What does emancipation mean today? In political theory, the idea of emancipation has typically been understood as a process of rationalization involving the promotion of human rights or the historical overcoming of capitalism. However, in contemporary social criticism the earlier antagonism between liberalism and Marxism has largely been replaced by the conflict between Enlightenment thinking and Enlightenment critique. The tension between Enlightenment philosophy and Enlightenment skepticism can be taken as emblematic of the two main tendencies within contemporary critical thought. However, a similar ambivalence can be found in the classical critical theory of the so-called Frankfurt School. Given that we have to distinguish between two types of critical theoretical thought, is it even possible to answer the question about emancipation in an unambiguous way? The overall aim of this study is to examine the meaning of emancipation in contemporary critical thought. More specifically, the principal aim is to demonstrate that Jürgen Habermas’s critical theory can be understood as an attempt to overcome the opposition between the early and the late Frankfurt School in order subsequently to evaluate this attempt and thereby judge whether Habermas’s approach can serve as a key for combining the concepts of emancipation corresponding to these two types of critique. My main objection to Habermas’s reformulation of critical theory is that it is characterized by a lack of emancipatory potential and a lack of critical force. In trying to pave the way for an alternative approach, my strategy for accommodating the tensions between the two models of critical theory is to show that emancipation can be viewed as a process involving three disparate yet interconnected stages: an initial break in the continuity of history; a collective political struggle in order to realize the utopian vision thereby opened up; and, a possible understanding among the participants in a discourse.

Deliberative democrats have argued that democracy requires citizens to seek consensus, using a familiar style of principle-based moral argument. However, critics like Iris Young object that deliberative democracy’s favoured model of reasoning is inadequate for resolving deep value conflicts. She and others have suggested that the aim of improving understanding across political differences could be achieved if our conception of legitimate democratic discourse were broadened to include a significant role for narrative. The question is whether such a revision would amount to abandoning the deliberative democratic goal of seeking reasonable resolutions of value conflict. This thesis argues that a narrative approach to deliberative democracy can realize its commitment to reasoned justification, while preserving the significance of differing perspectives and promoting mutual understanding. The narrative-contextualist approach is developed and illustrated with reference to public debate over issues such as cultural accommodation and historical justice.

This essay has two aims. The first is to provide a better understanding of how youths in urban Mwanza envision a deepening of the democratic system in regard to the deliberative democracy theory by Jürgen Habermas and the agonistic pluralism by Chantal Mouffe. The second aim is to connect the empirical material – the democratic deepening visions of youths in urban Mwanza – to a theoretical discussion, transforming the democratic models into democratization chains. The theoretical contribution in this essay is to apply these theoretical models to an emerging democracy such as Tanzania, and to to transform the agonistic pluralism and deliberative models into democratization chains. The empirical material in this essay has further been gathered through semi-structured interviews with 19 youths in urban Mwanza. The results presented in the first analytical chapter shows that youths in urban Mwanza leans towards a vision of a deliberative model of democracy rather then an agonistic pluralism, but that a social class dimension could be seen as affecting the lean. Particularly less-educated females raised concerns that a deliberative approach would segment an unsatisfying political status quo. The theoretical discussion showed that the implications visions of a deepened democracy from youths in urban Mwanza theoretically could have on the democratization process changes if the theories are seen as models or chains.

The purpose of this master thesis is to examine some pre-school teacher's and parent's perceptions about communication within the pre-school context and how this can be described in terms of conceptual dichotomy. The empirical investigation consists of a qualitative study, where data have been collected by interviewing two focus groups and one single parent. The main theoretical tools which the study uses as its premiss is Derridas' theory of hospitality and Habermas' theory of deliberative dialogues. The study also considers the conception of the intermediate domain as an arena for communication between parents and pre-school teachers, and further more the conception of stereotyping in social and cultural contexts. In order to explore these processes I have used the qualitative method of interpretation; Hermeneutic, also with a narrative approach to the analysis. The results and the analysis of the data show that the interviewed parent and pre-school teachers have a poor sense of knowing how much influence to give to each other. The parents were not satisfied with the level of open communication and how the pre-school teachers share information of the activities.

Every healthcare system faces unlimited demands and limited resources, creating a need to make decisions that may limit access to some new, potentially effective technologies. It has become increasingly clearer that such decisions are more than technical ones. They require social value judgements - statements of the publics distributive preferences for healthcare across the population. However, these value judgements largely remain ill-defined. The purpose of this thesis was to explicate distributive preferences of the public to inform funding/coverage decisions on new health technologies. It contains six papers. The first comprises a systematic review of current coverage processes around the world, including value assumptions embedded within them. The second paper presents findings from an expert workshop and key-informant interviews with senior-level healthcare decision-makers in Canada. A technology funding decision-making framework, informed by the results of the first paper and the experiences of these decision-makers, was developed. Their input also highlighted the lack of and need for information on values that reflect those of the Canadian public. The third paper provides a systematic review of empirical studies attempting to explicate distributive preferences of the public. It also includes an analysis of social value arguments found in appeals to negative coverage decisions. From the results of both components, possible approaches to eliciting social values from the public and a list of factors around which distributive preferences may be sought were compiled. Such factors represented characteristics of unique, competing patient populations. Building on findings from the third paper, the fourth paper describes a citizens jury held to explicate distributive preferences for new health technologies in Alberta, Canada. The jury involved a broadly representative sample of the public, who participated in decision simulation exercises involving trade-offs between patient populations characterized by different combinations of factors. A list of preference statements, demonstrating interactions among such factors, emerged. The fifth and sixth papers address methodological issues related to citizens juries, including the comparability of findings from those carried out in the same way but with different samples of the public, and the extent to which they changed the views of individuals who participate in them.

This thesis investigates two contemporary theories of radical democracy, Jürgen Habermas’s deliberative and Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic democracy. By bringing the two scholars together and constructing a debate between them, their respective strengths and weaknesses are highlighted and the similarities and differences are pointed out. Habermas and Mouffe are seldom dealt with simultaneously as they represent different theoretical traditions, critical theory and post-structuralism respectively. This thesis argues that we can learn from both of them. The aim of the thesis is to clarify and critically assess Chantal Mouffe’s and Jürgen Habermas’s versions of radical democracy, their disparate visions of democratic politics and subjectivity, in order to clear the ground for a third position that draws inspiration from both of them. The methodological inspiration comes from the deconstructive approach to interpretation, and thus the study aspires to a ‘just reading’ while being conscious of the elements of violence inherent to any instances of reading. The main bulk of the thesis is dedicated to an analysis of the two authors’ theories of democracy and subjectivity, which leads on to the third position situated beyond the two. From Habermas I take the stress on political communication and intersubjectivity, while both these concepts are extensively reformulated. The elements I reject from his position are the orientation to consensus and the strong requirements of coherence and transparency of the subject. From Mouffe I take the accent on the agonistic spirit of democracy, while setting aside the ontological status of antagonism. Her conception of split subjectivity is included, but supplemented with a more explicit theorization of the unity of the subject in the element of intersubjective meetings. The third position on radical democracy embraces the fundamental status of undecidability, which calls for an ethos of questioning.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the concept of democracy and education for democracy are formulated in school policy documents related to the four teacher’s description of their work with democracy in the civic subject. The study is based on the following questions:  What type of democracy is presented in the school curriculum as well as other school policy documents? How do the participant teachers understand democracy? How do the participant teachers describe and motivate their work with democracy? This study is made through a qualitative method based on a contextual analysis and interviews with four teachers working in grade 1-3. The study is based on two theoretical extensions and these are electoral-, participate-, deliberate democracy and the traditional- , liberal progressive-, social critical orientated views. Common to the four school policy documents that have been analysed, the most prominent conceptions of and approaches to democracy is participatory and deliberative democratic perspectives. The results show that the school documents and the teacher’s description of democracy rarely mention electoral democracy. However, it can be seen in the school policy documents that there is a notion that knowledge about democracy.  That is, knowledge of political ideologies and the selection process, is required to enable participatory and deliberative democracy.  Teachers understanding of democracy show mainly participatory democracy perspective. However, it has come to shown from the interviews that the teacher’s description of their work with democracy in the civic subject mainly shows deliberative perspectives. One conclusion of this study is that the documents and the teachers' descriptions of democracy and education for democracy are quite similar.

Tendo em vista o pluralismo religioso e a importância política que as tradições religiosas e as comunidades de fé assumiram nos últimos anos, essa dissertação se dedica ao estudo do conceito moderno de tolerância a partir da interpretação pós-secular de Jürgen Habermas, a qual toma como base a concepção enunciada por Rainer Forst. Tal conceito tem papel de destaque na formação deliberativa da vontade de cidadãos que desejam reconhecer-se como iguais em sociedades marcadas por uma profunda diversidade cultural. O desafio foi, diante do multiculturalismo das sociedades modernas pluralizadas e secularizadas, identificar um procedimento capaz de atender à exigência que se impõe com o fato do pluralismo - um conceito de justiça eticamente neutro - sem, contudo, que isto se desse à custa do desrespeito às minorias religiosas e culturais. A reflexão acerca da tolerância e das dificuldades de sua realização nas sociedades contemporâneas tomou, em grande parte do estudo, o ponto de vista da diversidade religiosa e do crescente papel que a religião desempenha na esfera pública. / Considering the religious pluralism and the political significance that religious traditions and communities of faith have taken recently, the subject of this dissertation is the modern concept of toleration, starting from the post-secular perspective of Jürgen Habermas, which takes as its basis the conception enunciated by Rainer Forst. Such a concept plays a major role in the deliberative will-formation of citizens who wish to recognize themselves as equals in societies characterized by a deep cultural diversity. The challenge has been, in face of the multiculturalism of secular and pluralized modern societies, to identify a procedure capable of meeting the requirement that is imposed by the fact of pluralism - an ethically neutral concept of justice - without, however, disregarding religious and cultural minorities interests. The reflection on toleration took, most of the time, the point of view of the religious diversity and of the increasing role played by religion in the public sphere.

Esta pesquisa insere-se no campo da discussão da formação de sujeitos políticos no espaço da universidade, tendo como base as vivências de estudantes através das relações estabelecidas em órgão deliberativo, pelo sistema de representação. O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar a intensidade e a qualidade da representação estudantil em órgãos colegiados de curso do Centro Universitário Metodista (IPA), evidenciando assim elementos que indicam fatores que favorecem ou limitam a participação dos estudantes nesses órgãos. Para tanto, partiu-se do seguinte problema: Qual a intensidade e a qualidade da participação política dos estudantes em órgãos colegiados de curso do IPA e que fatores potencializam ou limitam a participação dos mesmos nestes órgãos? A presente dissertação é uma pesquisa sob uma perspectiva qualitativa, utilizando-se da estratégia de estudo de caso, envolvendo estudantes, coordenadores dos cursos de Administração e de Pedagogia e gestores da instituição. Como ferramentas metodológicas foram utilizadas: análise documental, observações, aplicação de questionários e entrevistas semiestruturadas. A partir da análise dos dados coletados, a mesma foi dividida em três eixos reflexivos, assim denominados: Sobre a representação e a participação estudantil nos colegiados de cursos de Administração e de Pedagogia do IPA; Reconhecimento e desejo - responsabilidade de uma cultura cívica; e Qualidade de participação e conceituação de política. Como aporte teórico, destacam-se as obras dos autores Arendt, Leite e Santos, das quais as teorias sobre formação política e formação na universidade foram extraídas. Os resultados da investigação indicam que o espaço de representação estudantil em órgão deliberativo encontra desafios quanto ao papel e existência de representação estudantil e de participação de estudantes, além da motivação destes para firmar espaços de diálogo. / This research is inserted within the discussion of the formation of political subjects within the university, based on the life experiences of students through relationships established in deliberative body, by the representation system. The objective of the research was to analyze the intensity and quality of student representation in collective course organ of Centro Universitário Metodista (IPA), thus demonstrating elements that indicate factors that favor or limit the participation of students in these organs. To do so, it started with the following problem: What is the intensity and quality of political participation of students in IPA’s collegiate course organ and wich factors potentiate or limit their participation in these organs? The present dissertation is a study under a qualitative perspective, using the strategy case study, involving students, coordinators of courses in Management and Pedagogy and management of the institution. As methodological tools were used: document analysis, observations, questionnaires and structured interviews. From the analysis of the data collected, it was divided into three reflective axes, so named: On the representation and student participation in IPA’s collegiate courses Management and Pedagogy; Recognition and desire - the responsibility of a civic culture, and Quality conceptualization of participation and policy. As a theoretical contribution, we highlight the works of authors Arendt, Leite and Santos including theories about political education and training at the university were extracted. Research results indicate evidence that the student representation in space deliberative organ meets challenges existence of student representation and participation of its members, in addition to the motivation of these students to create space for dialogue.

In a democratic society, public participation will be realized when actions in the environment are to be implemented. Public consultation is a statutory process where the public shall be given the opportunity to transparency and influence, which can be provided to different extent. The aim of this essay was to examine perceptions of participation from a consultation meeting on a public plan for an area in a suburb of Stockholm that results in environmental changes. The experiences of officials and participants of the meeting were compared to provide an overview of the purposes of participation that existed for the two parties, and in which ways they were met. A qualitative approach was used to gain a deeper understanding of the respondents’ experiences. Since the consultation meeting was a delimited phenomenon, this essay was conducted as a case study, with interviews as the data collection method. The result was analyzed through the explanatory models of Arnstein's ladder of participation (1969), and identified goals with public participation by Glucker et al. (2013). The result showed in which ways and to what extent the public experienced participation. Similarities and differences in the perceived participation rate were compared to identify whether the parties’ experiences were equivalent. The causes and effects of similarities and differences were examined. The essay also addresses the obstacles and opportunities that contributed to the perceived degree of participation and what areas the parties considered in need of improvement in order to strengthen public participation. / Som en del av ett demokratiskt samhälle ska allmänhetens deltagande tillvaratas när åtgärder i miljön ska genomföras. Samråd är en lagstadgad process där allmänheten ges möjlighet till insyn och påverkan, vilket kan tillhandahållas i olika utsträckning. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka uppfattningar om deltagande från ett samrådsmöte gällande en detaljplan för ett område i en närförort till Stockholm som innebär förändringar i miljön. Planansvarigas och mötesdeltagares upplevelser av delaktighet jämfördes för att ge en bild av vilka syften med deltagande som fanns för de båda parterna och hur dessa tillgodosågs. En kvalitativ ansats användes för att få en fördjupad förståelse för respondenternas upplevelser. Då samrådsmötet var ett avgränsat fenomen genomfördes uppsatsen i form av en fallstudie med intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Resultatet analyserades genom förklaringsmodellerna Arnsteins delaktighetstrappa (1969) och identifierade mål med allmänhetens deltagande av Glucker et al. (2013). Resultatet visar hur och i vilken utsträckning allmänheten upplevde delaktighet. Likheter och skillnader i den upplevda deltagandegraden jämfördes för att identifiera huruvida de båda parternas upplevelser överensstämde. Orsaker till och effekter av likheter och skillnader undersöktes. Uppsatsen behandlar också vilka hinder och möjligheter som bidrog till den upplevda graden av delaktighet samt vad parterna ansåg hade kunnat förbättras för att stärka allmänhetens deltagande.