This study focuses on how Asatrú movements in Sweden are depicted and discussed in digital news articles through two different lenses: How are these movements depicted and which aspects of these movements and their faith are brought up most frequently? The theoretical framework for the study consists of Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory, positive and negative Essentialism as well as Erving Goffman’s theory of Stigma. The method consists of a qualitative content analysis focusing on analyzing the ideas, ideologies and narratives presented in the studied articles, and the material consists of digital articles picked from various Swedish news publications such as Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Expressen, published between 2015 - 2021. The study shows that the discussion of these Asatrú movements is dominated by their perceived connections to racism and right wing extremist groups. On the other hand, the articles and their authors also make attempts to counterbalance this depiction by discussing aspects of the religion such as Blót, ritual sacrifices, as well as by interviewing members of these movements to show their thoughts and feelings about their religion.

Данная диссертация анализирует текущую ситуацию в области экстремистских проявлений на религиозной и националистической почве в Кыргызской Республике, и предлагает, разработанные в ходе исследования, рекомендации и предложения по их профилактике. / This dissertation analyzes the current situation in the field of extremist manifestations on religious and nationalistic grounds in the Kyrgyz Republic, and offers recommendations and suggestions for their prevention developed in the course of the research.

Тема магистерской диссертации - "Технологии профилактики политического экстремизма в молодежной среде". В первой главе проведено исследование сущности политического экстремизма, выявление его признаков и классификации видов политического экстремизма. Кроме этого, определены особенности политического экстремизма в молодежной среде, выявлены основные направления в современном российском молодежном политическом экстремизме. Во второй главе диссертационной работы представлены результаты исследования эффективности использования технологий таргетинга в профилактике политического экстремизма среди молодежи и разработаны конкретные предложения по их использованию. / The topic of the master's thesis is "Technologies for the Prevention of Political Extremism in the Youth Environment". The first chapter examines the essence of political extremism, identifies its signs and classifies the types of political extremism. In addition, the features of political extremism in the youth environment have been identified, and the main trends in contemporary Russian youth political extremism have been identified. The second chapter of the dissertation presents the results of a study of the effectiveness of the use of targeting technologies in the prevention of political extremism among young people and developed specific proposals for their use.

Тема магистерской диссертации - "Роль военно-патриотических клубов в профилактике экстремизма". В первой главе дано определение военно-патриотического клуба, представлены его цели и задачи, а также исследовано явление экстремизма, определены причины, способы и признаки вовлечённости молодёжи в деструктивную деятельность радикально настроенных организаций. Кроме этого, определён потенциал военно-патриотических клубов в формировании позитивной жизненной стратегии молодёжи и риски вовлечения экстремизм курсантов военно-патриотических организаций. Во второй главе диссертационной работы представлены результаты социологического исследования эффективности работы, проводимой военно-патриотическими организациями по профилактике экстремизма. По итогам исследования и анализа работы автономной некоммерческой организации «Военно-патриотический клуб «Уральские Медведи» были разработаны методические рекомендации по внедрению программы, направленной на проведение профилактической работы среди курсантов. / The topic of the master's thesis is "The role of military-patriotic clubs in the prevention of extremism". In the first chapter, the definition of the military-patriotic club is given, its goals and objectives are presented, as well as the phenomenon of extremism is investigated, the causes, methods and signs of youth involvement in the destructive activities of radical organizations are determined. In addition, the potential of military-patriotic clubs in the formation of a positive life strategy of young people and the risks of involving the cadets of military-patriotic organizations in extremism are determined. The second chapter of the dissertation presents the results of a sociological study of the effectiveness of the work carried out by military-patriotic organizations to prevent extremism. Based on the results of the research and analysis of the work of the autonomous non-profit organization "Military-Patriotic Club "Ural Bears", methodological recommendations were developed for the implementation of the program aimed at conducting preventive work among cadets.

Våldsbejakande extremism är ett nytt fenomen i den svenska kontexten och ett ämne som synliggjorts allt oftare de senaste åren genom nyhetsrapporteringar. Våldsbejakande extremism har tidigare bekämpats nationellt till att numera hanteras mer lokalt och kommunalt. Arbetet har till viss del letts centralt från en nationell samordnare för att värna demokratin mot våldsbejakande extremism till nu myndigheten Center mot våldsbejakande extremism. Nationella samordnaren för att värna demokratin mot våldsbejakande extremism angav genom sin nationella strategi mot våldsbejakande extremism en riktlinje att samtliga kommuner ska upprätta lokala handlingsplaner mot våldsbejakande extremism. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och synliggöra hur socialarbetare arbetar mot våldsbejakande extremism, där emfas på det som undersökts legat på implementeringsprocessen av handlingsplan mot våldsbejakande extremism. Resultatet presenteras genom teoretisk förankring i implementeringsteori och gräsrotsbyråkrati. Resultatet av studien visar på hur det förebyggande arbetet ses som en av de främsta framgångsfaktorerna i arbetet mot våldsbejakande extremism, hur kommunala skillnader påverkar arbetet samt att det är utmanande med fenomenet i sig på grund av dess (politiska) laddning. Samtidigt visas exempel på hur socialarbetare använder sig av sitt handlingsutrymme för att ge förutsättningar att klara av sitt jobb utmaningarna till trots. / Violent extremism is a new phenomenon in the Swedish context and has been raised to attention in the last few years, not only in the daily tabloids. Violent extremism has previously been handled at national level but has now changed to be handled at a more local and communal level. The work has in some parts been led centrally from a national coordinator for protecting the democracy against violent extremism to now be led by the authority Center against violent extremism. The national coordinator for protecting the democracy against violent extremism stated through its national strategy against violent extremism a guideline that all municipalities must establish local action plans against violent extremism. The purpose of this study is to investigate and make visible how social workers work against violent extremism, where the emphasis of what was investigated was on the implementation process of the local action plans against violent extremism. The results of the study show how preventive work is seen as one of the success factors in the work against violent extremism, how municipal differences affect the work and that it is challenging with the phenomenon itself due to its (political) tension. At the same time, examples are shown of how social workers use their room for action to provide the conditions to cope with their job despite the challenges.

Islaam as a world religion is most often associated with terrorism and numerous bombings and conflicts around the globe. While, Islaam does not encourage these actions there exists movements within the Muslim community which use violence as a means of political expression similar to the early extremist Khawaarij sect who abused the concept of takfeer. Many modern day ideologues seem to adopt the main tenets of the Khawaarij creed and as a result exhort and carrying out actions of violence under the guise of Islaam. In addition, Western media, secularists, and United States policy also appears to have a direct role in fostering the growth of these movements. Therefore, there is a need for further study into the ideological roots of these groups, their actions, and how societies can look for solutions to combat their ideals before they evolve into terrorist actions. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. A. (Islamic Studies)

Popular interpretations and academic scholarship tends to emphasize the relationship between jihad, military action, and communal violence. These reinforce a sense that violence is inherent to Islam. Investigations into the contexts where jihad has been deployed highlight how its use is often a call for unity believed to be necessary for political goals. Therefore, in order to deconstruct this belief, this thesis tackles instead the relationship between textual interpretations and historical actions, and how these varied across specific moments in time. The case studies examined range from the initial evolution of a theory of jihad in the late antique world, to the Crusades in the 11th and 12th centuries, to early modern dynamics of the Ottomans and Safavids, and finally to modern state-making projects in the Arabian Peninsula These examples seek to create a comprehensive picture of the intricacies rooted in jihad and the narrative that can be associated with a religion that is most often misunderstood. The effort to shed some light on the multiple facets of jihad is hinged upon how these case studies differ from one another, thus forcing the reader to question how they previously understood the modern day phenomenon of jihad. While the conversation will reiterate various themes and concepts as discussed in previous scholarship, it should push the boundaries on how jihad has been framed as a modern day extremist ideology.

Mit der vorliegenden "Mitte"-Studie wird das rechtsextreme Einstellungspotential in Deutschland zum siebten Mal seit 2002 dokumentiert. Zunächst werden in Kapitel I und II die Ergebnisse und theoretischen Implikationen der bisherigen Studien zusammengefasst und erweitert. In Kapitel III werden die Ergebnisse der „Mitte“-Studie 2014 vorgestellt, die im abschließenden Kapitel IV zusammengefasst und im Kapitel V abschliessend diskutiert werden.

This thesis illuminates meaning(s) of religion in a Swedish radical nationalist context. The empirical study is based on a critical text analysis of author Jonas De Geer, key ideology producer of Swedish radical nationalism. The research questions concern how the publications of Jonas De Geer, during the period 1996-2016, address issues related to religion and Christian imagery. The primary aim of the thesis – to study how the concept of religion is understood, negotiated and used in a Swedish radical nationalist context – is enunciated through an examination of how identity and antagonists are construed through the notions of religion in the material, and how these concepts change over time. An applied text analysis, informed by critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, constitutes the methodological framework of the study. The empirical analysis suggests that Christianity and national identity are construed as intertwined and natural, while Judaism is portrayed as the primary antagonist. Additionally, Islam and modernist ideals are depicted as weapons used by Jewish influence to dominate the West. Drawing on these empirical implications, the study concludes that religion functions as a racist configuration in De Geer's symbolic universe.

This diploma thesis deals with the political-geographical analysis of the Czech extreme rights, its voters and electoral support in the period after 1990. The paper aims to evaluate the development of the Czech extreme rights in the period 1990-2010 in terms of its importance in the Czech political system, and especially from the perspective of regional differentiation of its electoral support, and to identify possible influencing factors that conduce the voters to support this political stream. The objective is to answer the question whether there are significant regional differences in the support of right-wing extremist parties and, if so, whether these differences are stable over time. Just monitoring of a longer period (1990-2010) will specify whether the regions with above-average support of far-right parties are stable, or whether the extraordinary support of these parties during the reported period varies regionally and some shifts occur for example, due to the social-economic changes in the transformation period. The thesis also examines the factors that could explain the regional differences in electoral support of the far rights. The aim here is to use the social- demographic and economic characteristics expressing the structure of the population as well as the influence of the local...