For the past decades, culture has been given a role as a factor for local and regional development. But what is meant by development and in what ways culture can be of importance in this aspect can be unclear. This thesis examines the perception of the role for local and regional development of one specific cultural place and network – the cultural cooperative Not Quite in Fengersfors, Sweden. I study the way the role as developer is expressed and interpreted in the discourse of the cultural workers who are members of the network and in the discourse of public cultural policy in the region Västra Götaland and in Åmål municipality. The study shows that there are both similarities and differences between the discourses concerning how the role as developer is expressed. What differs is the focus on economic growth, which is expressed to be of great importance in the public cultural policy discourse. The cultural workers within Not Quite express a lack of interest in economic growth, or even a negative attitude towards it. They instead express a ”discourse of meaning”. For them, the main purpose of their artistic work is to create meaning and value for other people rather than economic growth. However, the practical effects of the differences seem quite small. There seem to be a balance between the different kinds of development Not Quite is expected to contribute to, and the cultural workers express a relaxed attitude to goals and expectations from the Västra Götaland region and Åmål municipality.

A possible "discursive turn" is believed to have been observed within Swedish political science in later years. The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not such a turn has actually taken place, in order to further determine if a resulting theoretical homogeneity poses a risk to the ability of Swedish political science to identify and respond to its full width of possible research problems, and to determine its perspectives on both these problems and the results that are later communicated to the general society. To do so, the study poses the following primary research question: "Has a discursive turn occurred within Swedish political science?" This question is then broken down into two specified research questions. "Has discourse analysis become a more common approach for doctoral dissertations in political science during the period of 2000-2013?" "Have ideas corresponding with discourse theory become more common within doctoral dissertations in political science that are not pure discourse analyses during the period of 2000-2013?" These questions are then answered by examining all known 406 doctoral dissertations in political science published in Sweden during the 21st century up until (and including) the year of 2013, using two forms of content analysis, one manual and one computer-assisted. The study finds no clear evidence of a discursive turn in Swedish political science since the turn of the century. The results demonstrate, however, that while ideas corresponding with discourse theory do not appear to have become unambiguously more common in recent times, they do appear in some form in a majority of the examined dissertations, albeit most often on the margin. The study finds no significant indications of a theoretical homogenisation that might impede upon the ability of political science to identify and respond to its full width of research problems. Discourse analysis appears to have a stable presence within Swedish political science, but does not appear to risk contributing to a homogenous research climate that might damage the plurality of research. Instead, it might be seen as a contribution to this plurality.

The purpose of this study is that through a discourse theoretical perspective, analyze young girls 'statements about living with self-injuring by sexual behavior. The aim is to locate the discourses that surround them, visualize how discursive constructions affect these young girls' identity as victims and/or actors in relation to self-injury, the sexual violence and in meetings with the professionals within the health authorities. In addition discourse theory as an analyze method, the authors also use Nils Christie's (2001) theory of the ideal victim and Ingrid Landers (2003) theoretical perspectives on normative femininity. The authors of the study show a diversity of discourses that surround the young girls. All discourses contain normative actor- and victim’s positions that young girls constantly are obliged to relate to, which partially conflict with social constructions of the idea of victim and femininity. These positions are assigned, claimed or opposition to, and characterizes not only the young girls self-image, but also how professionals within the health authorities look at them and what support and assistance that’s offered or deprived. Finally, the authors argue for a broader approach to young girls who self-injuring by sexual behavior, they can be both victims and actors and advocates a questioning of oppressive norms to detect and identify the young girls who self-injure by sexual behavior, when it is a prerequisite to widen their options and discretion.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att beskriva hur socialarbetarens yrkesroll och yrkesidentitet kan konstrueras i uppdraget som biståndshandläggare och i förhållande till rådande diskurser inom området. Kunskapsläget inom fältet visade att arbetet som biståndshandläggare är komplext och att det därför kan vara svårt att arbeta på det sätt lagen föreskriver. Dels beroende på att den ideologiska och ekonomiska samhällsutvecklingen kan leda till lagändringar och organisatoriska förändringar, dels beroende på hänsynstagandet till det allmänna intresset. Studiens empiriska material utgörs av intervjuer med fem biståndshandläggare/socialsekreterare, varav den ena inte hade ett myndighetsutövande uppdrag. Ett diskursteoretiskt perspektiv användes som verktygslåda för att analysera socialsekreterarnas utsagor och för att besvara studiens syfte och frågeställningar. Studiens resultat visade på att yrkesrollen konstrueras diskursivt, avhängigt kontexten och i förhållande till organisationens uppdrag för den enskilde socialsekreteraren. Socialarbetaridentiteten/ identiteterna tillskrevs olika former av betydelser men också olika former av diskursiva krav och förväntningar på både beteende och handlande. / The aim of this study was to describe how the social worker’s professional role and work identity can be constructed in the case manager’s assignments and in relation to the existing discourses in the field. Previous research in this field has shown that a case manager’s work is complex and that it can be difficult to perform their assignments according to the law. Partly because of the ideological and economic development in society, which might lead to changes in the organization, and partly due to the consideration of public interest. The empirical part of the study consists of interviews with five social workers. One of these social workers did not have a regulatory exercise assignment. To reach the aim of the study, a theoretical discourse perspective was used. The result showed that the work identity of the case manager is constructed through the discourses of the context and in relation to the assignments given to each case officer from the organization. The social worker identity was assigned with different meanings and different discursive requirements and expectations regarding how to behave and act.

This master’s thesis considers the Official Report of the Swedish Government Transpersoner i Sverige (SOU 2017:92), and its ambitions to increase intelligibility for trans people. Using a discourse-theoretical framework, I study the report’s production of meaning regarding power, norms and knowledge. In my analysis, the constitution of meaning leads to the establishment, in the report, of a specific understanding of intelligibility and of how intelligibility for trans people can and should be increased. Further, I note that ‘knowledge’, in the report, is positioned as beyond power and mobilized to counter the defined problems of unintelligibility. In particular, the report promotes measurable knowledge as the means by which to amend problems concerning lacking descriptions of trans people’s situation. Using Spade (2015) and Butler (1997), I elaborate on the positioning of the state with respect to the report’s project of increasing intelligibility, and show that state power is naturalized. The main conclusion of the thesis is that several of the report’s suggestions serve to legitimize state regulation of gendered subjectivity, specifically with respect to legal genders and their utilization in measurement and surveillance.

Syftet med vår studie var att synliggöra befintliga diskurser gällande våld i nära relation utifrån utredarnas resonerande inom polisen för att i nästa led synliggöra dess konsekvenser. Metoden som valdes var av kvalitativ karaktär, intervjuer hölls med tre utredare från en mellanstor stad i Sverige. Materialet bearbetades sedan med hjälp av en Foucault-inspirerad diskursanalys samt tidigare forskning som gjorts kring ämnet. Tre diskurser identifierades vilka var diskursen om könstillhörighet, normaliseringsprocessen och inställningen till teoretisk kunskap. Resultatet visar att utredarnas inställning till teoretisk kunskap är något som på flera olika sätt påverkar deras arbete vilket riskerar att leda till att utredarnas arbete bygger på otillförlitlig kunskap. / The purpose of our study was to identify existing discourses of violence in close relationships based on investigators' reasoning within the police in order to visualize its consequences in the next step. The method chosen was of a qualitative nature, interviews were held with three investigators from a medium-sized city in Sweden. The material was then processed using a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, as well as previous research on the subject. Three discourses were identified which were the discourse of gender, the normalization process and the attitude to theoretical knowledge. The result of the study shows that the investigators' attitude towards theoretical knowledge is something that affects their work in different ways, which may adventure the fact that investigators' work is based on unreliable knowledge.

Denna uppsats avhandlar hur LO ser på sig själva i en tid då globaliseringen av arbetsmarknaden innebär nya utmaningen för LO och fackföreningsrörelsen i stort. Konflikter med utländska företag blir allt vanligare och vi har valt att analysera LO-tidningens framställning av Vaxholmskonflikten, den konflikt som utbröt då LO-förbundet Byggnads satte det lettiska byggföretaget Laval un Partneri i blockad.Syfte är att med en diskursanalytisk ansats studera framställningen av Vaxholmskonflikten i LO-tidningen för att därigenom undersöka hur LO ser på sig själva och sin omvärld. Med andra ord är frågan om hur LO konstituerar sin identitet och ideologi i artiklarna kring Vaxholmskonflikten central i vår analys.Vi har i vår analys kunnat se hur LO artikulerar två motstridiga sätt att se på såväl konflikten i Vaxholm som på övriga politiska frågor, två sätt som vi valt att kalla välfärdsdiskursen och konkurrensdiskursen. Båda diskurserna är såväl politiska som ideologiska och eftersom konkurrensdiskursen är LO:s konstruktion av dom andra står den för allt det som LO inte är och som de inte identifierar sig med. De andra består enligt LO av en mängd grupperingar och institutioner som inte delar LO:s åsikter kring fallet i Vaxholm och/eller i andra politiska frågor rörande den svenska arbetsmarknadsmodellen.

Barn blir ofta den part som förbises när våld mellan närstående råder i hemmet. Fokus läggs ofta på kvinnan, den slagna, och mannen, våldsutövaren. Det är bara att betrakta lagen för att kunna se varför barn blir den osynliga aktören när det kommer till våld i hemmet. Det var först under vintern 2006 som en ny lag trädde i kraft som betraktar barn som brottsoffer i rättsfall där de utsatts för direkt våld eller har bevittnat våld av eller mot personer som står dem nära. Syftet med de nya lagändringarna är att synliggöra och uppmärksamma de barn som bevittnat våld genom att kunna erbjuda en rättslig trygghet när tryggheten i hemmet för länge sedan har slutat att existera. Syftet med studien är att se hur dessa barn som bevittnat våld framställs och gestaltas i olika dokument. Det empiriska materialet består av nationella och lokala dokument som har till syfte att informera om de nya lagändringarna, barn som bevittnat våld och hur arbetet gentemot detta bedrivs. Materialet ska analyseras utifrån diskursanalys som angreppssätt. Diskursanalys kan delas in i tre riktningar och den riktning som blir aktuell i denna studie är diskursteori. Diskursteori kan på grund av sin vida fokus tillämpas som både metod och teori och det centrala i diskursteori berör hur språket konstruerar och formar vår sociala omvärld. Således ligger studiens intresse i att se hur språket i det empiriska materialet konstruerar diskursen om barn som bevittnat våld.

Denna studie syftar till att studera hur jämställdhet fylls med innehåll i regeringens nationella strategi för regional hållbar tillväxt och attraktionskraft perioden 2015–2020 och handlingsplaner från tre valda regioner som alla ingår i projektet ”regional jämställd tillväxt”, samt vilka effekter det får för möjligheten att politisera kön. Detta görs utifrån Carol Bacchis metodologi för policyanalys som heter ”What’s is the problem represented to be?” Även den tidigare Alliansregeringen har drivit liknande projekt, men studien avgränsas till den nuvarande regeringens strategi. Utifrån Bacchis sex steg för policyanalys, som bygger på filosofen Michel Foucaults teori om styrning och makt som kallas för ”governmentality”, konstrueras tre forskningsfrågor som alla har en angränsande följdfråga: Hur representeras problemet av regeringen och regionerna och på vilka premisser dessa representationer bygger på? Hur legitimeras problemrepresentationerna och vad som lämnas oproblematiserat? Vilka effekter kan problemrepresentationerna innebära för jämställdhetsdiskursen, individernas liv och hur de ser på sig själv och andra, samt hur problemrepresentationen produceras, sprids, försvaras och hur den kan ersättas? För att kunna reflektera kring detta sista steg tillförs ytterligare teori i form av Chantal Mouffes och Ernesto Laclaus ”diskursteori”. Studien visar på att problemet är brist på kunskap bland de regionala aktörerna och kvinnors bristande kapacitet att verka på marknaden. Jämställdhet problematiseras inte utifrån ett rättviseperspektiv, utan ses som ett medel för ökad regional tillväxt. En problemrepresentation som legitimeras av en problematisk demografisk utveckling och globaliseringen. För att ta till vara på all tillväxtpotential framställs människor som kreativa, vars entreprenörskap ska främjas. En problemrepresentation som sprids genom stora internationella institutioner och framställs som moraliskt rätt. Problemrepresentationen kan ersättas genom att konstruera ett politiskt klimat där motståndares åsikter ses som legitima och därmed möjliggöra politisering av kön och även fler sätt för människor att identifiera sig på. / The purpose of this thesis is to study how gender equality is filled with meaning in the governments national strategy for a regional sustainable economic growth and attractiveness during 2015-2020 and in the strategies from three selected regions, that are all included in the project “regional economic growth with a gender equality perspective”, as well as it has on the ability to politicize gender. This is done with help of Carol Bacchis methodology for analyzing policy called ”What’s the problem represented to be?”. The former government Alliance for Sweden have been working with a similar project, but this thesis is delimited to the strategy of the current government. With starting point in Bacchis six steps for analyzing policy, based on the philosopher Michel Foucaults theory about governing and power called “governmentality”, there are three research questions constructed, and each one is associated with a follow up question: What is the problem represented to be by the government and by the regions and on what premises are they build upon? How has this problem representation been legitimized and what is not problematized? What effects can this problem representation generate for the gender equality discourse, the way the subjects think about themselves and others, their lives and how are this problem representation being produced, disseminated and defended and how can it be replaced? Too be able to reflect on this last step, Chantal Mouffes and Ernesto Laclaus “discourse theory” is applied. This thesis shows that the problem is represented as a lack of knowledge about gender equality among the regional actors, and women’s capacity to act on the market. Gender equality is not being problematized as a matter of justice, rather as a mean for an increased regional growth. The problem representation is legitimized by referring to a problematic demographic development and globalization. To take advantage of the potentials for economic growth, humans are being portrayed as creative, and their entrepreneurship needs to be promoted. This representation of the problem is spread through major international institutions and is being portrayed as morally correct. This problem representation can be replaced by create a political climate where other opponents opinions are seen as legitimate, which makes it possible to politicize gender and also for humans to identify in more ways.

Title: How masculine is Donald Trump? – A comparative discourse analysis of how Donald Trumps masculinities are portrayed on The New York Times, The Guardian & Aftonbladets webpages The aim of this essay is to compare how Donald Trumps masculinities are portrayed in the news reporting by The New York Times, The Guardian and Aftonbladets webpages. The time period of the study capture Donald Trump before he was elected as president, after the election and then as the position as incumbent president to grasp one more dimension of his masculine identity throw different time periods and capture his subject position in the news reporting. The method that is used to examine this issue is Laclau and Mouffes discourse theory that work as a combination of discourse analysis as a method of analyzing the news text and locate different discourses. As well as in combination with theories about masculinities and previous studies about former presidents, macho culture and hegemonic masculinities. The result show Donald Trump with different masculine identities through both time and media channel. Donald Trump has first been seen as a masculine joke, a stunt like one of the Jackass-gang would pull in the TV-series. A man that is not afraid to take the challenge and run for president even if the odds are well against him, he represent a masculine crisis. Later on he take the form of a business man that hopefully will ”not” run USA like his worldwide affairs, fast and unpredictable. The latest chapter portray Donald Trump as a fearless president that do whatever he want in policy making and the media is afraid of what will happen to the world order. From a former identity of a ”business rockstar” that does what he wants with females and worldwide affairs to become one of the most fearsome manly leader of the western civilication. Alongside with the theory of masculinities Donald Trump try to defend the hegemonic masculinity of politics and business leders by playing on a possible ”mancard” like Ronald Reagan back in the 80 ́s, by reaching out to the industry workers that mostly are men and defending there chances of labour – when the society evolved form industrial to a more service economic society with women competing alongside men about workplace. The slogan ”America First” would rather be ”Masculinity First”, ”Make America Masculine Again” would be the text on the caps