The purpose of this essay is to describe Högsby parish’s emigration to North America during the years 1887-1888 and to compare it with Sweden's emigration. Emigrants' numbers, age, gender, civil status and occupational distribution are examined. The trends in Högsby parish's emigration are compared with the trends in Sweden's emigration as a whole to see similarities and differences. Source materials used to answer the purpose and the questions are “husförhörslängder”and “in- och ut-flyttningslängder” of Högsby parish 1887-1888. In the background, among other things, Högsby’s population, fertility, and population change are discussed. In total, 178 people emigrated from Högsby parish during the years of exam-ination. The difference in tendencies between the emigration of Högsby parish and Sweden's emigration regarding age distribution, gender distribution and marital status were small or nonexistent. There was a difference in the division of labor. 38.7 % of Högsby’s emigrants were categorized into the main group of professions "Industry and Handicrafts". The same main group of professions percentage for the whole of Sweden's emigration was 17.9 % between the years 1851-1915. The difference can be referred to differences in the cate-gorization of professions as "arbetare" are a very broad concept and source material does not invite to a deeper specification. Another explanation could be that many farmers used their forest land as a capital reserve, which resulted in no need to emigrate, which in turn led to the industry's large share of the occupation of emigrants.

The purpose of the present thesis is to investigate the interaction between the branches in the different villages and its users and the importance of the branches for democracy. To illustrate these points, I have focused on Högsby municipality, a local council in Kalmar county. Högsby municipality is of particular interest in this connection, since all seven of the branches have been closed recently; only the main library remains. Moreover, three of the closed branches were, in 2005, taken over by citizen organizations local to the part of Högsby municipality where the libraries were located. The specific issues that were addressed were:- What needs were satisfied by the local libraries in Högsby council and is it possible to satisfy these needs in other ways and then, how?- Does the absence of a local library affect democracy?Interviews were performed. Protocols from council meetings and newspaper articles have been studied and supplemented with statistical information from “Statistics Sweden” and “Swedish Art Council”. Although no general conclusions can be reached on basis of the present investigation it is reasonable to presume that the situation as regards local libraries in other parts of Sweden exhibits similarities to the situation in Högsby municipality. Thus, it seems likely that the local libraries fulfil important functions as centra of knowledge, culture and information and as meeting place, but to varying degrees depending on the local circumstances. If the local libraries fulfil their roles in these contexts it is very likely that they also are very important for the democracy.

Sweden is a popular holiday destination for people from all over Europe. Its beautiful nature, the possibility of various outdoor-activities and the quintessential Swedish traditions and life-style attract tourists and potential holiday-home-owners alike. Citizens especially from countries such as Denmark, Norway and Germany are buying houses mainly in the southern and western parts of Sweden, searching for a better, easier and more relaxed life in the Swedish countryside. In my study I chose "Högsby kommun", a small municipality situated in the county of Kalmar in Småland as an exemplary case-study to show how Swedish communities deal with the steady decline of inhabitants. The aim of the study is to examine how arguments are used to convince immigrants in moving to Högsby kommun and how they relate to motives of foreign second home owners. Which arguments are used in promoting the place and what kinds of motives have foreign buyers of second homes to choose Högsby kommun as a place to stay? It is a qualitative case study, information is collected through interviews with employee of Högsby kommun and real estate agents, a content analysis of brochures and e-mail questionnaire with second home owners from Germany. The theoretical approaches are counterurbanisation in relation to lifestyle, theory of place identity and promotion of places and research of the motives in buying a second home. The results of the study show that arguments and motives building on each other. The arguments are promoting mainly a beautiful nature, quietness, a relaxed lifestyle and inexpensive housing - all of this are even motives for  foreign second home buyers moving to Högsby kommun.

Riksidrottsförbundet har utifrån kriterierna andel aktiva 7–20 år, deltagartillfällen (LOK-stöd) per capita år 2017 och antal bosatta nyanlända per capita förklarat olika kommuner och områden som idrottssvaga. Utifrån detta har RF SISU Småland jobbat med de idrottssvaga kommunerna Hultsfred, Högsby och Uppvidinge för att utveckla dem. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur kommunerna ser på att bli kategoriserade som idrottssvaga. Detta har genomförts via en fallstudie. Representanter från de olika kommunerna har intervjuats via semistrukturerade intervjuer. Även den ansvarige på RF SISU Småland intervjuades. Resultatet kan sammanfattas på så sätt att det går att ifrågasätta varför kommunerna Hultsfred och Uppvidinge anses vara idrottssvaga. Den främsta anledningen till att kommunerna inte borde anses som idrottssvaga är att de har en rik tillgång på faciliteter. De har även ett rikt föreningsliv. Högsby har främst enbart fotboll och problem som nämns i kommunen är att de har ganska många socioekonomiska bekymmer, utbildningsnivån är låg och dem har många utrikesfödda.