Denna avhandling undersöker hur omställningen av energisystemet har konstruerats i den riksdagspolitiska debatten, med fokus på förnybara energikällor. Utgångspunkten är det riksdagsbeslut som fattades 1980 och som innebar en omställning till förnybara energikällor. Studien bygger på textanalys av framför allt riksdagsprotokoll. Energipolitik är en ständig dragkamp kring definitioner och kategoriseringar och vilka ideal som bör utgöra politikens mål. I den riksdagspolitiska energidebatten om omställningen av energisystemet är det långt ifrån självklart vad som betraktas som problem, lösning och mål. Aktörer interagerar och förhandlar och skapar på så vis mening. Tre teoretiska begrepp är centrala i analysen av denna process: problematisering, obligatorisk passagepunkt och gränsobjekt. Den riksdagspolitiska debatten handlar om mer än bara vilka energikällor som är bäst lämpade. Livsavgörande framtidsfrågor har knutits till energiproduktionen. I den energipolitiska debatten väcks också frågor om kunskapsproduktion, hur energikällor och olika tekniska lösningar ställs mot varandra och blir argument i debatten om rationalitet och sanning. Förnybara energikällor har varit del av såväl utopiska som dystopiska framtidsbilder. De kan vara ett argument för det lilla och småskaliga, mot tillbakagång och det antimodernistiska, eller för utveckling, modernisering och det framtidsorienterade. Således handlar debatten om omställningen av energisystemet också om vad som utgör ”det goda samhället”. / This thesis examines how the energy system transformation has been constructed in the Swedish parliamentary debate, with a focus on renewable energy sources. The study is based on text analysis and the primarily material is parliamentary protocols. Energy politics is a constant tug-of-war over how to classify things, what categorizations to make and what ideals to turn into goals. Actors interact and negotiate, creating meaning and definitions. I draw upon three theoretical concepts to describe this process: problematization, obligatory passage point and boundary object. The decision to transform the energy system has been decisive for Swedish politics. In addition, it raises questions concerning knowledge production, pitting various energy sources and technical solutions against each other and making them into arguments in the debate on rationality and truth. Renewable energy sources serve as a basis for both utopian and dystopian visions of the future. Renewable energy sources can be used in multiple ways rhetorically, to advocate the local and small scale, to caution against regression and the anti-modern, and to uphold development, modernization and an orientation towards the future. Thus, the debate on what energy sources should be chosen also becomes a debate about the future and what constitutes “the good society”.Energy politics is a constant tug-of-war over how to classify things, what categorizations to make and what ideals to turn into goals. Actors interact and negotiate, creating meaning and definitions. I draw upon three theoretical concepts to describe this process: problematization, obligatory passage point and boundary object.

Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka och analysera hur personer i gängkriminella miljöer konstrueras samt positioneras i den nyhetsmediala samhällsdebatten om gängkriminalitet i Sverige genom att studera publicerade debattartiklar från en specifik tidsperiod. Studien utgår från ett kritiskt diskursanalytiskt perspektiv som menar att verkligheten formas och tolkas genom språkliga diskurser, varför valda analysverktyg har ett lingvistiskt fokus där texternas lexikala aspekter undersöks, liksom deras anspråk på gängkriminalitetens orsaker och lösningar. Vidare analyseras debattartiklarnas innehåll genom ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv på de skildringar och identiteter som görs, samt utifrån teorier om stigmatiseringsprocesser och avvikarkarriärer Även själva fördelningen mellan debattörer samt presenterade perspektiv i debatten analyseras i relation till sociala makthierarkier. Uppsatsens resultat visar på att personer i gängkriminella miljöer främst tenderar att reduceras till deras kriminella egenskap i debatten, vilket konstruerar personerna som avvikare och förövare i samhället på sätt som stundtals får avhumaniserande effekter. I vissa fall nämns även personernas unga ålder samt icke-svenska etnicitet, vilket främst motiverar till förslag på ökade disciplinära åtgärder mot unga samt personer som saknar medborgarskap. Vidare präglas en stor del av debatten av ett fokus gentemot polisiära resurser och skärpta straff, vilket verkar osynliggörande för gängkriminalitetens bakomliggande sociala faktorer samt det sociala arbetets betydelse. Detta får även konsekvenser för personernas sörjbarhet samt ansedda rätt till sociala stödinsatser som fokuserar på förändring. I de fall sociala aspekter faktiskt diskuteras i debatten tenderar en sorts osynlig tröskel skapas mellan ”den unga som sörjbar” och ”den kriminella som straffbar” – vilket möjliggör till att vidmakthålla identiteterna "offer" och "förövare" i skildringarna på ett sätt som gör att problemets komplexitet undviks. / The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze how people within gang criminal environments is constructed and positioned in news media’s social debate about gang criminality in Sweden by studying published debate articles from a specific time period. The study is based on a critical discourse analytical perspective on reality as shaped and interpreted by linguistic discourses, why selected analysis tools has a linguistic aim that investigate the texts lexical aspects, as their claims on causes and solutions of gang crime. Furthermore the debate articles are analyzed through a social constructionist perspective on the descriptions and identities that is made, and also by theories about stigmatization processes and deviant careers. The division between debaters and represented perspectives is also analyzed in relation to social hierarchies of power. The result of the study shows that people in gang criminal environments mainly tend to be reduced to their criminal quality, which constructs them as deviants and perpetrators by ways that sometimes have dehumanizing effects. In some cases the persons young age and non-swedish ethnicity is mentioned, which mainly justifies proposals for increased disciplinary actions against youths and people without swedish citizenship. Further, the debate is characterized by a focus towards police resources and increased penalties which tend to overshadow the underlying social factors of gang crime and the importance of social work. This has consequences for their considered worth of sympathy and rights to social support that focuses on change. When social aspects is discussed it tends to create a invisible gap between ”the youth worthy of sympathy” and ”the punishable criminal” – which enable to maintain the identities of “victims” and “perpetrators” in a way that avoids the complexity of the problem.

This thesis aims to investigate how the meaning of the concept of authenticity has been used in arguments about the reconstruction of Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden. The museum, which opened for the first time in 1866, was closed for restoration, renovation and other engagements during 2013-2018. After the reopening, a debate took place in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. In the debate there were people who argued that the reconstruction had erased the museum’s history and replaced it with modern design. Other people argued that the reconstruction had made the building more true to its history as older reconstructions had distorted the original building. The main source material for the present study consists of a final report of the project made by the National Property Board, selected debate articles from the debate on the reconstruction in Svenska Dagbladet, and an interview and two mail conversations that have been made with persons involved in the project. Through argumentation analysis, arguments from the final report, the debate in Svenska Dagbladet, the interview and the mail conversations have been analyzed. The arguments selected from the source material are arguments that either indicate that the authenticity has been preserved or that the authenticity has not been preserved. The thesis does not intend to determine whether the reconstruction of Nationalmuseum has preserved the authenticity or not, it is the argumentation about this issue that is to be investigated. The reason is that the perception differs between different people, different contexts and different views. The analysis shows that the arguments claiming that the authenticity has not been preserved above all relate to the building's younger reconstructions with its additions that were removed during the current reconstruction. Some debaters argue that the building's younger history also has a value that should be protected. In the end it comes down to what kind of authenticity one intends to preserve. In the project, the experience values have been prioritized before the material values, which indicates that the authenticity from a material perspective may have decreased while the functional authenticity of the building has increased. The arguments that favour that the authenticity has been preserved are primarily based on the view that great emphasis has been placed on the preservation of the building's cultural-historical value. During the project one has also been inspired by the building's original drawings made by the building's architect Friedrich August Stüler, which indicates that the authenticity of the original building has been strengthened. The thesis ends with a final discussion where the result of the analysis is presented in relation to the theoretical framework of the thesis. This is done in order to answer the research questions. The main research question for the thesis has been; "How has the meaning of authenticity been presented in the final report, in the debate and by people who have worked with the reconstruction of Nationalmuseum?”.

In 1999, France, after a long and dragging debate, revised its Constitution in order to enable the installation of gender quotas in elected political bodies. In 2000 'parity laws' were enacted. They defined the parameters of these quotas that applied strictly to elections of proportional electoral system, such as elections into municipal councils with over 3.500 inhabitants, regional and European elections, and Senate elections in areas with three and more senators. In elections with plurality voting system, such as legislative elections and Senate elections with one or two senators, the parity was supposed to be achieved by imposing of financial penalty for those political parties that would not comply with the parity laws. This diploma thesis describes a public discussion that had taken place in France before the adoption of the gender parity imposed by the law. It compares four major political parties- the Republicans, Socialist party, The Greens and the National Front. The research analyzes their compliance with parity laws and their implementation on their candidate lists in parliamentary as well as Senate elections. The aim of this diploma thesis is to show and compare the rhetoric and the actions of the studied political parties with regards to the parity. The research analyzes the lists of...

Forskning visar att informations- och kommunikationstekniker är en viktig del för aktörer såsom miljöorganisationer. Olika kommunikationstekniker och olika typer av media har utvecklats med hög hastighet sedan 1980- och 90-talet och utvecklingen fortsätter (Statens Medieråd, 2016, Myndigheten för press, radio och tv, 2019). Forskning visar också att miljöproblem och miljöfrågan samtidigt tar större plats i olika medier idag än tidigare, speciellt tydlig blir ökningen i sociala medier som Facebook (Söderpalm & von Lochow, 2019). Organisationernas kommunikationsmetoder påverkas nu ännu mer av covid-19 pandemin som genererat i rekommendationer att minska den personliga kontakten i vardagen (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2020). Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida svenska lokala icke-statliga miljöorganisationer, i kommuner angränsande till sjön Vättern, påverkas av miljödebattens större utrymme i media och vilka kommunikationsmetoder organisationerna använder samt hur organisationerna upplever utvecklingen av informations- och kommunikationsteknikerna. Metoden är baserad på kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer med representanter från miljöorganisationer/miljögrupper från kommuner angränsande till sjön Vättern. Materialet har sedan analyserats med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att samtliga organisationer i studien har anammat, till en viss grad, den tekniska kommunikationsutvecklingen och att de nyare kommunikationsmedlen, som sociala medier, varit betydelsefulla. Fler organisationer använder också kommunikationsvägar som stämmer överens med statistiken kring vilka mediekanaler som samhället använder mest. Även covid-19 tycks ha påverkat samtliga organisationer genom att den, bland annat, påtvingat omstrukturering av organisationernas projekt. Resultatet visar dock att organisationerna skiljer sig åt i frågan om det större fokuset på miljödebatten. Vissa är mycket positiva medan andra tvivlar på omfattningen av debattens utökning. / Previous research show that information- and communication technologies is an important aspect to actors such as environmental organisations. Statistics also show that communication techniques, or different types of media, has developed in a high speed since the 1980s and 1990s, and the development continues (Statens Medieråd, 2016, Myndigheten för press, radio och tv, 2019). Research also show that environmental discussions gains more attention in different types of media today than before. The increase has become especially noticeable in social media, for example Facebook (Söderpalm & von Lochow, 2019). The environmental organisations communication methods is now even further affected of the pandemic covid-19, which has generated in recommendations to limit the everyday social contact (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2020). The aim of the study is to examine how local environmental nongovernmental organisations, located near the lake Vättern in Sweden, are affected by the attention different environmental discussions has gained in media and what types of communication methods the organisations use together with how the organisations perceive the development of information- and communication technologies. The methodology is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives from environmental nongovernmental organisations and groups in municipalities adjacent to the lake Vättern. The material has then been analysed though a qualitative content analysis. The result states that all organisations have embraced, to an extent, the technical communication development and that the more recent communication techniques, like social media, has been valuable. Several organisations also use communication techniques that correspond with statistics of which media channels the society use the most. Even covid-19 seems to have had an effect all organisations through, for instance, forced a reconstruction of older programmes to match the governments recommendations. Although, the results show that the organisations differ in opinion about the increased environmental debate. Some are more positive while others doubt the extent of the debates increase.

Climate change is a critical threat to all the countries of the world today, not least because of the severe human rights infringements it may well lead to. However, although climate change is a collective, global challenge, there are considerable inequalities regarding contribution to cause and burden of the effects. Those suffering the most from the effects of climate change tend to be least responsible for the emissions causing it. The theoretical concept of climate justice aims to address these injustices, between different countries as well as societal groups and generations. To contribute to the understanding of how this concept is present in the global climate debate today, this thesis examines a selection of the Paris Agreement parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from a perspective of climate justice. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework developed by Andrea Schapper, focusing on three dimensions of climate justice – international, intra-societal and intergenerational. Through this framework, a total of 36 NDCs are studied, the top and bottom three countries for each world region based on levels of cumulative CO2-emissions. The aim of the case selection has been to obtain a variation regarding development status, vulnerability to the effects of climate change, levels of greenhouse gas emissions and geographical location of the studied countries. The results of the study show that all the dimensions are present in at least some of the studied NDCs, but to a very different extent. Primarily, the parties discuss the issue of international justice. Intra-societal justice is touched upon quite frequently but very few bring up the matter of intergenerational justice. Moreover, all three dimensions are predominantly handled by countries classified as ”developing” (according to the UN statistics division).  This implies that climate justice is a higher priority for the most vulnerable to and least responsible for climate change, which is problematic for many reasons. Above all, it indicates that rich, industrialized countries are reluctant to take responsibility for their current and historical emissions, as well as the effect those emissions have on others.

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Globalization is a concept that manages to attract both academic and mainstream attention and it became an important reference point of many contemporary conversations. However, there is a surprisingly little genealogical research on globalization. This thesis seeks to contribute in this area by analyzing part of the overall academic debate about this concept from the year 1990 to 2012 and by reconstructing the debates and arguments through which the concept was shaped. It breaks the chosen time frame in two periods (1990-2000 and 2001-2012) and conducts a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the debate in four leading academic journals, each of them grounded in different discipline. The thesis finds that key reference points of the debates about globalization in both periods of the time were the terms market and state and the relationship between them. Globalization as a phenomenon that was said to alter the nature of this relationship posed a particular challenge to social science paradigms that operated with state-centered frameworks. The key dimension in which globalization was discussed the most was in both periods the economic one; however, we also saw a rise of social dimension in the second period indicating a shift in attention beyond the economics. Furthermore, this work finds that...

The concept of capital has been a much debated issue throughout economic, accounting and finance history. In economics it was defined as the financial resources utilised by companies while other definitions indicated it represented the actual capital goods themselves. This dualistic meaning of capital has led to various interpretations of the concept of capital and these different interpretations can also be found in the cost of capital model. The cost of capital model is a decision-useful financial tool employed by management to make decisions regarding the financing of projects, performance measurement and risk and return management. The two main forms of funding are debt and equity resources. The cost of capital model was built on the accounting interpretation and classification of the different debt and equity sources of funding. As time went by the financial markets became more sophisticated and new innovative instruments were introduced to help raise financing for companies. Some of these sophisticated instruments and accounting book entries are normally not included in discussion on capital structure and the cost of capital model. The aim of this research is to unbundle and understand the different dimensions of the cost of capital with special focus on the impact of accounting classification on hybrid financial instruments and certain accounting book entries. The balance sheet items that have revealed themselves as grey areas of the accounting classification and the hidden constituents of the cost of capital include accounting book entries such as deferred tax and accumulated depreciation, hybrid financial instruments and the effect of cash. Currently these instruments pose questions as to their proper debt-equity classification or can have an impact on the capital structure of an organisation. An adjusted model will be presented that will incorporate any hidden areas related to the debt-equity accounting classification schema. The introduction of these items into the cost of capital model will make it more robust and it will become an even more decision-useful tool for management and analysts a like. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Financial Management / unrestricted

This essay is about the discussion concerning graduation celebrations in The Swedish Church. Since this discussion is recurrent in the media when it is getting close to the end of the term in the Swedish schools, it is interesting to see how people choose to discuss this issue. This essay will look at how this issue is discussed within the Swedish school and the Swedish church. My research questions that I will use are: How is the issue of the church as a venue for the end of school year discussed in the Swedish Church's newspaper and in the Teachers' Union's trade magazine, Läraren.  This will be done through a content analysis of articles taken from these two newspapers where they discuss the church as a venue for the graduation. I will use a secularization theory developed by the sociologist of religion Thomas Luckmann in which he assumes that one can look at religion from two perspectives, church-oriented religion, and individual-centered religion. The survey in this paper shows that most people are in favor of using the church as a venue for the graduation’s celebrations and that they see it more as a tradition to be there such as something religious.