In this study, we explore six preschool pedagogues’ experiences regarding the celebrations of cultural and religious festivals and traditions, and how this is noted in their respective preschool settings. The purpose of this critical study is to make educators aware of how children’s ethnic and cultural diversity is reflected in the preschool’s attention or lack of attention to different festivals and traditions. The study is based on interviews conducted with six randomly selected preschool pedagogues from six different preschools from different parts of Sweden. Three of the preschool peda-gogues interviewed worked at “monocultural” preschools while the other three worked at what they considered as “multicultural” preschools. The results of the study are, that regardless of how the composition of the children’s group appeared, the preschool pedagogues’ reflections on their own situated experiences reveal the extent to which the festivals and traditions cele-brated are so-called Swedish and Christian. The festivals and traditions celebrated are e.g. Easter, Midsummer, Lucia and Christmas. Celebrations and traditions of a decent other than Swedish are not recognized in the same way. Theoretically, this study is based on Sara Ahmed’s ideas surrounding ‘the hegemony of white-ness’ and the ‘phenomenology of whiteness’. For us, this important critical and theoretical re-source opens for future questions about how well established the white hegemony is in our Swedish preschool.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the media discussions of the rape in Bjästa 2009 and to reveal how stereotypical illusions of ethnicity, religion and gender affect how media understands and defines violence. The rape in Bjästa occurred in a “Swedish context” but has been defined as honor related in other arenas outside media. This discussion occurred because the whole village turned against the woman that was raped and supported the perpetrator– a phenomena that speaks against the idea of an equal society and a behavior that is usually understood as honor related and something that the ‘others’ do. Therefore, I have chosen to investigate one case without comparing it to another, because the discussions of this particular case reflect how the debate about men’s violence against women and honor related violence generally is presented. I have argued that when a perpetrator practices men’s violence against women it is described and explained as something individual and as a result of psychological issues whereas honor related violence is explained as a collective action with cultural influences. I have examined 35 articles and 5 blog articles by using a critical analysis method and have specifically been interested in what explanations are used due to the fact that the involved were Swedish but were participating in a collective action of legitimating violence. The results show that the collective behavior is being explained by new explanations such as mass psychosis and collective cultures (that only occur in smaller cities). The strategy behind this is to separate and define the Bjästa case as something “unswedish” so the Swedish nation can uphold an image as an equal and individual society – and in the same time uphold the idea of honor related violence as something foreign and “imported”.

The majority of colours in the natural world are produced via the wavelength selective absorption of light by pigmentation. Some species of both flora and fauna, however, are particularly eye-catching and visually remarkable as a result of the sub-micron, light-manipulating architecture of their outer-integument material. This thesis describes detailed investigations of a range of previously unstudied photonic structures that underpin the creation of the interesting visual appearances of several such species of flora and fauna. These structures were examined using a variety of methods, including optical microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focused ion-beam milling and atomic force microscopy. This enabled detailed characterisation of the species’ photonic systems. The degree of order discerned in the species’ photonic structures ranged from: ‘ordered’ systems, where multiple layers of two materials produces metallic and often mirror-like reflections; to ‘quasi-ordered’ systems, where an average periodicity of the structure in all directions gives rise to diffuse, coloured scatter; to disordered systems, where no discernible order is observed, which results in a diffuse, broad-band, white appearance. In addition to this, the range of systems also encompassed: periodicities in one-dimension in the form of multilayering; ‘quasi-two-dimensional’ structures in the form of aligned fibres; and three-dimensional structures formed from arrangements of spherical particles. Alongside this experimental characterisation, an in-depth series of supporting theoretical analyses were undertaken. For the one-dimensional systems studied here, the models’ theoretical reflectance was calculated using analytical methods. For other systems, with more complex structural-geometries, theoretical simulations of their electromagnetic response to incident radiation were carried out using finite-difference-time-domain and finite-element-method numerical modelling approaches. Theoretical modelling results were compared to experimental measurements of each sample's optical properties. These were primarily reflectance measurements, which were taken using a range of techniques appropriate for each specific investigation. In addition to this, a synthetic sample, mimicking the white-appearance and remarkable polarisation-dependant reflectance of one insect’s photonic structure, was created using polymer electrospinning. Using these experimental measurements and theoretical simulation predictions, the structural colour production mechanisms adopted by several species of flora and fauna were elucidated.

This thesis examines how the relationships between women, inside and outside the international women's organization for professionally working women – Soroptimist International – is informed by proximity and distance, which orientates the organization in the direction of a multiculturalism informed by imperial feminism. Focus lies on the organizations use of terms such as “sister” and “professional woman”, and the imagined benefits and responsibilities of being a soroptimist. The thesis is centered on interviews with members from Soroptimist International Sweden, which is seen as a microlevel of the international organization. By interviewing members and comparing the statements with some of the official documents produced by the organization, I also examine the relation between policy and practice. Drawing on the affect theories of Sara Ahmed regarding emotions and bodily orientation; postcolonial perspectives on transnational feminism, sisterhood and solidarity; and anthropological perspectives on transnational women's network, I argue that the orientation of Soroptimist International is informed by white middle-class heterosexual women. When working for women's rights as human rights it is furthermore based on a UN discourse, which also orientate the organization in a universally western way. Furthermore, I also show how the network of Soroptimist International is end oriented, which means that its information and knowledge exchange is centered around its members and the expansion of the network, instead of advocacy making on behalf of women that are non-members. This leads to the conclusion that if Soroptimist International wishes to reorient away from its feminist imperialist and multiculturalist elements, it needs to engage with a praxis-oriented solidarity concept. This means obtaining a multifaceted communication between its local and global levels, as well as seizing the many different partial perspectives existing inside as well as outside the organization.

Nymphomaniac represents yet another complex art-movie by director Lars von Trier. The reception amongst film critics is seemingly incoherent about whether the film reproduces misogynist values or if the film could be perceived as feminist.  This thesis aims to explore how Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze still applies and provides tools for examination together with the intersectional approach, to decode and identify patriarchal conventions. As whiteness is inextricably linked to patriarchal structure it is discussed throughout this thesis and in a separate chapter. Hence this thesis suggests an intersectional feminist critical analysis to be the most adequate method to examine this movie and to fully comprehend how different elements of power coexist to suppress women and racialized people within the context of Nymphomaniac.  This thesis concludes that von Trier does not only embrace the male gaze, he also occasionally rejects it.

Leaning on the framework of Critical Race and Whiteness Theory, this qualitative study draws on semi-structured interviews with second-generation Mexican Americans and White Americans to offer a yet untaken perspective on the fragmented nature of identity. It also sheds light on the ways racism and interracial relationships shape individuals’ notions of race and privilege. The study’s findings indicate that Mexicans perceive themselves as a distinct racial group situated in a “third space,” marked by a dialectic between externally ascribed and internally attributed racial identity categories. White individuals use color and power-evasion strategies to avoid cognizance of their own racial identities. However, their interracial relationships provide a meaningful premise altering the ways they perceive notions of race and White privilege. Shifts in White individuals’ perspectives occur in relation to heightened race consciousness, acknowledging White privilege, and racial inequality and includes behavioral changes resulting from their interactions with their significant others.

The collection of equality data, and more specifically race and ethnicity data, as a means to prevent discrimination is a common practice in many countries around the world. Through anonymous and voluntary surveys people are regularly asked to self-identify according to a number of categories such as gender, age and ethnic background. In Sweden, however, we rely on the population register as the only source for gathering statistics in order to conduct research on different social groups. From the register you can access information regarding age, gender and geographics but no data can be collected concerning categories like sexual orientation, religious beliefs, disabilities, ethnicity and race. According to some, this creates an obstacle in the fight against racism, in that it is impossible to successfully fight oppression without knowing which people it affects and how. According to others, it is ethically indefensible and even racist to collect such information about individuals. In recent years several political proposals have been made from left wing parties calling for the introduction of equality statistics in Sweden. These proposals have been met by heavy criticism and some rare appraisal. Within the academic field, researchers Tobias Hübinette and the research group Methodological Laboratories represent two different positions in the discussion about equality data. This essay aims to examine these positions as well as the general debate in relation to theories about critical whiteness studies in a Swedish context, the historic evolution of the concept of race in Sweden and the Swedish ideology of colour blindness.

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