This study examines the framing of environmental policies within two military organisations;the Swedish Armed Forces and the United States’ Department of Defence. Additionally, key similarities and differences between the two were described and discussed, as well as which possibilities and challenges each organisation faces moving forward. By using a two-part method consisting partly of a content analysis performed through the chosen theoretical framework of Human Nature Relationships (HNR), along with Carol Bacchi’s policy analysis tool ‘What’s the problem represented to be’ (WPR) when examining both organisation’s respective sustainability reports from 2020, underlying problems were identified and analysed from a critical environmental perspective. The results show that the two policy documents were framed seemingly differently, where the SAF derives their sustainable efforts from the UN Sustainable Development Goals with these being clearly integrated into the operations internal goals, and the DoD mainly mentions sustainability in relation to a bigger picture of cost efficiency. Despite these differences, at their core the organisations both show signs of upholding environmental worldviews which place humans as more valuable than nature, which can be identified through the recurring priority of fulfilling military interests and thereby perceiving sustainable efforts as important, but inevitably, less than. Therein, the main challenge for both organisations stems from the task of balancing differing interests – military interests contra the needs of nature. Possibilities here arise partly from already existing developments, on part of the SAF, and from financial resources on part of the DoD. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of these aspects along with recommendations for future research.

Abstrakt  I Läroplan för förskolan: Lpfö18 (2018) beskrivs det att barn ska få möjlighet att utveckla adekvat digital kompetens vilket likaså skildras i andra policydokument som berör förskolan. Genom texten och dess innebörd påverkas dock människor på skilda vis och är därför relevanta att utsättas för ifrågasättande för att möjliggöra perspektiv och kunskap kring området (Bergström & Borèus, 2018). Därför syftar denna studie till att undersöka vad adekvat digital kompetens i förskolans policydokument genererar för problemrepresentationer. Studien utgår ifrån ett poststrukturellt perspektiv där en diskursanalys gjorts med hjälp av ”What´s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) approach som grundats av Carol Bacchi (2012). Genom att göra en diskursanalys av dessa policydokument kan politikens makt och styrning ifrågasättas och därmed generera andra perspektiv på vad adekvat digital kompetens kan innebära. I studien undersöks tre frågeställningar vilka inriktar sig på problemrepresentation, föreställningar och antaganden samt effekter av adekvat digital kompetens i relation till förskolan. Tre olika policydokument som alla gemensamt berör adekvat digital kompetens i förskolan har analyserats vilka är Utbildningsdepartementets nationella digitaliseringsstrategi (2017), den svenska läroplanen Lpfö18 (2018) och ett stödmaterial som går under rubriken ”Digital kompetens och digitala verktyg i förskolan” vilket publicerats på Skolverket (2022a). Resultatet visar sex kategoriserade problemområden som alla gemensamt inbegriper problemrepresentationer av policydokumentens existens. Dessa är kunskap, förståelse och utveckling, subjektifiering, nutid och framtid, digitalt material, bäst i världen på ”rätt sätt” och likvärdighet och demokrati.

In the current post-pandemic climate biosecurity has emerged as a topic of importance and has further played a dominant role in regard to governance throughout the pandemic. Specifically, NATO’s latest set of policy recommendations to transatlantic biosecurity is the subject of scrutiny in this study, with the findings implying a discursive process of militarization. Guided by Bacchi’s WPR approach (2009), a poststructuralist policy analysis, this study sets out to oust the‘problem’ representations in NATO’s discourse and the logics that underpin them. Additionally, concepts of risk management and the Post-Copenhagen School support the identification of ‘problem’ representations identified aligned with the research purpose. Unexpected the vast body of academic literature ill attempts to produce counter discourse, where this research is embedded. This study argues from the analysis that a discourse originating from the conventionalist security-realm is dominating contemporary conceptions of biosecurity, whilst silencing others. What the NATO report manages to present is a very tangible threat actor with an increasing horizon of possibility of hostile bio-acts, of yet fearsome, unknown character, although what is left opaque is the role of Mother Nature. The study reflects on the motivation of the attempted discursive practice to channel biosecurity into a security-realm, which omits threats of ecological character and solely promoting the existential threat to derive from man. Which finally, is used to justify restrains to public engagement and openness.

This essay aims to compare the Swedish party The Liberals and its youth association (The Liberal Youth Association) in their opinions regarding the legalization and/or decriminalization of cannabis in Sweden. In this study, Carol Bacchis’ ‘WPR’ method is used in order to first break down the beliefs of each party in order to then compare them to each other. The WPR method is essential to a study such as this as it analyzes a problem of discourse starting from the roots of the policy. After breaking down each party's stance on the issue a comparison then further ensures a deeper understanding of the disparity.  This essay concludes that the main difference between the Liberals and the Liberals youth association is the fundamental belief in their own drug policies. The Liberals claim that more studies are required as there is not enough evidence to decisively conclude whether legalization/decriminalization is better than zero tolerance. The youth association, however, claims that it is impossible to stop the black market and that the Swedish state should be the ones with a monopoly on the sales, not the gangs. They also believe that there is a billion Swedish kronor market that would benefit the Swedish people.

Scarce community mental health resources have led to people in crisis (PIC) overusing the emergency department (ED) and encountering police more frequently. To divert PIC from the ED and criminal justice system, and support them in their community, police services have implemented crisis response teams (CRTs). CRTs refer to police, health and mental health crisis response. Evidence of CRTs’ effectiveness in achieving their desired outcomes is limited, mixed, and/or anecdotal. I completed three studies using various theoretical and methodological approaches, which included: (a) a critical interpretative synthesis (CIS) of the conditions under which CRTs are formed, their features, and their outcomes; (b) a policy analysis using a case study design to examine how and why a CRT model was adopted in Hamilton, Canada; and (c) a what’s the problem represented to be (WPR) critical policy analysis of why police are implicated in crisis response. The CIS presents a conceptual framework depicting how unresolved structural conditions produce system- and individual-level challenges. Second, the case study examines the mobile crisis rapid response team (MCRRT) development in Hamilton. The analysis shows that initiatives that incrementally expand on the boundaries of existing programs are likely to be adopted. Third, drawing on WPR, we excavate problem representations within policy and policy-related texts to understand why police-based CRTs are expanded in Ontario. When mental health is framed in terms of safety and implicated within discourses about risk and danger police intervention is legitimized. Collectively, these studies provide a theoretical framework connecting structural, system, and individual factors most relevant to CRTs; demonstrate that an incremental approach to CRT adoption did not disrupt existing system arrangements; and problematizations within government policies that legitimize police in mental health crisis response. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Since deinstitutionalization, during which mental health patients were discharged into the community, this population has had more frequent encounters with police, contributing to criminalization and tragedies. They have also increasingly sought mental health crisis support in emergency departments. Police, health, and mental health crisis response teams (CRTs) have been implemented as an alternative response to people with mental health issues who are in crisis. To date, CRTs have been widely implemented but with little, mixed, and/or anecdotal evidence demonstrating their effectiveness. This dissertation contextualizes information about CRTs by presenting (a) a conceptual framework on CRTs, outlining the structural, system, and individual conditions under which CRTs are formed, their features, and outcomes; (b) a case study that examined under what conditions a CRT was developed and implemented in Hamilton, Canada; and (c) a critical discourse analysis of CRTs.

The starting point of this thesis is that gender equality should be studied as an empirical field. After the Swedish general election in 2014 the newly formed government proclaimed itself to be the world’s first feminist government. This study aims to examine how gender equality is made and filled with meaning by this feminist government since 2014 and to analyse the results by making use of postcolonial feminist theory and relevant research. Carol Bacchis analytical strategy, “What´s the problem represented to be?” is used as the study’s methodological framework. This approach to critical policy analysis focuses on how governing takes place through problematizations within policy. The results of the study show that gender equality is made by problematizing a lack of regulation, a lack of knowledge, a lack of collaboration, wrongful designation, a lack of attention for certain groups as well as a lack of Swedish strategy. One of the most significant results drawn from the analyses confirms previous research findings that neoliberalism as well as ethnocentric discourses dominate this field of policy. This leads to the conclusions that Swedish Gender Equality Politics, through to its fragmentation is emptied of a specific content and direction as well as that Swedishness and Norms of Honor are created in an asymmetric-diametrically relationship.

This study questions the way sex trafficking is constructed by the EU in their public policy exploring what potential implications exist by the way sex trafficking is problematised. Hence, the objective of this study is to understand how the EU constructs the problem of sex trafficking in their policies, and how this can lead to further policy implications for eradicating sex trafficking. This research analyses the three main policy documents by the EU; Directive 2001/36/EU, its strategy document The EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012–2016 and Council Directive 2004/81/EC. The discourse analysis called What’s the problem represented to be? will be used as method. It also analyses through the theories of Intersectionality and Governmentality. The results reveal that sex trafficking is a problem of law enforcement, welfare, and illegal immigration. Sex trafficking is constructed as a crime that violates fundamental rights, encourages gender inequality, and threatens the security in the EU. The way the EU constructs victims endorses gender and racial stereotypes. Furthermore, not much efforts are on reducing root causes for trafficking, as main the focus is on the transportation rather than on the exploitation of the victim.

I denna uppsats undersöks hur statens föreställningar om civilsamhällets roller i välfärden avspeglas i en offentlig utredning om idéburet offentliga partnerskap (IOP). Detta är särskilt intressant givet hur den tidigare civilsamhällesforskningen pekar på att staten alltmer värderar organisationer i det civila samhället likt aktörer på en marknad samtidigt som välfärdssystemen utvecklats på ett sätt som ignorerar organisationernas särart. IOP togs fram som ett försök att avhjälpa problematiken med en felriggad välfärdsmarknad och inramningen i Idéburen välfärd (SOU 2019:56) ger insyn i hur denna problematik förhandlas om i förslag för organisationernas ökade deltagande i välfärdsproduktionen. I en kritiskt granskande ansats kombineras Carol Bacchis policymetod What’s the Problem Represented to be (WPR) med en analytisk modell av statens föreställningar om civilsamhället. Angreppsättet låter undersöka statliga förhållningssätt till civilsamhällets inflytande i välfärdsproduktionen. Studien visar att civilsamhällets organisationer anses ha en avsaknad på inflytande i allt från behovsanalys till de premisser som välfärdstjänster utförs på. Den idéburna partens särart antas komma till rätta i IOP och spelar in i önskan om att främja deltagande på mer ömsesidiga grunder. För detta framstår dock vikten av att vara på rätt sida juridiken som avgörande. I den tvetydiga bedömningen av lagrummet för IOP identifieras en diskrepans mellan utredningens föreställningar och lösningsförslag. Det resulterar i ett förhållningssätt som värdesätter idéburnas särart men undgår att föreslå regleringar som förändrar möjligheten till inflytande i eller genom IOP.

Segregation is frequently described as a consequence of the global restructuring of social, economic, and political expansions in which multicultural cities, like Malmö, become part of them. This study aims to highlight how visions of housing segregation and exclusion in the city of Malmö has been represented in the local policy documents (Master Plans) through the last three decades and to understand how a newly emerged glocal actor, known as BID Malmö, have impacted the urban governance in the city. In order to investigate these developments, this study applies two analytical frameworks. In terms of policy analysis, it employs a what’s the problem represented to be? (WPR) approach and for the conceptualization of BID Malmö applies the theory of the Global City. Policy analysis shows that urban segregation has been persistent in the city of Malmö through the last three decades, however the representation of problem has shifted vibrantly from placing citizens as the main cause of housing segregation during 1990s to an arena that includes contingent processes and practices that need to be tackled. Policy analysis also shows that Malmö municipality, through shifting the burden of responsibility, now promotes partnership between public and private actors to reduce exclusion based on specific district needs. Moreover, this study argues that the city of Malmö, because of the cross-border network of global cities, is now a space where one can identify formation of new types of global politics of place where informal political actors are emerging and can actually impact the urban governance. Finally, this study maintains that the city of Malmö, along with its newly emerged glocalized actor, fit into the theory of the Global City, by Saskia Sassen. Therefore, this study has also a deductive qualitative analysis.

7 år har passerat sedan metoo-rörelsen inleddes, vilket lett till uppmärksammandet av våld i nära relation och mäns våld mot kvinnor. Sveriges politiker har sedan dess infört en rad åtgärder i syfte att motverka våldet, något som tyder på att våld i nära relation är en viktig politisk fråga även idag. Syftet med denna studie är därför att undersöka och jämföra Socialdemokraternas och Sverigedemokraternas beskrivning av våld i nära relation, samt vilken kunskap denna beskrivning vilar på. Genom en tematisk analys har nio kammarprotokoll och sex motioner analyserats, under tidsperioden 2022-01-01 – 2023-12-31. Resultatet har i sin tur analyserats utifrån tidigare forskning som antyder att den svenska kriminalpolitiken idag kommit att bli politiserad och medfört ett skifte från partipolitisk enighet till oenighet, från expert till politiker och från gärningsman till brottsoffer. Tidigare forskning anser även att Socialdemokraterna och socialdemokratiska partier har kommit att bedriva en hårdare kriminalpolitik som liknar konservativa partiers. Analys har även skett utifrån det teoretiska begreppet valence-issue och Socialdemokraternas respektive Sverigedemokraternas bakomliggande ideologier. Utöver detta har även det teoriinspirerade analysverktyget WPR använts, i syfte att finna orsaksförklaringar i de lösningar Socialdemokraterna föreslår.    Resultatet visar att Socialdemokraterna och Sverigedemokraterna över lag är samstämmiga, framför allt när det kommer till partiernas framställningar och lösningar av våld i nära relation. Detta tyder på en politisk högervridning av den svenska kriminalpolitiken där Socialdemokraterna kommit att närma sig Sverigedemokraternas kriminalpolitik. Resultatet visar även att partierna generellt inte hänvisar till något kunskapsunderlag i sina uttalanden. Sverigedemokraterna använder sig däremot av empirisk forskning och expertutlåtanden i större utsträckning, för att potentiellt legitimera uttalandena och stärka dess saklighet. Socialdemokraterna använder sig snarare av egna åsikter och erfarenheter vilket kan tänkas stärka det emotionella i partiets uttalanden. Med hänsyn till ovan och de lösningar partierna föreslår tycks resultatet ge belägg åt att den svenska kriminalpolitiken kommit att bli politiserad. Resultatet har däremot inte gett stöd åt teorin valence-issue.