Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur normer, förväntningar och traditioner inom måleribranschen styr hur målare handskas med säkerhetsfrågor i sitt arbete. Syftet är att studera kvinnliga målares upplevelse av säkerhet och risker i måleribranschen. Valet av ämne grundar sig i hur jag på nära håll fått följa en familjemedlems arbete inom måleribranschen och oron jag känt över att risker och säkerhetsfrågor inte verkade tas på allvar av fackförbund, företagsledning eller kollegor. Detta upplevde jag som anmärkningsvärt då en målares arbete tar plats i en ofta smutsig och farlig miljö som följaktligen kan vara skadlig för hälsan. Jag har intervjuat tre målare och deras svar tyder bland annat på att de är bekanta med risker inom måleribranschen och att säkerhetsfrågor från företagsledning, kollegor tas på varierande allvar. Respondenterna ger uttryck för att bli motarbetade av kollegor och arbetsledare när de vill måna om den egna säkerheten. Jag har studerat mina resultat i ljuset av genusteorier, maskulinitetsteorier och minoritetsteorier. De slutsatser jag dragit från min studie är att målarens kropp står i centrum i arbetet då den används som ett verktyg i likhet med en målarpensel. Respondenterna måste dessutom handskas med kvinnofientliga yttringar från de aktörer som de interagerar med i arbetet. Denna kvinnofientliga attityd, visar tidigare forskning, får många kvinnor att lämna branschen. Mina resultat ger mig en bild av en bransch med lågt i tak när det gäller samtal om risker och säkerhet och en trång norm om hur en målare ska vara. Min studie ger en bild av att maskulinitetsnormen begränsar det fria samtalet när det gäller risker och säkerhet i arbetet för målare. / This essay is about how, norms, expectations and traditions within the painting industry has an influence on the way painters deal with security issues in their labor. The purpose with this essay is to study female painter’s experiences of security matters and risks within the painting industry. The choice of theme of essay is based on the working life experiences in the painting industry of one of my family member´s. I felt worried about the painting union, managers of the painting enterprise and colleagues of my family member’s lack of interest regarding security matters. I found this attitude regarding security matters remarkable when knowing how dangerous and dirty the working environment is for painters and how high the risks of getting injured are. I have studied my results from my interviews in the light of gender, masculinity and minority theories. The conclusions I have made from my study are that a painter’s body is seen as a tool just like, for example, a brush. Security – and risk issues are not seen as priorities in my respondents working environments, these issues rather tend to get counteracted by colleagues and managers. My respondents also have to deal with the misogyny their working surroundings express. This misogynist attitude, show early studies, forces a great amount of female painters to leave the painting industry. My study gives me the notion of an industry with a narrow discussion climate when it comes to security and safety issues and a narrow norm about how the ideal painter is.

Why are some issues seen as threats? This dissertation attempts to explain the dynamics of threat construction by national decision-makers. The theoretical ambition is twofold: first, the dissertation aims at improving the research on threat construction by suggesting a broad approach that analyzes this process in a structured manner. Second, the dissertation also contributes to the more mainstream International Relations security research agenda, which often under-problematizes this issue. The point of departure is that the link between a condition (e.g. structure) and threat framing (e.g. agency) is not to be taken for granted, and that threat construction is subjective and varies among actors.  This assertion is supported by the findings of the dissertation’s component parts. Essay I finds that US security doctrines such as the Truman and Bush doctrines are not routine responses to external threats but rather the natural continuation of a political and societal discourse in which certain norms and identities interact. Essay II finds that a condition that could lay the foundation for a threat construction does not necessarily evoke such a reaction, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia. Essay III demonstrates the opposite situation; that a securitization can take place although the contextual conditions do not necessarily point toward such a move, such as US President Clinton’s declaration that AIDS is a threat to the national security of the United States. Essay IV proposes a framework that incorporates explanatory factors from the international, the domestic, and the individual levels of analysis. Such a framework allows for a more refined analysis which better captures the contingent relationships between factors. Taken together, the findings of this dissertation indicate that the correlations between conditions and threat constructions are intricate, and that the explanation of a securitization lies in the interaction of certain social and cognitive processes.

Studien undersöker hur matematiska begrepp etableras i diskursen i klassrummet och hur lärare planerar för, iscensätter och bearbetar matematiska begrepp. Studiens syfte är att studera hur lärare hanterar matematiska begrepp i undervisningen ur ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv. Utifrån studiens ansats väljs två kvalitativa datainsamlingsmetoder. Till detta infogas Selander & Kress (2010) formellt inramad lärsekvens och Hallidays (2004) tre metafunktioner och en ny metafunktion, den institutionell funktion (Boistrup- Björklund, 2010).   Studien visar att procedurkunskap har en stor plats i undervisningen. Lärarna hanterar begrepp i förbifarten och funderar inte på vilken roll de språkliga uttrycken har. Det pågår först och främst två diskurser, den matematiska och den vardagliga. Diskurserna etableras utifrån olika sociala och sociomatematiska normer som styr undervisningen. Traditioner och förväntningar påverkar undervisningen och den påverkan verkar vara starkare än forskningsrön eller nya styrdokument. / The study examines how mathematical concepts established in the discourse in the classroom and how teachers plan for, implements and processes mathematical concepts. The study's purpose is to study how teachers deal with mathematical concepts in teaching from a special education perspective. Based on the study's approach chosen two qualitative data collection methods. To this inserts Selander & Kress´s (2010) formal learning design sequence and Halliday´s (2004), three meta-functions and an institutional function (Boistrup- Björklund, 2010).   The study shows that procedural knowledge has a big place in teaching.  Teachers deal with concepts in passing and not thinking about which part the linguistic expressions have. There are primarily two discourses ongoing, the mathematical and the everyday, the discourses are established based on various social and socio-mathematical norms that effects the teaching. Traditions and expectations affect the teaching and the effect seems to be stronger than research findings or new policy document.

This paper presents a simple evolutionary model to study the diffusion patterns of product innovations for consumer goods. Following a Veblenian theme, we interpret consumption as a social activity constrained by social norms and equality of opportunity. Societies that allow for more behavioral variety will experience faster adoption of new consumer goods. We also find that the speed of diffusion as well as the saturation levels reached highly depend on the equality of opportunity. Combining these two effects, we conclude that a social structure displaying behavioral variety and equal opportunities dominates any other social set-up in terms of the speed of adoption of product innovations. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

This paper explores the concepts of rules, norms, and ethics as they pertain to intercollegiate forensic competition. The perspective is taken that these concepts tend to be conflated. Definitions of rules and ethics are drawn primarily from the National Forensics Association (NFA). The pertinent literature is reviewed, methods are explained, and results are reported and discussed. The conclusions pertain to the idea that forensics coaches and students alike are hesitant to accept universal rules and ethics, and prefer more contextualized standards. Suggestions for future research are also offered. / Department of Communication Studies

Humor har visat sig ha många positiva effekter för individers hälsa och kan även ge positiv utdelning i arbetet. Den har nämligen visat sig bidra till ökad produktivitet och kreativitet i arbetslivet, därför kan man anta att det från företagens sida kan finnas ett intresse av att undersöka humor i arbetet närmare då det kan ge bättre utdelning från de anställda. Tidigare forskning om humor i arbetslivet riktar sig främst till anställda inom olika serviceyrken samt vård- och omsorg. Av den här anledningen beslutade vi oss för att göra en kvalitativ studie på en arbetsplats inom offentlig sektor och undersöka mer om hur individer upplever och eventuellt använder sig av humor på arbetet. Vår förhoppning är att det kan bli ytterligare ett forskningsbidrag till hur organisationer och HR-avdelningar bör förhålla sig till humor eftersom den kan bidra till mer glada och produktiva anställda. Vi har till en början redogjort för tidigare teorier kring ämnet humor och visat hur forskningen utvecklats genom åren. Det görs även en genomgång av begrepp som ofta används i samma mening som humor, till exempel skratt och skämt. Efter att ha sammanställt flera forskares definitioner så kunde vi till slut göra en egen definition på vad vi kallar positiv humor. Eftersom upplevelser av humor är individuella har vi utgått från ett subjektivt synsätt som låter intervjupersonerna själva avgöra vad humor är för dem. I intervjuerna har vi fokuserat på individernas upplevelser av humor på arbetet samt hur de påverkas, vi upplever att fenomenet inte har undersökts genom det perspektivet i någon större utsträckning tidigare. Resultatet i undersökningen visar att humor används flitigt och är uppskattat på arbetsplatsen. Medarbetarna upplevde att humor fyllde viktiga funktioner vad gäller skapandet av relationer samt som en hjälp att hantera svåra situationer i arbetet. Intervjupersonerna beskrev även positiva effekter både vad gäller hälsa men också arbetsprestationen. Humor visade sig vara en viktig ingrediens för intervjupersonerna som inte kunde tänka sig att vara utan den på sitt arbete.

In a recent paper Jan Ruzicka and Nicholas J. Wheeler have posited that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is an example of several ¿trusting relationships¿. The authors assert that ¿since the end of the 1990s the trusting relationships embodied in the NPT have come under strain¿ and that this accounts for the fact that the ¿treaty is facing growing pressures that are eroding what has been an effective barrier to nuclear weapons proliferation¿. This article questions the assumptions underlying this analysis. It argues that the approach taken by Ruzicka and Wheeler fundamentally misconceives the dynamics of nuclear non-proliferation. The policy implications generated by this approach are impractical and downright dangerous as they fail to address the causes of proliferation and instead exacerbate the problem further.

Civilinė teisė jau nuo pat šios teisės šakos atsiradimo Senovės Romoje priskiriama privatinės teisės sričiai, tačiau tai nereiškia, jog valstybė civilinių teisinių santykių dalyviams negali daryti įtakos. Vienas būdų tam yra teisinis reguliavimas imperatyviomis teisės normomis. Toks reguliavimas gali apriboti civilinės apyvartos subjektams galimybę sudaryti jų norimus sandorius, jeigu šie prieštarauja viešajam interesui. Imperatyvią teisės normą identifikuoti nėra taip paprasta, kaip gali pasirodyti – ją vertinant reikia atsižvelgti ne tik į gramatinę jos išraišką, bet ir į tikslus bei uždavinius, objektą ir interesą, kurį ta teisės norma gina, taip pat tos teisės normos sisteminius ryšius su kitomis normomis. Tik nustačius, kad tam tikra teisės norma yra imperatyvi, reikia išsiaiškinti, ar konkretus sandoris sudarytas pažeidžiant šioje normoje įtvirtintą įsakmų reikalavimą arba draudimą ir ar šio pažeidimas lemia būtent sandorio negaliojimą. Lietuvos ir užsienio teisės doktrinoje bei teismų praktikoje pripažįstama, kad sandorių negaliojimo instituto paskirtis – siekti, kad civiliniuose santykiuose būtų užtikrintas teisėtumas, be to įstatymų leidėjas siekia užtikrinti sandorių ir jų pagrindu susiklosčiusių civilinių teisinių santykių stabilumą, apginti civilinių teisinių santykių subjektų teises, įgytas sandorių pagrindu. Šiuos abu tikslus praktikoje suderinti neretai tampa sudėtinga, todėl kyla klausimas, kaip rasti šių įstatymų ginamų vertybių balansą? Be to, minėtus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Civil law is assigned to the area of private law since the emergence of this branch of law in Ancient Rome. But it does not mean that the state can not affect the participants of civil legal relationship. One way to do so is by legal regulation using mandatory rules. Such regulation may restrict ability for entities of civil circulation to create their desired agreements, if they are contrary to the public interest. It is not as easy as it seems to identify mandatory rule – to assess legal norm it is necessary to consider not only grammatical expression, but also goals, tasks, object and interests protected by the legal norm, as well as its systematic connections with other legal norms. After finding that a certain legal rule is imperative, it is necessary to examine if a particular agreement was made in violation of prescriptive requirement or prohibition stated by this mandatory rule and whether consequence of this is the invalidity of the agreement. Legal doctrine and case law in Lithuania and foreign countries recognizes that the purpose of this ground of illegality is to ensure legitimacy in civil relations, in addition to that, it ensures stability of civil circulation. It often becomes difficult to reconcile both of these goals in practice, and the question is how to find the balance between these values protected by law? In addition, these legal values are also protected by other grounds of illegality of agreements, so before choosing the right one, it is worth to... [to full text]

This study focuses on the identification of didactic guidelines for presenting values education in secondary schools. The studied literature sends a clear message that values education is of cardinal importance in education, teaching and training. In 2000 the National Department of Education of South Africa assembled a task team to identify a set of values in particular relevant to education and training. In the report Manifesto on Values Education and Democracy (DOE, 2001) six core values are singled out as of primary importance to the new dispensation in South Africa: equality, equal rights, tolerance, multilingualism, transparency, accountability, and social responsibility. The Report focuses only on national, political and social values, however. From research performed by Rens (2005), Hattingh (1999) en Bagarette (1995), it is clear that an individual needs to be educated as a holistic being and all life values thus need to be addressed integratively . A literature study was undertaken to clarify the concepts values, value orientation and values education, and also to determine how adolescents experience values education. Consequently, different values education programmes currently implemented in foreign countries were analysed . It was found that the 'Cornerstone-waardes" programme of John Heenan, applied in New Zealand, could reasonably easily be adapted for the South African context. From the discussion of the curriculating process as applicable to values education, didactic guidelines could be formulated for values education in South African schools. To identify the current orientation to values as manifested by learners, teachers and school principals in South Africa, the values questionnaire compiled by Vreken and Rens (2001) for research on the values orientation of university learners, was adapted and completed by the population involved in this study. Principals were subjected to partly-structured interviews to gain their opinions on values education in schools. Interviews on possible guidelines for values education in South Africa were also conducted by e-mail with international experts. Since the primary aim of the study was to determine the values orientation of secondary school learners and to recommend didactic guidelines for values education, the aim was mainly attained by means of the empirical study. Noteworthy is, however, that there is no symmetry between learners' views on important values and those that the Department of Education finds it necessary to be promoted. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Girls’ withdrawal from school is posing a major challenge to female literacy in Afghanistan. The aim of this research was to examine the influence of Afghan traditions and cultural norms on girls’ school withdrawal by parents or guardians in Khinjan District of Baghlan Province. To achieve this aim the accounts of 12 mothers with daughters pulled out of school were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analyzed via the theoretical lens of Existentialist Feminism and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model. The findings suggest that in order to address the problem of girls’ withdrawal from school in Khinjan, the informal communication networks that reinforce the tendency of parents/guardians, especially male ones, to withdraw the girls from school should be influenced by communication channels in the district. Grounded on Paulo Freire’s concept of dialogue for liberation, it is recommended that credible members in the community should initiate and engage in a transforming dialogue about education of girls, with Khinjanis.