Enligt tidigare studier värderar politiker jämlikhet och frihet olika beroende på sin politiska ideologi. Med detta som bakgrund var studiens huvudsyfte att studera eventuella skillnader mellan hur svenska politiker med olika ideologiska bakgrunder upplevde empati när en person utsattes för orättvisa samt när en person utsattes för ofrihet. En vinjettstudie genomfördes där deltagarna (n = 96) fick skatta de känslor som uppstod vid vardera situationen. Deltagarna delades upp i grupperna vänster- och högeranhängare utifrån subjektiva skattningar. Vänsteranhängare tenderade att känna mer empati än högeranhängare när en målperson utsattes för orättvisa. Ingen effekt av ideologisk tillhörighet i berättelsen om ofrihet visades. En tydlig könseffekt framgick där kvinnor både upplevde och gav upphov till mer empati än män. Att föreliggande studie inte fick något stöd angående ofrihet kan bero på flera olika anledningar, vilket tas upp i diskussionen. Vidare forskning behövs inom området empati relaterat till svensk politik där fler partier och anhängare studeras.

This essay aims to examines Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy is a series of dystopian novel that resolves around social class and economic and politic oppression. The main focus of this essay is to examine class and ideology in The Hunger Games Trilogy. In order to examine class and ideology Marxist theories have been applied on The Hunger Games Trilogy to see how ideology and class structures unfolds in the novels. Although, The Huger Games Trilogy is not Marxist in itself it is possible to find traces of Marxist theories on class and ideology.

Whitewashing entails the practice of whitening or altering an historical or fictional characters of colours with the casting of white actors. The lack of diversity in today’s media landscape highlight the importance of problematizing such representational practice usage and effects. This study therefore examines the discourses and meanings found in whitewashed characters from selected scenes in the films Dr Strange and Prince of Persia. The study used the theoretical approach of Richard Dyers “Whiteness”, Edwards Saids “Orientalism and Stuart Halls “Representation and Stereotype “to gain a diverse perspective on the practices of representation. The applied methodological approach of Fairclough Critical Discourse Analysis enabled hidden and unspoken messages to be brought forth and discussed accordingly to the theoretical frames. The study found that the “whitewashing” is an excursion of symbolic power in which it is used to ultimately maintain and produce whiteness as the norm.

L’étude de la compréhension de textes a toujours pris en compte les connaissances du lecteur que Le Ny (2005) définit comme des représentations vraies. Or, ces connaissances peuvent être des croyances voire des idéologies (van Dijk, 1998). Si la compréhension de textes fait appel aux connaissances spécifiques et/ou générales du lecteur en relation avec les informations contenues dans le texte pour construire une représentation cohérente, cette compréhension sera médiatisée par l’inscription idéologique du lecteur. Dans ce travail, nous avons mené trois séries d’expériences étudiant le rôle que peut jouer l’idéologie des lecteurs dans la compréhension de textes. La première série d’expériences, réalisée sur papier avec des français d’origine maghrébine, a mis en évidence grâce à deux types de textes (neutres et idéologiques) que la compréhension est sensible à l’idéologie du lecteur. La deuxième série d’expériences, implémentée sur ordinateurs, a confirmé les résultats obtenus précédemment et montré que les lecteurs n’ont pas lu ces deux types de textes aussi rapidement. Dans un souci méthodologique, nous avons élargi, dans la troisième série d’expérience, notre approche à une autre population afin de dissocier l’effet de l’origine du lecteur de celui de son idéologie. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la compréhension est sensible plus à l’idéologie du lecteur qu’à son origine. Les lecteurs qu’ils soient français de souche ou d’origine maghrébine, ont tendance à moins accepter les informations véhiculées par un texte idéologique lorsqu’elles sont en désaccord avec leurs croyances même si ces dernières sont présentes dans le texte et plausibles pour expliquer l’événement. / The study of texts comprehension has always taken into consideration the reader’s knowledge which Le Ny (2005) defines as real representations. However, this knowledge can be beliefs even ideologies (van Dijk, 1998). If the comprehension of texts appeals to the specific and\or general knowledge of the reader in connection with the information contained in the text to build a coherent representation, this comprehension would be mediatised by the reader’s ideological inscription. In this work, we have led three series of experiments studying the role that can play readers’ ideology in the comprehension of texts. The first series of experiences, realized on paper with French from Maghreb origins, put in evidence through two types of texts (neutral and ideological) that the comprehension is sensitive to reader’s ideology. The second series of experiments, implemented on computers, has confirmed the results previously obtained and has shown that the readers had not read these two types of texts so quickly. To fulfill a methodological gap, we have widened, in the third series of experiment, our approach to another population in order to dissociate the effect of the reader’s origin and that of its ideology. The results obtained show that the comprehension is much more sensitive to the reader’s ideology rather than to its origin. The readers who they are French or of Maghrebian origin, tend to accept less the information conveyed by an ideological text when they disagree with their beliefs even if these last ones are present in the text and plausible to explain the event.

This thesis presents a case study of how curriculum differentiation operates at Lincoln High School, an urban public school in the Midwestern United States with a highly regarded International Baccalaureate (IB) program. I use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the systems of beliefs and practices that structure Lincoln's tracking system. Like many American high schools, Lincoln has rejected the traditional practice of assigning all students to overarching curriculum 'tracks' on the basis of their measured aptitude, instead allowing students to choose between courses covering different content at different levels of difficulty in most academic subjects. The school thus offers an excellent opportunity to examine within-school stratification in light of the declining popularity of traditional tracking and the increasing degree to which students control their own coursetaking. Within-school stratification is particularly worthy of continued attention because it qualifies the mythology of the American dream, which holds that schools give students from all backgrounds an opportunity to achieve upward social mobility. I use interviews, observations, and document analysis to explore how curriculum differentiation structures academic and social hierarchies at Lincoln, what teachers and students believe about how to achieve school success and upward mobility, and how Lincoln reconciles its egalitarian ideals with the continued existence of de facto tracking. I argue that Lincoln's approach to curriculum differentiation strikes a tenuous balance between academic excellence and equity for all students. Although student choice dominates the course scheduling process, Lincoln's curriculum still bears many of the hallmarks of tracking: the IB structures a clear academic and social hierarchy of courses, and students tend to follow predictable patterns of coursetaking within each subject, with few opportunities for upward mobility. Nonetheless, teachers and students almost unanimously subscribe to the local achievement ideology, which holds that any student, regardless of prior academic achievement, can and should participate in the IB as long as he or she is willing to work hard. This radical promise of equal opportunity allows participants to characterize Lincoln as a force for equality and social justice. However, the school's continued reliance on sorting its students, even in the face of evidence that tracking reproduces racial and class inequalities, suggests that the achievement ideology serves primarily to legitimate stratification, not to undo it. These findings have important ramifications for research in tracking, detracking, and stratification, and for practice in all schools seeking to negotiate the tension between excellence and equity.

Despite the volume of research into fairytales, gender and ideology in media studies, the specific subject of animated adaptations of national fairytales and their role in constructing gender identities remains a blind spot at least in relation to non-Western and non-Hollywood animation. This study addresses the gap by analysing animated adaptations of Russian national fairytales in Soviet and post-Soviet cinema and television. It does so as a tool through which to approach the gender politics of the dominant ideologies in national cinema and also, though to a lesser extent, in television. One of the key perspectives this research adopts concerns the reorganization of the myths of femininity, as stored in ‘national memory’ and transferred through the material of national fairytales produced during a century-long period. By providing a detailed critical treatment of animated adaptations of Russian magic fairytales, this research examines the interaction between the cinematic versions of the national fairytales and the representation of female characters on screen. It draws on a range of feminist theoretical approaches on media representation. By performing a systematic study of the under-researched field, through a combination of qualitative and empirical analysis, the work demonstrates how totalitarian regimes and new democratic societies implicitly control gender constructions in similar ways, and specifically through the animated versions of national fairytale adaptations. The research identifies how the constructions of femininity are manipulated through the reshaping of the national past coded in the ancient folkloric narratives. The findings of the study reveal the principles on which the implicit patriarchal gender politics is based. These principles include the conservative choice of fairytale material adapted to the screen, the reactionary increase of production of animated fairytales targeted against liberalisation, the exclusion and reconstruction of strong matriarchal fairytale female characters, stereotypical representation of selected female characters, and normalisation of domestic violence. In so doing the study identifies a weakness in the existing scholarly discourse on ideology, which traditionally has claimed that Soviet animation was non-violent. Further, the study establishes the constructions of national memory and female identity as a part of the dominant cinematic discourses.

Master of Arts / Department of Communications Studies / Soumia Bardhan / In July of 2014, a spokesperson for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) made a televised announcement that captured the attention of the world – the terrorist organization decided to tweak its name to simply the Islamic State (IS), to indicate its intention of moving beyond Iraq and the Levant and conquering the world. This shift in rhetoric, along with the phenomenon of Muslims and non-Muslims from Western nations leaving their homes, friends, and families behind to join IS, have prompted discussions and debates on what makes this terror group’s message so effective. In the days following IS’s name change, the first issue of its magazine Dabiq was published online through its Al-Hayat Media Center. With versions in English, Arabic, German, French, and more, the magazine gained notoriety for its high-production value. This study seeks to understand the ideology manifest in IS rhetoric in Dabiq, which makes it so captivating to both sympathizers and agitators alike. This study is an ideological criticism of six of the fifteen issues of Dabiq published; the six issues chosen were all released in relation to catalytic events perpetrated or claimed by the terror group. For instance, the November 2015 Paris attacks or the shooting in San Bernardino, CA, by a ‘radicalized’ couple who pledged allegiance to IS. This study unearthed major themes of political claims, religious appeals, and terrorist actions which IS uses to incite recruitment. This analysis identifies IS’s ideology as one of Political Islamist Terrorism, and concludes with implications concerning exceptionalism and the persuasive appeal of Dabiq.

Title: "To Seize the Masses". Philosophy, ideology and propaganda by Karl Marx Author: Robin Pech Department: Ústav filosofie a religionistiky Supervisor: Mgr. Petr Kouba, Ph.D. Abstract: The aim of the diploma thesis is to thematize and clarify the interdependence of philosophy, ideology and propaganda by Karl Marx. The realization of philosophy, according to Marx, is a critique of modern society. The aim of this critique, however, is not only the understanding and interpretation of social relations but, above all, their change. For these purposes, Marx has developed his philosophy of history. On this basis is explained the nature of modern society and formulated the political programme of its transformation. That is further publicly promoted to ensure adequate - mass - support for the revolution. Thus, arises remarkable combination of philosophy, political ideology and propaganda, which seems to be an integral part of Marx's thought and his literary work and therefore, also a serious problem of his interpretation. Keywords: Marx, Philosophy, Ideology, Prapaganda

Japan is an important ally of the United States–the world’s third biggest economy, and one of the regional great powers in Asia. Making sense of Japan’s foreign and security policies is crucial for the future of peace and stability in Northeast Asia, where the possible sources of conflict such as territorial disputes or the disputes over Japan’s war legacy issues are observed. This dissertation explored Japan’s foreign and security policies based on Japan’s identities and unconscious ideologies. It employed an analysis of selected Japanese films from the late 1940s to the late 1950s, as well as from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. The analysis demonstrated that Japan’s foreign and security policies could be understood in terms of a broader social narrative that was visible in Japanese popular cultural products, including films and literatures. Narratives of Japanese families from the patriarch’s point of view, for example, had constantly shaped Japan’s foreign and security policies. As a result, the world was ordered hierarchically in the eyes of the Japan Self. In the 1950s, Japan tenaciously constructed close but asymmetrical security relations with the U.S. in which Japan willingly subjugated itself to the U.S. In the 2000s, Japan again constructed close relations with the U.S. by doing its best to support American responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by mobilizing Japan’s SDFs in the way Japan had never done in the past. The concepts of identity and unconscious ideology are helpful in understanding how Japan’s own understanding of self, of others, and of the world have shaped its own behaviors. These concepts also enable Japan to reevaluate its own behaviors reflexively, which departs from existing alternative approaches. This study provided a critical analytical explanation of the dynamics at work in Japan’s sense of identity, particularly with regard to its foreign and security policies.

Previous research on investor preferences focused mainly on the relationship between socio-demographic variables and risk tolerance. This study extends the research in this area by focusing on three aspects of investor preferences: risk tolerance, time horizon, and estate intentions. The objective is to provide a more comprehensive model of investor preferences, including both psychological and attitudinal variables. This study addresses the following: Are socio-demographic variables sufficient to predict investor preferences? Is there a difference between males and females? How much additional variance is explained by including political ideology, positive psychology attitudes, and pro-social attitudes? Are these attitudinal variables simply additive or are they interactive? Data were collected from MBA students and senior undergraduate students in a major research university in South Florida. A scale was developed to measure estate intentions, a construct that has never been examined in management studies. The findings supported the expectation that psychological variables would be positively correlated with the dependent variables. However, I expected that pro-social attitudes would be a moderator variable, and this expectation was not realized. This dissertation contributes to the investor preferences field in several ways. First, it demonstrates the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in explaining investor preferences. I also found differences between males and females regarding risk tolerance. This study can provide financial advisers with a deeper understanding of the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in determining investor behavior. Finally, the results of this study augment and expand stakeholder theory. This study brings the investor into the stakeholder model, enhancing the descriptive, explanatory, and predictive capabilities of stakeholder theory. Future research could replicate this study using real investors in different locations for cultural variation, or using a panel of respondents for a longitudinal study.