This one-year master's thesis investigates the late part of the Middle Neolithic on the island of Gotland. This thesis has been written without the influence of a singular theoretical pespective, and has therefore seen input from the processual, and postprocessual theories. By using several perspectives, an attempt is made to view the material remains used in the most objective manner possible. The specific aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the Mid-Neolithic inhabitants of Gotland were a part of the Corded Ware culture (or as it is called in Sweden, the Battleaxe culture or the Boataxe culture). Most recent literature has concluded that Gotland was never a part of the Battlexe culture, though this thesis has discovered many parallels with the mainland culture, including the production of similar objects and ritual practices. There are indications that the Gotlandic culture also integrated traits from several other coastal regions of the Baltic Sea, something most Battle Axe settlements did not. After investigating all the data that have been linked with the Battleaxe culture, this thesis concludes that the people on the island of Gotland were not fully assimilated to the Battleaxe culture, but were approaching the culture in both a material and ritual aspects. This leaves the conclusion that the Gotlandic culture towards the end of the Middle Neolithic was somewhat of a hybrid.

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The purpose of this study was to explore if and how the Swedish Supreme Court are using the concept “the child’s best interest”. This concept is used a lot in Swedish legislation, but it needs interpretation every time it´s used and is often perceived as unclear. This makes it interesting to see how this affects the individual child´s legal rights. Furthermore I want to see if the Supreme Court listen to the child´s own opinion and if not, are there any justifications to why not. The study has a quantitative starting point, where I have gone through a number of judgments and then chosen seven out of a qualitative point where there has been a discussion from the Supreme Court around the individual and the best interest of the child for the individual child and the methods of analysis used in this study are social constructionism, legal sociology and analysis of the idea. The study shows a lack of consistency among the professionals of what the concept really stands for, which negatively affects the legal rights for the individual child. The solution is a closer collaboration between social workers, judges and lawyers to make the concept clearer and more applicable.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida den tyska ubåtskrigföringen under andra världskriget använde sig av sjökrigsmetoder som beskrevs av Sir Julian Corbett i början av 1900-talet. För att testa Corbetts teorier studeras slaget om Atlanten 1939 – 1945 som ett empiriskt fall. Frågeställningen i denna rapport är: Vilka likheter och/eller skillnader finns mellan Sir Julian Corbetts sjökrigsmetoder och det tyska ubåtsvapens agerande under slaget om Atlanten? Metoden som används för denna undersökning är en komparativ metod där slaget om Atlanten studeras som ett fall. Resultatet visar att det finns en del likheter men också skillnader mellan tyskarnas ubåtskrigföring och Corbetts teorier. Corbett menar att syftet med all sjökrigföring är att alltid direkt eller indirekt säkra ett sjöherravälde eller att hindra motståndaren från att säkra den. Det tyska ubåtsvapnet försökte aldrig att etablera ett sjöherravälde utan valde att bestrida och neka britterna ett sådant. Detta gjorde de genom Corbetts metoder fleet in being, nålsticksoperationer och sjöfartskrig. Resultatet visar på en skillnad i metod gällande sjöfartskrig då Corbett menar att den effektivaste metoden är att anfalla fiendens hamninlopp och terminaler medan det tyska ubåtsvapnet bedrev sjöfartskrig ute på öppet hav med goda resultat. / The purpose of this study is to examine whether the German submarine warfare during the World War II used the principles of maritime strategy described by Sir Julian Corbett during the early 1900s. The Battle of the Atlantic will be used as an empirical case to test Corbett’s theories. The issue addressed in this report: What similarities and/or differences exist between Sir Julian Corbett’s maritime strategy and the German submarine actions during the Battle of the Atlantic? The method used for this study is a comparative method and the Battle of the Atlantic is studied as a case. The result shows that there are some similarities but also differences between the German submarine warfare and Corbett's theories. Corbett believes that the purpose of all naval warfare is to always directly or indirectly secure a sea command or to prevent the opponent from securing it. The German submarine force never tried to establish a sea command but chose to deny the British Navy and establishment of one. They did this by Corbett methods fleet in being, minor counter attacks and attack of trade. The results show a difference in the approach regarding maritime war. Corbett believes that the most effective approach is to attack the enemy's harbour and terminals while the German submarine force conducted maritime war on the high seas with good results.

This thesis will study three specific subjects in order to document changing viewpoints in American culture in relation to nationalism, patriotism, and memories from older generations. It will be studying a space- Bunker Hill, a place- Independence Hall and a person- Marquis Lafayette at approximately fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Each subject will explore the ways the memory of the soldiers involved in the American Revolution have been preserved and remembered. It is the intent of this thesis to establish the importance of the passage of time especially when it comes to preserving historic artifacts and buildings and the way the changing associations have on how we preserve these artifacts. / The triumphal tour of Marquis Lafayette -- Independence Hall -- Bunker Hill Monument. / Department of Architecture

L’Amérique centrale, théâtre des dernières batailles rangées de la guerre froide, est aujourd’hui la région la plus violente au monde, selon les Nations unies. Notre étude s’intéresse à la forme de guerre irrégulière livrée par l’État guatémaltèque contre sa propre population pendant la deuxième moitié du vingtième siècle. À la lumière de rares témoignages d’exécutants et d’archives militaires et policières, nous examinons un mécanisme clandestin de répression dont les trois principales composantes – les enlèvements, la torture et les exécutions sommaires – pouvaient s’abattre sur toute personne soupçonnée, à tort ou à raison, de conspirer contre un statu quo d’exclusion. Au moment de leur articulation, ces moyens répressifs ont constitué un dispositif qui, à partir de 1966, s’est avéré d’une redoutable efficacité. Arme de prédilection des adeptes de la guerre antisubversive pendant plus de vingt ans, le dispositif permettait, telle une chaîne de production, l’accumulation des renseignements jugés indispensables à cette forme de guerre, ainsi que les cadavres dont l’absence éternelle ou la présence outrageuse sur la place publique servaient d’avertissement funeste à l’ensemble du corps social. Où chercher les origines d’un tel dispositif? À partir des ouvrages de référence cités dans le manuel de guerre contre-subversive de l’armée guatémaltèque, la réponse à cette question nous fera découvrir des parachutistes français pour qui la défaite militaire en Indochine et en Algérie pendant les années 1950 n’était pas une option et pour qui la victoire justifiait absolument tous les moyens. Le penchant de ces pionniers de la guerre hors-norme pour les cours magistraux, les entrevues et les articles, nous a permis d’étudier les méthodes qu’ils préconisaient et de repérer leurs traces au Guatemala. Alors que la guerre qui avait servi de prétexte au maintien du dispositif est terminée, sa très réputée efficacité assure encore aujourd’hui sa pérennité auprès de ceux qui peuvent s’offrir le service. En ce sens, la contre-insurrection se poursuit, et ce, malgré l’absence depuis une quinzaine d’années d’un conflit armé. Cette thèse aborde l’histoire de la guerre irrégulière et son déroulement au Guatemala. Les archives et les témoignages à notre disposition contredisent le déni des crimes commis dans les villes et les campagnes guatémaltèques, dont le génocide de 1982. Finalement, certains signes avant-coureurs indiquent que la violence et l’impunité actuelles au pays pourraient mener à la répétition de tels crimes à l’avenir. / Central America, said to have harboured the Cold War’s last pitched battles, is the world’s most violent place today, according to the United Nations. This dissertation studies the form of irregular warfare that the Guatemalan state waged against its own population during the second half of the twentieth century. Through an analysis of a few extant perpetrator accounts as well as military and police sources, this study sheds light on the three main modes by which the Guatemalan government acted against individuals justly or falsely suspected of conspiring against an exclusionary status quo: kidnapping, torture and summary executions. Combined, these three separate acts constituted a covert apparatus of repression which, beginning in 1966, proved immensely efficient. As the weapon of choice for the practitioners of counterinsurgency warfare for over twenty years, the apparatus, not unlike a production line, allowed for the accumulation of intelligence that was essential for the prosecution of this kind of war, as well as the bodies that, in their perpetual absence or desecrated presence in the public domain, served as a deadly warning to the entire social body. Yet, what are the origins and history of this apparatus of state terror? Starting with the cited references in the Guatemalan military’s counter-insurgency field manual, the answer to this question led to French paratroopers for whom military defeat in Indochina and Algeria in the 1950s was not an option, and for whom victory justified all means necessary. The penchant of the pioneers of this form of no-holds-barred warfare for lectures, interviews and articles allowed us to study the methods they encouraged and to identify their tell-tale signs in Guatemala. While the war that justified the existence of this apparatus has ended, its reputable efficiency has allowed it to persevere among those who can afford to pay for its services today. In this sense, if the war has been formally over in Guatemala for over fifteen years, the counter-insurgency continues. This dissertation traces the roots of irregular warfare and how it played out in Guatemala. Historical sources, including state records and perpetrator accounts, make denial of the crimes committed in urban and rural settings, including genocide in 1982, ring hollow. Finally, present warning signs indicate that on-going violence and impunity in the country could lead to the repetition of such crimes in the future.

Isotope analyses on human and faunal skeletal remains from different Swedish Neolithic archaeological contexts are here applied as a means to reconstruct dietary strategies and mobility patterns. The chronological emphasis is on the Middle Neolithic period, and radiocarbon dating constitutes another central focus. The results reveal a food cultural diversity throughout the period in question, where dietary differences in part correspond to, but also transcend, the traditionally defined archaeological cultures in the Swedish Early to Middle Neolithic. Further, these differences, and the apparent continued utilisation of marine resources in several regions and cultural contexts, can only in part be explained by chronology or availability of resources depending on geographic location. Thus, the sometimes suggested sharp economic shift towards an agricultural way of life at the onset of the Neolithic is refuted. Taking the potential of isotope analyses a step further, aspects of Neolithic social relations and identities are discussed, partly from a food cultural perspective embarking from the obtained results. Relations between people and places, as well as to the past, are discussed. The apparent tenacity in the dietary strategies observed is understood in terms of their rootedness in the practices and social memory of the Neolithic societies in question. Food cultural practices are further argued to have given rise to different notions of identity, some of which can be related to the different archaeological cultures, although these cultures are not to be perceived as bounded entities or the sole basis of self-conceptualisation. Some of these identities have been focused around the dietary strategies of everyday life, whereas others emanate from practices, e.g. of ritualised character, whose dietary importance has been more marginal. Isotope analyses, when combined with other archaeological indices, have the potential to elucidate both these food cultural aspects. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted. Paper 5: In press. Paper 6: Accepted.

Thesis (Master of Military Art and Science)--U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006. / AD-A463 797. Includes bibliographical references.

The author of the diploma thesis endeavoured, with the help of historic-anthropological methods, to depict a variety of forms of the war experience of the south Bohemian aristocracy in the period before the Battle of White Mountain. The subject of his interest focused on the fates of men and women of noble origin, on the background of three key military events of the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century. Two expeditions of the Bohemian troops against the Turks in 1566 and 1594, and the invasion of Bohemia by the Passau army in 1611 had a very strong impact on the way south Bohemian knights thought, behaved and acted. Personal correspondence of selected aristocratic families served as the heuristic starting point in the search for the answer to the question which ways an aristocrat chose to defend values tested by centuries and to enforce his own or his family?s interests. The objective of the entire research was to amplify the knowledge about the history of lower aristocracy, by stressing the unique role of a historical participant in war. Treating the topic of war experience gave rise to a contribution on the borderline between the political, military, social and cultural areas of history of the early Modern Age.

The September 11, 2001 Jihadists attack on the West and the subsequent wars on terrorism indicate that war may be a permanent condition of life in the contemporary world. This implies that to understand contemporary society, culture and communication requires an understanding of war because war could perhaps provide a perspective through which to understand the world. The aim of this study is to provide such a perspective and to critically explore the link between war and communication. However, in approaching a study of war one is confronted with a pervasive pacifist anti-war ideological bias. To overcome the bias the study adopts a critical strategy: firstly it deconstructs the taken for granted assumptions about the positive value of peace and then it reconstructs and traces the contours of a Western tradition of philosophical thought that considers war as being an integral and formative aspect of human identity and communication. Chapter 2 uncovers the limitations of the pacifists' discourse on war. Chapter 3 traces the Western tradition originating in Heraclitus that considers war as formative experience of being human. Chapter 4 traces war and killing as formative of language and communication. Using these insights a careful reading and interpretation of how war informs the thought and functions in the texts of selected social theorists of the twentieth century. Chapter 5 traces war as an agonistic structure in the works of Johan Huizinga on the role of play and in the political theory of Carl Schmitt. Chapter 6 explores the idea of war as a model of society in the works of Foucault. Chapter 7 investigates the central influence of real and imagined war on Marshall McLuhan’s theory of the media. Chapter 8 explores the way war structures the thought of Lyotard on the postmodern condition. Chapter 9 concludes by drawing implications on how a perspective on war contributes to development of communication theory and understanding life in the postmodern condition. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. Communication )