The purpose of this study is to examine the historical consciousness and the use of history among pupils in 6th grade, in Swedish elementary school. To do this, the aim is to answer the following questions: Which types of history use are to be found among 6th graders, and how are these expressed? What historical consciousness/historical thinking do 6th graders display, and how is this expressed? What interest do 6th graders have in history? The method used in this study is a survey, which has been answered anonymously by 60 pupils in four different classes, from four different elementary schools, and in four different Swedish suburbs. The final analysis is based on theories on historical thinking/historical consciousness, uses of history, and history cultures, described by important historians, such as Rüsen, Ammert, and Karlsson. The study has led to the conclusion that, although a large majority of the pupils say that they are interested in history and think it is relevant, very few of them can mention uses of history outside the school context. The answers do not reveal a notably developed historical consciousness, even though there are signs expressing historical consciousness to a limited extent. One of the main characteristics of historical consciousness among the pupils is their use of concepts for historical change, such as development and consequence.

This study is a qualitative interview study that examines antagonism, identity and collective memory among second generation immigrants from Bosnia & Herzegovina. The study is based on an existential history use-perspective and social constructivist socialization theory. The study shows that the Bosniak identity is seldom defined by their history and the Yugoslavian wars but rather by language and traditions. In addition, the results indicate that the Bosniak identity has been assimilated to a large extent into the Swedish majority culture. The results also show that antagonism against other ethnic groups in the Balkans mainly occurs among first-generation immigrants while the descendants do not relate to a large extent to the war crimes and atrocities that occurred against Bosnian Muslims. Instead, they express empathy and sympathy for their parents’ experiences of these traumas. The respondents also experienced a nonchalance towards their background in Swedish history teaching where their history was neglected in favor of other wars and genocides. While the respondents suspected a fear of conflict among teachers to account for the area, they also told examples when teachers failed in the relational pedagogy and homogenized the individuals by letting them represent an entire conflict and ethnic group. Overall, the study shows that the use of history is not a recurring phenomenon among second-generation Bosniak immigrants, and their attitude focuses on individuals rather than groups. In the didactic part of the study, the results emphasize that history teachers might need to self-educate based on the students' background to create a meaningful education and create a history awareness among students.

This essay explores how and why the memory of the Baltic extradition in 1946 has been shaped and used in relation to the social democratic Swedish identity, trough the theory of cultural history. The method utilized is a qualitative content analysis of the 71 articles in Aftonbladet that discuss the term “baltutlämningen” between 1947-2022. Here, a theoretical and methodical device is presented and applied. The device outlines the Swedish identity by examining how the articles negotiate guilt to avoid shame, thus preserving the self-image.       The findings show that the remembrance of the Baltic extradition serves to cement an image that upholds the identity of the social democratic group as rational, humanitarian, and anti-fascist. Consequently, when Aftonbladet brought the memory to life in 1966 it was shaped to avoid anything that would cause shame by contradicting those values. Thus, the narrative came to portray the political right as guilty for the extradition, and the Balts’ unnecessary suffering during it. Later, the memory was used to reinforce the progressive and humane self-image by being used as a cautionary example, legitimizing current social democratic stances regarding questions of asylum, international relations, and war crime policies.           In the 2000’s a new discussion emerged alongside the previous narrative, as historians started questioning the facts and reassessing the feelings of guilt and shame. With the admission that fascist sympathizers may also have infiltrated the social democratic group, the historian debate joined the European narrative: promoting the international cause for democracy, through national self-evaluation, to combat intolerance and fascism globally. Thus, the memory of extradition of the Balts has come to connect the Swedish cause to the European one, maintaining the rational, humanitarian, and anti-fascist self-image.      From an identity perspective the recurring guilt-shame complex shows that the humanitarian and democratic values are desired, but not innate, aspects of Swedish identity. Furthermore, the study shows that guilt and shame have consistently been used as educational tools to shape the Swedish people, inside and outside the classroom.

The purpose of this master thesis in history was to examine the use of history of an Indian queen, the Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi. The Rani Lakshmi Bai was born in Banaras and married a king – the Raja of Jhansi. The Rani Lakshmi Bai fought against the British during the first war of independence year 1857-58. Recently, a memorial has been built at her supposed birthplace in Banaras, more than 150 years after her death. This development has raised several questions about the use of history of the Rani Lakshmi Bai. How has the use of history of Rani Lakshmi Bai changed? Why has it become relevant to build a statue of the Rani now and not before? The purpose of this study has been answered with the help of oral history and text analysis. Firstly, this has been done, by examining the knowledge of people from Banaras and Jhansi as well as through their perceived image of the Rani Lakshmi Bai. Twenty people from Banaras and four people from Jhansi have been interviewed. Secondly, the institutional level information has been examined which is presented in educational textbooks and newspapers like the local newspaper Aaj and the national newspapers The Hindu as well as The Times of India. The results show that the level of historical knowledge about the Rani is low, though the love and affection for her are great. The use of history of the Rani Lakshmi Bai has been as a freedom fighter, a role model in different contexts and a symbol, as well as an inspirational source of women empowerment. There is also a political use of the Rani. All these uses of history in combination with the increased economic interest in the neighbourhood of Assi in the city of Banaras made it relevant and possible to build a monument of the Rani Lakshmi Bai in present time.

Uppsatsens syfte är att söka förklaring till varför den svenska regeringen valde att inte erkänna folkmordet på armenier/Seyfo samt undersöka på vilket sätt politiker använder sig av historia när de ska ta beslut i frågor som dels skett i en annan tid och som dels är obekväma att hantera. För att få svar på denna fråga har en kvalitativ metod använts. Argumentationsanalys samt kritisk diskursanalys har använts för att tolka de politiska argumentationerna och nyckelorden i den politiska debatten. Den utredning som regeringen beställde som underlag för sitt beslut har varit ett viktigt undersökningsmaterial. Vidare har intervjuer använts för att få en ökad förståelse av undersökningen. Syftet med uppsatsen har uppnåtts och förklaringen till varför den svenska regeringen valde att inte erkänna folkmordet på armenier/Seyfo är också en slutsats. Det fanns flera bakomliggande faktorer så som att inte stöta sig med en stor väljargrupp, inte riskera handelsrelationer dvs. ekonomiska intressen, dels flyktingfrågan mm. Dessa faktorer var dock inte de största utan den absolut största och även viktigaste orsaken var den som de inte tordes nämna. Denna faktor var att de var rädda för att ett erkännande skulle leda till påtryckningar och hot från Turkiet samt från olika intressenter i Sverige. / The purpose of the thesis is to seek an explanation as to why the Swedish government chose not to acknowledge the Armenian/Seyfo genocide and to investigate how politicians make use of history when making decisions on issues that have happened in another time and which are partly uncomfortable to manage. A qualitative method has been used to answer this question. Argumentation analysis and critical discourse analysis have been used to interpret the political arguments and keywords in the political debate. The investigation that the government ordered as a basis for its decision has been an important investigative material. Furthermore, interviews were used to gain a better understanding of the study. The purpose of the thesis has been achieved and the explanation as to why the Swedish government chose not to acknowledge the Armenian/Seyfo genocide is also a conclusion. There were several different underlying factors such as not clashing with a larger voter group, not risking trade relations i.e. financial interests, partly the refugee issue, etc. However, these factors were not the greatest, but the absolute greatest and also the most important reason was the one they did not dare mention. This factor was that they were afraid that recognition would lead to pressure and threats from Turkey as well as from various stakeholders in Sweden.

Under 2000-talet har det producerats och spridits mängder av betydande forskning som publicerats via databaser. En betydelsefull länk i kunskapsspridningen utgörs av akademin som i dag står för den största andelen av vetenskapliga publikationer. I denna historiografiskt inriktade undersökning kartläggs och undersöks en del av svensk historieforskning och historieskrivning som ägt rum under 2000-talet. Den vetenskapliga disciplin som undersöks inom det humanistiska fältet är historievetenskapen, avgränsat till de resultat av forskning som studenter gjort runtom på de svenska universiteten och högskolorna, i ämnet historia. Källmaterialet består av studentuppsatser som publicerats i databasen Digitala vetenskapliga arkivet, DiVA vilket i dag ses som det nationellt mest använda systemet för publikationsdata, med över 400 tusen publicerade fulltexter varav antal nedladdade uppgår över 53 miljoner gånger. Genom empiriska och teoretiska studier och bruket av både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder analyseras metadata, för att ge svar och resultat över frågan om vad studenter i det svenska utbildningssystemet, på universitet och högskolor skriver historia om under 2000-talet. För att få fram svar fungerade bibliometri som kunskapsområde och frågan om vilka nyckelord som dominerar och var de mest frekvent använda i taggningen (definitionerna) av forskningsresultaten ställdes. Delfrågan om hur bruket av nyckelord ser ut över tid användes för att få fram och se trend över resultat. Teoretiskt ramverk i undersökningen och läsning av de kvantitativa resultaten utgick från Kuhns teori om paradigm. Resultat visar att Genus, Historiebruk, Arkeologi, Historiemedvetande, Historiedidaktik, Identitet, Osteologi, Andra världskriget, Diskursanalys, Kalla kriget, Samer, Laborativ arkeologi och Utbildningshistoria utgör några ledande sakområden som studenterna skrivit historia om under 2000-talet. Resultat visar också att det nationella paradigmet är ledande för studenternas historieforskning, även om USA, Sovjetunionen, Jugoslavien, Japan, Finland, Sápmi och Israel förekommer frekvent. Avslutningsvis visade föreliggande undersökning att metadata kan användas som resurs i historieforskning samtidigt som det historiska perspektivet vidgas. / During the 2000s, numerous significant researches have been produced and disseminated through databases. An important link in the dissemination of knowledge consists of the academy, which today accounts for the largest proportion of scientific publications. In this historiographically oriented study, a part of Swedish history research and history writing that took place during the 2000s is mapped and examined. The scientific discipline that is investigated in the humanities field is the science of history, limited to the results of research that students have done around the Swedish universities and colleges, in the subject of history. The source material consists of student essays published in the database Digital Scientific Archive, DiVA, which today is seen as the nationally most used system for publication data, with over 400 thousand published full texts, of which the number downloaded is over 53 million times.  Through empirical and theoretical studies and the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods, metadata is analyzed, to provide answers and results on the question of what students in the Swedish education system, at universities and colleges write history about during the 2000s. To obtain answers, bibliometrics functioned as an area of ​​knowledge and the question of which keywords dominated and were the most frequently used in the tagging (definitions) of the research results was asked. The sub-question about how the use of keywords looks over time was used to bring out and see the trend over results. Theoretical framework in the study and reading of the quantitative results was based on Kuhn's theory of paradigm.  Results indicate that Gender, History Use, Archeology, History Consciousness, History Didactics, Identity, Osteology, World War II, Discourse Analysis, the Cold War, Sami, Laboratory Archeology and Educational History are some leading subject areas that students wrote history about during the 2000s. Results also point out that the national paradigm is leading for students' history research, although the United States, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Japan, Finland, Sápmi and Israel occur frequently. In conclusion, the present study showed that metadata can be used as a resource in history research while broadening the historical perspective.