The aim of this study is to identify the political motives behind the aspiration of the Swedish government to transform 21 counties into 6-9 regions by the year 2023. Two regions were successfully formed in the late 1990’s, yet today little interest is shown by the rest of the country to follow in their footsteps. Despite this, the government shows persistence in its aim to create greater uniformity in how Sweden is geographically divided. A categorization of the motives will indicate whether the new regions will have an administrative, functional or cultural emphasis.      The method is an analysis of ideas of two official reports of the Swedish government. By applying four dimensions as the analytical tool, I can conclude that the main motive is more efficiency in public administration. To some extent a demand for more regional democracy and better legal security also prompts the reform. The theoretical frame of the study consists of three types of regionalism. The analysis shows that a combination of region building and old regionalism explains the priorities that seem to shape more clear administrative and symmetrical regions.

Abstract When the Swedish Centre Party, Centerpartiet, just before Christmas 2012 released a draft for new program of ideas a powerful "winter storm" broke out. Ideas that Centerpartiet would abolish compulsory schooling and the right to inheritance and allow polygamy are just a few of the things that cause alarm. It's not the first time during the last years the Centre Party is associated with neo-liberal elements in their party’s ideology. In 2007 Erik Ullenhag criticized Centerpartiet for their new neo-liberalism was a danger to the alliance. The aim of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to see a change in Centerpartiets ideology and how deep it is. From an idea analytical approach based on ideal types, created for social liberalism, neoliberalism and ecohumanism, the party programs from 2001 and 2013 are studied. The eight components studied are: the view on human nature, most important unit in society, the vision of freedom, methods of social change, political governance, society's economic organization, the vision of prosperity and utopia - the good society. In examining the causes of the potential changes a secondary analysis, where existing material was used, has been implemented. The result shows that there has been a change in ideology in Centerpartiet between 2001 and 2013. The probable causes for this are the bad result in the general election 2010 and the election of a new leadership for the party in 2013. Keywords: Swedish Centre Party, analysis of ideas, ideologies, ideal types, change,

The aim of this paper is to research and discuss the role the cultural politics play for the Swedish employment office (Arbetsförmedlingen) and the meaning culture politics have within the labour market policy. A research has shown that Arbetsförmedlingen evaluates unemployed cultural workers differently than regular registered jobseekers. From an instrumental perspective on political implementation this can be considered as an anomali. Arbetsförmedlingen’s mandate derives from the government and its authority is a tool for carrying out state policy. A study, conducted on how Arbetsförmedlingen handles matching of culture jobseekers in the labour market can therefore be utilized as guidance towards possible answers regarding the state’s cultural policy in general. The problem formulation presented above led to the following inquiry: Does Arbetsförmedlingen have a cultural political assignment appointed by the government? Furthermore, what does the answer to the question imply regarding the Swedish cultural policy? A descriptive analysis of ideas are applied in order to examine governmental political documents and Arbetsförmedlingen’s regulations. The inquiry has generated a no answer for its question.  Arbetsförmedlingen does not have a cultural political assignment. The governmental organization has primarily a labour market political mission and in this context it signifies that it balances the cultural labour market. The result indicates that the Swedish cultural policy are presently diverting from the traditional Swedish model, where the state had a closer relationship to the culture and the culture workers.

Given the tendency of Populist Radical Right (PRR) parties to form anti-LGBTQ+ claims, this thesis aims to understand how a PRR party operating in a context characterized by progressive values relates to LGBTQ+ topics in their political messages on social media. A single case study of the Sweden Democrats (SD) – an example of a PRR party operating in such a context – was conducted. Idea analysis, which included the concepts of homonationalism and heteroactivism, was performed on 44 posts published during the year following the 2022 election on the social media platform X by politicians representing the SD in the national parliament. The results show that the SD pursued a homonationalist discourse in that they advocated LGBTQ+ rights to oppose Islam in general and Muslim integration in Sweden in particular. However, when the SD solely focused on the Swedish domestic context, LGBTQ+ rights were not promoted, but rather heteronormativity was favored above non-normative relationships, gender identities, and gender expressions. Thus, the results suggest that the SD took part in heteroactivism. Moreover, while the SD avoided outspoken homophobic statements, transphobic ideas were evident. Hence, the SD adapted to the Swedish context by performing a balancing act where they weighed the expression of heteronormative ideals against the potential loss of acceptance from a public supporting LGBTQ+ rights. Altogether, these results contribute to research on PRR parties operating in contexts characterized by progressive values as well as research on the SD concerning LGBTQ+ topics.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka föreställningar kring socialsekreterare som svensk dagspress reproducerar. Det empiriska materialet för studien består av 120 artiklar publicerade i morgontidningarna Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet mellan år 2015 och 2016. Metoden för studien är kvalitativ idé- och innehållsanalys och det analytiska ramverket som används är format av idéer och dimensioner som framkommit ur tidigare forskning. Analysen utgår i huvudsak från fyra idealtyper av socialsekreterare som media beskriver. I resultatet framgår det att socialsekreterare i huvudsak framställs som offer i sin yrkesroll på grund av problem i system och struktur. Beskrivningar av socialsekreterare som hjälpsamma och inkompetenta är i många fall relaterade till rollen som offer. Föreställningen om socialsekreterare som ovilliga och elaka förekommer i mindre utsträckning än andra roller och är begränsad till specifika områden av den mediala rapporteringen. / The aim of this study was to give understanding to the representations of social workers in the daily press in Sweden. The empirical material of this study consists of 120 articles published in the morning newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet in the years of 2015 and 2016. The method used were qualitative analysis of ideas and content analysis and the analytical framework used is based on ideas about social workers that has been identified in previous research. The analysis is based mainly on four ideas of social workers as the media describes the profession. From the results it appears that socials workers are mainly described as victims due to systematic and structural shortages. The descriptions of social workers as helpers and incompetent are often linked to the description of them as victims. The description of social workers as cruel and malicious are fewer than the other categories and are limited to specific areas presented in the news.

This dissertation is a study of Islamist ideas on and visions of the Islamic state. It begins with the observation that although a growing amount of research explores Islamism; few studies closely investigate Islamist ideas. The aim of this dissertation is to empirically and theoretically contribute to the understanding and interpretation of contemporary Islamism and its intellectual origins. Sayyid Qutb, Abu al-Ala al-Mawdudi and Ruhollah Khomeini are generally considered as sources of inspiration to Islamists currently active. Their ideas are analysed and compared to those of two Islamist parties; the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Pakistan and the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS) in Algeria. Islamism is part of a global religious resurgence that has taken many politicai and other social scientists by surprise. According to modernization and secularisation theories, such a resurgence was not to be expected. The focus in this study is therefore on the relationship between visions of the Islamic state and modernity. In this respect, two theoretical positions are critically assessed; one stating that we should understand Islamism in terms of a rejection of modernity and the other that Islamism can be understood and interpreted as an expression of there being multiple or alternative modernities. A key issue in this regard revolves around the question of how modernity is alternative and what that means. A content-oriented analysis of ideas — based on a social constructivist approach and anchored in practical hermeneutics - is utilized in the reconstruction and analysis of Islamist texts. A framework for analysis is developed in which dimensions of modernity are constructed. Islamist ideas on and visions of the Islamic state are analysed in terms of what is rejected, accepted or possibly added to these dimensions. The empirical contribution to research on Islamism is the content-oriented analysis of Islamist ideas. This analysis also helps to explore similarities and differences between the ideas of Qutb, Mawdudi and Khomeini and those of the JI and the FIS. The comparisons show that Islamist ideas are under evolution; there are important differences between the two contemporary parties and their sources of inspiration. Moreover, the content-oriented analysis reveals the complexity of the relationship between modernity and visions of the Islamic state. The theoretical contribution involves both theory-testing and theory-development. It is concluded that theories of multiple or alternative modernities, with some reservations, can be applied to Islamist ideas on and visions of the Islamic state. / digitalisering@umu

Animal welfare is a topic subjected to great controversy, mostly within moral philosophy. The moral issue of human behaviour is often dealt with, alongside whether nonhuman animals are eligible certain rights. In our world, how humans behave towards nonhuman animals have fallen into something of political oblivion, which is the departure-point for this research. The essay’s discourse surrounds nonhuman animals’ political and moral status in Sweden, with the aim of drawing conclusions regarding whether they can be said to possess it. This is done through an analysis of ideas, using dimensions as tools, problematizing the Swedish parliamentary parties' views on animal welfare. A better understanding for nonhuman animals’ situation in Sweden has been provided, showing that there is no animal rights mentality tangible, while speciesist and utilitarian attitudes towards nonhuman animals dominate. The analysis show that nonhuman animals in Sweden possess moral status, as the parties agree that nonhuman animals should be spared from unnecessary suffering, and their welfare seems to count in its own right. However, human interests tend to take precedence in most cases, and in the end, nonhuman animals cannot be considered to possess any political status, despite their unmistakable presence in our society.

The study seeks to explore the assigned role of culture in the discourse of sustainable development. It combines a conceptual-historical analysis of the concept of cultural sustainability and sustainable development with an analysis of ideas with cultural policy models as a theoretical tool as ideal types. It addresses cultural sustainability as an essentially contested concept, maps a context of leading contributions to the meaning and conceptual history of cultural sustainability and sustainable development and applicates Fornäs four cultural concepts to address different meanings of cultural sustainability. The concept is then explored in its absence in A New European Agenda for Culture by the European Commission. The study also explores how the agenda is implemented in projects throughout the Swedish participation in the Creative Europe program and how it effects the meaning of cultural sustainability. The role of culture in A New European Agenda for Culture seems to be an instrumental view of the capacity culture possesses in bringing people together and to bring creativity into businesses, which also is represented in Creative Europe. The instrumental view of culture and the esthetic cultural concept that permeate cultural policy, may influence the ability for cultural sustainability to be accepted as the fourth pillar of sustainability.

The aim of this thesis is to examine what ideas of unhealthy lifestyle are prominent in the recently published national care protocol for unhealthy lifestyle habits in Sweden, henceforth Vårdprogrammet. These ideas will further be examined in relation to older systems of ideas/ideologies within health care, based on previous research. The empirical material consists mainly of Vårdprogrammet. Aiming to deepen the understanding of this material, I have further perused current official reports regarding public health, related guidelines from the National Board of Health and Welfare as well as related regional care protocols. The method used is inspired by the model developed by Mats Lindberg for qualitative analysis of ideas and ideological content. The analysis of the empirical material shows that the health concept is defined by pointing out its negation, i.e. what unhealthy lifestyles look like. Vårdprogrammet expresses a line of political, cultural and ethical values. They can analytically be summarized as (1) democracy and equality, (2) climate awareness, (3) demands of evidence-based knowledge (4) political cooperation, and (5) ethical principles. The work with unhealthy lifestyle is related to the UN global aim for sustainable development. Agenda 2030 can be viewed as an overall societal hygienic programme, within which the large health problem that lifestyle habits constitute, will be solved. Similar views were held within social hygiene in the mid-19th century, where health and disease were seen as a societal matter. Vårdprogrammet is stated to be based on the ethical principle of person-centred approach. One can however also discern other ethical principles, such as the autonomy, care and justice principles. A health-promoting approach, salutogenesis, pervades the view of the patient/human in the prescribed interaction with patients.

The Swedish Police Authority aims to increase diversity among employees within the authority. This is asserted in the Swedish Police Authority's own policies and action plans, which together with other internal documents are the subject of my qualitative study. The focus of this study is to look at how the use of the concept of diversity has changed within the Swedish Police Authority by using qualitative analysis of ideas and ideological context, the perspective of discursive psychology and neo-institutional theory. The aim is also to find out what is missing out in the current diversity discourse. My study reveals through an examination of a selection of The Swedish Police Authority’s document that there is a discrepancy between the external discourses on diversity and the internal norms that are to be found within the Swedish Police Authority.