This research was conducted to study the social integration of Syrian refugees in Sweden and their feeling of inclusion in the Swedish society, or exclusion from it. The research also targeted illuminating and analyzing potential reasons for the social exclusion of some Syrian refugees according to first-hand experiences, perspectives, and opinions collected by semi-structured interviews with 10 informants who left Syria due to civil war and sought asylum in Sweden. This paper serves as a platform on which voices and views of Syrian refugees were echoed, and conclusions on their settlement and inclusion in their new country were based on their own feelings, struggles, and matters of their social lives. To achieve that, social, cultural, and human aspects were prioritized over mainstream economic and legal aspects as all informants were documented and integrated into the Swedish labor market or education system. 

Nonetheless, the study results have shown a worrying lack of social inclusion that Syrian refugees have experienced so far in their new country, reducing them into underprivileged, ethnic social circles where they had limited access to social networks from different backgrounds, resources, and opportunity. The nature of the Swedish society, as well as the negative image of Syrian refugees, Ethnic-segregated residencies, cultural incompatibility, and racism, were found to be the main reasons behind this phenomenon 

This thesis project explores combining interactive technology and the natural world, through a more-than-human design approach. This project aims to step away from an industry-driven design by valuing plants as equal in the design process. Throughout this report, an overview of the relevant theory and examples are elaborated on. This overview has informed the project in two ways. It formed the foundation of a concept aiming to improve the user’s interconnectedness with nature and it formed the foundation of an evaluation tool developed for aiding designers in design for plants by addressing three design fields: Design for Care, Design for Cohabitation, and Design for Noticing. The concept and the evaluation tool have been developed in parallel and informed each other throughout the project. The final concept contributes to the discussion about addressing more-than-human actors in design. In this case by addressing plant blindness. The evaluation tool contributes to more-than-human design as a tool to evaluate ideas and projects. This project included an extensive analysis of a design collection, workshops regarding the materiality of living plants and assessment of the evaluation tool, an interdisciplinary design approach, and a prototyping phase during which assumptions regarding the concept were tested.

The arrival of AI and machine learning in the archiving world implies a reconceptualization of archival institutions from consisting of archives as records to be read towards archives as data to be mined. This thesis aims to survey and analyse the arrival of AI and machine learning within the Swedish archival sector.

Through the analyses of four archival institutions and semi-structured interviews with archive professionals, this study illuminates the current state of AI in the Swedish archival sector, opportunities and obstacles of AI implementations, and the impact of AI on the Swedish archival profession. Swedish archival institutions have interest in and expectations of AI implementation. Yet, the current level of AI implementation is generally on experimental instead of an operational level. The findings show that collaboration and knowledge exchange are key drivers to accelerate the implementation of AI in the archival sector. The study concludes with practical rec-ommendations for archival institutions and archive professionals.

I denna studie har den zoologiska skolsamlingen från f.d. Visby läroverk undersökts. Syftet var att utreda hur den har förvaltats genom historien och vad den har för pedagogisk betydelse idag. Detta för att belysa de undervisningsideal i skolan och naturvetenskapsundervisningen som har påverkat och fortfarande påverkar samlingen. Undersökningen har utförts genom en litteraturstudie, en intervju och platsbesök till magasinet och museet där samlingen nu förvaltas. 

Undersökningen har visat att samlingen som startades år 1829 vid Visby läroverk idag i majoritet förvaltas av Gotlands Museum. Sedan 1985 har den omhändertagits av naturantikvarier, men innan detta förvaltades den av framförallt lärare och adjunkter. Det sista dokumenterade förvärvet som hittats var under 1950-talet. Under denna tid tycks samlingsförvaltningen ha blivit bristfällig. Stora mängder utländskt material donerades under 1800-talet, medan accessioner under 1900-talet framför allt bestod av lokala arter. Samlingen är idag ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att förmedla kunskap inom skol-och-undervisningshistoria. Den är ett dokument över Gotlands natur och kultur. Idag används den i utställningar för att sprida information om såväl naturvetenskap som kulturhistoria och etnologi.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att belysa vad som sker efter utnämnandet till världsarv av UNESCO, genom att se om och hur strategier för bevarande och utveckling förändrats sedan 1989 fram till idag. Fallstudien har utgått från Hansestaden Visby och behandlar främst världsarvets förvaltning samt de nationella och lokala skydd som finns, tillsammans med en överblick av hur utnämnandet av Visby som världsarvsstad gått till och hur det efterlevs i förhållande till dokumentation och planarbete. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för arbetet har utgått från postmodernistisk planeringsteori och kollaborativ planering samt urbanteori den globala staden. Analyser har dragits utifrån det världsarvsarbete som utförts av UNESCO under nominerings- och antagningsprocessen till att bli världsarv, samt det lokala arbete som utförts av Länsstyrelsen och Gotlands kommun, senare Region Gotland. De båda delarna leder till en inblick av marknadsföringens betydelse för en ort och att de olika utvecklingsfaserna ibland kommer i skymundan då vissa tidsåldrar ses som viktigare än andra. För Visby har det skett under nomineringsprocessen till att bli världsarv. Ansökan som skickades till UNESCO 1994 innehålleren helhetsbild av vad som gör Visby så speciellt, denna beskrivning skalas sedan ner under processens gångför att till sist endast beröra den inverkan som Hansaförbundet har haft på Visby innerstad.

The island of Kökar, located in the outer archipelago of the Åland islands of Scandinavia, is traditionally a society known for its rich culture connected to the living tradition of traditional folk music. In media the island is portrayed as The island of Fiddles. Yet at the same time the number of people actually playing, singing and dancing in the traditional style is declining year by year. With the application of Thomas Turinos conceptual framework on participatory- and performative music making, island culture is analyzed, looking at what wider societal values are expressed within the contemporary musicking practices. The study shows example of different types of musicing contexts, key actors and -arenas, as well as ideas on the connection between music and a Kökar island identity. The essay provides empirical evidence for how different musical events such as a cultural festival, a choir and a fiddler team can contribute to social sustainability, in accordance with Turino's theory of participatory music making as part of artistic citizenship.

Inom bild- och bildkonstämnet har sparsamhet och återvinning ständigt varit en grundläggande del. På grund av de globala klimatfrågorna har hållbar utveckling blivit aktuellt inom alla livsområden, utbildningsnivåer och läroämnen. Denna studie fokuserar på värdet av bild- och bildkonstutbildning som ett komplext verktyg för att lyfta fram hållbar utveckling och dess miljöaspekter. Syftet är att ta reda på vilka möjligheter två bild- och bildkonstlärare, från Sverige och Finland, ser på ämnet i relation till miljöundervisning. Studien fokuserar på två lärares uppfattningar om bild- och bildkonstämnets möjligheter samt de värderingar som styr urvalet för innehållet. Resultatet visar att ämnet bild- och bildkonst har många olika möjligheter när det gäller undervisning inom hållbarhet som ett verktyg för att få fram de nya perspektiv som konst kan erbjuda. Avslutningsvis visade studien att lärares intresse för miljöfrågor ger dem mer inspiration, dock påverkar detta inte direkt innehållet i undervisningen.

This project degree paper is examining, analyzing and discussing the way towards the final interpretation of a piece of music. As a musician, the way to perform music on stage is always accompanied with some doubts and decisions that are made during its way to a concert performance regarding all kinds of aspects while playing. Therefore, this paper is critically viewing the factors that have an impact on musicians along the study of a piece.To be able to present the different factors Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor op. 57 has been analyzed from the point of view of my own interpretation and the interpretation of Shostakovich himself on the piano together with two different quartets: the Beethoven and Borodin Quartet. This in order to clarify and find ways to understand the way Shostakovich himself wanted the music he produced to sound.The study showed that even though Shostakovich was very accurate with his notation in the scores, the music was performed differently depending on the musicians. Music itself is not only produced and generated by the composer likewise the musicians themselves have not only their own thoughts to consider, but also four greater factors: the musician’s technical abilities, the composer’s biography, historical knowledge and the use of both recordings and visuals to receive a more accurate understanding of the music. All this in order to produce an objectively more correct way of playing and to fulfill the intentions of the composer, which also showed can be dependent on the musicians.

This master project degree paper aims to examine, analyze and discuss the road towards afinal interpretation of a piece of music. A performance on stage is only the tip of the iceberg. For a musician, the act of performance is always accompanied with doubts and decisions regarding all kinds of aspects while playing: whether in practice rooms, concert halls or in front of a teacher or a jury. Therefore, this degree paper will view the factors which have an impact on musicians throughout the study of a piece in the journey to infallibility. In order to present these different factors, Nicolò Paganini´s Caprice No. 24 has been analyzed from the point of view of my own interpretation and technical difficulties: from the practice room, lessons, to a master class and finally a performance on stage in front of a jury and an audience (during different stages of the learning and rehearsal process). The study showed that it is multifactorial. Besides thorough technical work, there are other factors involved such as concrete musical ideas, posture and the control of nerves. All this together can be seen as major factors that would lead to an infallible performance of a piece of music.

This exploratory research seeks to gain insight into the visitors of Persian Fire Festival in Stockholm, their motivation, level of satisfaction and loyalty to the festival. The overall methodology is mixed methods consisting of participant observation and 280 completed online surveys including close-ended and open-ended questions. A Grounded theory analysis has been employed. The most important reason behind the participation has been to strive for the recognition of ethnic cultural identity; to keep the ancient culture alive; to maintain their ancestors legacy and transfer it to the next generation. Most of the visitors experienced positive feelings, showed satisfaction and loyalty, believed that the festival fulfilled their expectations and it should be celebrated officially every year. A minority showed dissatisfaction mostly due to the lack of accessibility to the event venue and might are not loyal to the festival. The first conclusion here is that these motivators are totally different than those mentioned by earlier research (e.g., escape, socialization, novelty, rest, prestige, excitement). Even though the desire to preserve the ancient culture and tradition is very strong, a lack of accessibility to the venue would constitute disloyalty and a barrier to re-attend in such a festival.

Denna studie undersöker potentialen för frodvuxen gran (Picea abies) som isoleringsmaterial i historiska byggnader, med syftet att utvärdera sambandet mellan densitet och värmeledningsförmåga. Bakgrunden till studien ligger i behovet av hållbara och effektiva isoleringsmaterial som kan användas för att förbättra energiprestandan i byggnader samtidigt som de bevarar deras historiska karaktär och estetiska värde. Frodvuxen gran har växt snabbt vilket lett till en lägre densitet än lägsta värdet som finns att tillgå i den svenska standarden för olika materials värmeledningsförmågor. 

Metodologin innefattade både laboratorieanalyser och fältstudier. I laboratoriedelen användes ett hot-disk instrument för att mäta värmeledningsförmåga sedan beräknades densitet och fuktkvot. Fältstudierna genomfördes för att identifiera praktiska tillämpningar och utmaningar vid användning av frodvuxen gran som konstruktionsmaterial. Dessa studier omfattade inspektioner av byggnader uppförda med frodvuxen gran och intervju med ansvarig för uppförandet av dessa byggnader för att utreda dess potentiella funktion som konstruktionsmaterial. 

Huvudresultaten från laboratorieanalyserna visade ett starkt samband mellan densitet och värmeledningsförmåga, vilket indikerar att frodvuxen gran med sin lägre densitet har förbättrade isoleringsegenskaper jämfört med senvuxen gran. Fältstudierna bekräftade att frodvuxen gran kan användas som konstruktionsmaterial i byggnader, men pekade också på dess benägenhet till större rörelser vid uttorkning vilket dock går att räkna på för att undvika att problem uppstår vid torkning. 

Slutsatserna visar att frodvuxen gran kan vara ett värdefullt tillskott till befintliga isoleringsmaterial tack vare dess förbättrade isoleringsförmåga. Studien rekommenderar vidare forskning för att undersöka långsiktiga nedbrytningseffekter och materialets fuktegenskaper, vilket är avgörande för dess praktiska användning i byggnader. Vidare bör forskningen även studera frodvuxen grans förmåga som putsbärare, både för ler- och kalkbruk, för att utreda virkets kompatibilitet med dessa material. 

This study aims at exploring the rhetorical processes underpinning condolences, as expressed by Saudi Arabian governmental authorities on social media, with a focus on Twitter. Taking its starting point in January of 2015, when the Charlie Hebdo shooting took place in Paris, this study looks comparatively at several acts of terror in order to answer whether these different attacks elicited different responses, and if so, what knowledge can be drawn from this conclusion. Furthermore, this study examines the role of social media in public diplomacy, and in the production and distribution of political discourse, especially as it relates to statements of condolences and expressions of solidarity mediated through twitter. In order to explore this, rhetorical criticism (Mral 2008; Foss 2004; Peirce 2003) is combined with pentadic criticism (Burke 1945) and performativity theory (Rosenberg 2018; Zivi 2016; Gregson and Rose 2014) to form the methodology. A key theoretical concept in this study is “grievability,” which aims at understanding why some deaths are grieved and others are not (Butler 2009; Butler 2004; Butler 2003). As this study shows, mourning itself can be understood as rhetoric, serving political and diplomatic functions rather than being an expression of actual, sincere solidarity or grief. This study also shows that tweets from official government sources can be seen as a performance of public diplomacy, and as performative of the official’s own position. Lastly, it is argued that offering condolences are a way to purchase “humanitarian capital,” which is becoming increasingly important in global politics.

This study utilizes ethnographic methods to inquire how ideas of masculinities are perceived by English-language media professionals and media audiences in Egypt. Using semi-structured interviews and a survey, the aim is to find common narratives on how masculinity is perceived on personal levels and what terms are used to describe men and masculinities, which in turn can be used as the basis for further analysis of Egyptian media content. The word “narrative” in itself is used to convey personal experience, and the telling of those experiences, rather than generalizable data applicable to the larger population. Found are several common themes, such as emphasized heterosexuality, and the expectation of men as providers and protectors, which is related, by the respondents, to the nation and the military. Protection and militarism relates to ideas of strength, honor, and courage. Men are almost exclusively seen as possessors of power. The ‘head of the household,’ and the head of state, both portrayed as iconized leaders, emerge as the quintessence of Egyptian masculine identity, whether that identity is contested or not.

This article seeks to move beyond the Euro/North-centrism recurrent in methodological discussions on what we may learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Such debates often centre on uncertainty and involuntary immobility – aspects which are hardly new for many researchers. In this article, we argue that the pandemic offers an opportunity to rethink research relations between what we term ‘contracting researchers’ in the Global North and ‘facilitating researchers’ in the Global South. Such relations are often marked by rampant inequalities in remuneration, working conditions, and visibility/authorship. Drawing upon experiences in DR Congo, Sierra Leone, and India, we argue that the pandemic increased the dependence on – and highlighted the invaluable contributions and skills of – facilitating researchers, in part slightly refiguring bargaining power. We also propose pathways for change, arguing for a strong collaborative approach and the need for institutional change, without discarding the responsibilities of individual researchers.

This study aims to research the implications of Afro-Swedish women's relationship with their hair and how it pertains to their view of femininity and beauty. Four one-on-one semi-structured interviews with Afro-Swedish women were conducted to collect relevant material. During these interviews, the women shared their relationship with their hair, experiences relating to their hair in Sweden, and how and if it has affected their perception of their beauty and level of femininity.

The findings of this study demonstrate that Afro-Swedish women relate femininity to hair that is associated with whiteness, which means hair that is smoother and straighter but also longer than the afro-textured hair associated with black people. The results showed how representations of black women in relation to beauty and femininity were seen as limited by the informants, as those were rarely there to begin with and/or only inclusive of lighter-skinned black women with wigs, weaves, straightened or relaxed hair. All the informants shared experiences of their hair being touched, with or without consent. Through comparison to earlier research, it was found that the experiences and opinions of these Afro-Swedishwomen were more similar than different to black women from the USA for example.

To conclude, this study disproves the notion of Swedish exceptionalism in relation to the racialization and discrimination of afro-textured hair, as well as the not so colorblind representations of beauty and femininity. These results also show that there is a vast amount of information concerning the lived experiences of Afro-Swedish women, relating to hair and other themes, to be uncovered by researchers in gender studies.

In my BA project, I travelled to Tanzania with a MFS stipend and experienced humanitarian architecture up close - by following architectural group Asant Collective´s project in Tanzania: a new Children Centre for a small non-governmental organization called ECONEF. 

I have worked with social questions / responsibilities regarding our role as interior architects in developing countries - often feeling like a anthropologist.

In my design part, I have re-drawed the layout for ECONEF´s planned new orphanage after a analyse of the existing orphanage, culture and traditions.

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur några lärare idag arbetar med faktatexter medelever i tidiga åldrar. Genom tidigare forskning undersöker jag hur fyra grundskollärarearbetar med läsning och förståelse av faktatexter. I denna studie studerar jag i vilkasammanhang lärarna arbetar med faktatexter och när de väljer att introducera det för eleverna.Jag undersöker också vilka lässtrategier och modeller lärarna använder sig av vid läsning avfaktatext med eleverna. Jag har använt mig av intervjuer som metod och samlat in ochanalyserat det material som är relevant och användbart för denna studie. De fyra informantersom valdes till undersökningen skulle vara verksamma lärare samt ha arbetat med yrket iminst tio år för att få en bredd i deras erfarenheter. De arbetar också på två olika skolor. Minstudie visar att för informanterna är faktatexter en viktig del i undervisningen men det finns enskillnad mellan skolorna. En skola arbetar kontinuerligt med ett genremål och har en störremedvetenhet gällande läsning av faktatexter än vad den andra skolan har.

This doctoral thesis investigates popular romance, a mass-cultural genre with a large female audience. Popular romance is often considered ”lowbrow” and is referred to by terms such as ”porn” and ”garbage”. The female reader of this so called “sentimental trash” is often portrayed as naïve and unworldly. The thesis makes this derogatory view of the genre its point of departure, to investigate what cultural understandings of gender and sexuality the critique against popular romance entails. The thesis further investigates how these conceptions of gender and sexuality deviate from and challenge a culturally promoted and normative sexuality.

The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter describes the selection of the empirical material and the theoretical and methodological framework. The empirical material consists of the three novels in the popular series Fifty Shades of Grey and the four novels and five films in the popular series Twilight. The thesis places itself within the field of feminist cultural studies and queer theory. It makes use of the concept of masturbation (both literal and figurative) as an analytical entry point and as a method focusing on the “here and now” of romance reading.

The second chapter contextualizes the study by defining the term “popular romance” and by providing a brief historical overview of the genre. Previous research on popular romance is presented and discussed in relation to the derogatory view of the genre.

The third chapter studies the Swedish media commentaries on Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight to define how the rejected romance reader is conceptualized, and how this romance reader is presumed to be reading. This “romance reader” is thereafter discussed in relation to the Western historical discourse on masturbation, “female illness” and (women’s) private reading. The chapter closes with a discussion on the form of reading that the romance reader is associated with. This self-immersed, excessive and over-invested reading form is defined as “masturbatory”.

The fourth chapter explores the act of romance reading when defined as a sexual activity. The romance community is compared to the “second wave” feminism of the 1970s in order to demonstrate how the genre establishes a separatist female community where relations, positions, and identifications are in motion, revealing both homoerotic and autoerotic elements to this homosocial context.

In the fifth chapter, a close reading of the material is performed with a focus on the “here and now” of the reading situation. The dichotomy of desiring subject and desired object is problematized in relation to looks and gaze. The thesis argues that the romance text uses detailed and intimate descriptions to instill a sexual charge and to freeze the flow of the storyline in order to make room for constant erotic contemplation. These “frozen moments” and the repetitiveness of the genre are discussed in relation to theories of queer temporality. The romance text constructs a room “outside of time” that privileges the overwhelming pleasures of the “here and now”. This liminal room is not only available for the heroine and hero of the story, but for the romance reader as well.

The sixth and final chapter ties together the main arguments of the thesis in an overarching discussion on how conceiving romance reading as a form of masturbation challenges previous research on popular romance and the gendering of and contempt for mass culture.

This thesis aims to explore the video game medium in depth, to relate it to the stories foundon Internet communities about users’ gameplay experiences during burdensome moments inlife. To achieve that, the phenomena is explored through the lenses of Uses & Gratificationstheory by means of a netnography on the ‘/Persona 5’ official subReddit; interpreting, codingand analyzing all narratives that fit the criteria with the help of a proposed ‘USE’ system. Themodel is in charge of classifying the information into explicit displays of ‘Dissatisfaction’,‘Motivation’, ‘Immersion’ and ‘Emersion’. The resulting codification enabled the creation ofeight different types of reports among a sample of one-hundred threads, all in correlation withthe varied aspects of the game that act as categories. The data derived from the conclusions ofthis study shows that players are not motivated to use the video game for any other purposesthan mere entertainment. Yet, the immersive potential of the virtual world addressed theirdissatisfactions and made them emerge back to reality with, mostly, not-sought gratifications. Still, not all players were able to control their video game uses to regulate their emotions,further implying the importance to continue researching cases of media immersion toestablish guidelines of ethical design and appropriate production and consumption practices. 

The article reflects, in a critical mode, on the cultural basis of modern Sudanese visual art as perceived by Zein Alabdin, the late Sudanese art historian.

We explore the impact of age on cultural change through simulations of cultural evolution. Our simulations show that common observations about the relationship between old and young naturally emerge from repeated cultural learning. In particular, young individuals are more open to learn than older individuals, they are less effective as cultural models, and they possess less cultural traits. We also show that, being more open to learning, young individuals are an important source of cultural change. Cultural change, however, is faster in populations with both young and old. A relatively large share of older individuals, in fact, allows a population to retain more culture, and a large culture can change in more directions than a small culture. For the same reason, considering age-biased cultural transmission in an overlapping generations model, cultural evolution is slower when individuals interact preferentially with models of similar age than when they mainly interact with older models.

We use the term regulatory traits to indicate traits that both regulate cultural transmission (e.g., from whom to learn) and are themselves culturally transmitted. In the first part of this contribution we study the dynamics of some of these traits through simple mathematical models. In particular, we consider the cultural evolution of traits that determine the propensity to copy others, the ability to influence others, the number of individuals from whom one may copy, and the number of individuals one tries to influence. We then show how to extend these simple models to address more complex human cultural phenomena, such as ingroup biases, the emergence of open or conservative societies, and of cyclical, fashion-like, increases and decreases of popularity of cultural traits. We finally discuss how the ubiquity of regulatory traits in cultural evolution impacts on the analogy between genetic and cultural evolution and therefore on the possibility of using models inspired by evolutionary biology to study human cultural dynamics.

We call "regulatory traits" those cultural traits that are transmitted through cultural interactions and, at the same time, change individual behaviors directly influencing the outcome of future cultural interactions. The cultural dynamics of some of those traits are studied through simple simulations. In particular, we consider the cultural evolution of traits determining the propensity to copy, the number of potential demonstrators from whom one individual may copy, and conformist versus anti conformist attitudes. Our results show that regulatory traits generate peculiar dynamics that may explain complex human cultural phenomena. We discuss how the existence and importance of regulatory traits in cultural evolution impact on the analogy between genetic and cultural evolution and therefore on the possibility of using evolutionary biology inspired models to study human cultural dynamics.

Behavioral “traditions”, i.e. behavioral patterns that are acquired with the aid of social learning and that are relativelystable in a group, have been observed in several species. Recently, however, it has been questioned whether non-human sociallearning is faithful enough to stabilize those patterns. The observed stability could be interpreted as a result of various constraintsthat limit the number of possible alternative behaviors, rather than of the fidelity of transmission mechanisms. Those constraints canbe roughly described as “internal”, such as mechanical (bodily) properties or cognitive limitations and predispositions, and “external”, such as ecological availability or pressures. Here we present an evolutionary individual-based model that explores the relationships between the evolution of faithful social learning and behavioral constraints, represented both by the size of the behavioral repertoire and by the “shape” of the search space of a given task. We show that the evolution of high-fidelity transmission mechanisms, when associated with costs (e.g. cognitive, biomechanical, energetic, etc.), is only likely if the potential behavioral repertoire of a species is large and if the search space does not provide information that can be exploited by individual learning. Moreover we show how stable behavioral patterns (“traditions”) can be achieved at the population level as an outcome of both high-fidelity and low-fidelity transmission mechanisms, given that the latter are coupled with a small behavioral repertoire or with a search space that provide substantial feedback. Finally, by introducing the possibility of environmental change, we show that intermediaterates of change favor the evolution of faithful social learning.

Domestic work and care tasks have historically been assigned to women and have never been considered as real work, as they happen within the private scene of the home in both its forms, salaried and unpaid. Due to this conception, dating back from the servitude and slavery systems of the colonial era, and rooted in the patriarchal structure of societies, domestic workers have struggled, and still struggle today in many countries to see their rights recognised. They face stigma and lack an institutional back up. In this sphere, Uruguay sets an example, with one of the most advanced legislations on domestic work in the world after a tripartite negotiation that happened in 2006 between representatives of domestic workers and employers as well as the mediation of the executive power. This research aims to see how the change in legislation changed domestic workers lives and what impact these changes had in the social shared thought. It also looks at the collective identity building of domestic workers in Uruguay through the conduction of interviews with members of the domestic workers’ union, the SUTD. Did the legislative change bring about a cultural change? What lessons can we learn from the Uruguayan case?

The Norwegian company Hurtigruten operates ships cruising along the Norwegian coast and has played an important role in tourism for over a century. This article provides a multimodal discourse analysis of the website advertising Hurtigruten’s most popular journey, drawing on a critical tourism studies approach. It aims to answer the question as to what central themes emerge in tourism discourse on Norway, targeted at an international audience. Central characteristics of tourism discourse (Dann 1996), i.e., strangerhood, conflict, authenticity, and playfulness, are shown to be crucial in the analysed material. The paper discusses the notion of authenticity as a performative strategy in the promotion of Norwegian cruise tourism. One central aim of this paper is finding out what and how the notion of “authentically Norwegian” is advertised. The results imply that these topics, and especially the notion of authenticity, are aligned with general tourism imaginaries, which are similar globally.

We show how the type of alcohol consumed is related to the type of entrepreneurship present for economies in Europe. We differentiate between beer-, wine-, and spirit-drinking countries and distinguish between productive, unproductive, and destructive entrepreneurship. The underlying links do not emerge from drinking per se but rather the drinking habits and taste for beverage types capture deep cultural features and cultural similarities amongst the countries. Societies that prefer to drink beer are closer to each other culturally than those which prefer drinking wine or spirits. Therefore, the taste for alcohol type is merely an instrument in explaining cultural and institutional differences across entrepreneurship. Broadly speaking, beer-drinking countries are characterized by higher shares of productive entrepreneurship, wine-drinking countries with unproductive entrepreneurship, and spirit-drinking countries with destructive entrepreneurship. We discuss mechanisms in which the results are found and highlight a new research agenda, emphasizing the potential role of epigenetics. 

Women’s social and economic freedom is violated on both in the private and public life, and this needs to be resolved in order to achieve a society which realizes human dignity. This thesis aims to position the sex work on OnlyFans within the realization of women’s social and economic freedom. Using argumentation analysis through the theoretical frameworks of liberal feminism and radical feminism, this thesis investigate whether the sex work on OnlyFans is compatible with the social and economic freedom of women. The analysis was further divided into the factors of safety, economy, and agency. Based on both academic studies with interviewed sex worker as well as statistic sources on the question, this thesis engages with the question of online sex work with the added elements of the gig-economy and celebrity-influence to fully grasp the scope of the issue and its consequences for women. The findings show that both liberal feminism and radical feminism recognize that OnlyFans have major safety deficiencies which poses a threat on women’s social freedom. Furthermore liberal feminism recognize that the possibilities of economic gain for sex worker women exist, but radical feminism finds that these possibilities are slim and require skills in marketing and technology, and lastly the findings showed that in line with liberal feminism, the free will of sex workers is to be fully realized and respected, but at the same time radical feminism shows that there are elements of coercion and financial pressure present when agreeing to provide certain sexual content and services which does not comply with the realization of women social and economic freedom. 

As museums face conflicting demands on maintaining and caringfor their collections, opening for visitor engagement, and beingmore inclusive in their practice, new approaches are needed tomuseum work. This article introduces a democratic and inclusiveapproach focusing on the relational properties of the artefact–the Method of the Thing (Tigenes Metode). We use interviewswith different museum professionals in Sweden. The methodallows knowledge to emerge from the convergence of differentactors within and outside the museum who negotiate theirexpertise, (professional) roles and technical infrastructure of themuseum by foregrounding the object rather than the curators’story. We use the encoding/decoding model to discuss thestrengths and weaknesses of the method where centring theobject allows for a process of democratisation and polyvocality totake shape, thus allowing divergent narratives to emerge.

Syftet med denna studie är att med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys studeraoch koda regeringens proposition om hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck (2020) där utgångspunkten är att lyfta fram hur regeringen definierar vad det innebär att vara en pojke och flicka i en hederskontext, samt vilka erfarenheter och roller som kan skilja dem emellan. Resultatet av studien visar att flickor är offer för hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck, resultatet visade att även om pojkar kan bli offer för hedersrelaterat våld så uppfattas de också som förövare. Studien visar att pojkar kan ha dubbla roller som både offer och förövare. Studien visar att både flickor och pojkar är utsatta för hedersbrottslighet men procentuellt skiljer resultatet åt då flickorna är utsatta i större grand än pojkarna. Slutsatsen är att införandet av barnäktenskapsbrott som ger upp till fyra år fängelse, straffskärpningsgrund mot brott med hedersmotiv och utreseförbud för att skydda barn från att tvångs gifta sig eller könsstympas utomlands ses som något ljust i Sveriges internationella åtagande om mänskliga rättigheter, då hedersrelaterade brottsligheten innebär kränkning av de mänskliga rättigheterna. Det ses mest ljust mot barnets rättigheter.