published_or_final_version / abstract / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Housing Management

The purpose of this thesis in Library and Information Science (LIS) is to examine concepts related to multiculturalism in Sweden. It aims to look beyond the rhetorical construction of these concepts, in an attempt to clarify the actual purpose of commonly emphasizing the importance of mulicultural library services. Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) as well as theories on ethnicity and intersectionality constitute the theoretical frame. The material consists of selected anthologies, handbooks and articles in Biblioteksbladet from 1974–2014, as well as a small case study. CDA is furthermore used as method of analysis, with a focus upon how multiculturalism is constructed in relation to libraries and also on how this might be explained with regard to the social and political contexts surrounding these reasonings. The results of the analysis show that multiculturalism is continually mainly connected with the integration of immigrants by drawing upon ethnic and cultural characteristics. However, in a more present-day context, this tendency is challenged and other social elements as well as the majority culture are included in the construction of multiculturalism. In the concluding discussion, the results are considered in the view of how libraries can draw upon them to broaden their understanding of multiculturalism. This is a two-year master thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

This study was concerned with the social construction of HIV/AIDS at the policy level in contemporary South Africa, and how such constructions shape the manner in which the epidemic is understood in popular discourse.

<p>Public-private partnerships to provide services are a relatively new policy initiative in Mexico, and have shown contrasting results. This research has endeavored to analyze the possible determinants behind the failure, or the success, of the choice of a specific mode of service provision. By using contracting literature based on transaction costs, and looking specifically at the case of AGSAL, a joint venture established between Saltillo, a northern Mexican city, and INTERAGBAR, a private investor, for the provision of water, this study showed that characteristics of the transaction at stake. More specifically, it showed that specificity of the investments that support a given transaction, the unanticipated changes in circumstances surrounding an exchange, either from physical assets or its ownership rights, and the frequency and duration with which parties engage in the transaction.</p>

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract