The share of elderly people in the worlds population is evergrowing and research has shown that elderly people may face difficulties when using public transport. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate elderly individuals usage of public transport and the role of transport providers as well as decision makers in Malmö. This has been done using qualitative methods which includes both semi-structured interviews with transport providers and decision makers but also a focus group consisting of elderly individuals. The theoretical framework contains three concepts, mobility, social exclusion and perceived accessibility along with factors that affects elderly peoples use of public transport. Differences in priorities regarding public transport also constitutes the theoretical framework. The studys empirical material consists of information concerning elderly travelers experiences using the public transport in Malmö but also how transport providers and decision makers work in order to promote this groups usage. The analysis discuss how increased mobility for elderly travelers could decrease the risk for social exclusion along with how different factors affect their perceived accessibility. Priorities of transport providers and decisions makers as well as elderly travelers is also discussed. The conclusions show that using public transport facilitates the possibilities for elderly travelers to carry out activities as well as socializing with family and friends, which decrease the risk for social exclusion. How the busdriver manage the bus and the characteristics of the seats seems to affect elderlys perceived accessibility the most. However, elderly travelers, decision makers and transport providers seem to have similar priorities regarding public transport in Malmö. / Andelen äldre människor i världen blir allt större och forskning visar att vid användande av kollektivtrafik så kan äldre resenärer uppleva svårigheter. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att undersöka äldres användning av kollektivtrafiken och vilken roll kollektivtrafiksaktörer har i detta. Detta har gjorts genom användandet av kvalitativa metoder, i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med kollektivtrafiksaktörer och en fokusgrupp bestående av äldre resenärer. Det teoretiska ramverket består dels av de tre begreppen mobilitet, social exkludering och upplevd tillgänglighet men även faktorer som påverkar äldres användning av kollektivtrafiken. Vidare så utgör även skillnader i prioriteringar en del av det teoretiska ramverket. Studiens empiriska material består av äldre resenärers upplevelser av kollektivtrafiken i form av information insamlad via en fokusgrupp och intervjuer utförda av Malmö stad. Utöver detta så utgör även kollektivtrafiksaktörers arbete för att främja äldres användning av kollektivtrafiken en del av det empiriska materialet. I analysen diskuteras hur ökad mobilitet för äldre individer kan reducera risken för social exkludering men även hur de olika faktorer påverkar de äldre resenärernas upplevda tillgänglighet. Kollektivtrafiksaktörerna och de äldre resenärernas prioriteringar diskuteras även. Slutsatsen visar att användandet av kollektivtrafik främjar möjligheten för äldre resenärer att delta i aktivitet och socialisera med vänner och familj, vilket minskar risken för social exkludering. Busschaufförernas körning och sätenas egenskaper är faktorer som tycks påverka äldre resenärernas upplevda tillgänglighet mest. Däremot tycks både äldre resenärer och kollektivtrafiksaktörer ha liknande prioriteringar om kollektivtrafiken i Malmö.

This research was conducted to study the social integration of Syrian refugees in Sweden and their feeling of inclusion in the Swedish society, or exclusion from it. The research also targeted illuminating and analyzing potential reasons for the social exclusion of some Syrian refugees according to first-hand experiences, perspectives, and opinions collected by semi-structured interviews with 10 informants who left Syria due to civil war and sought asylum in Sweden. This paper serves as a platform on which voices and views of Syrian refugees were echoed, and conclusions on their settlement and inclusion in their new country were based on their own feelings, struggles, and matters of their social lives. To achieve that, social, cultural, and human aspects were prioritized over mainstream economic and legal aspects as all informants were documented and integrated into the Swedish labor market or education system.  Nonetheless, the study results have shown a worrying lack of social inclusion that Syrian refugees have experienced so far in their new country, reducing them into underprivileged, ethnic social circles where they had limited access to social networks from different backgrounds, resources, and opportunity. The nature of the Swedish society, as well as the negative image of Syrian refugees, Ethnic-segregated residencies, cultural incompatibility, and racism, were found to be the main reasons behind this phenomenon

This essay is a discourse analysis of the integration politics of the different partiesin the Swedish parliament and the non-parliamentary party ‘the SwedishDemocrats’, as it is presented on their respective web pages. The overall purposeis to problematize and shed a light on how the current discourse(s) aboutintegration are constituted. Also of interest is how these construct our knowledgeand experience of the phenomena. We furthermore want to illustrate the socialconsequences of such discourses on the construction and organization of identitiesand groups, and, as a result, the courses of action that becomes available. Ouressay has a methodological and theoretical foundation that is based upondiscourse theory – an approach with a view of the reality as both sociallyconstructed and as communicated by linguistic organisation. Unsurprisingly then,it is our ontological standpoint that it is language that constructs and gives ourreality a meaning, rather than a naturalistic objective and value-free reflection ofthe world. The analysis identifies some general themes that could be viewed uponas the foundation of the integration-discourse. We find that this discourse isorganized around a mythical idea of the Swedish society, which is identified as abroader discourse about the concept of the nation. The ideational process worksthrough the construction of a separation from other nations, and thus an indirectcreation of a group (Swedes) belonging to the own nation and community. As aresult a division is made between those who belong to the society and those whodo not (immigrants). In order to get access to the Swedish society, in other wordsto integrate and escape alienation, the excluded must get an employment. Thevarious discourses differ on reasons behind the failing integration, a finding thatwe discuss and problematize around in the study. The overall conclusion is thatthe discourses is unable to contribute to integration process and insteadconsolidates the divide between immigrants and Swedes.

Second-generation immigrant children in Sweden, especially those of non-European heritage, find themselves entangled in a web of social exclusion. Against the backdrop of escalating disparities between social strata, and a conspicuous failure in the integration of immigrants, the study explores this matter in depth. With a focus on Rapatac, a Swedish non-governmental organisation, the study delves into three critical dimensions: 1) the manifestations of social exclusion experienced by these children, 2) the interventions employed to combat these outcomes, and 3) the indicators that gauge the efficacy of these efforts. A qualitative methodology was employed, based on semi-structured interviews with Rapatac staff members, document analysis, and a thematic analysis. These laid bare four forms of social exclusion faced by second-generation immigrant children: educational disparities, psychological exclusion, neighbourhood exclusion, and the intricacies of normative integration. In response to these challenges, educational interventions, skill development initiatives, community engagement endeavours, and mentorship and support programmes collectively form Rapatac’s arsenal to counteract the consequences of social exclusion. Measuring the impact of these interventions revealed that the attendance records of both school and Rapatac, and academic performance, emerged as pivotal barometers of progress. Also, a surge in collaborations, funding, and volunteerism at both the organisational and individual levels testify to the recognition of Rapatac’s influence on numerous communities. Consequently, the study validates the relativity, agency, and dynamic nature inherent in social exclusion research.

Educational disparities in China are rooted in the country’s longstanding rural-urban divide, which the hukou system has institutionalized. However, following a comprehensive reform of the hukou system (2014-2020) disparities in access to education remain ubiquitous. This raises questions regarding the reform itself, in terms of its agenda and effectiveness, as well as regarding the real driving factors of educational disparities in urban China. It is a complex issue that requires a multidimensional analysis, which shall consider both the hukou and other exclusionary factors as potential causes. These include mechanisms inherent to China’s education system, culture, and historical dynamics of social stratification. Making an in-depth review of the literature through institutionalism lenses, this research takes shape in the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of equality of opportunity and social mobility. Supported by empirical indicators and qualitative data, it provides an in-depth and timely understanding of the hukou and underlying factors of educational exclusion that undermine equality of opportunity and hinder upward social mobility among migrant children. This research finds that hukou status is still the biggest determinant of people’s equality of opportunities and social mobility in China and argues that the reform had the potential to make a positive difference. Thereby, this research's main explanation for the resilience of educational disparities in this context is that the 2014 hukou reform’s core intent was to modify migrant spatial distribution in favour of small and midsize cities, as opposed to their current concentration in megacities, and, in doing so, policymakers overlooked many challenges and barriers associated to migrating to lower tier cities and undervalued the importance of education for migrants. This research thus concludes that, rather than a definite lack of political will for solving educational disparities, the reform fell short on schooling issues because economic ambitions have taken precedence over social development and equal access to welfare, including education, among all Chinese citizens.

This thesis explores the ideological role of metaphor in British governmental discourses on ¿social exclusion¿. A hybrid methodology, combining approaches from Corpus Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis and cognitive theories of metaphor, is used to address how social exclusion and other metaphors are deployed to create an ideologically vested representation of society. The data consists of linguistic metaphors identified from a 400,000+ word machine-readable corpus of British governmental texts on social exclusion covering a ten year period (1997- 2007). From these surface level features of text, underlying systematic and conceptual metaphors are then inferred. The analysis reveals how the interrelation between social exclusion and a range of other metaphors creates a dichotomous representation of society in which social problems are discursively placed outside society, glossing inequalities within the included mainstream and placing the blame for exclusion on the cultural deficiencies of the excluded. The solution to the problem of exclusion is implicit within the logic of its conceptual structure and involves moving the excluded across the ¿boundary¿ to join the ¿insiders¿. The welfare state has a key role to play in this and is underpinned by a range of metaphors which anticipate movement on the part of the excluded away from a position of dependence on the state. This expectation of movement is itself metaphorically structured by the notion of a social contract in which the socially excluded have a responsibility to try and include themselves in society in return for the right of (temporary) state support. Key systematic metaphors are explained by reference to a discourse-historical view of ideological change in processes of political party transformation. / BISA and CSV

This thesis aims to analyse how poverty and social exclusion are visually represented through photographic images in the Greek mainstream media, following relevant articles in 2022. It contributes to the discourse on poverty using visual research methodologies, examining media-generated visuals that accompany articles on the same topic, addressing a gap in similar work within Greek media. Additionally, it seeks to offer insights into the professional use of these visuals. The interpretivist visual analysis is conducted under the ontological assumption of a realist and constructivist epistemological assumption. The analysis reveals that the visual lexicon of poverty in Greek mainstream news outlets in 2022 lacks variation and sustains stereotypical representations, with a focus on energy poverty and housing for which visuals are often inanimate. People are present in less than 50% of the visuals, and among them, figures of authority predominate, while in the rest they do not make direct eye contact with the viewer. Visuals involving refugees are staged by the producer, while stereotypical representations of poverty can be found in the one third of the sample and involve refugees in the most part. This research adopts a qualitative and inductive approach to describe, understand, and interpret the phenomenon. By examining the visual strategies employed by mainstream media outlets to represent poverty, the study aims to contribute to a better understanding of how these topics are constructed and portrayed in the Greek media. The findings hold significance for media practitioners, policymakers, and scholars interested in comprehending the role of media in shaping public perceptions of poverty. / Η μελέτη αυτή έχει ως στόχο να αναλύσει πώς η φτώχεια και ο κοινωνικός αποκλειστισμός αναπαρίστανται οπτικά μέσω φωτογραφικών εικόνων στα κυριότερα ΜΜΕ της Ελλάδας, ακολουθώντας σχετικά άρθρα του 2022. Συμβάλλει στο διάλογο για τη φτώχεια χρησιμοποιώντας μεθοδολογίες οπτικής έρευνας, εξετάζοντας τις οπτικές που παράγονται από τα μέσα που συνοδεύουν άρθρα με το ίδιο θέμα και αντιμετωπίζοντας ένα κενό σε παρόμοιες εργασίες όσον αφορά τα ελληνικά μέσα ενημέρωσης. Επιπλέον, επιδιώκει να ερευνήσει βαθύτερα την επαγγελματική χρήση αυτού του υλικού. Η ερμηνευτική οπτική ανάλυση διεξάγεται υπό την οντολογική υπόθεση μιας ρεαλιστικής και κονστρουκτιβιστικής επιστημολογικής υπόθεσης. Η ανάλυση αποκαλύπτει ότι το οπτικό λεξιλόγιο της φτώχειας στα κυριότερα ελληνικά ειδησεογραφικά μέσα το 2022 δεν διαθέτει ποικιλία και διατηρεί στερεότυπες αναπαραστάσεις, με έμφαση στην ενεργειακή φτώχεια και τη στέγαση, για τις οποίες οι φωτογραφίες συχνά είναι άψυχες. Οι άνθρωποι παρίστανται σε λιγότερο από 50% του υλικού, και μεταξύ αυτών, επικρατούν πρόσωπα εξουσίας, ενώ στις υπόλοιπες δεν έχουν άμεση επαφή με τον θεατή. Οι φωτογραφίες που αφορούν πρόσφυγες είναι σκηνοθετημένες από το δημιουργό τους, ενώ στο ένα τρίτο του δείγματος βρίσκονται στερεότυπες αναπαραστάσεις της φτώχειας που αφορούν κυρίως πρόσφυγες. Αυτή η έρευνα υιοθετεί μια ποιοτική και επαγωγική προσέγγιση για να περιγράψει, να κατανοήσει και να ερμηνεύσει το φαινόμενο. Εξετάζοντας τις οπτικές στρατηγικές που χρησιμοποιούν τα κυριότερα μέσα ενημέρωσης για να αναπαραστήσουν τη φτώχεια, η μελέτη αποσκοπεί στο να συμβάλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση του τρόπου με τον οποίο αυτά τα θέματα κατασκευάζονται και απεικονίζονται στα ελληνικά μέσα ενημέρωσης. Τα ευρήματα είναι σημαντικά για τους επαγγελματίες των μέσων ενημέρωσης, τους πολιτικούς και τους ερευνητές που ενδιαφέρονται να κατανοήσουν το ρόλο των μέσων στη διαμόρφωση της κοινής γνώμης για τη φτώχεια.

España y Grecia, dos países económica y administrativamente diferentes, teniendo cada uno de ellos que hacer frente por un lado al creciente fenómeno de la fuga de cerebros y por otro a la incesante demanda de mano de obra internacional, principalmente cualificada según el tipo de prioridades productivas que cada uno se ha fijado para su respectivo interés, se examina a través de un análisis completo y exhaustivo de los distintos factores económicos en los que se basa cada país, para obtener una ventaja competitiva sobre el resto, ya sea sobre sus respectivos homólogos europeos o incluso sobre la competitividad internacional a la que se enfrenta la UE. El capital humano que ofrecen los migrantes a los países de destino y la falta de competitividad de los países de origen, también se examina a través de paradigmas y gráficos para ambos Estados. En conclusión, la creación de una legislación más social, junto con la estricta económica que propuso el intento fallido de implementar una constitución europea, a través de reconocidas instituciones de la UE, es una de gran importancia para el logro de un marco social atractivo para ambos, nacionales y la población acogedora.

Background: People living with advanced dementia in nursing homes often spend the majority of time alone, with little contact with anyone. The need to connect with others is a central part of a philosophy known as Person Centred Dementia Care. A significant body of literature demonstrates the effectiveness of a range of approaches that facilitate connections, yet, we know little about staff perspectives on what facilitates them to connect on a daily basis. Aim: To develop a Grounded Theory to explain what facilitates nursing home staff to connect with residents living with advanced dementia. Methods: Semi structured interviews were conducted with nursing home staff (n=21) and relatives (n=5) from seven nursing homes. Following Strauss and Corbin’s (1990, 1998) Interpretivist Grounded Theory methodology, data collection and analysis proceeded iteratively, and theoretical sampling was used to develop the emergent theory. Results: The Grounded Theory ‘making the most of time’ explains that most connections occurred during personal care. Interdependent contextual and individual factors facilitated staff to make the most of time. Effective leaders were described to create a caring culture in which informal leaders (experienced staff) acted as role models. Staff were then more likely to understand, accept and tolerate dementia, know connections were part of their role, get to know residents and express caring values. In the right physical environment, this then facilitated staff to make the most of time during personal care. Increased training and education from specialised dementia units and experiential knowledge from family engagement then supplement such contexts. Implications: Future research could empirically test the theory ‘making the most of time’

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