and ten other countries, which will restrict infringements of intellectual property rights. The agreement is called ACTA, which stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. On January 26, 2012 the European Union (EU) and twenty-two of its twenty-seven member states signed a letter of intent to the agreement and the EU?s internal processes of the agreement began.

AbstractDoes Geography Matter? A Study of the Bologna Process from a Policy Transfer Perspective.Essay in Political Science (D-level) at Karlstad?s University by Beatrice Högå, Spring 2007Tutor: Susan MartonThe purpose of this essay is to generally see how theories of policy transfer can help us to better understand the process through which the Bologna Process is being spread throughout Europe, and to specially see if geographic placement, i.e. in the heart of Europe, plays a role in how well and how fast the Bologna Process is implemented.To be able to answer the purpose, I have used Evans and Davies theoretical model on policy transfer network to describe the Bologna Process. Furthermore, Sweden and France are the countries being examined when they differ on the independent variable. From there, I have applied an analytical tool, namely process tracing, to examine whether there are differences in the two countries? work with the implementation of the Bologna Process.I have designed six specific research questions:Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to implement the two-cycle system?Have France performed this work earlier?Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to recognize awards and periods of study?Have France performed this work earlier?Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to quality assurance?Have France performed this work earlier?After applying the analytical tool to be able to answers these research questions, the answer to the general question Does geographic placement, i.e.

Since Africa?s decolonization a number of foreign economic actors have begun toemerge in several African countries and they prove a vital role in many ways. China isone of the largest actor and they have a long history of political and economic ties withAfrica. China act primarily in Africa to meet their growing economy?s demand fornatural resources, and by providing aid and trade with development countries in Africathey get important natural resources like oil and iron ore in return.

Background:In Sweden and Northern Europe, cardiovascular disease mortality rates are high. The clinical picture in the Western world is dominated by lifestyle diseases in which individual behavior and attitudes have a significant impact on the health effect. In the society cardiovascular disease is seen as an illness factor and contribution to disability. Conditions for a good life are not only good health also factors such as intimate relationships and meaningful work which affect the person's quality of life.Aim:Lifestyle changes and quality of life for patients, regarding cardiovascular disease.Method:A literature review was made. Eight articles, quantitative and qualitative were analyzed.

The purpose of this comparative study is to investigate if the views of Sayyid Qutb and Tariq Ramadan regarding social structure and religion are possible to unite with western liberal democracy. The basis of the study is the problematizing approaches written by Qutb and Ramadan regarding the possible unity between Islam and democracy. These problematizing approaches are then tested on the political philosophy of liberalism to see if a unity is possible.The result showed that Qutb's view did not meet the criteria of democracy, which wasn't surprising due to his negative views on the system. However, Ramadan's reformist view on Muslim identity did unite with the views of liberal democracy, though questions regarding the possibility of creating and preserving a European Muslim identity in the secular society were immediately brought to attention.The importance in Qutb's view is social equality, unity and submission to God and the importance of Ramadan's view is to create and preserve a European Muslim identity and adapt to the society where you live and participate as a citizen. Qutb's view will not tolerate diversity and one is to keep or convert to the Muslim faith.

This thesis analyzes contemporary Swedish discourse on Russia, i.e. the ways Russia and Russians are perceived in Sweden today. After a summary of historical Western and Swedish perceptions of Russia, and a discussion about the treatment of these tensions within modern research, contemporary Swedish discourse is reconstructed based upon analytical articles in three major newspapers during the period 1992-2007. It is argued that the prevailing image of Russia contains the reproduction of old stereotypes and prejudices. The five major representations of Russia in contemporary Swedish discourse are: non-Western, unreliable, authoritarian, threatening and eternal, with the last one being a meta-representation functioning both as a representation of its own and a mechanism for the reification of the others.

A large part of the Iranian population resented the west, in particular USA and Great Britain, during the Islamic revolution in Iran 1979. The people were also resenting the adverse effects of the trumped up frame made in Iran. The last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was detested by many in Iran for its west-oriented regime. The resentment among many Iranians is a consequence of the violations of e.g. the lack of political and civil rights, there were no existing legal security in the society, there were no economic distribution and the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah violated the human rights.The resolution from an Iranian perspective for riot is not new, during the last centuries the abomination against the despotic kings have been existing varyingly and big riots have been raised.  The Islamic revolution in 1979 was new because the revolution added adverse effects of west, the population detested west and expressed it by protesting through demonstration.  The significance of the revolution in 1979 was also attributable to Islam.

The aim of this essay is to investigate the attitudes towards religion and religious people held by a group of Swedish high school students. The main questions are; what causes these attitudes andhow do they shape the students? encounter with religion and religious people and in what way could religious education help the students problematize these attitudes?The method used is a quantitative method using a questionnaire, with a Likert scale, posing different questions about religion as such, world religion and religious people. The theoretical basis, in order to discuss the result of the questionnaire, is a gender theory and the theory of social psychology.The result of the study confirms earlier studies of youths both in Sweden and Western Europe. The result shows that there is a certain degree of negative attitudes towards religion, most of all againstIslam.