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In this dissertation I examine representations of the events surrounding the disappearance and murder of women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, in the interests of animating a sense of implication in these events among a wider public. To do so, I build on theoretical concepts developed in the work of Avery Gordon, Judith Butler, and Wendy Brown, namely the notions of hauntings, grievability, and inheritance. My approach to knowledge production builds upon Avery Gordon’s theorizing about the significance of hauntings in particular. Following Gordon, I argue that while the women disappeared from Vancouver are no longer physically “there” in the Downtown Eastside, they do indeed maintain what Gordon describes as a “seething presence” in Vancouver (and beyond), one that suggests matters of some urgency for contemporary social and political life, and so my research traces those presences as they have arisen through my engagement with a variety of cultural productions (including documentary film, photography, journalism, art, and poetry). Building on insights from each of the three theorists listed above, I argue that ethical encounters with the ghosts of the women who have been disappeared require rethinking conventional ways of understanding the relationships between self/other and past/present/future. Because the women disappeared from the Downtown Eastside are disproportionately Indigenous, I begin by investigating how histories of colonization, and in particular the frontier mythology so commonplace in western Canada, are implicated in these contemporary acts of violence. I argue that conventional understandings of space, temporality, and history are inadequate for understanding these events in all of their complexity. From there, I investigate how and why the women were initially cast, in a variety of representations, as living lives that many assumed could not be widely recognized through the framework of what Judith Butler has coined a “grievable life.” And finally, I ask after what kind of memorial practices might be most capable of hailing an “us” into relations of inheritance with the women who have been disappeared - such relations, I argue, are a necessary part of reckoning with our individual and collective implication in the disappearances of women from the Downtown Eastside. / English

The condemnation of suicide is a historical product whose presence has been sealed throughout history. Increased liberal views on humanity and gentle penal codes led to the desecration of the unfortunate dead being strongly questioned and subsequently spared from condemning customs and practices. This study focuses on a time when suicide was decriminalized in Sweden to examine the interpretations of suicide in Swedish newspapers during the period 1864–1904. In the extension, the study intends to contribute to a nuanced theoretical discussion of the subject, which is achieved via Judith Butler’s theory of grievability. A thematic analysis could ascertain four themes – sorrow, carelessness, laconic, and dramatic – which should be understood as representations of the newspapers’, Aftonbladet and Nya dagligt allehanda, view on suicide and as stereotypes of the suicide victims. The results show that condemnatory interpretations of suicide are of a subtle nature anchored in the discourse of history and marked by contemporary class ideals. This means that whoever seeks to understand historical suicide interpretations is dependent on contextualization. However, a homogeneous suicide image does not emerge from the material. The themes demonstrate two extremes that represent each other’s opposites in the hierarchy of grief which also actualizes the question of whether suicide as an act is grievable or whether who commits the act is decisive.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att beskriva de displacerade barnens situation ochde utmaningar de står inför på grund av displacement i Cali, Colombia. Detkommer att göras genom att studera de icke-statliga organisationernas arbete dåstaten på många delar i Colombia och Cali har låg närvaro. Många av dessa barntillhör afro-colombianska och inhemska folkgrupper och därför kommer dennastudie att göras utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv inom kategorierna etnicitetoch klass. Colombia har under de senaste åren varit det land med flestinternflyktingar i världen, och trots ett fredsavtal med de största rebellgruppernaär Colombia fortfarande ett land i toppen av den globala statistiken. Landetshistoria präglas av interna konflikter, olaglig arbetskraft och narkotikahandel. Deproblem Colombia står inför under denna pågående fredsprocess är komplexa ochpåverkar främst displacerade barn och deras familjer. Resultatet av denna studievisar att många displacerade barn har lägre levnadsstandard än andra barn.Majoriteten bor i ekonomiskt utsatta områden och tillhör minoritetsbefolkningen,de får sämre utbildning och blir ofta diskriminerade på grund av att de ärcolombianer men med en annan kultur och annat ursprung änmajoritetsbefolkningen i staden. Det finns olika typer av socialt arbete i Cali somarbetar med empowerment för att förhindra detta och för att stärka barnen; delsgenom utbildning och dels genom upprätthållande av kultur i form av musik ochdans. Socialarbetare i Cali arbetar oftast utan stöd av staten och är själva eller harvarit displacerade. Många upplever att displacerade barn ofta ses som en homogengrupp trots dennes heterogenitet. / This bachelor thesis seeks to describe the displaced children’s situation and thechallenges they face due to displacement in Cali, Colombia. Many of thesechildren belong to Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities and thereforethis study will be made through an intersectional perspective based on ethnicityand class. Colombia was during recent years the country with the most internallydisplaced people in the world, and today, despite a peace agreement with thebiggest guerrilla groups, it is still a country in the top of the global statistics. Thecountry’s history is characterized by internal conflicts, illegal labor and drugtrafficking and the problems they are facing during this peace progress arecomplex. This is affecting displaced children and their families. The humanitariancrisis in Colombia is unique in many ways and have been creating manychallenges for the government. Therefore, one of the main reasons to study non-governmental, social work is because these organizations fill an important gap inresponse to help, support and empower displaced children in areas around Caliwith little governmental presence. The result of this study shows that manydisplaced children in Cali have a lower standard of living than other children. Themajority live in low-income areas and belong to the minority population, theyreceive lower quality education and are often discriminated for being Colombiansbut with a different culture and other origin than the majority population in thecity. There are various types of social work in Cali that work with empowermentto prevent this and to strengthen the children; through education or by maintainingculture in the form of music and dance. Social workers in Cali usually workwithout the support of the state and are run by people who themselves have beendisplaced. Many of the social workers feel that displaced children often are seenas a homogeneous group despite its heterogeneity.

Men’s violence against women is a common social problem affecting many women worldwide. How the problems are described will influence social work, thus making it important to grasp the discourse regarding men’s violence against women. Therefore, this study aims to examine the Swedish political discourse regarding men’s violence against women in order to understand the social conditions relating to violence against women. The political parties being studied are Sverigedemokraterna, Moderaterna, Kristdemokraterna and Liberalerna, since these parties hold the parliamentary majority. Political programs and websites of the parties were studied, as well as public radio and television programs and political speeches featuring the leaders of the political parties. The material was analyzed by using two theoretical perspectives, Connell's theory of masculinity and Butler's theory of grievability. The results of the study drew attention to several tendencies within the Swedish political discourse related to men's violence against women. Three forms of violence were commonly recurrent, such as sexual violence, intimate partner violence and honor-related violence. The violence was often interpreted in the political discourse as a result of culture and values related to people with foreign backgrounds. Furthermore, the study indicates that the parties rarely name violence against women as men’s violence against women and often exclusively refers to intimate partner violence. In addition, the violence is mostly described through gender neutral terms, which ultimately conceals the fact that women more often are victims to violence and that men usually are perpetrators of violence.

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Our western society and lifestyle is to a considerable extent depended on the way we perceive and treat our co-existing non-human species. Industrial farming, vivisection, sports, circuses etcetera are just a few examples of how human use and exploit animal bodies for own gain. A phenomenon that in many ways, is perceived, as natural and normal, and therefore seldom discussed. The thesis purpose is to problematize this phenomenon by examine, what I call “The Speciesism Gaze”, through analysis of posters that promote animal rights, selected online, through the search domain Google. The theoretical framework used, are theories focusing on intersectionality, derived within postcolonial-, eco-critical and new materialist feminism. A brief introduction of animal right movements, its linking to feminism activism and theories derived within affect theory is presented as background for the analysis. As method, I use critical discourse analysis, focusing on intertextuality of the posters context. Asking what discourses emerge, challenging the anthropocentric and androcentric western dualistic hierarchy, whilst displaying mutually reinforced structures of sexism, racism and speciesism? I discuss the western historical and cultural human idea that the human species is separated from nature and animal, and where the “right” human subject standard is perceived as male, white, heterosexual and western in the Anthropocene age. I found that, this standard is displayed, played on, and questioned in the posters selected, in relation to animal materiality, grievability, killability, species necropolitics, sexism and racism. I discuss in my conclusion that oppression based on speciesism is not a power relation discussed in society today to the same extent as expressions of sexism and racism are. It is however an oppression that we all take part in every day and that affect all of us, despite species belonging. In that context, I hope the theorization and meaning of the speciesism gaze will have significance within the field of feminist theorizations and practices.

No description available.