The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the phenomenon of populism in Sweden among the Sweden Democrats and the Left Party, as well as their youth unions young Swedes and young left. The study applies the tool VDP analysis in which it is used as an instrument on the parties and their youth unions to identify ideas that mainly constitute their policy. To define populism, one uses Cas Mudde's definition as well as the four subtypes of populism: Complete populism, Exclucionary populism, Anti-elitist populism and Empty populism. The criteria for the different subtypes are tested with the help of the information from the VDP analyzes in order to apply a subtype and to identify differences between moderators and youth associations. The study shows that the Sweden Democrats' survey criteria for complete populism are similar to their youth union. The Left Party and the Young Left result is in criteria for anti-elitist populism. The study also shows that parties and youth unions do not differ in populist subtypes, but youth unions tend to stand out more in their policies compared to their parent parties. / Studies syfte är att undersöka fenomenet populism i Sverige hos Sverigedemokraterna och Vänsterpartiet, samt deras ungdomsförbund Ungsvenskarna och Ung Vänster. Studien tillämpar verktyget VDP-analys som används som ett instrument på partierna och deras ungdomsförbund för att identifiera de idéer som huvudsakligen utgör deras politik. För att definiera populism använder sig studien av Cas Muddes definition samt de fyra subtyperna tunn-centrerad populism, anti-elitistisk populism, exkluderande populism och fullständig populism. Kriterierna för de olika subtyperna prövas med hjälp av informationen från VDP-analyserna för att dels applicera en subtyp, dels för att identifiera skillnader mellan moderparti och ungdomsförbund. Studien visar att Sverigedemokraterna uppfyller kriterierna för fullständig populism likt deras ungdomsförbund. Vänsterpartiet och Ung Vänster uppfyller kriterierna för anti-elitistisk populism. Studien visar också att partierna och ungdomsförbunden inte skiljer sig i populistisk subtyp men ungdomsförbunden tenderar att sticka ut mer i sin politik jämfört med deras moderpartier.

Following thesis investigates the intertwined relationship between the rise of gang-violenceand right-wing populist parties, more specifically the True Finns and the Sweden Democrats. The purpose of this essay being, how the True Finns and the Sweden Democrats usegang-violence to legitimize xenophobia. Analysis are done by using a CDA-approach, the threedimensional model by Norman Fairclough. Materials used in this discourse analysis are material from the parliament, material from the parties websites and public media prior to the general elections in 2022 and 2023. The theoretical tools for analyses in this thesis rely oncombined theories from previous studies in Trygghet as issue ownership and discourses used by the Swedish Democrats and True Finns to legitimize their ideological standpoints. Through combining the theoretical framework and Fairclough’s threedimensional analysis,the empirical findings were analyzed to find which discourses are used when referring to gang violence to legitimize xenophobia. Main results of the analysis found that the parties use similar discourses when talking about gang violence, related to safety, a promised fullness to come and a feared doomsday to legitimize xenophobia. However there were also some culturally bound differences in how the parties legitimized xenophobia when discussing gangviolence. The main conclusion of the study was that some of the findings matched the theoretical framework, while some did not.

In recent studies of Scandinavian Populist Radical Right (PRR) parties, a convergence of their socioeconomic and sociocultural politics have been emphasized. This evidence points towards them having tempered their more radical agenda as they have moved towards the mainstream. But the description of the Sweden Democrats, the Progress Party and the Danish People’s Party as a homogenous entity doesn’t fit their own perception. Across different channels, like printed media and debates, the Scandinavian parties have made clear statements about how they should not be equated with one another. Through comparative method this study wants to shed light on the Scandinavian PRR-parties dividing and uniting ideological features to discuss if they should be described as homogenous - or can we find divergence? Drawing on Cas Muddes theory of populism as a thin ideology, together with Benedict Anderson's theory of nationalism as an ‘imagined community’, this study demonstrates how we can cover the full range of ideas that PRR-parties represent, and thereby present a more nuanced description of them.

In Sweden, the web-TV channel Riks which is a media initiative on YouTube by nationalist political party Sweden Democrats, has gained popularity contributing to the normalization of nationalist discourses. The aim of this study is to analyze how the discursive and visual construction and representation of women on Riks are created in nationalist discourse. Investigating this issue provides insight into the values that are being promoted and their potential consequences. The study was conducted through an intersectional theory and Stuart Hall’s representation theory with a multimodal critical discourse analysis methodology. The study found that women who are assigned the category as ’immigrants’ and ’Muslim’ were portrayed as deviant, having their voices erased and overlooked while simultaneously being portrayed as victims. ’White’ women were also portrayed as victims of the ’mass immigration’, but they were distinctively assigned agency, with the role of doing something about the situation, while ’immigrant women’ were told to ’repatriate’, reflecting their role as not acceptable within the nation.

In this thesis I have conducted an interpretivist narrative study on the correlation between strategic narratives and political myths. The strategics narratives were found by analyzing articles written by Sputnik, and the political myths are identified in previous research. This was done against the theoretical background that when strategic narratives and political myths share similarities the narratives and the myths are more powerful than when told on their own. This study found that the Russian strategic narratives and the political myths in Swedish Democrats share multiple similarities. The two actors tell the story of anti-immigration, how the liberal left is failing the people, and how Sweden have gone from a once wonderful country to a state in decline. Additionally, the two actors portray Sweden Democrats as the saviors that can save the common man from its enemies, i.e., the liberal left and the migrants. This relationship between the narratives and the myths indicates that they have a lot in common and thus the myths should be more powerful and be able to target and convince a larger audience according to the theoretical assumption of this thesis.

No description available.

Crisis management as a concept is newly arrived in Sweden but well researched in other parts of the world. Sweden in recent years has been affected by everything from forest fires to a terrorist attack and now a pandemic. During the ongoing pandemic both crisis management and risk management has undergone a major change in the eyes of the Swedish population. The pandemic has shown an unreliable crisis management from politicians and their parties.  This study therefore aims to explore the ideologies behind the two biggest parties, the moderates and their ideology liberal conservatism and the social democrats and their ideology democratic socialism. The purpose is to find out how the ideologies affect the crisis management policy. The case study is limited to liberal conservatism and democratic socialism with the respective party, the social democrats and the moderates. Throughout the analysis of the parties crisis management policy and its connection to the ideologies the results showed that crisis management is highly affected by the different parties ideologies.

No one believes in Åkesson - a comparative study on the evening press and the public service reporting on the Swedish Democrats before the 2014 election. The purpose of this essay was to study how Aftonbladet and Ekot reports about the Swedish Democrats before the election 2014, as well as comparing the two medias and reasoning about their agendas towards the party. The tabloid, Aftonbladet, is one of the biggest newspapers in Sweden, which depends on counter sales and commercials. Ekot, which is a part of public service, is state-funded and regulated by certain guidelines. Using a quantitative method we studied 80 articles, and through a qualitative method, six of the articles were analyzed to reach a deeper understanding. The theories primary used in this study were agenda-setting and framing, to stress the power of media. As well as political communication, to examine whether the Swedish Democrats are portrayed according to the democratics ideals of what kind of information journalism should provide citizens before an election. The result showed that the politics of the Swedish Democrats was rarely applied in the news articles. It also showed that both Aftonbladet and Ekot tended to portray the political party with a primary negative agenda. The Swedish Democrats were often described as racists, ignorant and irresponsible. Although Ekot proved to be a bit more restrict in their reporting, there were little differences in how both media presented the politcal party. Although the Swedish Democrats has taken on costumes instead of bomber jackets, and has an office in the Swedish Parliament, they still in 2014 aren’t neutralised or portraid as a serious political alternative, in either Aftonbladet nor Ekot.

<p>The thesis concentrates on Hofors and a local trade union environment between 1917 and 1946, where important parts of the trade union’s power were held by parties to the left of the social democrats. The overall aim is to problemize and discuss the issue of what characterised and made possible this deviation from the usual picture of a trade union movement dominated by social democracy. What characterised the conditions in such a local trade union environment and to what extent can local norms and political culture be linked to the conditions and the development in the trade union movement in Hofors?</p><p>The factors behind the radicalism in Hofors can be found in the local union and political context. The investigation points out the following main reasons: the left-wing local council of the Social Democratic Party and its successors’ organisational lead, the local labour council’s working method being close to what has been considered “social democratic”, their representatives being highly trusted in the local community, and the growth of a local radical tradition.</p><p>The political culture and the norms that gradually developed were based on a left-wing social democratic tradition. The local council of the Social Democratic Party that left the party in 1917 to join the left-wing social democratic faction was the same local council, despite their names and change of parties in the 1920s and 1930s. It became the local labour movement’s bearer of traditions and represented the continuity in the local trade union environment, which contributed to the leftwing socialist project being long-lived in Hofors. The central aspects were the trade union work and the practical-concrete tradition that developed.</p><p>Primarily through successful trade union work, the local labour council and its trade union representatives gained strong and long-term support from a large proportion of the local trade union movement’s members and the population of Hofors.</p><p>Against this background it may be stated that, even though it was often impossible for the parties to the left of social democracy to maintain a local trade union and political power position that was stronger than that of the social democrats for a lengthy period of time, it was not entirely impossible. It may also be stated that for the trade union member as such, a communist or socialist party affiliation was not a real obstacle in the election of shop stewards. Their focus was primarily put on the would-be representatives’ personal qualities and ability to live up to the demands and expectations placed on them by the members, and not so much on their ideological persuasion.</p>

The thesis concentrates on Hofors and a local trade union environment between 1917 and 1946, where important parts of the trade union’s power were held by parties to the left of the social democrats. The overall aim is to problemize and discuss the issue of what characterised and made possible this deviation from the usual picture of a trade union movement dominated by social democracy. What characterised the conditions in such a local trade union environment and to what extent can local norms and political culture be linked to the conditions and the development in the trade union movement in Hofors? The factors behind the radicalism in Hofors can be found in the local union and political context. The investigation points out the following main reasons: the left-wing local council of the Social Democratic Party and its successors’ organisational lead, the local labour council’s working method being close to what has been considered “social democratic”, their representatives being highly trusted in the local community, and the growth of a local radical tradition. The political culture and the norms that gradually developed were based on a left-wing social democratic tradition. The local council of the Social Democratic Party that left the party in 1917 to join the left-wing social democratic faction was the same local council, despite their names and change of parties in the 1920s and 1930s. It became the local labour movement’s bearer of traditions and represented the continuity in the local trade union environment, which contributed to the leftwing socialist project being long-lived in Hofors. The central aspects were the trade union work and the practical-concrete tradition that developed. Primarily through successful trade union work, the local labour council and its trade union representatives gained strong and long-term support from a large proportion of the local trade union movement’s members and the population of Hofors. Against this background it may be stated that, even though it was often impossible for the parties to the left of social democracy to maintain a local trade union and political power position that was stronger than that of the social democrats for a lengthy period of time, it was not entirely impossible. It may also be stated that for the trade union member as such, a communist or socialist party affiliation was not a real obstacle in the election of shop stewards. Their focus was primarily put on the would-be representatives’ personal qualities and ability to live up to the demands and expectations placed on them by the members, and not so much on their ideological persuasion.