Syftet med denna studie är att utifrån ett genusperspektiv studera hur barn representeras i realityserien Unga mammor. Med utgångspunkt i genus, framing och representation har jag genomfört en kvalitativ semiotisk analys och en framinganalys på fem medverkande familjer i 31 utspridda avsnitt i serien. Resultaten har pekat på att barnen representeras utifrån stereotypa könsroller, som placerar flickor i feminina fack och pojkar i maskulina, där det finns en acceptans för flickor att överskrida de osynliga gränserna könen emellan men en rädsla för pojkar att göra detsamma. Det har visat sig att barnens attribut, framför allt kläder, spelar en betydande roll i konstruktionen av deras kön. Jag ställer mig kritisk till Unga mammors representation av barn och ifrågasätter seriens roll i att normalisera könskoder. De normbrytande avvikelser som får synas förblir undantag. / The purpose of this study is to from a gender perspective study how children are being represented in the reality show Unga mammor. I have from the outset gender, framing and representation driven a qualitative semiotic analysis and a framinganalysis of five participatory families in 31 scattered episodes throughout the series. The results have shown that children are being represented from stereotypical gender roles, that places girls in feminine boxes and boys in maculine, where it is accepted for girls to overrun the invisible barriers seperating the sexes but a fear for boys to do the same. It has shown that childrens attributes, especially clothes, are playing a substantial role in the construction of their gender. I am critical towards Unga mammors representation of children and question the series role in normalising gender codes. The norm-breaking anomalies that are shown remain exceptions.

The current Finnish development policy, published in 2016, follows the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 sustainable development goals. With the help of a few tools from corpus linguistics, this study conducts a critical discourse analysis of the policy, using Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional method for CDA as its methodologicalframework and post-development theory as its main theoretical background. The study focuses on the definitions of development and its implementation as put forward by the policy, and how the policy text relates to its production and consumption as well as to the social and political context in which it is situated. Rather than working toward cooperation and participation which it promises, the policy reinforces the image of top-down aid dictated by institutions of the global North. It juxtaposes Finland as a giver and saviour with countries in the global South as vulnerable receivers of aid, granting little agency for the institutions,let alone the people of its development partners.

This paper explores theoretical propositions derived from offensive realism, applied to the instance of military export and foreign policy strategies of Russia and the U.S in the field of Africa during the post- Cold War period. The sections of this paper have disserted paradigms of this phenomena by applying the congruence method under the overarching theoretical umbrella of foreign policy analysis, to answer the question regarding does offensive realism provide relevant explanatory insight on the foreign policy of Russia and the U.S in the realm of the African security nexus? The study concludes that the degree as to which offensive realism provides relevant explanatory insight on the foreign policy strategies of the actors is strongly competitive in contrast to other explanatory theories. The study further adds to the propositions of the theoretical framework by arguing that it is conceivable that the ambition to prevent the rise of another hegemon is likely to be prioritized within foreign policy strategy to a greater extent than has been previously asserted, and has in some cases been seen as more imperative than the aspect of maximizing the domestic security, and thus survival.

Hong Kong is known for its specific political model composed by a hybrid system balancing democracy and authoritarianism. This work investigates the hegemonic nature of the interactions between the 2019’s democracy movement and the pro-Beijing actors and how they affected this systemic balance. Based on a case study, this essay mixes the hegemony, social movements and authoritarianism theories to carry out this research. The findings show a change of the systemic paradigm through the domination of the Chinese authoritarian system. This mainlandisation has occurred from a soft and hard power interactions between the two actors to reach a domestic hegemony. From a soft power lens, the collective action theory highlights a rising unbalance of power within the political and media institutions with the rising control of China, however, the movement through its ideas, capabilities and political opportunities formed a counter-hegemony. From a hard power lens, those interactions evolved in an escalation of symbolic and physical violence in terms of repertoires of actions and policing. This radicalization of the movement offered an opportunity to strengthen the control of China. This hybrid regime case shows that democracy movements have fueled an “authoritarianisation’ instead of a democratization.

The thesis seeks to examine the development of the US-Japan, US-South Korea, and US- Australia alliances, during the implementation of the rebalance to Asia policy under the Obama administration. It discusses the application of three major international relations theories, realism, liberalism, and constructivism, in studying the causes and effects that resulted in different outcomes across the three dyads, from security, economic, and cultural perspectives. To establish a causal relationship, the thesis employs a qualitative case study method, controlled comparison, to test the theories and identify the factors that play a decisive role in determining the differences. It then concludes that between the three alliances, it was the rational choice of policymakers, focused on state survival and economic interests, that influenced state behaviour in cross-border relationships. The US alliances in Asia-Pacific have been operating mainly on pragmatic foundations and principles, to serve strategic purposes, and have little to do with normative, ideational factors. Keywords Asia-Pacific, alliance, economic interdependence, foreign policy, hegemony, national identity, rebalance, security threat

(in English): During adolescence, a person's value orientations towards society, employment, and the economy are being shaped significantly. The educational system plays an important role in this maturing of a person's values in that it provides key social orientation in the form of knowledge, consciousness, or opinions. The theory of cultural and social reproduction was among the first analyses of critical education that drew attention to the fact that this mediation of orientation serves for the maintaining (reproduction) of social inequalities in society. The basic question of education according to these analyses of critical education thus is not what knowledge we get at school, but rather whose knowledge. In the Czech Republic, ca. 73% of pupils go through secondary vocational training. After graduation, most of these pupils are the first to enter the world of paid labor at a relatively early age. Between 2004 and 2012, intermediate vocational training underwent a change of system in the form of the implementation of curriculum reform in connection with the adoption of Act No. 561 / 2004 Coll. on Preschool, Elementary, Secondary, Tertiary Vocational, and Other Education. Curriculum reform enabled various social agents to influence the goals and content of education at the national level...

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur manliga veganer uppfattar sin maskulinitet i relation till att de utesluter animalier från sin kost. Genom åtta kvalitativa djupintervjuer med män som äter en växtbaserad kost ville jag få svar på frågeställningarna: Upplever manliga veganer att det finns en koppling mellan maskulinitet och köttkonsumtion? Hur tar sig i så fall denna koppling uttryck? Och anser manliga veganer att deras kostval påverkar deras sociala interaktioner med köttätare och hur förklarar samt förhåller de sig i så fall till detta? Ett tematiskt analysförfarande användes som metod för att analysera insamlad data. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för denna studie var Judith Butlers uppfattning om kön och att det är något som formuleras i sociala processer och R. W. Connells teori om hegemonisk maskulinitet och att det manliga könet är dominerande över det kvinnliga. Att vara kvinna i dagens samhälle upplevs som något sekundärt och den kost som associeras med det kvinnliga könet ses i förlängningen också som sekundär. Studien tillämpar också Carol J. Adams teori om att köttkonsumtion är associerat med män och maskulinitet. Resultatet visar att manliga veganer upplever att det finns en koppling mellan maskulinitet och köttkonsumtion, även om de själva inte upplever att det behöver vara så. Uppfattningen att köttkonsumtion är associerat med maskulinitet yttrar sig genom att det finns en indikation på att inte vilja uppfattas som en stereotypisk vegan. På så sätt vidhålls uppfattningen om den hegemoniska mannen, trots att de i själva verket tar avstånd från den. / The purpose of this study was to investigate how male vegans perceive their masculinity in relation to excluding animal products from their diet. Through eight qualitative in-depth interviews with men who eat a plant-based diet I wanted to get answers to the questions: Do male vegans feel that there is a connection between masculinity and meat consumption? If so, how does this connection manifest itself? And do male vegans believe that their dietary choices affect their social interactions with carnivores and how do they explain and relate to this in that case? A thematic analysis method was used for analyzing collected data. The theoretical starting points for this study were Judith Butler’s view of gender and that it is something that is formulated in social processes and R. W. Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity and that the male sex is dominant over female. Being a woman in today’s societyis perceived as something secondary and the diet associated with the female gender is in extension also seen as secondary. The study also applies Carol J. Adams theory that meat consumption is associated with men and masculinity. The results show that male vegans feel that there is a connection between masculinity and meat consumption, even though they themselves do not feel that it needs to be so. The perception that meat consumption is associated with masculinity is expressed by the fact that there is an indication of not wanting to be perceived as a stereotypical vegan. In this way, the perception of the hegemonic man is maintained, even though they are in fact distancing themselves from it.

The movement of evangelical multiethnic churches, which occurred in the late-1990s and into the early 2000s, sought racial justice by developing racially diverse congregations as their core distinction of Christian discipleship. These evangelical multiethnic churches are situated in a longer historical narrative of black-led, black-centered ecumenical leadership focused on a theological framework of racial reconciliation, cross-racial interpersonal friendships, and diverse cultural expressions. However, research of these churches reveal they actually perpetuate the very inequalities they seek to dismantle. White hegemony remains intact in these multicultural Christian communities through its maintenance of white dominant structures and cultural norms, even with black-led senior leadership. The problem this project seeks to address through the concept of “white followership” is the lack of experience and skills among white evangelicals particularly in multiethnic churches to yield normative power and institutional culture to another cultural expression and organizational power arrangement. Utilizing Dr. Patsy Baker Blackshear’s definition of an exemplary follower, this project will develop the construct of white followership and the particular behaviors and characteristics white congregants in a minority-led multiethnic congregation can adopt. While this project relies on research of evangelical multiethnic churches across the United States, the focal site in which the construct of white followership will initially be applied is The Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is where I, a white female pastor, serve as its Associate Pastor. The methodological approach of this project is interdisciplinary, integrating history, anti-racism research, and white racial identity studies to elucidate the problem of white supremacy in the United States and the American church. The project relies heavily on: 1) sociological studies of religion, race, and power to enumerate the problem of white hegemony in evangelical multiethnic congregations, 2) theological and biblical studies to outline the imperative shift of power needed in white-dominated evangelical multiethnic churches; 3) business and leadership studies to introduce the concept of followership and enrich the construction of white followership; and 4) observing resistance among white congregants as change produces shifts in the status quo, adapting Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) and autoethnographic stories to measure change. White followership, in the scope of this project, focuses primarily on a pedagogical approach, institutional strategy, and overall ecumenical culture primarily expressed at The Sanctuary. It does not address more granular aspects of the communal worship experience, external evangelistic service, and community engagement and action, though those are important considerations as the applied work of white followership expands. Overall, the construct of white followership, while not exhaustive for the remedy of white hegemony in evangelical multiethnic churches, provides an innovative, malleable, and promising solution forward for white congregants to employ toward greater racial justice.

This study argues that security and foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is mainly driven by the main principles of the Offensive Realism theory of international relations. While the Iranian political system is considered a theocratic system, based on the Islamic Shi'a ideology, its survival is defined as the ultimate ideology-an ideology that is paramount to any other ideology. Iran's security and foreign policy is determined and shaped by its need to survive in an anarchic international system. Iran's cooperation with "two Satans", Israel and the United States, during the Iran-Iraq war demonstrates that the ultimate ideology of survival dominates over any other ideological predisposition. In addition, the lack of a supranational government and the fear about the intentions of other states make Iran aware of the need to rely on self-help. Iran has also realized that the best way to limit threats to its survival would be maximizing its relative military power and becoming a regional hegemony. Furthermore, a formidable military power would provide Iran with a new status in regional and global politics, deterrence power over any possible attack from other great powers, and bargaining power over regional and global matters. In order to enhance its military (conventional and nuclear) arsenal, Iran has established "strategic relations" with its historic enemy, Russia. In its quest to advance its military capabilities and avoid threats to its sovereignty, Iran sided with Christian states, against its Muslim brothers, during the Russia-Chechnya and Armenia-Azerbaijan conflicts. Moreover, the Islamic state is aware of the fact that its paramount goals can be achieved by relying on precise rational strategies. In order to validate these claims, this study analyzes Iran's policy during the Iran-Iraq war and Iran's policy toward Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the Russian-Chechen conflict, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

While conceived to examine key factors affecting post-retirement career advancement of retired elite athletes in South Korea, the purpose of this paper is to report how English, as a de facto global lingua franca, functions as a powerful gatekeeper in the sports administration field.