This study aims to deepen knowledge of young people with a migration background in Sweden, particularly those with non-European backgrounds, and their transitions from school to work. The focus is on young people with uncompleted upper secondary education (USE), drawing on their life stories, and exploring their perceptions and experiences around school failure, entering the labour market, and/or not being in education, employment or training (NEET). Theoretically the study analyses individuals’ career decisions from an agency-structure perspective, drawing on careership theory, in particular the notions of pragmatic-rational choices, routines, turning-points and horizons of action (Hodkinson & Sparkes 1997), combined with theories on ‘otherness’ (Hall 1990; 1999, Anthias 2002, Balibar 2004, Trondman 2007), and the notion of socio-geographic space (Bourdieu 1986a; Bourdieu 1999, Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1996). Methodologically, the thesis is based on narrative research, and the empirical material comprise life stories of twenty young people (men and women) about their lives, school experiences and time after leaving school. The careers of the young people were developed in fields where they had subordinate positions, based on their family’s mostly limited social, economic and cultural capital, their own short education and limited experience, and the otherness they encoun­tered. Against this background, their educational and labour market career choices are under­stood as pragmatic-rational, enabled and limited by the resulting horizons of action. However, the collected nar­ra­tives suggest that their horizons of action developed from the time they left school when they made different pragmatic-rational choices that changed their posi­tions. Nevertheless, career choices were often made within a bounded agency and reduced op­por­tunities as a consequence of school failure and their own scarce resources. The learning and interaction taking place within the routine periods are both crucial for understanding processes that result in school failure and the subsequent extend­ed period of establishment in working and adult life, and change of horizons of action and habitus. The narratives of the young people showed that school failures and dropout are com­plex and extended processes that are related to education and family, as well as access to power and capital. They also encountered difference-making through the predominant images and discourses of 'immigration' as a social problem and by being located in a specific socio-geo­graphic space that limited their possibilities for action. The family was highly significant and, in most cases, represented security and continuity. The family’s present situation and future was crucial to the young adults, which affected their choices. Hence, their own horizon of action also included the family’s opportunities and horizon of action. The study indicates that there is sometimes reason to speak of a collective horizon of action rather than just an individual one. Institutional and informal support together with young people’s agency may enable positive career development in spite of a lack of resources provided to the young, particularly if schools and other institu­tions would provide more professional and timely support. The overall conclusion is that it would not have taken much investment of resources and effort to have prevented school failure for a large proportion of the twenty young adults in this study. That is the good news. / Osäkra övergångar. Unga utan fullständig gymnasieutbildning: vägarna och åtgärderna i longitudinellt perspektiv

The aim of this study is to analyze whiteness in textbooks for civics. The study is executed through a text analysis of two textbooks in civics for upper primary school in Sweden. In this approach a postcolonial theoretical framework is used which is thoroughly presented, after which resulted in two analytical models. One model was used to identify binary dichotomies, while the other consisted of five questions that aimed to highlight patterns regarding whiteness in the textbooks. One of the most important contributions of the postcolonial theory was the visualization of the links between historical colonialism and contemporary societal problems such as various forms of racism and discrimination. On these grounds, the theory was chosen. The result showed a partly problematic presentation in the textbooks.

Uppsatsen utgår ifrån temat främlingskap i dess olika skepnader och syftar till att tydliggöra hur bruket av andrafiering i de noveller som analyseras bidrar till att förstärka dynamiken i mötet mellan de karaktärer som representerar Jag/Vi, respektive den/de Andra. Fokus hamnar här främst på karaktärerna Jag/Vi vilka ser sig själva som normen, därmed belyses hur de reagerar och agerar då någon främmande uppenbarar sig i deras trygga men ofta begränsade och isolerade värld, det vill säga genom att andrafiera denne i mening att bekräfta sin egen identitet och överlägsenhet i förhållande till den främmande och därmed fastställa dennes negativa egenskaper.     Genom att läsaren får tillträde till dessa karaktärers tankegångar, ser hur de agerar och dessutom har tillgång till berättarröstens beskrivning av dem, framträder deras egna fördomar, tillkortakommanden och okunskap med tydlig skärpa. Konsekvensen av detta blir att deras ofta misslyckade försök att hävda sig mot och distansera sig ifrån den/de Andra resulterar i att de själva inte sällan framställs i ett löjets skimmer och som falska auktoriteter.    Vidare demonstreras hur ovannämnda fokus på Jagg/Vi omvänt kan ha som funktion att visa på hur upplysning, insikt samt egenskaper som empati och en förmåga att identifiera sig med, istället för att distansera sig från, den främmande leder fram till att den/de som initialt setts som den/de Andra därmed upphör att betraktas och vara just det.

With the purpose of contributing to the field of social science research regarding racism in South Africa, this thesis aims to investigate how peoples’ experiences of everyday racism manifest in their lives. As well as explore their views of changes in society, regarding everyday racism, during their lifetime employing the theoretical frameworks of Erving Goffman’s (1986) Frame Analysis, and Othering. The purpose was achieved through semi-structured qualitative interviews with five black South Africans. The interviews generated an empirical data which displayed patterns of microaggressions, radicalisation, and white supremacy. The study concluded that the respondents have different views on changes regarding everyday racism in South Africa, some identifying a more progressive society, while others believe that apartheid still has a hold on society. / I syfte att bidra till området av samhällsvetenskaplig forskning om rasism i Sydafrika, syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur människors upplevelser av vardagsrasism tar sig uttryck i deras liv. Vidare utforskar studien respondenternas syn på förändringar i samhället angående vardagsrasism under sin livstid genom att använda de teoretiska ramverken Inramningsteori av Erving Goffman (1986), och Andrafiering. Syftet uppnåddes genom semistrukturerade, kvalitativa intervjuer med fem svarta sydafrikaner. Intervjuerna genererade empiriska data som visade mönster av mikroaggressioner, rasifiering och vit överlägsenhet. Studien kom fram till att de tillfrågade besitter varierande åsikter angående förändringar kring vardagsrasism i Sydafrika, vissa identifierar ett mer progressivt samhälle, medan andra anser att apartheid fortfarande har ett grepp om samhället.

This study aims to investigate the representation of the region Tornedalen and tornedalians, a Swedish minority, in national news media through a critical discourse analysis. Despite being recognized as a national minority, tornedalians have reported a lack of media coverage, which can lead to feelings of invisibility and discrimination. News media has a significant impact on what we discuss and think about, and they have the responsibility to provide a broad representation of society, including its diversity. However, historically, minority groups have been overlooked or devalued in news media, which can have consequences for marginalized groups lacking significant power, including minorities. Therefore, this study seeks to deepen the understanding of the media’s impact on society’s perception of the minority. The study analyzes how power structures and ideologies shape their representation, interpreted from a post-structuralist perspective, using concepts such as producers/consumers, positioning, otherness, subaltern, and cultural identity. The study’s findings suggest that Tornedalen is often represented as a peripheral and exoticized place, reinforcing the idea of a homogeneous Swedish identity. Tornedalians are often positioned as “the other” with their cultural practices and language being portrayed as inferior or irrelevant. Journalistic practices play a crucial role in shaping knowledge and understanding of minority groups such as tornedalians, and the study highlights the need for news media to provide a more diverse and accurate representation of society. The study also suggests areas for further research, such as investigating how different audiences interpret and react to news articles, and how Tornedalen and tornedalians are represented in public service media. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of how news media shapes society’s perception of minorities and highlights the importance of providing a diverse and accurate representation of society.