Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what Swedishness is according to Swedish customers and how a company could communicate and benefit from the country-of-origin cue in its marketing strategy to attract customers.  Background: Marketing must be understood in the new sense of satisfying the customer needs. Hence, Swedish organisations, when emphasising the country-of-origin attribute in their branding approach, need to recognise what aspects are associated with Swedishness from the customer perspective. Several features could be associated with Swedishness and communicated through the usage of a brand. It could be where the item has been produced, how the product is presented or where it has been designed. Other characteristics might be that consumers want the owner of the company to be Swedish, that the organisation should have Swedish values or that the product must have a Swedish name. Method: To fulfil the purpose, a qualitative data collection was chosen. Semi-structured interviews based on a pilot test were conducted with Swedish customers in Jönköping and asynchronous e-mail interviews were conducted with two Swedish companies. Conclusion: The findings indicate that there are several features customers associate with Swedishness. The origin and history of a company, the quality and design of a product and Swedishness as a personal trait or behaviour. This research found that companies, depending on industry, can take advantage of the features associated with the country-of-origin cue.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how swedishness is constructed and narrated in two Swedish documentary series that picture the Swedish participation in the international ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The main focus lies on how the Swedish soldier as such is portrayed, on which values, characteristics and qualities that they are said to embody and how these are linked to notions of swedishness, particularly the strong historical narrative, formed during the second half of the twentieth century, that defines Sweden as a peaceful, neutral and humanitarian state, with peaceful, enlightened and democratically minded citizens. Theoretically it draws on the concept of metanarrative to explain how ideas of shared national origin translates in to a broad organizing discourse, that defines, interprets and communicates notions of what it means to be a Swede and what is needed to make claims on swedishness. Another concept, that of national bodyscape, is also used to further define and explain how ideas of nationality are embodied and take the form of specific characteristics and  personal qualities. The meaning-making in these two series makes use of the above mentioned definition of swedishness as defined by humanitarian concerns, democratic ideals and moral superiority to construct an image of the Swedish soldiers as on the one hand soft, humanitarians, who are needed in Afghanistan because of their especially strong sense of justice and moral, and, on the other, as tough soldiers, who are able to participate in every aspect of the war as fighters. These two images combined create a notion of a particularly Swedish type of soldier, who brings the separate roles of soldier, humanitarian worker and diplomat together and realises them in one individual, and who appears to be more capable in all these roles than both their American and Afghan allies. By shifting the narrative focus and change which part of the Swedish metanarrative that they choose to connect to, the series can also maintain the emphasis on the soldiers as Swedes, while at the same time showing them participating in situations or discussing aspects of their work that is not usually associated with swedishness, or that previously has not been a part of the broader metanarrative.

Svenska myndigheter har ett flertal gånger påpekat att framtidens arbetsmarknad kommer att behöva kompetent och högskoleutbildad arbetskraft. Samtidigt diskrimineras unga högutbildade i arbetsmarknaden. En del av dessa ungdomar har utbildat sig i Sverige och väljer att arbeta utomlands. Konsekvenserna som detta kan ha i Sveriges framtida arbetsmarknad är oklara. Syftet med undersökningen är att studera varför vissa akademiska ungdomar med invandrarbakgrund som har växt upp i heterogena miljöer väljer bort Sverige efter högre studier. Målet är att förstå och förklara ett aktuellt fenomen. För att genomföra studien har en kvalitativ metod använts. Data har insamlats genom intervjuer. Studien visar att ungdomar är medvetna om sitt kulturella utbildningskapital, konstruktionen av sin identitet, samt positionen som de har i det svenska samhället. Denna medvetenhet tillsammans med behovet av att lära sig om andra kulturer underlättar besluten om att arbeta utomlands. / Swedish authorities are alerting the civil society "public" of an increasing need for employees with high skills in the coming years. Meanwhile high educated youth is being discriminated by the labor market. Some of these young people have educated themselves in Sweden and choose to work abroad. The impact of this issue in tomorrow’s labor market in Sweden is still uncertain. The main objective of the inquiry is to find out why some of the young people with academicals studies and with an immigrant background, that have been raised in heterogeneous environment rule out/opt out Sweden after completing higher studies. The study was conducted through qualitative methods and the data was collected through interviews. The study shows that young people are aware of their educational and cultural capital, and the construction of their identity and also their position *Status* in the Swedish society. This consciousness together with the need of learning about other cultures brings forth the decision of working abroad.

The aim of this study is to investigate the transcultural communication experienced by ten registered nurses (RNs) who all have worked in humanitarian aid projects in a transcultural context. I will use communication parameters based on already existing theories and I will also use parameters defined in the Swedish discrimination law to investigate the RNs experiences of transcultural communication. I have used a semi-structured interview method where I have conducted interviews with all ten informants separately. The interview questions have been constructed by myself and are shaped out of the communication parameters and the parameters defined in the Swedish discrimination law. The Result will show which differences the RNs experienced in the transcultural contexts in which they worked. Also that the RNs experiences are a measure of their identity based in Swedishness and their identity as care-providers through the way that they present their transcultural experiences.

Syftet med denna här studie är att undersöka idéer om ”svenskhet”. Det är tydligt av mina informanters diskussion om svenskhet att det finns flera sätt att förstå och förhålla sig till svenskhet. Mina informanter ser sig själva som svenskar, men är också medvetna om att andra kan se dem som invandrare, det vill säga som icke-svenskar. De teman jag behandlar är mina informanters förståelse av svenskhet, och det de ser som de främsta hindren för att uppnå svenskhet, nämligen personnamn, förmåga att tala svenska och tankar om hemland. / The purpose of this study is to investigate what ideas about “Swedishness”. As my informants discuss the subject, it is clear that there are different responses to what is meant by Swedishness and several ways to look at it. My informants think of themselves as Swedish, but also aware that others may view of them as immigrants, that is non-Swedish. The themes I have looked closely at are my informants ideas about Swedishness, and what they think are obstacles to attain Swedishness in the eyes of others, that is personal names, ability to speak Swedish, and ideas about homeland.

Title: “What is Swedishness for you?” *Long silence* – A reception study about what role film as a medium with the film “Sveriges bästa svensk” can play in discussions that consist of Swedishness and integration. Authors: Emma D Markovic and Martin Nilsson. Research problem: In terms of reception of film in order to generate discussions on a determined theme, we identified a gap in the research field of integration and Swedishness. Therefore this study fills a great space in this field. Aim & Research question: This study aims to add new research of the reception of film in relation to the concept of Swedishness. It’s written in the media and communication science field. The key question is: What role film as a medium with the film "Sveriges bästa svensk" as an example, can play to generate discussion and question the perception of Swedishness. Method/material: Qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with two groups consisting of people aged 50–80 years, where elders borned in Sweden and Iran were represented. Theoretical framework: Stuart Hall's theory of encoding/decoding which is enhanced by the following concepts: Swedishness, identity, ethnicity and cultural adjustment. Main results: It is shown that film plays an important role when it comes to generating discussion about Swedishness, but also that film as a medium is complex when it comes to reception and interpretation. In light of the theory it is clear that a majority of the participants have difficulties to relate to the film or even accept the story because of their preconceptions. It also proves to be difficult for all participants to point out what is typically Swedish, but during the discussions codes that distinguishes the Iranian culture from the Swedish are found, which helps them to more easily discern the things that are perceived as Swedish. Social importance: We want to contribute to the social debate about integration in contemporary Sweden. We found that film can be used to raise questions related to this subject. Number of pages: 40. Course: Media and communication studies C. University & Department: Uppsala University, Department of Informatics. Period: HT 2016. Tutor: Paola Sartoretto.

In a multicultural society, questions like integration, national identity and swedishness become of immediate importance. The comedy-drama Sveriges bästa svensk was created as a contribution to affect the public debate on these issues and encourage people to think about what is swedish, and to break down prejudices that exist in the society. The purpose of this study is to examine what kind of discussions develop in relation to the film. The purpose is also to examine if these discussions can be related to the purpose and goals of the film project. To examine this, theories about communications strategies of organisations and theories of humor to affect way of thoughts have been used. Two focus group interviews took place, whereof one with swedish-born swedes and another with foreign-born swedes to be able to find similarities and differences in the discussions between the groups. The analysis shows that the purpose, to start a discussion, is accomplished within both groups albeit in different ways. The discussion within the group of swedish-borns is mainly about the problematization of swedishness and the discussions within the group of foreign-borns is mainly about adjustments and belonging. The groups mutually believe that integration should not be about assimilation. They also agreed that the genre of humor for this type of question was problematic because the film, according to them, lost its message. The questions regarding swedishness and integration proved to be current and this type of effort, using film, is an important part of the public debate. / I ett mångkulturellt samhälle blir frågor om integration, nationell identitet och svenskhet aktuella. Dramakomedin Sveriges bästa svensk har skapats som en insats för att påverka samhällsdebatten kring dessa ämnen och uppmana en att fundera på vem som är svensk och bryta ner fördomar som existerar i samhället. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka slags diskussioner, i relation till filmen, som skapas hos en grupp med utlandsfödda svenskar och en grupp med svenskfödda svenskar. Syftet är även att undersöka om diskussionerna kan relateras till det bakomliggande syftet och målen med filmprojektet. För att undersöka detta har teorier om organisationers kommunikationsstrategier och teorier om att använda humor för att påverka tankebanor använts. Två fokusgruppsintervjuer har ägt rum varav en med svenskfödda svenskar och en med utlandsfödda svenskar för att kunna hitta likheter och skillnader i diskussionerna mellan grupperna. Analysen visar att syftet med att inleda diskussion uppnås hos båda grupperna, om än på olika sätt. Den svenskfödda gruppens diskussioner handlar mycket om problematisering av svenskhet och den utlandsföddas diskussioner om anpassning och tillhörighet. Gemensamt för de båda grupperna var att de ansåg att integration inte bör handla om assimilation. De menade också att humorgenren för denna typ av fråga var problematisk då humorn, enligt dem, delvis skymde filmens budskap. Frågorna kring svenskhet och integration visar sig vara aktuella och denna typ av insats, med film, är en viktig del av samhällsdebatten.

<p>The media plays a key role in constructing identities and categories, as its messages influence the way we understand the world. In the debate on integration issues, categories such as ”Swede” and ”immigrant” are often treated as obvious and unproblematic. ”Swedish”, being the norm, is seldom defined   and   frequently appears   with   subtlety.   This   paper   set   out   to   study   what   characterizes Swedishness in newspaper articles on integration issues, and how it is represented in relations to immigrants. With a social constructivist outset, critical discourse analysis and post­colonial theory were the methodological and theoretical tools of the investigation. The results show that there are four main ways through which Swedishness is represented in the material: Swedishness defined as  common values and norms, Swedes as integrated and immigrants as disintegrated, Swedishness as characterized by certain traditions, habits and a common history and finally descriptions of the Swedish society as racist and discriminating. These discourses appear relatively constant over the examined periods, with modest changes over time. The results further show that the representations of Swedes and immigrants can be related to unequal power structures in the Swedish society as a whole, where the native Swedish population holds a dominant role.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and analyze practices in multilingual mathematics classrooms in compulsory school in Sweden. By using ethnographic methods, mainly participant observation, data were collected in a number of multilingual mathematics classrooms in suburban areas of a major city. The data include field notes, interviews and informal conversations with students, teachers and school administrators. The analysis is based on a coordination of Foucault’s discourse theory and Skovsmose’s critical mathematics education. The socio-political viewpoint defines power as relational and as having an effect on school mathematics practices. Discourse, agency, foreground and identity are used as analytic tools. In five articles, the thesis investigates how the various discourses affect multilingual students’ agency, foreground and identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. The effects of students’ and teachers’ agency on discourse switching in multilingual mathematics classrooms are also investigated. The findings indicate that bilingual communication in the mathematics classroom enhances students’ identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. Language- and content-based instruction seems to do the same, though monolingual instruction may jeopardize students’ identities as bilinguals while the discourse may normalize Swedish and Swedishness exclusively. Focus on linguistic dimensions in mathematics build up a communicative reform-oriented school mathematics discourse. The competing and intersecting discourses available in the multilingual mathematics classroom affect students’ agency, foreground and identity formation as engaged mathematics learners. For example, a reform-oriented school mathematics discourse intersecting with a social-relational discourse affects students’ active agency allowing power relations to be negotiated. A principal conclusion is that the success or failure of multilingual students in multilingual mathematics classrooms cannot be explained in terms of language and cultural factors alone, but only in relation discourse, and to social and political conditions in society at large. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Manuscript.

The media plays a key role in constructing identities and categories, as its messages influence the way we understand the world. In the debate on integration issues, categories such as ”Swede” and ”immigrant” are often treated as obvious and unproblematic. ”Swedish”, being the norm, is seldom defined   and   frequently appears   with   subtlety.   This   paper   set   out   to   study   what   characterizes Swedishness in newspaper articles on integration issues, and how it is represented in relations to immigrants. With a social constructivist outset, critical discourse analysis and post­colonial theory were the methodological and theoretical tools of the investigation. The results show that there are four main ways through which Swedishness is represented in the material: Swedishness defined as  common values and norms, Swedes as integrated and immigrants as disintegrated, Swedishness as characterized by certain traditions, habits and a common history and finally descriptions of the Swedish society as racist and discriminating. These discourses appear relatively constant over the examined periods, with modest changes over time. The results further show that the representations of Swedes and immigrants can be related to unequal power structures in the Swedish society as a whole, where the native Swedish population holds a dominant role.