Syftet med denna uppsatsen är att undersöka alternativa högermediers gestaltning av politik. Detta undersöks genom att applicera en metod som baseras på gestaltningsteorin - Sak, spel och skandal. Materialet består av politiska nyhetsartiklar från dessa medier under den svenska valrörelsen 2018 (13 augusti till 9 september), som i sin tur antingen klassificeras som saknyhet, spelnyhet eller skandalnyhet. I undersökningen används följande fem sajter: Samhällsnytt, Nya Tider, Samtiden, Nya Dagbladet och Nyhetsbyrån. Undersökningen visar att alternativa högermedier gestaltar politik som skandal flest gånger, följt av spel och sen sak. Resultatet från undersökningen jämförs sedan med traditionella mediers gestaltning av politik under samma tidsperiod, där det framgår att alternativa högermedier gestaltar politik som skandal i betydligt högre grad än vad traditionella medier gör, samt att sak- och spelgestaltningar förekommer betydligt färre gånger på alternativa högermedier. Dessutom redogörs det för hur skillnaderna mellan alternativa högermedier och traditionella medier kan förstås, där pressetik och populism bidrar med förklaringen.

Using and expanding upon the conception of ‘successive modernities’ that has recently been developed within social theory, this article offers an interpretation of the political aims, ideas, and practices of the ‘global justice movement’ and argues that this contemporary social movement is best understood as an expression of the tensions characterizing the prevailing configuration of Western modernity in our own time. Social movements have often simultaneously challenged, changed, and sustained the institutions, norms, and habits of modern societies. Placing the global justice movement in this historical context, the author elaborates how the notion of the creative capacities of social movements has hitherto been discussed in several major theories about social movements and modernity. The article argues that the movements mobilized since the 1990s in response to issues related to globalization should neither be seen as revolts against the demise of ‘organized modernity’, nor as heralding a new type of Western modernity. Instead, the critique and political claims of the global justice movement are, according to the author, better interpreted as expressing a will to realize a ‘third modernity’ in an alternative way that stresses the values of participatory democracy, democratization of international economic institutions, and the strengthening of social equality on a global level. Thus, the movement should foremost be seen as articulating a crisis in the forms of politics and democracy during our present epoch of modernity.

Den samtida forskningen om sociala rörelser erbjuder en rad insikter om politiskt motiverat våld: varför det uppkommer, vad som gör att våldsanvändning kan eskalera, men även vad som bidrar till att grupper inom en rörelse undviker eller slutar att använda våld. När man inom forskningen om sociala rörelser talar om radikalisering avser man vanligen de processer som leder till att grupper av aktivister inom en rörelse börjar använda våld eller trappar upp sitt användande av våld.

Inom andra forskningsfält brukar radikalisering ofta relateras till sociala bakgrundsfaktorer, individuella omständigheter eller personlighetsdrag, vilka antas bidra till att enskilda individer börjar använda politiskt motiverat våld eller ansluter sig till grupper där våld används. En sådan förståelse av radikalisering har inte sällan legat till grund för myndighetsåtgärder för att förebygga eller bekämpa politiskt motiverad våldsbrottslighet.

Utgångspunkten inom forskningen om sociala rörelser är i stället att de flesta individer som utför politiskt motiverade våldshandlingar redan är en del av en social rörelse. Det blir därmed relevant att undersöka de sociala processer inom en rörelse som kan leda till att vissa grupper inom en rörelse använder våld, samt hur dessa processer påverkas av interaktion med aktörer utanför rörelsen. Detta innebär också att forskningen inom detta fält mer sällan intresserar sig för de enskilda utövare av politiskt våld som agerar på egen hand och inte är knutna till en rörelse.

Samtidigt har forskningen om sociala rörelser länge undersökt vilka individer som ansluter sig till rörelser och varför de gör det. I vissa studier har det även undersökts vilka individuella omständigheter som påverkar att rörelseaktivister börjar använda olagliga eller våldsamma metoder. Därmed kan den empiriska forskningen inom detta fält kasta nytt ljus över den förståelse av radikalisering som dominerat annan forskning och myndighetsåtgärder.

I detta kapitel ges inledningsvis en övergripande bild av forskningsfältets framväxt och huvudsakliga kunskapsintressen. Därefter introduceras hur man inom detta fält har betraktat och undersökt fenomenet politiskt våld. Detta följs av en översikt över de faktorer som forskningen kunnat visa är betydelsefulla för att individer ansluter sig till sociala rörelser, samt för att vissa rörelseaktivister börjar använda våldsamma metoder. Därefter diskuteras forskningen om radikaliseringsprocesser, vilket här förstås som när grupper inom en social rörelse börjar använda politiskt motiverat våld. I fokus står de mekanismer på gruppnivå som vanligen är centrala för att grupper inom en social rörelse radikaliseras, något som även möjliggör insikter om hur dessa processer kan avbrytas. 

Previous crisis management research has demonstrated two opposite theses whether crises

become politicized or not. Some researchers point out that politicians will try to shape and

reshape the image of a crisis to their political benefit, while others state that political actors

will rally around the political leaders in order to strengthen the nation during difficult times.

This study aims to describe whether and how the Swedish Parliament parties attempted to

influence the image of the droughts and fires the summer of 2018, running up to the

Parliamentary election in September. This has been carried out by a quantitative content

analysis of the political parties’ Twitter posts during the summer, investigating if and how

they raise issues, propose policy changes and hold someone accountable for the event. The

findings indicate that all parties tried to shape the image of the crisis to some degree, which

supports the theoretical assumption that crises do become politicized. At the same time the

results are somewhat ambiguous, and at times points to some sort of rally around the leaders.

Hence the results also show the difficulty in proving whether the crisis became politicized to

any significant degree.

This paper applies a modified verison of the ”What’s the problem represented to be” framework developed by Carol Bacchi to analyse the debate currently being had in the USA regarding critical race theory and its supposed dissemination in american K-12 schools. The paper identifies three major differences between the opposing sides in the debate, regarding their presuppositions about the world, what they encapsulate in the term ”crtitical race theory”, and their leanings in regards to party politics. 

Information on spatial and temporal patterns of genetic diversity is a prerequisite to understanding the demography of populations, and is fundamental to successful management and conservation of species. In the sea, it has been observed that oceanographic and other physical forces can constitute barriers to gene flow that may result in similar population genetic structures in different species. Such similarities among species would greatly simplify management of genetic biodiversity. Here, we tested for shared genetic patterns in a complex marine area, the Baltic Sea. We assessed spatial patterns of intraspecific genetic diversity and differentiation in seven ecologically important species of the Baltic ecosystem-Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), northern pike (Esox lucius), European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), blue mussel (Mytilus spp.), and bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus). We used nuclear genetic data of putatively neutral microsatellite and SNP loci from samples collected from seven regions throughout the Baltic Sea, and reference samples from North Atlantic areas. Overall, patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation among sampling regions were unique for each species, although all six species with Atlantic samples indicated strong resistence to Atlantic-Baltic gene-flow. Major genetic barriers were not shared among species within the Baltic Sea; most species show genetic heterogeneity, but significant isolation by distance was only detected in pike and whitefish. These species-specific patterns of genetic structure preclude generalizations and emphasize the need to undertake genetic surveys for species separately, and to design management plans taking into consideration the specific structures of each species.

How a rising China might adapt to the existing international order has remained a challenge in the international relations debate since the turn of the millennium. While the international balance of power continues to tilt in China’s favor the level of uncertainty regarding how China will use its power remains high. Departing from the assumption that national role conceptions can guide state behavior, this study explores a potential link between strategic culture, national role conceptions, and foreign policy behavior. It examines the explanatory power of role theory through an exploration of strategic culture as a potential driver in the adoption of national role conceptions by looking at Chinese foreign policy developments during the presidency of Xi Jinping. The study aims to theoretically verify tendencies of continuity and change by doing a quantitative and qualitative content analysis on remarks, statements, and articles that can be tied to the Communist Party of China. By looking at how China sees itself through the roles China believes it plays or can play in the international system one aim is to conduct an analysis reaching beyond traditional international relations frameworks. This approach can be useful as it can contribute to an explanation reaching beyond assumptions relying exclusively on structure, rational choice, or causality. The study shows that role theory can explain trends of continuity and change by reflecting claims of increased assertiveness in Chinese foreign policy while simultaneously reflecting China’s peaceful intentions as the dominant trend, as such, the study provides a foundation from which to draw inferences that can be seen as indicative of China’s orientation in the international system.

This thesis examines the conditions for participation in the decision making process of a possible mine establishment in Storuman municipality in the north of Sweden. This is done through a case study where the main actors are the mining company Nickel Mountain AB, the municipality Storuman and the Sami village Vapsten. As a theoretical framework Cecilia Eriksson’s division of democratic theories is used as a starting point. Methods as described in deliberative democratic theory, such as discussion by effected community members, are seen as a method within the participatory democratic tradition, not a theory of its own. To describe what happens where in the process in Storuman a model of analysis created by Hans Wiklund is used. The model divides different parts of the political system and the public into arenas where democratic deliberation and political actions can take place; the parliamentary complex, the administrative complex and the public sphere. Criteria for this democratic deliberation and participation are then applied to the deliberation and actions; generality, autonomy, power neutrality and ideal role-taking. The method used is qualitative textual analysis.

The main question of this thesis is: Does the political decision making process around the establishment of a mine give any room for participatory democracy with deliberative elements? In order to answer this main question the following three questions are also asked:

1. Within which arenas were the three actors given the possibility to communicate?

2. What forms of participation exist within the decision making process?

3. Does the participation meet Wiklund’s criteria for democratic deliberation?

The thesis concludes that the political decision making process surrounding a possible mine establishment gives little room for participatory democracy with deliberative elements. There are few ways of affecting the decision making process and important interests at stake; valuable minerals, minority rights for Sami people, job opportunities and regional growth.

Studies in the conflict-climate field usually aim to examine how environmental scarcities canbe linked to conflict, but positive outcomes are generally overlooked. Lately, attention isbeing drawn to the relationship between water scarcity and migration flows. Some researchersargue that efficiency in managing resources is likely to be an imminent issue in migrantreceiving areas and competition over resources are common, especially when they are scarce.As is evident, there is a rule rather than exception that climate related events happensimultaneously, yet few studies do focus on the coupled effect of such climatic events. Torealistically estimate responses to climate change, this study will aim to examine weatherwater scarcity, by itself and in combination with migration-inflow, can encouragecooperation. By using disaggregated data, a sub-analysis was conducted throughout countriesbordering the Mediterranean Sea, covering the years 1997-2009. The results of this studyshow that water scarcity increases the likelihood of non-state cooperation. Overall, thissuggests that water management plays an important role in human interaction and should beconsidered in peacebuilding processes.

Prior research emphasizes that public clients need to use their client role and their procurement strategies to facilitate supplier innovation to accelerate sustainable development of the built environment.  The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of Swedish Traffic Administration (STA), as the largest public client of infrastructure in Sweden, implementation of procurement strategies may influence supplier innovation.  This paper explores an initiative by the STA to promote supplier innovation through offering innovation bonuses to four engineering consultancy firms, contracted for the early planning and design stage of the East Link mega project.  The study is based on secondary data from STA's documentation of 51 innovation proposals submitted by the four firms.  The result indicates that while innovation bonuses generate proposals of supplier innovation, public clients carefully need to consider how to formulate appropriate incentives and reward systems for specific windows of opportunity. 

This anthology is part of the project “Good Practice for Dialogue and Communication as Strategic Principles for Policing Political Manifestations in Europe”

The purpose of the GODIAC project was to contribute to the development of a European approach to policing political manifestations.

GODIAC addressed the following overall research questions:

•  How can communication and dialogue strategies contribute to preventing public order disturbances or help de-escalate tense situations in demonstrations?

• What are the motives of and the different tactics and strategies used by different kinds of protest groups?

•  What police strategies and tactics can be seen as good examples?

The aim of this researcher volume is, on the one hand, to present research produced during the course of the GODIAC project, along with the experiences of police offi cers in the fi eld and of trainers who participated in the project, and on the other hand, to broaden that perspective by incorporating contributions from outside the project. The volume is divided into two parts; the fi rst deals with issues related to the police, and the second addresses issues related to demonstrators and protesters.

I boken tas de grundläggande frågorna om polisen på allvar. Det görs genom en serie intevjuer med politiker, poliser, statstjänstemän och företrädare för säkerhetsbranschen och ideella krafter. Långsamt framträder en annan bild än den som brukar ges om orsakerna till vad som sägs vara krisen i svensk polis.

While it might appear self-evident that the trend toward the New Public Management (NPM) in the public administration systems of many Western countries is an outgrowth of neoliberalism, the case of Swedish education suggests that such policies can have widely different and counterintuitive sources. Ideas about education from both sides of the political spectrum appear to have paved the way for NPM in the Swedish school system. This possibility casts the ideological basis for NPM reforms in a new light, at least in the context of the Swedish school system.

Avhandlingen består av fyra artiklar om svensk utbildnings- och migrationspolitik och en kappa som syntetiserar de enskilda studierna. Den första artikeln undersöker hur svenska lärares yrkesstolthet och inneboende drivkrafter att göra ett bra jobb har påverkats av vänster- och högerpolitikers syn på läraryrket. Den andra artikeln undersöker hur marknadsutsättningen av det svenska skolväsendet har påverkat kunskapsnivån bland svenska elever. Den tredje artikeln bygger vidare på de två första studierna och undersöker synen på ämneskunskaper i skolans styrdokument och dess påverkan både på läraryrkets ställning och elevers kunskaper. Den fjärde artikeln undersöker det geografiska mönstret i kommunplaceringen av nyanlända flyktingar i Sverige.

Avhandlingens övergripande bidrag är att den, genom att studera två olika politikområden, visar att vänstern och högern i Sverige har en omedveten benägenhet att konvergera politiskt. Trots att man anser sig stå på olika sidor i politiken visar empirin i de fyra studierna att vänster- och högerpolitiker i främst Socialdemokraterna och Moderaterna har dragit åt samma håll i både utbildnings- och migrationspolitiken.

Den första artikeln visar att politiker både till vänster och till höger ofta har varit skeptiska till lärarnas inflytande i skolan och sett det som ett hinder för elevernas frihet och lärande, vilket har bidragit till att underminera lärarnas professionella etos. Den andra artikeln visar att både vänster- och högerpolitiker underlät att utforma regelverket för skolkonkurrensen så att privata utförare styrdes mot att erbjuda en undervisning av hög kvalitet. I stället uppstod en konkurrens med höga betyg. Den tredje artikeln visar likaledes att skolans konstruktivistiska kunskapssyn, som både har reducerat lärarnas yrkesroll till förmån för elevernas eget arbete och förstärkt utvecklingen mot en konkurrens med betyg, har stöttats av såväl vänster- som högerpolitiker. Den fjärde artikeln visar att nyanlända flyktingar främst har tagits emot av mindre kommuner i avfolkningsbygder präglade av hög arbetslöshet. I artikeln framhålls att denna kontraproduktiva policy har sin grund i både vänster- och högerpolitikers välmenade idéer om flyktingmottagandet som först lanserades på nationell nivå.

Då statsvetare i såväl Sverige som internationellt ofta har antagit att vänster och höger utgör politikens motpoler erbjuder avhandlingens huvudresultat ett nytt perspektiv. Sannolikt kan det generaliseras till ytterligare politikområden. Kappan ger även en nydanande förklaring till politisk konvergens som går ut på att vänstern och högern, åtminstone i en svensk kontext, delar en moraluppfattning som främst betonar individens frihet och rättigheter medan andra, balanserande moraliska värden tonas ned. En implikation av detta är att det skapar utrymme för nya partier som positionerar sig i den nisch som därigenom uppstått.

The bulk of the literature on the New Public Management (NPM) has been blind to the moral dimension of the market-oriented reforms of the public sector. However, this thesis studies the potential for institutional arrangements such as financial incentives and other market mechanisms to undermine intrinsic, moral motivation among both“producers” and “consumers” of tax-financed welfare services. The first paper demonstrates how the promotion of NPM-like ideas by various left-wing and right-wing agents after 1968 led to the erosion of a professional ethos among Swedish teachers. The second paper shows how an ill-conceived school voucher reform in Sweden, implemented under the banner of NPM, has encouraged moral hazard on the part of schools. The thesis demonstrates an ecumenism between the left and right that with few exceptions has been overlooked in political science. It also demonstrates that public administration systems that have adopted market-oriented reforms need morality in order to function in accordance with the principles underlying these institutions.

Conflicts between pastoralist groups in Africa are rampant and cause numerous deaths each year, but their intensity exhibits significant spatial and temporal variations. Under what conditions do some pastoralist conflicts turn more violent than others? Previous research has shown that climate variability may be a relevant explanatory factor under certain conditions, yet little is known about how specific combinations of conditions jointly affect pastoralist conflict intensity. Moreover, many studies have investigated the link between resource scarcity and conflict, but few have examined how asymmetrical distribution of resources between groups affects levels of violence. This article contributes to filling these gaps through a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of pastoralist conflicts in Karamoja, Uganda-a region characterized by cattle husbandry, communal conflict, and a highly variable climate. Five conditions that are related either to incentives for taking to violence or to opportunity structures are examined and three pathways to high-intensity conflict are identified. The results show that an asymmetrical distribution of resources between pastoralist groups during a drought incentivizes conflict, particularly in remote areas with nearby armed conflicts. The article highlights some implications for future research and policy. First, it shows that this type of conflict cannot be reduced to simple "resource scarcity conflicts" since climate variability only has an effect in combination with other conditions. Second, it emphasizes the need for policy approaches that consider both environmental variability and political contexts in addressing pastoralist violence.

The study sets out to contribute to research regarding the failure of a gender equality policy

proposal. This case study, drawn from Mexico, examines the proposed legislation on “Violence

against women in politics”. This policy proposal was approved in the senate, however later

stalled within the Mexican Chamber of deputies, and was therefore never adopted. The study

also describes the re-mobilisation efforts that were made due to this failure, in terms of tracing

the progress of further policy proposals presented on “Violence against women in politics”. By

using theory regarding feminist triangles, veto-players and narratives of how to re-mobilise

after defeat, this study finds that the collaboration became more extensive and coherent as

subsequent policy proposals on violence against women were presented. Further remobilisation

also occurred despite some of the specific narratives of defeat suggesting this

would not have been the case. However, as this research shows, those collaborations that

occurred were not strong enough to achieve the adoption of the bill as a critical veto-player

failed to provide the necessary support.

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to examine Interreg as an instrument for regional policy in the European Union. Interreg is an initiative designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union by fostering balanced development through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. But how does it work in practise? Three main questions are asked to answer this:

How well does the implementation in the programmes work?

How does the programme management look and how well does it work?

What degree of efficiency does Interreg show in financial and physical effectiveness?

With evaluation and implementation as theories the questions are answered together with a qualitative method. The conclusions that can be drawn is that Interreg strengthen European unions economic and social cohesion in form of integration and regional development that in many ways make it easier to travel and trade over the borders. One other conclusion is that the identification between the member states grows and the borders will more and more erase. Interreg does not lead to a more balanced development in European Union because of the programmes regional structure. Some obstacles do remain and the problem with finding common structures for cooperation between states must develop for further progress.

The aim of this paper is to examine how mid-level executive officers within Swedish Police respond to subordinates autonomous behaviour, mainly according to Lipsky´s theory on street-level bureaucracy. Questions focused on are:

1. Which personnel related obstacles, are preventing the executive officers?

2. How do executive officers counter obstacles?

3. If possible, based on the result of the study, which are the conclusions about existing countermeasures?

The papers´ aim is not to suggest which obstacles should be removed, nor if countermeasures are good/bad. Main aim is to identify how obstacles are countered. Theory and method are built on framework of Case Study. The method is built on theoretic examination of obstacles to examine concepts´ size and then interviews to confirm the obstacles and identify countermeasures. Conclusion of the first question is that obstacles are omnipresent in the governmental and societal systems. Conclusion of the second question is that obstacles are countered by friendly approach and to ally oneself to staff and personnel. Conclusion of the last question is that a mid-level executive through his allying enhances some behaviour, as long as more-wanted behaviours are produced with quality. This has effect upon society when combating crime, but is probably not likely to measure effectively.

Det aktiva deltagandet inom traditionella former för politik såsom politiska partier har de senaste decennierna minskat drastiskt. Särskilt unga är en grupp som allt mer använder sig av andra vägar in i politiken för att påverka denna, såsom sociala medier. Detta skulle kunna påverka ett demokratiskt system som är byggt på representation genom partier negativt. Syftet är att öka förståelsen för ungdomars upplevda hinder för att gå med i ett politiskt parti för att de ska kunna inkluderas mer. Vår fråga är därför, vilka upplevda hinder bidrar till att ungdomar inte engagerar sig i politiska partier? Vi besvarar den med hjälp av 3 fokusgruppsintervjuer innehållande elever i årskurs 3 på två teoretiska program på ett medelstort gymnasium med över 10 nationella program i Mellansverige. Studien fokuserar på 4 teorier om demokrati, passivitet, individualiserat engagemang och sociala mediers påverkan på engagemang.

Brist på tid, intresse och kunskap var 3 tydliga hinder som upplevdes av majoriteten av ungdomarna. Ungdomarna är en blandning av standby- och oengagerade medborgare. Engagemanget har individualiserats, då ungdomarna upplever det svårt att veta vad partier står för och även ofta uttrycker en motvilja att behöva ställa sig bakom hela det paket av åsikter ett parti har. Sociala mediers användande har till synes normaliserats och inte mobiliserat fler ungdomar till att bli partipolitiskt aktiva.

Vi ser tecken på att Dahls demokratikriterier kan påverkas negativt av demokratins utveckling. Exempelvis kan den låga nivån av kunskap bland ungdomar ses som ett hinder för dem att nå upplyst förståelse. Även effektivt deltagande påverkas negativt av låg kunskap och rädsla för konflikter. Ungdomarna tar inte kontroll över dagordningen genom partier eller alternativa sätt och upplever sig inte ha kontroll över den heller.

Det finns väsentliga hinder som upplevs av ungdomar och dessa är problematiska för en representativ demokrati. Den här studien bidrar till att öka förståelsen, men det behövs ytterligare forskning på området.

Sjömakt, teori och praktik är en studie i krigsvetenskap där författaren försöker förklara de bakomliggande faktorerna av begreppet sjömakt. Sjömakt, teori och praktik är uppdelad i tre böcker; den första boken behandlar sjömaktens och sjökrigets teoretiska bakgrund, den andra boken handlar om hur denna kan utnyttjas och den tredje boken belyser folkrättens möjligheter eller begränsningar av densamma.Bokens syfte är att ge en bred översikt över begreppet sjömakt, men även att försöka bringa ordning i begreppsfloran samt att ge exempel från historien. Till ett av de tyngre bidragen hör beskrivningen av de tidigare sjökrigsteoretikernas idéer, den ingående redogörelsen i 17 av sjökrigets metoder samt granskningen av den operativa nivåns villkor.Boken är en av de första som på svenska beskriver förutsättningarna i litorala havsområden, lågintensiva konflikter och fredsfrämjande marina operationer. Boken är också en av de första som sorterar in temporära zoner i ett mönster.Sjömakt, Teori och praktik är helt ny. Visserligen finns grunden i en tidigare bok, Den Blå Boken, men de flesta kapitel är nyskrivna, medan andra har utsatts för omfattande bearbetning.

In Swedish schools, teaching is not only intended to "equip" the students for professional life, but also to convey knowledge about the common norms and values on which our democracy rests. In addition to this vision, teaching is also expected to aid in the development of students critical thinking. The basic idea is that the students should be able to critically assess information they face in their daily lives. This educational goal is often referred to as the "dual mission" in the vernacular. This study examines how the tension between these two educational goals manifests in social science textbooks aimed for lower secondary school.Four textbooks have been examined on how democracy and citizenship are constructed therein, as well as how readers are positioned in relation to the content of the text. The study is based on the social constructivist theory and Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).

The study shows that democracy is usually identified with liberal values and with representative democracy, while citizens are portrayed as active but limited. The books give only a handful of perspectives on democracy and citizenship, while alternate depictions are excluded. The text's own positions tend to be validated and prioritized, while rival perspectives are made invisible, undermined, and/or rejected. The reader is offered and/or invited to embrace and understand democracy as a collection of rights, as representative democracy and identical to the Swedish state.

The study's results thus show that the reader has little opportunity to form her own perceptions of democracy and citizenship, whereupon deeper understanding of the concept is at risk. Instead, critical thinking is turned outward, and the reader is encouraged to question the constructions and structures that do not coincide with the text's perspectives. Direct democracy is dismissed as a viable option, and civil disobedience is outright rejected. The textbooks neither challenge nor de-legitimize existing social structures. Instead, they seem to legitimize the current political system and its power structures. The readers are thus persuaded to accept and uphold the books' definitions of democracy and citizenship.

How is a veto justified? Within the discipline of International Relations, discourse analysis is gaining a higher status. However, there is a surprising lacuna in the literature as a discursive approach to the veto in the United Nations Security Council, is yet to be taken. This is unfortunate, given the Security Council’s prominence. The way in which the council members make meaning through their word choice has profound effects for politics in the international system. There is, nonetheless, a growing debate on the functioning of the council, and the veto-power is an important object of contestation. Motivated by current veto-restraining initiatives, this thesis performs a discourse analysis on the 19 cast vetoes between 2005-2016. The actors of relevance are the permanent Security Council members China, Russia, and the US, and the study demonstrates how the concepts of sovereignty, intervention and legitimacy are employed in the discursive construction of the legitimate veto. The thesis further argues that there are patterns and reoccurring themes in the way meaning is created that can be summarized into a contra-discourse —a veto-discourse —contrasting the dominating discourse within the Security Council. 

Syria is now one of the most important countries in the world for the documentary film industry. Since the 1970s, Syrian cinema masters played a defining role in avant-garde filmmaking and political dissent against authoritarianism. After the outbreak of violence in 2011, an estimated 500,000 video clips were uploaded making it one of the first YouTubed revolutions in history.This book is the first history of documentary filmmaking in Syria. Based on extensive media ethnography and in-depth interviews with Syrian filmmakers in exile, the book offers an archival analysis of the documentary work by masters of Syrian cinema, such as Nabil Maleh, Ossama Mohammed, Mohammed Malas, Hala Al Abdallah, Hanna Ward, Ali Atassi and Omar Amiralay. Joshka Wessels traces how the works of these filmmakers became iconic for a new generation of filmmakers at the beginning of the 21st century and maps the radical change in the documentary landscape after the revolution of 2011. Special attention is paid to the late Syrian filmmaker and pro-democracy activist, Bassel Shehadeh, and the video-resistance from Aleppo and Raqqa against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State. An essential resource for scholars of Syrian Studies, this book will also be highly relevant to the fields of media & conflict research, anthropology and political science

This article seeks to understand mediatized dynamics of regime-critical activism and cultural performances by Syrians in Europe. The focus of this research is on the Öresund-region between Denmark and Sweden. Sweden was the first country in Europe to give immediate permanent residence to Syrian refugees. It initially received most of the Syrian refugees in 2015. After the arrival of large groups of Syrians at Malmö station in that year, a growing network of volunteers responded to the influx of refugees. Syrians started to build relationships with local activists and have since joined in organizing publicly mediated events, creating a new landscape for creative industries and performance arts in the region. Applying a protest communication ecology approach, I use a wide definition of media which includes the aesthetics of street demonstrations, performance arts and music, mediated and communicated through digital online platforms. I apply an adjusted concept of communitas, including digital media and online communication as analytical concept to observe and describe not only how communitas is re-formed between Syrian refugees after arrival but also how it emerges between Syrians and local hosts.

The 2019 revolt in Sudan was seemingly the most successful uprising in the Arab world until the coup in 2021 and the outbreak of war in 2023. The Sudanese revolution of 2019 brought together a nationwide group of Sudanese youth who want change in their country. This chapter reflects on the various components of Sudan’s revolution which ousted its dictator Omar al-Bashir after decades of authoritarian rule. In the words of its own revolutionaries this is thanks to a strong commitment to non-violent values, a vibrant artistic public sphere on the streets and its connection to online digital dissidence. Visions for change can be seen and observed in the large body and collections of graffiti art and mural paintings throughout the public space in the city of Khartoum. Through extensive photographic documentation of revolutionary graffiti street art, ArcGIS story maps and interviewing young revolutionaries this study has documented graffiti and murals of the Sudanese revolution. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the ongoing resistance art in the increasingly difficult circumstances after the outbreak of war in Sudan in 2023 which is turning into a protracted conflict whereby artists and environmental activists are either forced to leave the country and continue their activism in a diasporic condition or to go underground inside Sudan.

This is Syria today. Yesterday, I chat with a very good friend in wartorn Aleppo who finds Jihadi Tawhid fighters in the street below his house and I get very worried about his safety. He is Christ…

Zwanzig Jahre nach dem Anschlag auf die beiden Türme des World Trade Centers in New York werden in Afghanistan die amerikanischen Soldaten und mit ihnen die Soldaten der NATO-Verbündeten abgezogen. Teilweise mehr als 100.000 gut ausgebildete und modern ausgerüstete Soldaten haben gegen diffuse Fraktionen des Widerstands gekämpft – ohne sie besiegen zu können. Die vom Ausland aufgepäppelten afghanischen Sicherheitskräfte haben das Land in diesen zwanzig Jahren im Kampf um Territorium oft das Nachsehen gehabt. Der Autor geht der Frage nach, was dies für ethische Verfassung der Bevölkerung absehbar bedeutet.

Das korrupte und pseudo-demokratische Regime von Präsident Ghani würde sich nach dem Abzug der internationalen Truppen nicht lange halten können – das ahnte man. Dass jedoch der Widerstand wie ein Kartenhaus zusammenbrechen, der Präsident sich sang- und klanglos ins Ausland absetzen und die Taliban ohne nennenswerte Gegenwehr von den frisch eroberten Provinzhauptstädten bis zum Präsidentenpalast in Kabul im Motorrad-Korso innerhalb weniger Tage durchmarschieren würden - damit hatten weder die Geheimdienste, die Expert(inn)en noch die Politik gerechnet.

Indien wird zur Supermacht. Bei den Wahlen 2024 dürfte es für Premier Narendra Modi keine ernsthafte Konkurrenz geben. Die Regierungspartei Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) steht für den Hindu-Nationalismus, der den sogenannten nicht-indischen Religionen nur eine Art Gaststatus einräumen will.

The imperative to link knowledge and action is widely invoked as a defining characteristic of sustainability research. The complexities of sustainability challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss mean that linear models of knowledge and action, where knowledge is produced first (by researchers) then applied to action (by policy actors), are considered insufficient. Researchers have developed more dynamic, open-ended and collaborative forms of policy engagement such as transdisciplinary and co-production research. Although promising these approaches often remain captive to linear assumptions that hinder their transformative potential. We contribute by providing a relational model of knowledge and action rooted in contemporary practice theory. A practice-based approach suggests the primary task of participants in transdisciplinary interventions is to find workable solutions to situations of dynamic complexity that are fundamentally indeterminate and unpredictable. Knowledge is not applied to action, but drawn upon, produced and used from within the situation at hand, allowing researchers and policy actors alike to better harness the emergent character of situational developments and outcomes. A practice-based approach provides a conceptual language that captures the experienced complexities of intervening for sustainability, reconfigures the nature of actionable knowledge, and identifies appropriate modes of evaluation for transdisciplinary and co-produced research.

This essay compares the public debate in Sweden 1992 caused by the reforms introduced by the then government giving parents a free choice of schools for their children with the current debate in France about proposals for a similar law there. The study concentrates on the positions taken by the teachers trade unions, in Sweden Lärarförbundet and Lärarnas Riksförbund (LR) and in France SGEN-CFDT. To do so it is necessary also to study the arguments given for and against the proposals by the political parties.

Some of the differences between the debates can be attributed to different circumstances. The Swedish reform was related to the opening up of possibilities to run private schools, which previously had been rare in Sweden. The French debate has no such connections. The private schools, mostly Catholic, have a very stable share of the students and no side is openly arguing for a change of any sort. Other differences depend on the French adversity to liberalism, almost always conflated with neo-liberalism which makes market-oriented arguments much less common in French public debate.

Among the trade unions the big difference is between the two Swedish organisations, LR was overall positive to the proposals while Lärarförbundet opposed them. In France SGEN-CFDT takes a position strikingly similar to Lärarförbundets in Sweden 1992 seeing free choice as undermining the idea of a school system for all. In Sweden that idea is seen as a part of the welfare state, closely connected to the Social Democratic party. In France it is seen as a republican idea, connected to an idea of citizenship.

The trade unions of the teachers in both France and Sweden are also in similar positions as their role has become merely reactive. There seems to be little room left for them to formulate policy and push the educational systems in their prefered directions.