Title: The Lilja case – a study about discourse and media representations of violence within ice hockey The purpose of this study is to examine the discourses that influenced the debate in Swedish sport media around the professional ice hockey player Jakob Liljas 10-game suspension and subsequent assault conviction by the Swedish legal system. The aim is to see how Lilja’s violence was defined and what voices were the most prominent in the debate. The study is based on a theoretical framework consisting of Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory and Agamben’s ideas of the Homo Sacer and the State of Exception. Using Laclau and Mouffe, an analytical toolbox was assembled to deconstruct the discourses present in the debate. The analysis found two dominant discourses within the debate: a sports discourse and a law discourse. The study found two nodal points that defined how the discourses treated Lilja’s violence; the nodal point “crime” within the law discourse, and the nodal point “rule violation” within the sports one. The sports discourse argued against the legal process maintained that Lilja had already received a sufficient punishment through his suspension. The law one was centred around the premise that legal action was required to properly punish Lilja. The analysis found that the sports discourse unsuccessfully tried to position the sport of ice hockey as a State of Exception where the laws of regular society should not apply. There were also similarities between the underlying masculine norms that informed how the sports discourse treated player health and Agambens Homo Sacer, how people’s life worth is reduced in order to justify certain conditions imposed on them. While a true State of Exception or Homo Sacer does not exist in this scenario, as Lilja was ultimately convicted according to the rules of the law discourse, it is interesting that ideas that align with these concepts were well represented in the medial debate.

<p>The purpose of this study has been to examine how the image of the gambler is described by studying a report published by Folkhälsoinstituet [FHI] and a number of chosen articles from the Swedish Evening Press. Discourse theory has been used both as theory, together with social constructionism, and as a research method. The main conclusions of the study are that three different discourses can be identified: <em>the normal gambler</em>, <em>the professional gambler </em>and<em> the problem gambler</em>. The image of the problem gambler is described as a deviant and problematic minority characterized by loss of control, irrational thoughts and dissociative behaviour. The construction of the problem gambler fills three possible purposes for the state: As a solvable problem to handle criticism against negative consequences of gambling, as an argument to avoid competition on the market and as an individual characterized by loss of control in order to legitimize and make the construction of the normal gambler possible.</p>

<p>The aim of this study was to find out if the use of the concepts ‘terrorism' and ‘organized crime' has changed after the event on 11 September, 2001 when terrorists attacked World Trade Center and Pentagon. In this study I make use of discourse theory in a way which is inspired by the writings of Winther Jorgensen and Phillips. Knowledge acquired through this research has been primarily generated from two Swedish Government Official Reports concerning questions arising from introducing secret police surveillance. In these reports, there are many opinions from authorities whom have given their thoughts on introducing new ways of policing which are very interesting to analyze. The results shows that the ways the concepts have been used have changed after the terrorists attacks. The same holds true for how the authorities describe their will to combat crime. Terrorism has been described as something that pose a near none existent problem before the terrorist attack, afterwards it is described as a risk that poses a major threat to the whole society. The organized crime has been described as something which has been going from a relatively controllable problem to one that undermines the judicial system and the democratic state.</p>

<p>Since HIV and AIDS were discovered in the early 1980s the infection rates have taken on the proportions of a global pandemic. Whilst the rates are still quite low in the Western World there are areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, of which South Africa is a part, where the rates are as high as 25%. In light of this a debate as to how the situation should be handled and dealt with has developed. In 2000 the United Nation Security Council debated HIV/AIDS as a threat tonational and international peace and security. This was the first time a virus or disease had been debated in this forum. The debate was instigated by, among others, the United States. If states in the Western World, where infection rates are still low, can view this issue as a threat to security, how are HIV/AIDS viewed in a country like South Africa with a prevalence rate of 25%? There are those who claim that in order to say that an issue poses a threat to security one has to define what constitutes a threat and define the concept of security. Is it a subjective value? Could a disease and/or a virus be declared a security threat and what would the logic behind that be? Following the end of the Cold War the study of security was developed as some scholars wanted to widen the traditionally state-centred and military concept of security and reconceptualize it so that it would be applicable to non- traditional security-threats. The theory of securitization was developed with this purpose. It introduces a security-concept that is shaped by a grammar of drama and urgency based in a logic of existential threats that call for measures beyond the normal code-of-conduct. Thus, studies into how military, health, social and political issues etc can be defined as issues of security, i.e. become securitized, are made possible. The aim of this thesis is to, through the theoretical lenses of securitization- theory and the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, establish which meanings are involved in the structuring of the issue of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Further we aim to establish whether these meanings can be related to a broader security concept, i.e. if there is a case of ‘securitization’ at hand. We have found, by analysing speeches given by government officials and key political documents between the years 1998 to 2002, that there are different trends in how HIV and AIDS have been defined, i.e. which meaning they have been given, and how these have been structured. Between 1998 and 2000 HIV and AIDS were seen as a threat and dealt with as such; they were securitized. In the years that followed we argue that there was a more cautious tone; the issue was desecuritized as the level of drama and urgency that had characterized the discourse of 1998-2000 was lowered between 2000-2002. The thesis acknowledges that it is too early to say whether this (de)securitizing move will succeed or not as time has yet to see the full effect of the move on a full desecuritization.</p>

samenvatting Dit proefschrift vormt een poging van een discourstheoretische literaire analyse van het werk van Charlotte Mutsaers (1942). Charlotte Mutsaers schriftuur wordt vaak grillig genoemd. In dit proefschrift heb ik onder meer aangetoond dat de grillige, niet-lineaire schriftuur bij Mutsaers eerst en vooral een kritische dimensie heeft. Mutsaers ontregelt taal en de resulterende vreemde taal daagt de bestaande orde uit. Gevestigde hiërarchieën zoals die tussen mens en dier kunnen hierdoor op losse schroeven worden gezet. In deze analyse worden diverse ontregelende procédés zoals het rizomatische schrijven, het anagram, de opsomming, de digressie en de associatie nader onder de loep genomen. Als referentiekader dient de discourstheorie van Ernesto Laclau en Chantal Mouffe. De discourstheorie helpt om de kritische dimensie van Mutsaers schriftuur beter aan het licht te brengen. Résumé Cette dissertation est une analyse littéraire de lécriture de lauteur néerlandaise Charlotte Mutsaers (1942). Le style de Mutsaers est souvent caractérisé de grillig, c'est-à-dire capricieux, chaotique. Toutefois, on na jusqu'à présent que rarement spécifié en détail en quoi cette écriture est si capricieuse. Dans ce travail, jai essayé détablir un inventaire des stratégies discursives dérégularisantes dans luvre de Mutsaers. Jai observé des techniques comme lécriture rizomatique, lénumération, lanagramme, la digression et lassociation. Par son écriture volontairement désordonnée (doelgerichtige grilligheid), Mutsaers propose des logiques alternatives à ses lecteurs. Pour Charlotte Mutsaers écrire revient toujours à provoquer. Comme cadre théorique, jai utilisé, entre autres, la théorie du discours dErnesto Laclau et de Chantal Mouffe. Cest surtout le côté critique de luvre de Mutsaers qui est examiné en profondeur dans ce doctorat. summary This thesis offers a literary analysis of the work of the Dutch author Charlotte Mutsaers (1942). Mutsaers style is often called grillig, a word meaning chaotic or capricious. In this analysis I have tried to show to what extent this chaotic, digressive style of writing is, first and foremost, a critical one. With her associative, non-linear, rhizomatic style Mutsaers subverts many hierarchies, such as that between humans and animals. I have analysed some of these subversive techniques: rhizomatic writing, association, enumeration, digression and anagram. The theoretical framework of this analysis is provided by the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. This theory helps to emphasize the critical, subversive dimension of Mutsaers work.

Since HIV and AIDS were discovered in the early 1980s the infection rates have taken on the proportions of a global pandemic. Whilst the rates are still quite low in the Western World there are areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, of which South Africa is a part, where the rates are as high as 25%. In light of this a debate as to how the situation should be handled and dealt with has developed. In 2000 the United Nation Security Council debated HIV/AIDS as a threat tonational and international peace and security. This was the first time a virus or disease had been debated in this forum. The debate was instigated by, among others, the United States. If states in the Western World, where infection rates are still low, can view this issue as a threat to security, how are HIV/AIDS viewed in a country like South Africa with a prevalence rate of 25%? There are those who claim that in order to say that an issue poses a threat to security one has to define what constitutes a threat and define the concept of security. Is it a subjective value? Could a disease and/or a virus be declared a security threat and what would the logic behind that be? Following the end of the Cold War the study of security was developed as some scholars wanted to widen the traditionally state-centred and military concept of security and reconceptualize it so that it would be applicable to non- traditional security-threats. The theory of securitization was developed with this purpose. It introduces a security-concept that is shaped by a grammar of drama and urgency based in a logic of existential threats that call for measures beyond the normal code-of-conduct. Thus, studies into how military, health, social and political issues etc can be defined as issues of security, i.e. become securitized, are made possible. The aim of this thesis is to, through the theoretical lenses of securitization- theory and the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, establish which meanings are involved in the structuring of the issue of HIV and AIDS in South Africa. Further we aim to establish whether these meanings can be related to a broader security concept, i.e. if there is a case of ‘securitization’ at hand. We have found, by analysing speeches given by government officials and key political documents between the years 1998 to 2002, that there are different trends in how HIV and AIDS have been defined, i.e. which meaning they have been given, and how these have been structured. Between 1998 and 2000 HIV and AIDS were seen as a threat and dealt with as such; they were securitized. In the years that followed we argue that there was a more cautious tone; the issue was desecuritized as the level of drama and urgency that had characterized the discourse of 1998-2000 was lowered between 2000-2002. The thesis acknowledges that it is too early to say whether this (de)securitizing move will succeed or not as time has yet to see the full effect of the move on a full desecuritization.

The aim of this study was to find out if the use of the concepts ‘terrorism' and ‘organized crime' has changed after the event on 11 September, 2001 when terrorists attacked World Trade Center and Pentagon. In this study I make use of discourse theory in a way which is inspired by the writings of Winther Jorgensen and Phillips. Knowledge acquired through this research has been primarily generated from two Swedish Government Official Reports concerning questions arising from introducing secret police surveillance. In these reports, there are many opinions from authorities whom have given their thoughts on introducing new ways of policing which are very interesting to analyze. The results shows that the ways the concepts have been used have changed after the terrorists attacks. The same holds true for how the authorities describe their will to combat crime. Terrorism has been described as something that pose a near none existent problem before the terrorist attack, afterwards it is described as a risk that poses a major threat to the whole society. The organized crime has been described as something which has been going from a relatively controllable problem to one that undermines the judicial system and the democratic state.

Uppsatsen syftar till att studera hur gymnasieskolor profilerar sig genom marknadsföring. Detta tillämpas genom en diskursanalytisk studie av sex gymnasieskolor, som alla tillgodoser det Samhällsvetenskapliga programmet, belägna i Uppsala kommun. Av den marknadsföring som funnits tillgänglig har urvalet begränsats till respektive skolas hemsida. Resultatet visar på ett samband mellan hur skolorna talar om utbildning och elev. Det centrala för detta samband är hur eleven, genom skolornas marknadsföring, konstrueras som en konsument av utbildning. I denna konstruktion av utbildningsalternativ framträder olika profileringskategorier som skolorna tyr sig till genom marknadsföring. Den gemensamma profileringskategorin är den marknadsorienterade som visar hur skolorna presenterar sitt utbildningsalternativ genom att negativt särskilja sig från konkurrerande skolor. I detta finns en förskjutning från information om utbildning till marknadsföring av utbildning. I sin tur innebär detta att den information eleven tar del av inför sitt gymnasieval, också innehåller inslag av erbjudanden och reklam. I och med att eleven konstrueras som konsument har det skapats en kunskaps- och maktrelation mellan elev och skola. Denna relation konstruerar sedermera en situation där skolorna är beroende av att marknadsorientera sig för att utmärka sig i konkurrenssituationen som uppstått av det fria skolvalet. / The essay aims to study how secondary schools are profiled by marketing. This is applied through a discourse analytic study of six secondary schools, all of which meet the Social Science program, located in Uppsala. Of the marketing that has been available, the selection is limited to each school's website. The results show a correlation between how schools are talking about education and students. The key to this correlation is that the student through the schools marketing is designed as a consumer of education. This construction of educational options shows different profiling categories that schools cling to through marketing. The common profiling category is the market orientated that shows how schools will present their educational options by negative differentiate itself from rival schools. This is a shift from information on education for the promotion of education. In turn, this means that the information students take part in before secondary school also contains elements of promotions and advertising. As the student is constructed as a consumer, a knowledge and power relationship between student and school has been created. This knowledge and power relations construct later a situation where schools are dependent on market orientation to excel in the competitive environment created by the free school choice.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how the image of the gambler is described by studying a report published by Folkhälsoinstituet [FHI] and a number of chosen articles from the Swedish Evening Press. Discourse theory has been used both as theory, together with social constructionism, and as a research method. The main conclusions of the study are that three different discourses can be identified: the normal gambler, the professional gambler and the problem gambler. The image of the problem gambler is described as a deviant and problematic minority characterized by loss of control, irrational thoughts and dissociative behaviour. The construction of the problem gambler fills three possible purposes for the state: As a solvable problem to handle criticism against negative consequences of gambling, as an argument to avoid competition on the market and as an individual characterized by loss of control in order to legitimize and make the construction of the normal gambler possible.

The relationship between the state and the people is a central theme in political theory. Discussions in this field have often centered on how a people can come to constitute a state. Less attention, however, has been directed toward the state’s role in constituting and recreating its people. This book examines the Swedish state’s role in forming the people by regulating the use of reproductive techniques: insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and donations of sperm and eggs. The study focuses on how the issue of assisted reproduction was handled and problematized in Swedish policymaking between 1981 and 2005. What problem representations dominated the political debates and decision-making processes surrounding assisted reproduction? How was conflict expressed within the field of reproductive politics (i.e., what aspects caused conflict or political disagreement)? How did collective fantasies play into the political treatment of reproductive technologies? Using historical government and Riksdag material, four major policy debates have been analyzed, from the first legal regulation of assisted reproduction in Sweden in the 1980s up until the inclusion of lesbian couples as beneficiaries of gamete donation. Theoretically, the study is inspired by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s political discourse theory, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and the “logics approach” developed by Jason Glynos and David Howarth. This combination of perspectives allows for a dual focus on both the form of political articulations and their affective force. Thus, the analysis tries to capture what was taken for granted within the discourse on reproduction (social logics), what arose as points of political conflict or contention (political logics), as well as the affective underpinnings of these social constructions and struggles (fantasmatic logics). The main result of the study is that even though the period saw a quite revolutionary development of new reproductive technologies, the reproduction policies under study took on much more moderate and hesitant character. Throughout the analyzed period there was a more or less consensual view that new reproductive technologies should only be allowed if they did not go against the “child’s best interest.” At the same time, there was significant political conflict over what constituted this interest. Moreover, the reforms that were made never fully embraced the radical implications of the new technologies. Rather, they clung on to previously established patterns of what a “real” family looked like. Thus, every move to allow a new technology or include another category of people as legitimate users of that technology was contingent upon the articulation of a discursive equivalence with previously naturalized methods of reproduction, ultimately taking the heterosexual, nuclear family as an implicit model. Finally, I argue that the production of “sense” in this terrain of radical undecidability was dependent on the mobilization of a series of collective fantasies about “natural life processes,” “nature’s imperfections,” “a humanist view of mankind,” “the stable, original nuclear family”, and so on.