I den här uppsatsen undersöks debattartiklar under åren 1997 till 2007 på Dagens Nyheters debattsidor. Intresset ligger vid att undersöka kvalitetsrelaterade skolfrågor och särskilt hur lärarprofessionen deltar i debatten. Som inspiration för behandling av materialet används Pierre Bourdieus ramverk med dess kapital- och fältbegrepp. Resultaten av undersökningen indikerar att lärarna har stort utrymme i debatten. Dessutom hörs statliga politiker i hög grad. Skolverket, akademiker och näringsliv deltar i betydligt mindre omfattning, men befinner sig inte på något sätt på marginalen. Kommunen däremot lyser med sin nästintill absoluta frånvaro. Den övergripande riktningen i debatten är att kvalitet nås genom en stärkt lärarprofession. De övergripande teman som finns i debatten utgår ifrån lärarprofessionens centrala betydelse.

Uppsatsen behandlar några av de aktörer inom konsten som finns i Örebro kommun, deras målsättningar och verklighet. Detta ställs i relation till betraktaren. Frågorna som behandlas och besvaras är vilka aktörer som jobbar med att nå ut till mottagaren; vilka är målsättningarna; hur jobbar de med att genomdriva sina mål; hur ser framtiden och visionen ut; hur kan man ställa detta i förhållande till betraktaren? Den teoretiska grunden för betraktarens förutsättningar finns i perceptionsteori, samt sociologen Pierre Bourdieu. Ekonomiska förutsättningar presenteras kort. Aktörerna som har intervjuats, samt deras verksamhet, presenteras och sedan följer intervjuer med respektive informant. Slutligen behandlas uppsatsens frågeställningar utifrån den grund som materialet har gett och en slutdiskussion förs.

Den här uppsatsen ska främst ses om en fältbeskrivning av en del av den svenska modebloggosfären som de senaste åren har etablerat sig som en ny aktör i rapporteringen kring mode. Vad betyder detta för modejournalistiken och kan man se modebloggandet som en ny karriärväg in till modejournalistiken? Med hjälp av Pierre Bourdieu och Erving Goffman teorier om kapital och personliga fasader vill jag påvisa hur modejournalistiken och modebloggandet skiljer sig ifrån- och liknar varandra samt hur förflyttningarna inom modebloggosfären ter sig.

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att förstå hur svenska dokumentärfilmare i dag arbetar med gestaltningen av verkligheten. I den här uppsatsen tar vi reda på vilka attityder en grupp svenska dokumentärfilmare delar när det gäller relationen till innehållet i filmerna, publiken, yrkesgruppen och de nya förutsättningar som genren erfar. För att besvara frågeställningen har vi utfört nio öppet riktade kvalitativa intervjuer med svenska dokumentärfilmare. Urvalet består till största del av erfarna dokumentärfilmare vars filmer har visats i större distributionssammanhang. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och analyserats med Pierre Bourdieus fältteori som redskap. Resultatet ger en inblick i svenska dokumentärfilmares vardag och exemplifierar hur filmarna resonerar kring sitt arbete. Resultatet visar att de dokumentärfilmare vi intervjuat känner ett ansvar för de medverkande, anser sig vara källkritiska och värnar om sina filmers trovärdighet. De karakteriseras som yrkesgrupp av ett brinnande intresse för de ämnen de tar upp i sina filmer. De tenderar inte att drivas av ett vinstintresse trots att yrkesgruppen till stor del består av egenföretagare. De är ofta kritiska till politiska och ekonomiska maktfält, utan att öppet inta rollen som aktivister eller opinionsbildare. Vi ser också att de intervjuade dokumentärfilmarna är positiva till de nya förutsättningar som dokumentärfilmen verkar under. Billigare kameror och fler publiceringskanaler ger filmarna möjlighet att gestalta fler ämnen och fler världar. Samtidigt finns det en oro över att man som filmare, på nätet, ska förlora kontrollen över sitt material, vilket ibland påverkar ämnesvalet.

This dissertation is an a/r/tographic inquiry (Irwin & Springgay, 2008) that explores postmodern picturebooks and writing theory. Postmodern picturebooks have been described as texts that blur traditional literary boundaries and text-image relationships, while employing devices like metafiction and playfulness (Goldstone, 2002; Sipe, 2008). As meaning becomes more ambiguous, readers are positioned as co-constructors of meaning (Serafini, 2005). Research has shown students enjoy reading postmodern picturebooks and constructing meaningful transactions despite the complex nature of these texts (McGuire, Belfatti, & Ghiso, 2008; Pantaleo, 2004, 2007, 2008), but few have begun to explore how these texts are written. Therefore, I used a/r/tography (Irwin & Springgay, 2008) to theorize about the relationship between these texts and what it means to write. As a method of inquiry, a/r/tography is an arts-based approach to research that is interested in how artistic practices produce meaning and a/r/tographers use art to “construct the very ‘thing’ [they] are attempting to make sense of” (Springgay, 2008, p. 159). In this study, I wrote and illustrated a postmodern picturebook and interpreted how this experience generated understandings about what it means to write. In response to the process model of writing (Flower & Hayes, 1981), the data led to representations that offer new perspectives on contemporary writing theory, in particular, the interpretive, public, and situated nature of writing (Kent, 1999). As a result, I use theories of metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980/2003; Lakoff & Turner, 1989) to critique writing process theory (Elbow, 1973, 1981; Flower & Hayes, 1981) and propose that a/r/tographic inquiry creates openings for new possibilities within the post-process movement (Kent, 1999) by demonstrating how a writer’s evolving questions (Irwin & Springgay, 2008) relate to writing pedagogy.

Uppsatsen har tre syften. Det första är att introducera modehistoria och modeteori som specifika vetenskapliga områden och det andra är att lyfta fram Coco Chanel och det banbrytande och framåtpekande i hennes modehistoriska insats. Det tredje syftet är att tillämpa de olika allmänna teorierna på Coco Chanels livsgärning. För det tredje syftet är frågeställningen; ”Vilka av de äldre och nyare, ofta inbördes konkurrerande, generella modeteorierna skulle på ett eller annat sätt kunna tillämpas på Coco Chanels liv och modeskapande?”. I uppsatsen ger jag en modehistorisk bakgrund och genom den visar jag Coco Chanels roll i modets historia. Jag presenterar också sex olika teorier som jag i analysen prövar på Coco Chanel. Dessa teorier är nedsjunkningsteorin, modet som kollektivt urval, mode som praktik, Lars Fr.H Svendsens teori om modets förändring för förändringens skull, Gabriel de Tardes som säger att mode kan gå från de lägre klasserna till de högre samt Eric Hobsbwan som menar att modeskapare har en speciell förmåga att fånga tidsandan. Dessa teorier sätter jag sedan i förhållande till Coco Chanel för att se huruvida de stämmer på Coco Chanels mode. Min undersökning visar att samtliga teorier, både de äldre och de nyare är tillämpbara på Coco Chanel och att de till viss del överensstämmer eller kan förklara Coco Chanels mode och etablering men i andra fall också motbevisas. Orsaken till detta är att Coco Chanel överbryggar mellan den äldre och 1900-talets modehistoria.

This C-essay is a qualitative study designed to create a basis for understanding how managers involved in school affairs perceive the impact of merit points on students’ chances to continue on to higher education and how this will affect individuals' life chances. The study is based on three interviews with managers involved in school affairs. In this paper grades, merit points and socioeconomic class differences are discussed. The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions:  What impact does merit points in language studies and the way different languages are valued, in the system, have for the individual and for society?  Who are the winners in the new grading system and who are the losers; how are different socioeconomic groups affected? The material was interpreted with the help of a report written by Ingrid Nordqvist and Monica Langerth Zetterman called "Secondary School competition field-a regional perspective", a paper written by Helen Raven who did a study on grades, national tests and social reproduction and the Frenchman Pierre Bourdieu's theories. The results show that class differences will increase and that it will be difficult to rise in the social hierarchy in the future.

This research is about the behavior of cultural consumption on little theaters in Taiwan. Both the provider and the consumer are discussed in this thesis and their behaviors are checked with cultural theories. The result pointed out that, to discriminate certain people in a certain group or a certain social class is a major part of the motivation and behavior of the cultural consumption on little theaters. The research methods of this thesis are semi-structured interview, focus group and literature review, to study the behavior of cultural consumption on little theaters in Taiwan. Little theaters are theaters that are relatively small, might have some amateur affiliates. They have an avant-garde image, distinctive point of view on the theater aesthetic and are a part of high art. The providers of little theater are not only providing a product. These workers of little theater also put themselves in a certain group or class when they are making the decision of being a part of the little theater circle. The audiences (consumers) they attracted are the people who have the similar qualities of themselves. They are not approaching a mass audience. The providers expect their audiences have a certain ability to understand and interpret their works. This shows distinction. The consumers of little theater believe that it¡¦s their taste and a basic need to consume art. And is also a way to approach and understand the society. Even with the similar education background and social class, these people who choose to consume little theater (while some other doesn¡¦t) said that it¡¦s because they love art. They want to participate in a certain issue. Most important of all, it¡¦s a way to express themselves, an expression of who they are and what class in the society. Not only to consume or not separate these consumers from the others, during the process of consumption, the way they interpret the work also discriminate them from the others.

The concept of democracy is of importance to the Swedish educational system. The best proof of that is the central position democracy has had in the education program we attended at the Örebro university. This study analyses the concept of democracy and its leading foundation, namely the so-called “deliberative dialog”. The last is belived to be an ideal of democracy which schools in Sweden should follow. This is at least how prominent academics and advocates of “deliberative dialog” Tomas Englund and Jurgen Habermas, see this phenomenon and its role in our schools. Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist and social theorist has though shown that there is danger in believing that dialog is the only foundation of democracy. Accordig to him in every dialog exists a certan power struggle. What Bourdieu really means is that in a dialog actors are not equal, but there is great risk that some actors get dominated by other actors. These different views of dialog and its role in the school world has inspired us. In our study we wanted to see whether there are students or groups of students, that based on gender or ethnicity are dominated by other students in the everyday classroom dialog. The empirical part of the study shows that those who were not activly engaged in the observed classroom dialog were boys of Swedish origin. The study also shows that those who seemed to have no problem with an active participation in the classroom dialog were girls, and very often girls of Swedish origin.The results of this study are though not completely unambiguous. As the group of students we observed were of differnt gender and came from different ethnic backgrounds we choose to see them as individuals. That means that they as individuals have differnt abilities when it comes to adapt to the climate of the classroom.