During the Nordic Bronze Age, houses were not exclusively connected with profane contexts, but did also feature in burial places, a peculiar fact when considering the careful separation of settlements and graves. What kind of houses do we find in these sacred contexts? What did these houses stand for? Why was the house symbolism chosen to accompany the dead? And why did the house symbolism flourish during the Nordic Bronze Age? To answer these questions three representatives for the house symbolism in Sweden are discussed in more detail, such as the burial in longhouses, peculiar houses called cult houses and house urns. Further, the phenomenon has been put in its temporal, geographic, social and ideological context, where aspects such as trade and settlement structure are presented. The house symbolism is, however, not confined to northern Europe. Through comparison with contemporary parallels in southern Europe and ethnohistoric analogies different possible viewpoints are detected.

Who is responsible for youth policy implementation? This thesis attempts to deepen our understanding of Swedish and Nordic youth policy. Youth policy is cross-sectoral and includes all the decisions and measures affecting the conditions of young people. National youth policy therefore concerns young people's life situations in a number of different areas, such as work, housing, education, health, leisure and influence. The purpose of the study is to increase the knowledge of youth policy work the last century by understanding the impact of youth research concerning adults' role in youth policy implementation.   A mixed method approach has been applied to the study: interviews, documents and youth theory have been analysed. The results show that youth research had a major impact on the Swedish youth policy. It also shows that the state has an important role in the implementation of youth policies. To create a youth policy that meets the democratic mandate, it is necessary to create a systematic approach and guidelines for municipalities. The study has clearly shown that the state's role in the democratic mandate differ significantly over time and that adults' role in the implementation is of great importance. The study draws attention to the perception of adults over time and how adults are increasingly seen as a barrier to young people's democratic schooling, and on what grounds this opinion rests. It is proposed that views on the democratic mandate will be extended from a municipal focus to the state where youth policy have a broader focus that takes account of national welfare goals based on a policy all municipalities has to be involved in.

Andersson, J. 2008. Bildstenarna och den muntliga traditionen på Gotland under yngre järnålder. The Picture Stones and the Oral Tradition of Gotland During the Late Iron Age. Högskolan i Kalmar ht 2008. This is a study of the picture stones of Gotland and the oral tradition connected to them. This study consists of two main parts; in the main part the discussion focus on the oral tradition and the continuity of the same, where the memory plays a significant role. It also contains a discussion of the physical environment and its influences of the oral tradition. The second part concentrates around the picture stones, the variation of the scenes and the numerous of them.  Keywords: oral traditions, picture stones, late iron age, Gotland, Nordic mythology.

Syftet är att undersöka om Sverige tillsammans med ett eller flera av de nordiska länderna kan utgöra en optimal valutaunion. Utifrån ett svenskt perspektiv visar resultaten att det är lämpligast för Sverige att ingå i en valutaunion med Norge och Danmark eftersom den ekonomiska integrationen mellan dessa länder har varit störst. Taylors ränteregel visar att Sverige och Norges räntebanor samvarier mest och Optimal currency area-index (OCA-index) visar att Sverige, Danmark och Norge präglas av störst ekonomisk integration. Vi har använt två olika metoder för att undersöka en optimal nordisk valutaunion utifrån ett svenskt perspektiv, OCA-index och Taylors ränteregel. De båda tillvägagångssätten fokuserar på hur ekonomiskt integrerade länderna är, men genom olika variabler och ekonomiska storheter. Ett OCA-index har skapats och skattningen visar att variabeln som beskriver konjunkturcykeln är den som har störst inverkan på den beroende variabeln, växelkursvolatilitet. För att undersöka hur de nordiska länderna har påverkats av chocker har taylor-räntor beräknats och skillnader i korrelation har analyserats. Analysen visar på svårigheter i att mäta ekonomisk integration, något som OCA-teorin hävdar är viktigt för en optimal valutaunion. Beroende på vilken utgångspunkt som väljs varierar resultatet för vilket land Sverige skulle kunna bilda en optimal valutaunion med. Resultaten skiljer sig från tidigare forskning, delvis i tolkningen av variabeln för exportsektorsammansättning och delvis på grund av den studerade tidsperioden. / The aim is to investigate if Sweden constitutes a possible optimal currency area with one or more of the Nordic countries. The results show that Norway and Denmark are the two most suitable partners to join Sweden in a currency union since the economic integration between these countries is the strongest. The Taylor interest rate rule indicates that the interest rate paths between Sweden and Norway correlate the most. The variables in the optimal currency area-index (OCA-index) show that it is Sweden, Denmark and Norway that enjoys the strongest economic integration and therefore constitutes a possible optimal currency area. Two different methods have been used to investigate the possibility of an optimal currency area; the OCA-index and the Taylor interest rate rule. Both methods focus on the level of economic integration between the countries but do this by assessing different economic variables. The OCA-index has been compiled and the estimation indicates that the variable describing the business cycle has the greatest impact on the dependent variable, exchange rate volatility. In order to examine how the Nordic countries have been affected by shocks, Taylor interest rates have been calculated and differences in correlation have been examined. The conducted analysis points toward difficulties measuring economic integration, which according to the OCA-theory is important for an optimal currency union. There are several consistencies between the results of the two methods but also important differences such as which country would be the best partner in a currency union with Sweden. The findings differ from earlier scientific results mostly regarding the interpretation of the variable describing the export sectorial composition and the considered time period.

Inom Norden finns ett samarbete och en politisk satsning på att förstärka grannspråksundervisningen i skolan, vilket framgår i avtal som exempelvis deklarationen om nordisk språkpolitik. Men hur ser arbetet med att stärka grannspråksundervisningen ut? Denna studie syftar till att undersöka förhållandet mellan deklarationen om nordisk språkpolitik och de skandinaviska skolornas styrdokument. Stämmer målen och kraven i styrdokumenten överens med målen som finns i deklarationen? För att undersöka detta genomfördes analyser av dokumenten samt kvalitativa intervjuer med tre sakkunniga personer från de tre skandinaviska länderna; Anna Hannesdóttir, Heidi Lønne Grønseth och Lis Madsen. Resultat från textanalyser och intervjuer visar att det finns en förhållandevis stor diskrepans mellan styrdokumenten och deklarationen men också att det skiljer sig länderna emellan. De danska styrdokumenten förhåller sig närmast till innehållet i deklarationen av nordisk språkpolitik. Det land vars styrdokument förhåller sig längst ifrån deklarationen är Sverige. / Within the Nordic countries, there is a cooperation and a political investment in strengthening the teaching of neighbouring languages in school. This is shown by agreements such as the Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy. How is the declaration carried out within the Nordic countries? This study aims to examine the relations between the Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy and the curriculums in the Scandinavian schools. Do the aims and requirements in the curriculums agree with the aims of the declaration? To examine this, analyses of the documents were carried out as well as qualitative interviews with three experts from the three Scandinavian countries; Anna Hannesdóttir, Heidi Lønne Grønseth and Lis Madsen. The results show a quite considerable discrepancy between the curriculums and the declaration, but also a difference between the countries. The Danish curriculum is the one that mirrors the Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy the closest. The country whose curriculum mirrors the declaration the least, is Sweden.

By first arguing for the fact that globalization is a concept under contest within the social sciences this thesis develops a tool to classify perspectives of globalization. This tool is then applied to textual documents that represents the so called globalization councils (or initiatives) of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. Each document is then classified as falling within one of four perspectives of globalization; Liberalisms, Marxisms, Constructivisms and Post-colonialisms. By analyzing a number of documents tied to all four councils and initiatives the thesis is able to interpret what perspective of globalization that is dominant within each of them. Since all four nations examined aspire to use scientific methods to deal with the challenges of globalization they should reflect the diverse state of explanations present within the social scientific community. The thesis finds that this is not the case. While the Norwegian initiative establishes a platform where the concept of globalization could be said to be broadly debated and understood, the other three nations show an astonishing conformity around the perspective named Liberalisms. In a concluding discussion the thesis argues that the results of the study cannot be fully explained by differences within the institutional arrangement among the councils and initiatives. Instead the thesis holds that the results can be explained by investigating how science is used in modern society to establish truths that are not necessarily the views of the scientific community. Using theories by Georg Henrik von Wright and Chantal Mouffe the essay concludes that the conformity could be understood as a part of a process that some social scientists call post-politics.

This study investigates differences in approaches to public sector relocation reforms in Denmark and Sweden, using a comparative public administration research design. These countries are both part of a Nordic administrative model, but important differences in their respective administrative traditions exist. Previous research on public sector relocation shows a varying array of arguments and approaches to such reforms used in different European countries over time. Building on the experiences from such research, the study aims to map how public service relocation reforms are conceived and designed. The objects of comparison are a Swedish relocation reform from 2005 and a Danish relocation reform from 2015. The respective approaches in Denmark and Sweden are found to differ on most of the studied variables. Using neo-institutional theory, explanations for these differences, and the few similarities that are found, are attributed to path dependency, mimetic isomorphism, and the internal logic of the reforms themselves. The differences in administrative traditions are not found to have impacted the reforms.

I uppsatsen undersöks det hur idéinnehållet i det götiska kulturarvet gestaltas och kommer till uttryck i tre fornnordiskt föreställande konstverk under 1800-talet. Med utgångspunkt i tre konstverk av Johan Gustaf Sandberg, Nils Jakob Blommér och Johan August Malmström diskuteras kopplingar mellan deras innehåll och götiska idéer kring nationen i 1800-talets Sverige. Hur dessa kopplingar ser ut varierar mellan de tre konstverken, men att innehållet i någon mån kan förankras i det götiska kulturarvet påvisas i uppsatsen.

Through social landscape theory the aim of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of the bronze age monumental graves on the coast of Norrland. Questions about similarities between the stone ship settings and long cairns are analysed by looking at size and placement in the landscape. This shows the possible connections between the two construction types and were questioned throughout the process of writing. A reconstructed shoreline set to Late Nordic Bronze Age period IV, has been analysed by looking at the monuments placement to see possible connections through a maritory between Norrland and southern Sweden. In this thesis I have incorporated some instances of Gotlandic as well as other stone ship settings and long cairns from the Baltic Sea area, to strengthen the point of a possible maritory that connected the societies of northern Sweden with the societies placed around the Baltic Sea. The long cairns can be found in Gävleborg’s county from Söderala parish along the coast all the way up to Byske parish in Västerbotten’s county and seem to be constructed in a way that follow the shape of the mountain, with some anomalies. Stone ship settings can usually be found along the mouth of rivers and are placed more specific in the environment, where the orientation seems to relate to the ancient shoreline and in some cases the monument even point towards plausible routes that would be possible to follow with a ship inland. There is a clear concentration of all monument types in Västernorrland’s county, more specifically around the area of Docksta. The placement of the monuments above sea level in relation to the ancient shoreline, seems to be varied, with no clear rule of what height they should lay on. Many similarities can be found between the two, yet so many differences that only can be answered by excavations of more monuments. Further research and excavations is needed in Norrland with focus on the Bronze Age, which is crucial for the understanding of Sweden’s northern coastal areas and the trade across the Baltic Sea.

Bakgrund och problem: Diskussionen kring huruvida företag är hållbara och bidrar till en hållbar samhällsutveckling är mer aktuell än någonsin. Tidigare studier pekar på vikten av att uppnå ett företagande som går i linje med en långsiktigt hållbar utveckling. Skogsindustrin lyfts ofta fram som en viktig industri för att uppnå hållbarhet på sikt, men det finns kritik mot att industrin inte tar tillräcklig hänsyn till biologisk mångfald och klimatfrågan. Det krävs fortfarande ett omfattande arbete för att industrin ska bidra till en långsiktigt hållbar utveckling. De som använder sig av skogsråvara i sin produktion spelar en viktig roll som påverkare av tidigare led i försörjningskedjan. Syfte och metod: Denna studies syfte är att öka förståelsen för hur varuproducerande företag med trä som råvara ser på sitt ansvar för att sträva efter en långsiktigt hållbar utveckling inom nordisk skogsindustri. För att uppnå syftet antar denna studie en kvalitativ forskningsansats där insamlingsmetoden är semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta respondenter från sex företag. Företagens syn på hållbarhet representeras av respondenternas beskrivning av företagens arbete med hållbarhet och synen på den nordiska skogsindustrin. Slutsatser: Företagen som befinner sig i mitten av den nordiska skogsindustrins försörjningskedja har en långsiktig hållbarhetssyn som stannar på mikronivå inom företaget. Företagen anser att de tar ansvar för hållbarhet genom att använda sig av olika hållbarhetscertifieringar, men de ser få anledningar till att utöka ansvaret utanför dessa ramar då de litar på standardernas reglerande funktion. Dessutom beskriver de deras möjlighet att påverka skogsbolagen till att använda sig av mer hållbara praktiker som begränsad och att detta ansvar i stället bör ligga hos tidigare led i försörjningskedjan såsom sågverk och massaföretag. / Background: The need to implement sustainable business practices is a growing concern given the current state of extensive environmental damage caused by the negative effects of industrialization. Previous studies indicate that fostering sustainable businesses and business practices is important to achieving long-term sustainable development across society. Forestry is frequently highlighted as an important industry that is poised as a key agent in remedying many environmental problems. However, several critics insist that the forestry industry fails to account for their impact on biodiversity and climate change. A comprehensive study of how the forestry industry can contribute to a sustainable future is necessary. Particularly pertinent to this discussion are businesses that use forest raw material in their production as key drivers of earlier stages in the supply chain. Purpose and method: The purpose of this study is to analyze how manufacturing businesses that use wood as a main raw material perceive their responsibility towards longterm sustainable development in Nordic forestry. This study takes a qualitative approach in which semi-structured interviews with eight respondents from six enterprises were collected and analyzed. From this sample of respondents’ description of the workplace’s measures towards sustainability, or lack thereof, and their view of the Nordic forestry industry, this study investigated what businesses understood was the extent of responsibility towards sustainability. Results and conclusion: The companies in the middle of the Nordic forestry’s supply chain have a long-run perception of sustainability which ends at a micro-level within the enterprise. These companies often believe that they act responsibly towards sustainability by observing and holding to sustainability certifications. However, these companies also do not see reason for implementing measures towards sustainability beyond these frameworks as they trust that these standards’ regulatory functions are sufficient. Furthermore, they describe their ability to influence forest owners and other companies within the forestry industry as limited. Instead, their perception is that more responsibility towards sustainable development in the Nordic forestry industry should lie with sawmills and pulp companies.