Syftet med det här arbetet har varit att granska hur Afrika framställs i tre svenska läroböcker avseende ämnet geografi, utifrån de strävansmål som finns i kursplanen. Arbetet har innefattat granskning av alla de bilder som behandlas i kapitlen om Afrika, jämte ambitionen att försöka få syn på de underliggande budskap som bilderna har, via analys utifrån ett kulturperspektiv. Metoden för undersökningen har varit bildanalytisk och det har använts semiotiska verktyg för att granska läroböckernas bilder. Utifrån ett kulturperspektiv har bilderna sedan tolkats och bearbetats. Resultatet visar att det som läroböckerna tycks förmedla, är en europeisk syn på kontinenten. Naturtillgångar, det afrikanska djurlivet, äventyrsturism samt Egyptens forna historia är återkommande inslag i de granskade läroböckerna, koncentrerade på ett fåtal av Afrikas länder. Slutsatsen av studien är att det finns en klar tendens att framställa Afrika som en resurs för Europas behov av råvaror, rekreation och behov av äventyr. Slutsatsen blir vidare att böckernas perspektiv inte sällan är eurocentriskt och på vissa sätt inte stämmer överens med strävansmålen i geografi.

The way in which humanity’s past is categorized has a considerable impact on people’s perceptions of history. Hence, it is crucial for history professors to reflect on and be aware of how various periodizations may affect their teaching. This paper comprises an overview of research concerning periodization and its potential influence on history teaching. Our aspiration is that professional educators will greatly benefit from the information presented. The majority of the research has been found by utilizing the databases ERC, ERIC and SwePub. Remaining material have either been introduced to us during previous courses at Malmö University or been encountered as cited sources in previously chosen research articles. All relevant information has been utilized in the construction of this overview, and there has been no valuation regarding researchers’ potential standpoints on the matter. Our investigation has made visible that periodizations, regardless of their design, tend to be exclusionary and misleading. The eurocentric periodization in particular has been repeatedly criticized by historians due to its evident glorification of the Occident. The eurocentrism frequently tied to periodization often impinges on history teaching materials; something which is bound to affect pupils’ perceptions of the past. In an increasingly globalized world,diverse ideas of history have come to collide in heterogeneous classrooms. Therefore, it is imperative for teachers to discuss various understandings of bygone days with their students. In spite of its apparent flaws, research indicates that periodization is a necessity after all. The division of the past into manageable chunks constitutes a vital foundation most requisite for pupils’ learning. Surprisingly, a deficient amount of research has been conducted regarding periodization and its relation to history teaching. Needless to say, the subject deserves further recognition, as periodization is a historiographical tool used almost everywhere.

I läroplanen för gymnasieskolan från 2011 står det att undervisningen ska bidra till att elevers identitet kan relateras till det globala samt att skolan ska utgå från ett internationellt perspektiv. Däremot menar en rad forskare att historieundervisningen tenderar att vara eurocentrisk. Om utbildningen då utgår från ett eurocentriskt perspektiv, går inte detta emot läroplanens mål och uppdrag? Denna kunskapsöversikts syfte är därmed att presentera forskning gällande det svenska högstadiets och gymnasiets koppling till eurocentrism. För att bemöta detta syfte utgår kunskapsöversikten från två frågeställningar. På vilka sätt är historieundervisningen eurocentrisk? Och hur kan vi arbeta emot eurocentrism? Materialet som används har vi funnit via systematiska sökningar i digitala databaser samt en kompletterande sökning. Alla källor förutom Jan Löfströms avhandling utgår från den svenska skolan.  I kunskapsöversiktens resultat presenteras innehållsanalyser, intervjuer med lärare, elever och läromedelsförfattare samt innehållsanalyser och kvantitativa studier av representation i läroböcker. I resultatet framhävs det att den svenska läroplanen har otydliga riktlinjer angående mångkulturell och interkulturell undervisning. Lärare anser dessutom att dem inte har resurser eller tid till att arbeta med dessa former av undervisning. Svenska läromedel ger ett eurocentriskt perspektiv på historia och utgår från en frekvent andrafiering av andra kulturer. I resultatet presenteras även potentiella sätt att motarbeta eurocentrism. Genom att aktivt arbeta med begrepp som historiemedvetande, pluralism, utmanande av metaberättelser och dekonstruktion kan undervisningen röra sig ifrån det västeuropeiska metanarrativet. Vidare forskning inom kunskapsområdet hade kunnat innefatta en bredare uppfattning av kultur, utöver ett perspektiv baserat på geografisk härkomst.

Kritik riktad mot västerländska skolsystem som reproducerande av postkoloniala strukturer i form av euro- och etnocentrism har länge varit på agendan. Mekonnen Tesfahuney (1999) kritiserar utbildningssystemen för dess inrättande av monokulturella skolor inom vilka postkoloniala strukturer upprätthålls. I Finland har kritiken riktats mot läroplanen för att vara reproducerande av samma strukturer vilket även uppmärksammats i media.  Syftet med denna studie är att diskutera hur postkoloniala strukturer gör sig bekända i elevers resonemang kring frågor om hållbar utveckling i de nationella proven i geografi för årskurs 9. För att gå till väga med detta har en diskursanalys av insamlade elevsvar från arkiven vid Blåsenhus genomförts. Resultatet visar att elevernas resonemang i stora drag påverkas av hur provfrågan är formulerad samt vilka perspektiv och nyckelord de förväntas utgå ifrån. Således är det ofta förekommande att eleverna visar tecken på eurocentriska tankegångar på grund av provfrågans polariserande natur. Däremot kan det även utläsas tendenser till ett euro- och etnocentriskt resonemang i frågor där eleverna inte tilldelats dessa perspektiv. Tidigare forskning har visat att hur provfrågans formulering kan utgöra en framgångsfaktor för ett utvecklat svar när de aktiveras emotionellt genom dagsaktuell och historiskt relevant information om diverse samhällsproblematik.

The current study is an African-centred critique of the idea of ‘good governance’; which since the 1990s, has been a prescription of the international development institutions for all development challenges facing developing countries. Despite almost two decades of implementation of good governance reforms in Nigeria, poverty, corruption and underdevelopment persist. The analysis showed that the limited involvement of local people in the design of donor-sponsored good governance reforms mainly produced a universal, donor-conceptualized good governance agenda, which did not fully capture local issues. Given this, the main objective of the current study was to develop a cultural, context-specific governance model that shares local citizens’ understanding of governance, as well as, addresses challenges of governance at local levels in Nigeria. However, given the diversity of cultures in Nigeria and the uniqueness of each of them, this study only focused on Southwest Nigeria. Afrocentricity is the theoretical framework for this study. Mainstream development theories have mainly guided the development efforts of African countries but these theories are based on the experience of the European countries and primarily seek their interests. Given the failure of Eurocentric development theories in Nigeria, this study deemed it fit to adopt a theoretical framework that is based on African experience and that seeks African interests. Afrocentricity is the only theory in which the centrality of African interests, principles, and perceptions predominate (Pellebon 2007: 174). In terms of methodology, this study adopted the case study design. The study also used both the qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. But the study was largely qualitative because it relied on participants’ interpretations. The inclusion of quantitative data was for purposes of expanding and complementing the interpretive information. The study is significant because the findings provide agency to indigenous people in Nigeria by the voicing their perception of governance. The study also identified context-specific issues affecting governance in Nigeria, which were not captured in the donor’s universal good governance agenda. The study proposed how the principles that have enabled the effectiveness of traditional governance systems could be incorporated into formal governance to achieve better government performance. Most importantly, this study offers context-specific and people-centred recommendations to address Nigeria’s governance and development challenges. This study’s Afrocentric approach to the understanding of good governance is an epistemological rupture against the Eurocentric idea of good governance. / Development Studies / PhD (Philosophy)

Syfte med den här studien analyserar hur svenska historieböcker framställer Östasien, östasiater och deras historia. Studien inramas inom de postkolonialistiska studierna med särskilt referens till begreppet Orientalism som definierades av forskaren Edward W. Said. Studien använder innehållsanalys och Foucaults maktdiskursanalys som metoder för att framhäva eurocentriska dramaturgi och orientalistiska begrepp och framställningar som används i historieböckerna. Resultatet visar att orientalismen är fortfarande närvarande i historieböckerna, även om inte i samma utsträckning i alla serier och i mindre utsträckning i nyare publikationer. / The purpose of this study is to analyse how Swedish history books portray East Asia, East Asians and their history. The study is framed within post-colonial studies with particular reference to the concept of Orientalism as defined by the researcher Edward W. Said. The study uses content analysis and Foucault´s power of discourse as methods to highlight Eurocentric dramaturgy and Orientalist concepts and representations used in the history books. The result shows that Orientalism is still present in the history books, although not to the same extent in all series and to a lesser extent in more recent publications.

This paper examines how Hinduism and Buddhism are portrayed in three textbooks for an upper secondary school course in religion and is limited to a selection of books published in 2009. Based on a qualitative content analysis, the paper examines the extent to which there is an intentional division, that is to say a line between ‘them and us’ in the ways in which the religions are described, and to what extent the description of these religions in the textbooks are Eurocentric. The study focuses on whether or not there is a ‘them and us’ perspective in the different books and if so, the ways in which this approach is evident. The result of this study shows that traces of a ‘them and us’ perspective can be found in all three books. In some cases a homogeneous ‘us’ is contrasted with a homogeneous ‘them’; where the ‘us’ represents ‘Europeans’ and the Christian ‘West’ and the ‘them’ represents ‘the other’ that is to say Hindus and Buddhists as well as their religious beliefs. All of the books in the study contain terminology and images that present Hinduism and Buddhism as something ‘different’ and ‘exotic’ and thus reinforce the Eurocentric image of ‘the other’. The textbook’s authors often fail to differentiate between religion and culture which, in many cases, can lead to Hinduism being portrayed as irrational and primitive. In addition to this, the textbooks also ignore the religions individual in favor of a more generalized and collective stereotype of a ‘Hindu’ or a ‘Buddhist’.

The aim of the study is to analyse the discursive construction of the immigrants‟ identity within the EU‟s common migration policy. More specifically, this study seeks to identify what discourses are constituted within the EU, and how these discourses are constructed. Moreover, the study efforts to understand what consequences these discourses may have to the identity of immigrants. In order to achieve the aim of the study, a number of policy documents and agreements have been analysed. This analysis is implemented by applying a social constructivist approach, based on the notion about ethnic identities, securitisation theory, discourse theory and the theoretical concepts of Eurocentrism and Europeanisation. The methodological approach applied to the analysis is the Foucauldian genealogical discourse analysis.The conclusion of the study is that the EU, through its policy documents, has contributed to the construction of the following discourses: identity discourse, threat discourse and power discourse. Consequently, the analysis showed that these discourses may affect the image of immigrants negatively. The strengthening of “we” and “them” identities is emphasised through categorisation of immigrants, integration provisions, and through managing security and migration questions together.

Contemporary debates in anarchism, particularly the conceptual debates sparked by the development of post-anarchism and those surrounding the emergence of the anti-globalization movement, have brought an old question back to the table: what is anarchism? This study analyzes the canonical representations of anarchism as a political movement and political philosophy in order to reflect on the ways in which that critical question, 'what is anarchism?' has been answered in mainstream literature. It examines the way that the story of anarchism has been told and through a critical review, it discusses an alternative approach. For this purpose, two seminal canon-building texts, Paul Eltzbacher's The Great Anarchists, and George Woodcock's Anarchism have been identified and their influence is discussed, together with the representations of anarchism in textbooks describing political ideologies. The analysis shows how assumptions, biases, and hidden ideological perspectives have been normalized and how they have created an official history of a political movement. In challenging the official account, this study highlights the exclusions and omissions (third world anarchists, women anarchists, queer anarchism and artistic anarchism) that have resulted in the making of the core. The question of how to tell the story of anarchist past carries us to the shores of postmodern history where theoreticians have been discussing the relationship between past and history and the politics of representation. The anarchism offered in this study demands an engagement with a network-like structure of information rather than a linear, axial structure. Consequently, this study aims to show several layers of problems in the existing dominant historical representation of one of the richest political ideologies, anarchism; and then to discuss ways of representing the past and especially the anarchist past, to seek an answer to a principal question: what is anarchism?

The Soviet Union was the great enemy of Western civlisationen during the cold war. Sweden was not part of the cold war. Despite that Sweden had more in common with the Western powers. The country had more cultural, economic and political similarities with them. The purpose of this study was to examine how Swedish newspapers wrote about the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. I have also examined whether they expressed a fear of Russia. The newspapers that were included in the study were: Norrkensflamman (socialistic), Aftonbladet (social democratic), Arbetet (social democratic), Dagens Nyheter (independent), Expressen (liberal) and Svenska Dagbladet (conservative). The results showed that Expressen, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet had a western and eurocentric international outlook. Aftonbladet and Arbetet also had a western and eurocentric international outlook but were more critical of the western powers. Norrskensflamman was the only newspaper that supported the Soviet Union. They also saw the capitalist world as the great enemy. Russian fear was expressed in Arbetet, Svenska Dagbladet and Expressen. Arbetet thought the rest of the world should demand that Russia abolishing all their nuclear weapons. Svenska Dagbladet and Expressen saw Russia’s political system as threat to the west. Svenska Dagbladet also suspected that Russia should attack their neighbours in the future.