In 2014, Sweden created the first feminist foreign policy (FFP). Other states have since adopted FFPs as tools to further gender equality at a time of women’s rights regressions. Following a government shift in 2022, Sweden also became the first to dismantle the framework. The policy, its implementation and revokal guide the analysis, providing an understanding of the rise and fall of Swedish FFP. This thesis expands existing knowledge of the policy and sheds light on its underexplored impact and dismantlement. In conducting a critical policy analysis of the official FFP document, this work draws upon Bacchi’s WPR approach. This study shows that the policy constructed gender inequality as a structural issue and barrier to human rights as its overarching problem. In addition, the study performs a qualitative content analysis of key governmental documents, evaluations, and media sources, based upon a framework of norm entrepreneurship, soft power, and hard power. Pursuing the FFP, norm entrepreneurship and soft power aided implementation, while hard power and arms trade caused struggles. The policy revokal was framed by a harsher political and security context, where the FFP was seen as at odds with Swedish interests and values – thereby signalling a step back from normative ambitions.

Syftet för den här studien är att undersöka hur ledare och tjänstemän inom kommunal förvaltning förstår social hållbarhet ur ett arbetsmiljöperspektiv inom organisationen. Carol Bacchis metod “What’s the ‘problem’ represented to be?” (WPR) har använts för att skapa och analysera studiens empiri. Studien har använt sig av en kvalitativ ansats där empirin består av semistrukturerade intervjuer med sammanlagt nio respondenter. Respondenterna bestod av förvaltningschefer, verksamhetschefer samt HR-strateger från två olika kommuner i Västsverige. Studien fann åtta förståelser för social hållbarhet, de är; långsiktiga processer, ledare har ansvar för social hållbarhet, organisatorisk och social arbetsmiljö, balans mellan arbets- och privatliv, inte jobba för mycket, känsla av meningsfullhet, personalomsättning samt att man ska orka arbeta till pensionsålder. Social hållbarhet på arbetsplatsen prioriteras genom ledarskap samt att arbeta för att behålla och utveckla medarbetarna. Resultatet visade att respondenterna problematiserar social hållbarhet som arbetsmiljö och långsiktighet, och förstås i relation till bemanningsfrågan. Som lösning på problemrepresentationerna prioriteras det egna ledarskapet samt att utveckla och behålla medarbetarna.

This study investigates the state of the public debate in Swedish mainstream media on the right to asylum. The study combines Bacchi's WPR(What’s the problem represented to be)-analysis with Hallin’s sphere theory to compare the discourse on the right to asylum in editorials in three Swedish newspapers, with different political profiles, in the five months leading up to the elections in 2018 and 2022, respectively. The results of the study show no clear difference between the two years, but, in both years, a clear difference between the conservative moderate newspaper SvD and the liberal newspaper DN, where indications show the right to asylum in Hallin’s sphere of consensus in DN and in Hallin’s sphere of legitimate controversy in SvD. Also in Aftonbladet are indications of the right to asylum being in Hallin's sphere of consensus, though conclusions are harder to draw, due to the scarcity of the material.

Abstract   At the present time no one is oblivious of Covid-19:s widely-spread effect on our society. States and governments all over the world were forced to take drastic decisions which in turn have had impacts on our democracy, freedom, lives and livelihood. The purpose of this study is to contribute to knowledge regarding the challenges democracy faces in the midst of a pandemic where restrictive measurements are enforced. Sweden and Finland had contrasting outcomes in their enforcement of measures during the crisis – despite the striking similarities between the two countries systems, democratic standards and values. What kind of democratic challenges do both countries face in the midst of a pandemic where restrictive measurements are enforced? And how do respective countries go about balancing their democratic values with certain undemocratic measurements?  Both countries’ crisis management and measurements will be analyzed to see if their democratic challenges differ from a crisis management perspective. Furthermore, both countries’ approach regarding crisis management will be analyzed to see it there is a clear discrepancy. The material used was Finland’s memorandum regarding their state of emergency and Sweden’s memorandum regarding extension of the Covid-19-law along with the social committee report on a temporary Covid-19-law. By using Carol Bacchi’s WPR-approach both countries documents were analyzed, the study found similarities but mostly differences in which separate and similar problem’s were represented, which might explain why Sweden and Finland had contrasting outcomes on their decision-making and measures. Proposals for further studies is to research the long-term effects on the measures that were taken, expand to different levels of society for instance regions as well as municipalities, and lastly to study the potential long-term effects on the democratic standard that laws and restrictive measures might have.

This study studies the way trafficking for sexual exploitation is constructed by the EU and the ASEAN by analyzing their discourse in their policies. Further, the study also seeks what potential implications exist in the policiesand how it is problematized. The following policy documents; Directive2011/36/EU, The EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings 2021-2025, ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and lastly, ASEAN Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, were analyzed in order to meet the aim of the study. The discourse analysis of the thesis is called “What’s the problem represented to be?” and will be used as the analytical framework, while the framing theory acts as the theoretical framework. The results of the study reveal that trafficking for sexual exploitation is a problem of law enforcement and judicial cooperation, a violation of human rights, and due to gender inqeuality according to the EU, while the ASEAN consider the issue as a regional problem benefitting from poor regional instruments, a violation of human rights and increasing government corruption and lacking criminalisation. Further, the way the organizations construct victims endorses gender stereotypes.

This study applies a post-structural discourse analysis developed by Carol Bacchi, called the WPR-approach, on both Estonia's and the Czech Republic's cyber security policy with the purpose of comparing it to the Swedish cyber security policy. It utilizes Foucauldian ideas about how policy creates rather than discovers “problems'' through representation, and what effects this can have. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the government's work to strengthen Swedish society's cyber security policies, which includes both the public and private sectors, through analysis and comparison of two previously vulnerable countries' policy documents. By previously exposed countries is meant here exposed to socially disruptive cyber-attacks. The results show that many of the identified fundamental problems in the two equivalent policies are not taken into care by the Swedish policy. A conclusion is drawn that the Swedish cybersecurity strategy seems to fail to sufficiently address in what way knowledge-raising measures are needed, especially at the strategic levels. This is important for enabling an overall positive cyber security climate which probably affects how well cyber security will be integrated in ordinary business processes. Lack of sufficient incentive structures seem equally important to acknowledge as well as to investigate further, and perhaps there is also a need for a more ambitious approach as well as a less vague view on responsibility. Finally, as other researchers suggest, there is an urgent need to conduct significantly more research in the interdisciplinary field of cyber security. / <p>2022-05-25</p>

Klimatförändringar och säkerhet har gradvis framträtt som en viktig fråga. Klimatsäkerhet har länge förespråkats inom EU men möts av motstånd på grund av ihopkopplandet av klimat och säkerhet. Syftet med denna studie är att studera hur problemrepresentationer inom en kontroversiell fråga som klimatsäkerhet har för effekter på beslutsfattande och konstruktioners påverkan på integrationsprocesser. Utifrån diskursanalytisk metod kunde problemkonstruktionen och dess förändringar följas. Ett flertal konstruktioner och underliggande antaganden framkom, vilket uppvisade ett flertal indikationer. EU:s positionering som global aktör, dess försök till legitimerande av kunskap och sin syn på vem som har ansvaret. Resultaten visar hur konstruktionerna eventuellt kan rättfärdiga och leda till ytterligare integration, på grund av hur man representerar problemen. Analysen bidrar till en bredare förståelse i hur ett problem representeras kan leda till reella effekter.

The European Union and Africa have sought to establish tight economic and political relations after the era of colonialism. However, European colonialism in the African continent has left behind colonial legacies that are still present in the postcolonial world. Contemporary EU- Africa relations have aimed to transcend the conventional donor-recipient relationship shaped by colonial legacies, towards a more equal and mutually beneficial partnership. Such a partnership of equals has been a declared goal of the current European Commission outlined in the EU-Africa Strategy “Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa”. This thesis aims to examine the partnership and power relations between the EU and the AU, seeking to answer the question of how the EU constructs Africa as an equal partner in the EU- Africa Strategy. This thesis entails theoretical and analytical frameworks combining two critical approaches, postcolonial theory and the WPR method. By applying these frameworks to the thesis, the findings reveal that the EU constructs Africa as a dependent partner through pragmatic discourse on partnership, due to the deep-seated remnants of colonial structures within the EU-Africa Strategy. These colonial structures position the EU as a dominant actor providing support for the dependent actor, Africa, implying that the partnership is based on asymmetrical power relations between the two actors. This research attempts to contribute to the somewhat underdeveloped canon of postcolonial approaches to EU-Africa relations and highlight the suitability of a postcolonial approach for this type of research.

Although the reality of Swedish race relations is very complex, Sweden presents itself to the world as a colorblind utopia where race does not exist. Since the mid-1900s, Sweden has embraced an anti-racist rhetoric that developed into post-racism and colorblindness, where race is not seen, and racial discrimination is not acknowledged as a societal problem. This study seeks to problematize the complexities of Swedish post-racism and colorblindness. By drawing on previous research, it is clear that the Swedish hegemony has not been thoroughly deconstructed, which necessitates further studies in this area. By drawing on the WPR approach to poststructural policy analysis, this study looks at how Swedish law is influenced by the narratives of colorblindness and details the shortcomings of excluding the term ‘race’ from legislation. Furthermore, this study employs expert interviews to access the knowledge of experts on how colorblindness and post-racism came to be. It is concluded in this thesis that the post-racist and colorblind perception of Sweden influences Swedish law in negative ways and that the removal of the term race is a denial of the existence of a racial hierarchy in Sweden.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka Jämställdhetsmyndighetens styrdokument. Undersökningen görs på två sätt, och de svarar mot var sin frågeställning: det ena är en diskursanalys, som utgår från Ernesto Laclau och Chantal Mouffes diskursteori och begrepp. Den ska svara på frågan om vilka diskursiva begrepp som används i styrdokumentet. Det andra är Carol Bacchi’s sex frågor, som används för att analysera policydokument. Metoden kallas What’s the problem represented to be, WPR-metoden. WPR-metoden svarar på frågan om vad styrdokumentets problembeskrivning leder till. En kort sammanfattning av resultaten kan vara: de viktigaste diskursiva begreppen som används av Jämställdhetsmyndighetens styrdokument, är ”jämställdhet”, ”mäns våld mot kvinnor”, könen ”kvinna” och ”man”. Och styrdokumentets problembeskrivning leder till ett jämställdhetsarbete i myndigheter som kallas för jämställdhetsintegrering.