This thesis is concerned with the nature and application of educational theory. In particular, it will examine the contribution social theories can make in guiding educational practices which are intended to achieve specific educational aims. Recent social theories relevant to education have focused, primarily, on the relationship between school and society under capitalism. Such theories have been developed in order to illuminate two central questions, "to what extent are schools independent of the class structures and ideologies of capitalist society?" and relatedly, "to what degree, under capitalism, can schools develop the critical social awareness necessary for personal autonomy?". In this thesis it is argued that a number of recent theories fail to help in providing answers to these questions because they do not offer convincing explanations of the school-society relationship. The reason for this is that they are guided by inadequate, epistemological methodological and metaphysical assumptions. In particular, they have been guided either by a naturalist view of social theory predicated on a Logical Positivist view of natural science or by an anti-naturalist view. This latter view typically asserts that explanations for social action must necessarily make reference to concepts such as rules, meanings, goals and purposes. And it is noted that these concepts can have no place within a Logical Positivist account of science. However, I argue that neither the guiding assumptions of naturalists or anti-naturalists, who have accepted a Logical Positivist view of natural science, can enable the construction of theories which capture significant dimensions of schooling under capitalism. In this thesis a number of Liberal and Radical theories of the school-society relationship, which have been influenced either by the guiding assumptions of Logical Positivism or by its anti-naturalist contrasts are critically examined. It is argued that while Radical theories such as those of Young, Freire and Bowles and Gintis have made a contribution to an understanding of the school-society relationship, their explanations of this relationship are inadequate. Consequently, they fail to guide educational practice by not showing how a pedagogy aimed at developing the critical social awareness necessary for personal autonomy is possible. On the basis of the criticisms of these Radical theories an alternative theory of the school-society relationship is advanced, one which is guided by the tenets of a Realist theory of natural science suitably qualified to apply to social theory. Through the development of this Realist social theory it is possible to explain how relevant aspects of educational practice can be guided, by the alternative social theory developed, in order to fulfil the aim of personal autonomy.

This study presented a comprehensive review of Kenneth Waltz's structural realism of international politics. Waltz pursues parsimonious theory by adopting elegant definitions of structure. His neorealistic approach is an impressive intellectual achievement. It is an elegant, simple, deductively rigorous instrument geared for scientific contribution. Yet this pure structural realism provides an insufficient basis for explaining international relations. Neorealism is one presentation of reality among many. It does not pretend to reflect all realities. Thus, I suggest that we adopt the complex interdependence concept as a thought experiment regarding that which international politics might look like if the basic assumptions of realism were revised and how we overcome inefficient and over-consumptuous control of great powers that defend the status-quo via the excuse for international stability. / Department of Political Science

In this dissertation, I investigate American specular narrative which displays a significant level of visual empiricism and examine the implications of the eyewitness perspective such narrative assumes. Based on the epistemological assumption that "to see is to know," specular narrative imagines an empirical access (via visual processes of the gaze) to a knowable reality, and uses the figure of the eyewitness (by way of narration, focalization, and narrative technique) to render a supposedly transparent relation between narrative and reality. This study draws upon theories of narrative, realism, subjectivity, and the gaze to explore this narrative eyewitness, tracking how the impulse to construct an authentic American identity, which materializes during American colonization, influences early American discourse and recurs as a specular realism in later American narrative. I examine how the illusion of the eyewitness sustains Realist ideology in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century narrative (William Dean Howells' A Hazard of New Fortunes, Henry James' The Spoils ofPoynton, and Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth); how new spatial and temporal paradigms created by automotive technology affect the eyewitness (and a particular vision of America) in the American road book, specifically Theodore Dreiser's A Hoosier Holiday, and how the specular fetishism of the nonfiction novel, particularly Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, problematizes narrative objectivity and sutures the reader into the narrative as eyewitness / Department of English

The case study investigates study association representatives’ perspectives on the activities of the popular education within the social sector in Örebro and why they are organized. It further investigates the cooperation and dialogue between the study associations and the municipality of Örebro regarding this activity. The study is based on critical realism. A questionnaire survey was conducted among all ten study associations in Örebro, combined with qualitative interviews with representatives from six of the active associations. Responses from both studies proofs that all of the study associations are active within the social sector. A significant part of the popular education activities organized by the associations can thus be referred to as social work. These activities are funded by governmental mains in accordance with “The regulation on state aid for popular education”. According to the association representatives there are gaps in the dialogue with the municipality of Örebro, which may be related to occurring changes at the structural level, between the civil society and the public sector. Society, earlier characterized by corporative structures, moves towards a more pluralistic state which changes the conditions for cooperation and dialogue between the public sector and organizations active in the civil society. At the same time, in a neo-liberal spirit, there is a market adjustment of the popular education, which changes the conditions for the study associations, the necessity and demand for social work-like activities at within popular education increases.

This paper is a framework for the pursuit of happiness. It uses psychological data, philosophical theories, and trends in neuroscience to support the idea that anyone can be happy. It first discusses personality psychology, biology of personality, and the relationship between personality and happiness. From there it explains positive illusions and Depressive Realism to show how one can implement both to increase personal happiness.

Abstract This thesis is a case study aiming to give explanations to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014. By using three different theoretical perspectives, realism, regional hegemony and constructivism, the aim is to find different but also complementing explanations to the case. The theories realism and regional hegemony are related and also similar to each other, but still contributes with some different focuses on the case. Both realism and regional hegemony has their main focus on the sovereign state’s security and their power militarily, politically and economically. Constructivism on the other hand is a bit different from the other two, and has its main focus on identity, ideas and worldviews. Thanks to the differences between the three perspectives the analysis gives a broader and deeper explanation to Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea.

As embodiment riddles the body, this thesis interrogates embodiment as a riddle by foregrounding ethical, epistemological, and ontological questions of what embodiment(s) and bodies might be capable of creating and performing. Articulating local embodiments while also attempting to work through the puzzle of embodiment to playfully illustrate multiple responses to embodiment, this thesis incorporates images and discussion generated with a group of female PeeWee hockey players. Thinking with Deleuze and Guattari, Braidotti, Barad, Kirby, and Grosz, I experiment with articulating tentative, enfleshed, entangled, and emplaced local embodiment(s) through the hockey-bodies of female adolescent athletes. / Graduate

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This creative thesis is a work of fiction exploring the family dynamics of the Van Der Weerd family, told from the point of view of three main characters: Katie (age 30) and her parents, Donna and Harold. Donna and Harold are about to divorce and their son, Brett is estranged from the entire family, including the young daughter he’s never known. The novel spans a year’s time, with the final chapter moving forward another year. Estrangement, addiction, death, and the custody of a four-year old niece and granddaughter are part of this story. (Preliminary pages only)

I den här statsvetenskapliga uppsatsen studeras Europeiska Unionens (EU), en organisation med både över- och mellanstatlighet, folkrättsliga hänsynstagande gällande erkännandefrågor om nybildade stater. Syftet är att undersöka i vilken utsträckning EU:s utrikespolitiska beslutsfattare visar folkrättsliga hänsyn i officiella uttalanden genom två förklaringsmodeller, realismen respektive idealismen. Syftet är även att pröva Ann-Marie Ekengrens analysschema, som är konstruerad att förklara staters agerande, på en hybrid organisation som EU. Materialet i studien baseras på primära källor, såsom EU:s officiella hemsida och sekundära källor, såsom nyhetsartiklar som analyserar händelseförloppet och motiven bakom dem. Detta har genomförts med hjälp av en argumentationsanalys och Ekengrens analysschema för att kunna kategorisera argumenten i ett realistiskt eller idealistiskt förklaringssätt. Utredningen påvisar realistiska och idealistiska särdrag i EU:s offentliga argumentation gällande Krims folkrättsliga och statsrättsliga kriterier. Med detta sagt var det ingen av teorierna som lyste starkare än den andre, vilket är ett unikt resultat. Utredningen visar även att teorierna kan förklara EU:s argument i erkännandeprocessen. I dessa argumentationer fanns både maktpolitiska och folkrättsliga hänsynstaganden att hämta. Ett av syftena var även att pröva Ekengrens analysschema som är uppbyggt i fyra delar där samtliga delar tillämpades i denna undersökning. Trots att modellen inte var avsedd för organisationer så blev alla frågor i analysschemat besvarade.