This thesis shows how misogynous and stereotypical images of women, which historically have been used to transform them into witches and monsters, are now reused in the construction of the term “batikhäxa” (“tie-dye witch”). Feminist and discourse theory form the framework of this study which includes the analysis of three opinion pieces, or political pamphlets, that were published between 2010 – 2018: "Batikhäxorna och makten" by the pseudonym Julia Caesar, "Refugee 'Children" & The Women Who Sexually Exploit Them" by the pseudonym Angry Foreigner and "De ansvariga för Sveriges kaos behöver en intervention för att ställas till svars " by Katerina Janouch. I use critical discourse analysis to study how discursive strategies are applied in these political pamphlets to delegitimate women, making them the scapegoats of society by use of the concept of the tie-dye witch. My thesis argues that the use of the tie-dye witch discourse reproduces patriarchal power relations by denying women the right to have and express their opinions, decide over their own bodies and exercise power in society. The tie-dye witch can therefore also be understood as an anti-feminist counterimage to the feminist witch who was established as a female role model in the 1960s. The study also uncovers the psychological function of the tie-dye witch as a female super monster who demarks the borders of nation, culture, religion, body and gender. In the studied texts, the tie-dye witch is constructed to separate "us" from "the others", and in doing so she also acts as a unifying figure in and of anti-feminist, islamophobic, xenophobic, nationalist and apocalyptic discourses.

Syftet med studien är att visa hur domstolar resonerar kring våld samt beslutar i domar gällande vårdnad, boende och umgänge när det förekommer uppgifter om våld. När föräldrar inte kan enas i vårdnadsrelaterade frågor kan de vända sig till domstolen och statistik visar att antalet tvistemål har fördubblats det senaste decenniet. Under de senaste årtiondena har större reformer genomförts i Föräldrabalkens (1949:381) 6 kapitel, vilket är det kapitel domstolen ska utgå ifrån när den dömer i ett vårdnadsmål. Många av förändringarna har syftat till att öka möjligheten till gemensam vårdnad, växelvist boende och umgängesrätt. Det går inte att objektivt fastställa vad som är barnets bästa och därför blir domstolens bedömning avgörande i varje enskilt fall. Domstolen ska särskilt titta på; barnets behov av en nära och god kontakt med båda föräldrar, risken för att barnet far illa, barnets egen vilja och kontinuitetsprincipen. När domstolen ska besluta i vårdnadsmål innehållande uppgifter om våld måste dessa alltid prövas och en riskbedömning göras. Om domstolen finner en risk för att barnet kommer att fara illa så bör detta väga tungt i helhetsbedömningen. Om en förälder tidigare utsatt eller utsätter barnet eller annan familjemedlem för våld och andra kränkningar är det som princip bäst att den föräldern inte får ha vårdnad om barnet. Våld mot barn kan vara allt ifrån nypningar och förolämpningar till grova sexuella övergrepp och tortyr. Många barn upplever våld mot andra familjemedlemmar. Uppsatsens huvudsakliga empiri består av 27 hovrättsdomar i vårdnadsrelaterade mål avkunnade mellan november 2018 och mars 2019, vilka alla innehåller uppgifter om våld. Under studien har jag använt mig av flera metoder. En rättsvetenskaplig metod har använts i arbetet med att redovisa gällande rätt kring vårdnad om barn samt våld mot barn. Med hjälp av en kvantitativ innehållsanalys granskade jag de uppgifter om våld som förekommer i domarna samt våldets omfattning. Med denna metod granskades även det domstolen fastställt genom dom. För att kunna gå in mer på djupet och granska hur domstolen resonerar kring uppgifterna om våld kompletterades den kvantitativa studien med en diskursanalys. Resultatet visar att domstolen ofta förminskar det uppgivna våldet, när domstolen beskriver våldet används ord som ”samarbetssvårigheter” och ”högljudda konflikter” och en våldsutsatt förälders, mammans i denna studie, samt barnets utsaga ifrågasätts ofta. I 19 av 27 domar (70 procent) tilldelas våldsutövaren, pappan i denna studie, vårdnad och/eller umgänge och detta visar på att domstolen i hög grad anser att en våldsutövande förälder är en lämplig umgängesförälder. Domstolen har en betydande roll i avgörandet om vad som är ”verkligt” samt besitter stor makt att besluta över barnets framtida uppväxt. Domstolen betonar vikten av en god och nära relation till båda föräldrar men den ”goda” relationen kan enligt min mening inte uppnås när barnet utsätts för direkt eller indirekt våld. / The purpose of the study is to show how courts reasons about violence and determines in judgments concerning custody, housing and child contact when there is information about violence. When parents are incapable of deciding on custody-related issues, they are to turn to the court. Whereby, statistics show that civil cases in custody-related issues have doubled in the past decade. In the past few decades however, major reforms have been implemented in chapter 6 of the Children and Parents Code (1949:381) in which the court will derive its rulings on, when deciding the fate of any custody-related case. Many of the changes have been aimed at increasing the possibility of joint custody, alternating housing and contact with the parent with whom the child does not live. It is not possible to objectively decide on what is in the best interest of a child thus, a court’s verdict will be decisive in any such civil case. The court must take certain aspects into account, such as; the child’s needs of close relation to both parents, the risk of the child getting abused, the child’s own will and the continuity principle. When the court draws a ruling in custody cases containing information about violence, this infomation must always be thoroughly examined, and a risk assessment has to be made. If the court finds a risk of future harm of the child, this should weigh-in heavily in the overall assesment. If a parent uses violence or has previously subjected the child or other family member to violence and other violations, it is basically best that that parent may not have custody of the child. Violence towards children can be anything from pinching and insults to gross sexual abuse and torture. Many children experiencing domestic violence. The thesis´s main empirical object consists of 27 rulings in custody-related cases annonuced between November 2018 and March 2019, all of which contain information about violence. In writing the thesis, several methods have been used. A method of jurisprudence have been used to navigate the work of reporting on what the current law says about child custody and violence against children. With the help of a quantitative content analysis method, I examined the information about violence that appears in the judgments and the extent of that violence. This method also examined what the court determined by judgment. To be able to examine courts rulings more in depth and examine how courts reasons with the given information about violence the quantitative study was supplemented with a discourse analysis. The findings show that courts often diminish alleged violence. The court describes violence with words, such as “unpleasantness” and “loud conflicts” and the statement of a parent who´is subjected to violence, the mother in this study, and a child’s statement are often questioned. In 19 out of the 27 rulings (70 %), the violent parent, the father in this study, is assigned custody and/or contact with the child which shows that the court to a larger extent considers a violent parent as a suitable parent. The court has a crucial role in deciding what is real and possesses great power to decide on the child's future upbringing. The court emphasizes on the importance of a good and close relationship with both parents, in my opinion however, the ”good” relationship cannot be achieved when the child is subjected to direct or indirect violence.

Min tanke bakom undersökningen är att betygsättning och olika former av bedömningssätt är frågor lärare måste ta ställning till i utövandet av sin yrkesroll, från ett makt- och elevperspektiv. Som lärare har man makten att öppna respektive stänga dörrar för elever, då betyg blir avgörande för elevernas vidare utbildning. Mina frågeställningar är: Vad berättar medieelever om sina upplevelser av att bli betygsatta i media- estetiska ämnen? Hur beskriver medieelever att betygsättning inverkar på deras självbild? Mina informanter går i årskurs 3 på en medieinriktning, på ett estetiskt gymnasieprogram. Med dem gör jag intervjuer där de reflekterar kring att få betyg i media-estetiska ämnen. Denna uppsats använder sig av etnografiska metoder grundat på intervjuer och diskurs som analysverktyg och teori. Min strävan är att förstå hur betygssättning inverkar på mina informanters liv och hur den tillslut fungerar i en större samhällskontext. Studien visade att lärarna har en inflytelserik roll när det kommer till hur eleverna känner sig efter bedömningssituationen. Resultatet i undersökningen visar att det är svårt att definiera vad "rättvisa bedömningar" verkligen innebär och att det är individuellt hur eleven uppfattar kommunikationen med läraren. Man kan se att kommunikationen mellan lärare och elev är grundkärnan i hur bedömningen framförs och tas emot. Det krävs yrkeskompetenta lärare som är tydliga med kunskapskraven och att samtal med elever förs på ett konstruktivt vis. Sammanfattningsvis så behövs forskning inom detta område och resurser på ett politiskt plan. Min gestaltning är en förlängning av min etnografiska undersökning. Där samtalar elever som går olika estetinriktningar - musik, media, florist, musikal och teater, med varandra om vad de tycker om att bli betygsatta i ett estetiskt ämne och vad de tycker generellt om betyg. Detta resulterade i porträttfotografier som sedan ställdes ut på Vårutställningen på Konstfack 2014. / My thought behind the investigation is that grading and different forms of grading are questions that teachers have to deal with in their profession, from a power and pupil perspective. As a teacher you have the power to open respectively close doors for pupils, and then grades becomes decisive for the pupils further education. My issues are: What do media pupils tell about their experiences of being graded? How do media pupils describe the impact of the grading on their self image? My informants are studying at 3rd grade at a media orientation on an esthetical program. With them I do interviews where they reflect on being graded in media esthetical subjects. This essay uses ethnographical methods based on interviews and discourse as an analytical tool and theory. My aim is to understand how grading impacts on my informants’ life and how it finally works in a bigger social context. The study showed that the teachers have an influential role when it comes to how the pupils feel after the grading situation. The result in the investigation shows that it is difficult to define what a "fair grading" really implies and that it is individual how the pupil understands the communication with the teacher. In that way you can see that the communication between the teacher and the pupil is the core in how the grading is being brought up. It demands professionally skilled teachers that are clear with the requirements of knowledge and that conversations with the pupils are being held in a constructive way. To sum up, this calls for research within this subject and resources on a political level. My interpretation is a prolongation of my ethnographical investigation. There the pupils studying on different esthetical orientations – music, media, florist, musical and theatre, are discussing with each other about what they think about being graded in an esthetical subject and generally what they think about grading. This resulted in a number of portrait photographs later being exhibited on the spring exhibition at Konstfack in 2014.

In this essay I try to find out how the local political climate in the Swedish Municipal Örebro looks like through the eyes of Michel Foucault. I’ve been focusing on the concept power, knowledge and politic. I’ve been applying the discourse theory on the study and the founder of that theory is Chantal Mouffe and Ernesto Laclau, the discoursetheory is a refinement of Foucaults thoughts about discourse. The object of study is the Mayor of Örebro, Staffan Werme and the position connected to that post. I’ve used the method “shadowing”, and I’ve been following the Mayor in every physical room that he appears in for nearly two weeks. The aim is too see which subject-position that the Mayor ascribes to in those different rooms, and also how the concept of power is used.

The divided Swedish subject – a comparison of the curriculums in Swedish and Swedish as a second language The aim of this essay is to examine and appose the curriculums of the school subjects Swedish and Swedish as a second language in upper secondary school in relation to prevalent second language development research and didactics. My theoretical framework consists of discourse theory and the socio-cultural perspective on teaching and learning. The overall purpose of this essay is biramous and the study aims towards answering the following questions: 1. What didactic considerations are made in the two curriculums? And 2. In what ways is the curriculum in Swedish as a second language based on prevalent second language development research, and in what ways is it not? To answer these questions I have chosen discursive analysis as my main method to examine and compare the curriculums in order to delineate what implications its language use and goal formulations has for the perception of both student groups and in turn the possible quality of their language education. Through my analysis I have found that the curriculum for Swedish as a second language have some bearing in second language research, but that the differences between the two subjects’ curriculums as a whole lack feasible reasoning. The differences in language use and goal formulations between the two curriculums comes across as a result of both fleeting reasoning as well as fleeting judgement in relation to didactics and second language education. My proposition is to have a united Swedish subject for the currently existing student groups with the possibility of a new version of Swedish as a second language intended solely as a temporary educational form for newly immigrated students to assist their early Swedish acquisition.

I denna uppsats genomförs en diskursanalys av materialet Orten bortom våldet med hjälp av Ernesto Laclau och Chantal Mouffes hegemonikritiska diskursteori. Materialet Orten bortom våldet är centralt för Eskilstuna kommuns sociala förebyggande arbete mot våld och kriminalitet. Med hjälp av Laclau och Mouffes diskursanalys dekonstrueras i denna studie resonemangen bakom Orten bortom våldet. Syftet är att synliggöra dess hegemoniska och ideologiska antaganden rörande individ, samhälle och sociala fenomen. Analysen använder centrala begrepp utifrån Laclau och Mouffes diskursteori för att synliggöra och identifiera hegemoniska och dominanta diskursiva ställningstaganden. Studien visar hur analysmaterialet vilar på en dikotomisk och dogmatisk social differentieringsdiskurs och en individcentrerad liberalistisk determinism rörande det förebyggande sociala arbetet och dess interventioner och problematiserar dessa aspekter utifrån ett vi och de-kritiskt perspektiv samt ett ideologikritiskt perspektiv. / In this essay, a discourse analysis of the material Orten bortom våldet is carried out with the help of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's hegemonic-critical discourse theory. The material Orten bortom våldet is central to Eskilstuna municipality's social prevention work against violence and crime. With the help of Laclau and Mouffe's discourse analysis, this study deconstructs the reasoning behind Orten bortom våldet. The aim is to make visible its hegemonic and ideological assumptions concerning the individual, society and social phenomena. The analysis uses central concepts based on Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory to make visible and identify hegemonic and dominant discursive positions. The study shows that the analysis material rests on a dichotomous and dogmatic social differentiation discourse and an individual-centered liberal determinism regarding preventive social work and its interventions and problematizes these aspects from a we and them-critical perspective as well as an ideology-critical perspective.

This master’s thesis in ethnology aim to enlighten the driving forces behind why a local football club, in a segregated residential area, outside of Stockholm in Sweden, chooses to develop its association in a more social direction. This is a cultural study of why football, as a cultural phenomenon, is expected to be able to solve social problems, and more generally how is sport considered a tool and a solution to social problems? Why is football expected to be able to solve segregation in a socio-economically vulnerable areas, of those who lead the sports activities? The empirical material of this essay has been collected through oral interviews from leaders of the association and government officials. Material from the association's development documents, state active board members from the association, government documents, and news articles have also been analyzed. By using the Political Discourse Theory by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (2008 [1985]), the situations for how the sports activities have been designed can be seen as made in relation to the general hegemonic discourse on the social benefits of sport. It is also possible to discover how government grants work as guidelines and point out what the sports movement should perform under state supervision. Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (2007), by Jason Glynos and David Howarth, are used in the analysis and especially their fantasmatic logic has given this study an insight into the idea or perception that football leaders have of the outside world, in this case the idea of the social benefit of sport. Which in turn can explain why they in turn invest their commitment in and attract their drive from these ideas because the conviction is about being able to change the socio-economic situation in their local area. In the end, however, it turns out that neither sport nor football alone cannot serve as the solution in the fight against child poverty, criminal activity, and segregation. Sport’s simply does not have all the characteristics required to reform, challenge, or question a social order created or even built on inequality and segregation. But this in no way takes sport into account in contexts where it can socially contribute to a community that can play a significant role for its participants in their everyday lives.

The Bachelor dissertation What do you mean national self-image? is a discourse analysis of the relationship between Swedish news providers. The study aims to investigate how Swedish-language print media interact with the main provider of Swedish news in English, The Local Sweden, and what it reports as the “essence” of the nation and its people.   The investigation has been conducted through the implementation of Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse analysis and uses intertextuality, stereotypes, social representation, as well as nationalism and the imagined communities as its theoretical framework. The material selected for the analysis comprises publications by Swedish-language print media from the year of 2014, which engage in a dialogue with The Local Sweden beyond the generic interaction of news. The dissertation concludes that Swedish-language print media approach The Local Sweden’s news coverage in two ways: in agreement or in opposition of what has been reported. When The Local Sweden has published something with the intention of capturing the “essence” of Sweden and its people, they bring attention to the Swede’s hugging culture, their food and souvenirs, as well as their knowledge of language. The results of the study suggest that The Local Sweden manages to provide new information on the subjects, which then leads to Swedish-language print media responding with entire articles dedicated to these topics. The articles convey a sense of fascination and curiosity toward the findings and confirm that The Local Sweden has been correct in their observations. However, when The Local Sweden publishes something with the intention of presenting Swedish news rather than the specific “essence” of it, they find different angles in news stories than what has been covered by Swedish-language print media. The results of the study suggest that by doing so they set themselves apart and provoke Swedish-language print media into responding by incorporating a comment for and/or relating to them as a news provider. The comments convey that Swedish-language print media question The Local Sweden’s validity as a valuable member in covering Swedish news.

In this study, the Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro was analyzed with regards to what childhood discourses can be found in it, and why these discourses in particular appear. To do this, discourse theory was used as the main theoretical basis, and certain aspects of hermeneutics were also used, such as combining the hermeneutic spiral with basic film analysis as a method. The childhood discourses that are discussed are the natural child, adult children and child adults, the competent child, the vulnerable child, postmodern childhood, the lonely/psychological child, and gender discourses. First, the life context of Hayao Miyazaki was examined to see what childhood discourses that might have influenced him. The natural child seems to be the most prominent discourse throughout Miyazaki’s life and his previous work, and the discourse appears in My Neighbor Totoro as well. However, so do all the other discourses. The results are that the view of childhood expressed in the film is that children develop the best in proximity to nature and the divine. Children should aspire to become competent adults, but adults should also come closer to childhood and nature. Postmodernity is dismissed as bad for children, and the natural childhood is deemed to be in need of saving. Children are also according to the film beings capable of complex thoughts and feelings relating to fears, death and family relations. These difficult thoughts are dealt with by their imagination – an imagination that is non-separable from their reality. This could indicate another childhood discourse: the imaginative child. Apart from all this, ways to use films like this one in education are also briefly discussed through film pedagogy. / <p>Slutgiltigt godkännandedatum: 2022-01-14</p>