I det nutida västerländska samhället är frågor kring etnicitet, identitet och vithet ständigt aktuella. Politiska framgångar i många europeiska länder för högerextrema partier lyfter återigen fram frågor kring etnisk tillhörighet och vad detta faktiskt innebär och får för konsekvenser i samhället. Denna undersökning syftar till att undersöka hur fyra unga kvinnor med sitt eget eller sina föräldrars ursprung i ett annat land upplever processer av identitetsskapande utifrån föreställningar om etnicitet och vithet. Genom intervjuer med dessa kvinnor analyseras om de upplevt etnicitet som viktigt i identifikationsprocessen, hur de upplevt utanförskap och hur de ser på framtiden i ljuset av denna politiska utveckling. Slutsatsen av denna undersökning är i korthet att etnicitet inte alltid varit viktigt för dem, men att det gjorts viktigt av samhället när de blev äldre. Vidare är att det inte handlar om etnicitet utan om avvikande kroppar och att framtiden handlar mycket om tankar kring ett ”hemland” som andra ser som deras men som de själva inte ser som sitt eget. / In contemporary western society questions about ethnicity, identity and whiteness are constantly present. In many European countries political success for nationalist right wing parties once again reveal questions about ethnic belonging, what this actually means and what consequences it has for society. The purpose of this essay is to study how four young women, who trace their own or their parents origin in another country, experiences processes of identification regarding preconceptions about ethnicity and whiteness. Through interviews with these women the questions if they have experienced ethnicity as being important in there identification process, how they have experienced feelings of being denied full access to the Swedish society and how they view their future in light of this political development, are analysed. The conclusion of this study is in essence that ethnicity was not always important for them, but society made it important when they became older. Further more, that it is not a question about ethnicity instead it is about deviating bodies and that their thoughts about the future evolve around a ”homeland” which others see as theirs but they themselves do not.

This essay is about the hostility towards strangers and foreigners within a Swedish historic context, not only towards foreigners coming from another country, but also directed to people within the Swedish society among the ethnic Swedes themselves. From their accounts of the concept I will discuss why and how this hostility towards strangers has developed and been expressed when they were younger, but also how they perceive the phenomena today as it express itself.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom intervjuer med tre medelålders kvinnor, ta del av deras upplevelser av Adventsmarknaden och friluftsmuséets Lilla Julmarknad i Gamla Linköping. Genom intervjuer och deltagande observation vid marknaderna undersöker jag på vilket sätt informanterna besöker en marknad och hur deras syn på shopping och service styr deras besök. Uppsatsen belyser hur de shoppar när de besöker en marknad, hur de ser på service och hur detta påverkar deras upplevelse. Slutsatsen av denna studie är kortfattat att de besöker marknaden, och shoppar på tre skilda sätt. De definierar och uppskattar service på olika sätt och handlar olika typer av varor. Vidare handlar det om hur tre kvinnor använder sig av marknaden för att passa in i en större gemenskap där julmarknaden är ett standardiserat val. / The purpose of this paper is through interviews with three middle-aged women, learn about their experiences of the Christmas market in Old Linköping. Through interviews and participant observation at the markets, I examine how the informants visiting a market and how their approach to shopping and services guide their visits. The essay illustrates how they shop when they visit a market, how they look at the service and how this affects their experience. The conclusion of this study is briefly that they visit the market by different purposes, and buy things in three different ways. They define and appreciate service in different ways and buy different types of goods. Furthermore, it is about how three women use the market to fit into a larger community where the Christmas market is a standardized choice.

Svart arbete, informal purchases of work, is a widely debated societal phenomenon in Sweden. It is often seen as detrimental to contemporary welfare society, eroding taxpaying morals, fair competition and solidarity with fellow citizens. Acknowledged as wrong, it is in many instances also an acceptable and commonplace exchange practice. This study addresses this incongruity and aims to show how these inconspicuous exchanges of work are distinguished in terms of legality and licitness. Methodologically, the study is based on ethnographic interviews with a group of people in all walks of life, who have their roots in a small town in southern Sweden. In the midst of life and work, they address situations where living in accordance with moral standards becomes difficult. The study aims to illuminate multifaceted reasonings about the illegal but licit purchases made and how people make sense and meaning of them in retrospect and in the larger context of societal economy. The ways in which these purchases of svart arbete are justified illustrate inherent tensions in contemporary welfare society. Purchases of svart arbete are often justified as rational economic decisions in terms of being cheap and simple. The study shows that purchasing work informally is not only a rational economic decision, but can also be the result of resolving necessities in daily life due to societal bottlenecks and/or probing tax legislation. As an economic phenomenon, these purchases are therefore not seen as set apart from the formal structures of the Swedish economy, but as co-existing with them. Justifying the illegal but licit svart arbete, purchasers are seen to emphasise a reciprocal relationship with the provider of the work and also with the state. In this way, a sense of balance and justice is achieved.

This study deals with the development of journalism in post-Cold War Romania, and it does so with a particular interest in the transnational dimension this entails. Many NGOs and international organizations are currently seeking to monitor journalists’ situations in countries around the world, while at the same time aiming at having the whole world aligned with international standards of the journalistic profession. Much attention is put on the safety of individual journalists and on the need to protect them from both legal and physical harm. Reports are continuously launched, frequently worded to impart a sense of emergency, effectively linking putative universal values of journalism with the image of vulnarable journalists carrying out dangerous work for the benefit of large publics. Romania is a fertile place for this kind of global activism, partly due to the country’s totalitarian past and to what many commentators see as an unfulfilled process of democratization where powerful media owners and executives influence journalistic standards with business interests foremost in mind, and where harassments of journalists have been on the rise during the last decade. By combining an ethnographic account of the journalism field with an exploration of how global media development activities are operating in contemporary Romania, the prime question of the thesis is how journalism is constructed and made meaningful in a transnational context. The study is based on ethnographic material collected during the period of 2000-2002 among journalists and NGO activists in Bucharest, Romania.

This thesis in social anthropology is based on the inner essence, manifestations and tendencies of Scottish nationalism and regionalism. The thesis intends to investigate how Scottish nationalism and regionalism are related to each other. It is meant to highlight the meaning of the Wallace-myth for maintenance of the Scottish national consciousness and to illuminate factors lying behind this myth. It is also meant to study how Turner, Lévi-Strauss, Anderson, Eriksen, Hobsbawm and Hettne’s theories work in the Scottish field. This thesis intends to contribute to a better understanding and deeper insight into Scottish nationalism.

The purpose of this thesis was to explore a collaborative project between Sweden and India, a project that is working with improving maternal health care in India. I focused on investigating how the project worked in practice, how they worked for improving the situation for Indian midwives and for pregnant women. This investigation was performed during a two month fieldwork in India where I got the opportunity to meet and interview several people connected to the project. The focus has been primarily on the “Master Trainers”, i.e. Indian midwives who have taken part in a training program in Sweden and in India, and who will function as teachers to other Indian midwives, regarding their perceptions about the project and its achievements. / Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka ett samarbetsprojekt mellan Sverige och Indien, ett projekt som arbetar med att förbättra mödrahälsovården i Indien. Jag fokuserade på att undersöka hur projektet fungerat i praktiken, hur de arbetar för att förbättra situationen för indiska barnmorskor och för gravida kvinnor. Denna undersökning utfördes under ett två månaders fältarbete i Indien där jag fick tillfället att träffa och intervjua flera personer knutna till projektet. Fokus har främst varit på "Master Trainers”, dvs indiska barnmorskor som har deltagit i ett utbildningsprogram i Sverige och i Indien och som kommer att fungera som lärare till andra indiska barnmorskor, om deras uppfattningar kring projektet och dess insatser.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att utifrån kvalitativ data synliggöra perspektiv på genus och könsstereotyper, i kombination med organisation. Empirin utgår från fyra informanters perspektiv på dessa frågor, med utgångspunkt från deras egen arbetssituation. Grunden i intervjuerna har varit hur informanterna ställer sig till det faktum att de befinner sig i minoritet könsmässigt på arbetsplatsen och hur detta påverkar arbetssituationen, samt vad som gjort att de valt att bryta könsmönstret i ett annars segregerat arbetsliv. Teorin tar sin utgångspunkt i skapandet av kön och genus i kombination med organisation. Samt lyfts en diskussion kring avvikelse som utgår från Erving Goffmans begrepp stigma. Resultaten visar att informanterna varit medvetna om sin minoritetssituation, både i positiv och också i negativ bemärkelse. Mestadels anser de dock att de kunnat ingå som en del av gruppgemenskapen. De har dock alla vid olika tillfällen tvingats ta ställning till den könsstruktur som finns på arbetsplatsen. / The purpose of this paper, which is based on qualitative data, is to highlight the perspectives of gender and gender stereotypes, in combination to organization. The empirical data is based on four individuals’ perspectives on these issues, based on their work situation. The basis of the interviews has been to understand the informants' attitudes, to the fact that they are in gender minority at the workplace, and how this affects the work situation. And also what made them chose to break the gender pattern in an otherwise segregated working life. The theory is based on the creation of sex and gender in combination to organization. And also a discussion on difference is raised, based on Erving Goffman's definition of stigma. The results show that the informants have been aware of their gender minority position, both in positive and also in a negative sense. They have all at various times been forced to consider the gender structure at the workplace. Though, mostly they believe that they can be a part of the group, despite their minority situation.

This essay is about uncovered women's faith and worship in an urban setting in contemporary Turkey. It researches the possibility of any common factors for uncovered Sunni Muslims' faith and worship as well as what parts of classical Muslim faith they have found negotiable. The essay relates to current literature and research on the topic as well as provides an insider perspective based on interviews with Turkish women.

Media is one of the most important gateways to the world beyond for most people. Every day we are presented with images of distant places and peoples and the events they are a part of. During the years the way these news events have been presented to the public has changed but still they create images within us of these distant places and peoples. This paper discusses how the journalistic narrative is built up based on some theories describing media and how is used and/or uses the society it is a part of. The paper tries to answer questions on how the image of the distant places and peoples is built up, based on these theories and discussions within the journalistic community. The process from source to print is complex. Several part takers have an interest in putting out their view of the world to the public. This creates a complex web of dependencies between the media and different groups in society. In the end the image presented is a side effect of how the journalistic text is built up, where the narrative has to be firmly rooted with individuals and places to gain acceptance with the public, and where people and places described often become artifacts, rooted in very specific events.