Många av dagens fredsfrämjande insatser genomförs i insatsområden som åtminstone vid en första anblick tycks vara av litet geopolitiskt eller ekonomiskt intresse för de intervenerande staterna. För svenskt vidkommande motiveras ibland Sveriges engagemang i exempelvis Afghanistan med att den terrorism och drogproduktion som härrör därifrån hotar och påverkar även människor i Sverige. Ytterligare en möjlig motivering har att göra med spridningsrisken; för att minska risken för spridning av en konflikt utanför det ursprungliga konfliktområdet intervenerar utomstående stater. Men vilken bild av den svenska statens motiv för att engagera Försvarsmakten i fredsfrämjande internationella insatser målas upp i riksdagsdebatten? Är argumenteringen rationell och visar de motiv som förs fram att Sverige faktiskt gynnas av att delta, eller grundar sig viljan att hjälpa till i att den svenska staten anser sig vara moraliskt förpliktigad att ingripa, om förmågan finns, då mänskliga rättigheter kränks? Föreliggande uppsats syftar till att klarlägga hur de två största, blockpolitiskt åtskilda riksdagspartierna motiverade besluten att deltaga i de internationella insatserna i Afghanistan och Libyen. Detta görs genom en argumentationsanalys, där de båda partiernas respektive argument struktureras och kategoriseras på ett överskådligt sätt. Resultatet från undersökningen är inte entydigt, men argument som tydligt anknyter till konkreta rationella vinster för Sverige används av båda partierna sparsamt. Istället ligger tyngdpunkten vid argument som har en närmare koppling till Sveriges nationella identitet och strategiska kultur. / Many of the peace supporting operations conducted today are undertaken in areas of operations with seemingly little geopolitical or economical interest to the intervening parties. From a Swedish perspective the contribution to the operations in for instance Afghanistan is sometimes motivated by stating that the terrorism and drug production that originates in Afghanistan threatens and effects even people living in Sweden. The risk of a potential expansion of the area of conflict is another plausible motivation to intervene for participating states. But how are the motives of the Swedish government to engage the Swedish Armed Forces in peace supporting operations depicted in Swedish Parliament debate? Is the argumentation rational and do the motives that are brought forward show that Sweden actually benefits from participating, or is the willingness to contribute derived from a sense of being morally obliged to take action, if capable, whenever human rights are violated? The essay in hand is intended to make clear how the two largest, policy divided, parties of the Swedish Parliament have motivated the decisions to participate in the international operations conducted in Afghanistan and Libya. This is accomplished through an argumentation analysis, in which the arguments of the two parties are structured and categorised in a perspicuous way. The results from the study are not unambiguous, but arguments that in a clear way are connected to rational Swedish benefits are sparsely used by both parties. The emphasis of the debate is rather on arguments with a close connection to the Swedish national identity and strategic culture.

Denna studie undersöker hur begravningsbyrån Fonus valde att bemöta en kritisk artikel, publicerad i Aftonbladet, med ett pressmeddelande som lades upp på den egna hemsidan. Uppsatsen undersöker först vilka retoriska verktyg som har använts i skapandet av detta meddelande, och sett från Benoits teori om Image Repair, vilka strategier som använts och hur användningen av dessa har sett ut. Därefter söker studien att praktiskt undersöka detta budskap genom att låta en utvald grupp respondenter ta del av materialet samtidigt som de i personliga intervjuer får svara på frågor om det de läst. Här utsätts respondenterna först för negativa påståenden riktade mot Fonus för att färga deras åsikt om företaget innan de får ta del av pressmeddelandet. Syftet är att undersöka om Fonus textbaserade kriskommunikation kan påverka respondenterna och deras attityd mot företaget i en positiv riktning. Undersökningens slutsats är att ett budskap som utformats med en väl balanserad retorik och ett väl avvägt bruk av Benoits strategier, utgör ett fruktbart sätt att påverka mottagaren i den önskade riktningen. / This paper examines how the Swedish funeral agency Fonus chose to respond to a critical article published in Aftonbladet, with a press release posted on their website. The paper first examines the rhetorical tools used in the creation of this message, and in relation to Benoit's Theory of Image Repair, which strategies that were used and how they were used. Thereafter the paper examines the effectiveness of these messages by exposing a selected group of respondents to the material whilst having them answering questions performed in an interview about what they are reading. Firstly the respondents are exposed to negative statements directed against Fonus in an attempt to tarnish their opinion of the company before they are allowed to read Fonus  press release. The aim is to investigate whether this text-based crisis communication can influence the respondents and their attitude towards the company in a positive direction. The essay concludes that a message designed with varied rhetorical tools and a balanced use of Benoit's strategies is a fruitful way to influence the recipient in the desired direction.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Swedish society has gone through a great change. Firstly with the personal computer and then with the internet moving in to everyday life, a new arena for interaction with society evolved. Work, education, doing bank errands and reading or discussing the news, just to name a few, now all take place in the virtual world online. Not to mention social media sites such as twitter, instagram or facebook, the last of which has over half of the Swedish population represented as members.    Companies, corporations, interest groups, political parties and politicians must be aware of the massive impact that a post spread through social media can have.      This thesis will, with the text analyzing tool, argumentation analysis, and on the theoretical platform of political communications theory, analyze three of the most viral Swedish political posts spread over 120 000 times each, to see if there are any combined qualities that point to the fact that there is a formula for getting a post to become a viral success on social media.      The main result showed that of the three posts analyzed, all were built up around a factual thesis, argued for with foremost example arguments, not only appealing to the logical branch of argumentation but also to the ethical, and that they tended to be of high relevance and sustainability. The conclusion must therefore be that these are all qualities that tend to be of relevance for making a political post on social media into a viral success.

The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate which arguments and discourses can be discovered in the state investigation SOU 2021:3 Skolbibliotek för bildning och utbildning. By presenting these arguments and discourses I intend to accentuate the expectations surrounding the school library and its personnel. Another aim with my thesis is to emphasise the situation surrounding the school library and how it can be affected by the propositions in the state investigation.       The theoretical and methodological starting points are discourse analysis and argument analysis. The discourse analysis stems from Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe with contributions from Åse Hedemark. In the empirical analysis I present five themes regarding the school library, based on findings in the material. Here I also present concepts and arguments regarding the school library, which in turn formulate the discourses. In the last discussion of the thesis, I present and analyze the discourses. There are four discourses I find representative of the preconditions of school libraries and school librarians, along with their current situation. The discourses are about; The enthusiast, the power and the pastorale, the leadership, and the invisibility and frustration. The discourse analytical discussion reflects on how there are predominating discourses that frame the reality of the school library. However, the state investigation presents dictums which can become new discourses. They can formulate the default discourses surrounding the definitions of the school library; here the difficulty lies in transforming theory to actuality. This thesis explores the arguments, discourses and virtual situation affecting the school library and its personnel. It presents reflections on how the propositions of the state investigation can influence working life of the school librarian, as well as the roles and features of the school library. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Library and information science.

Uppsatsen analyserar om huruvida kärnvapenavskräckning hotar eller skyddar rätten till liv. Genom insamlade pro- och contra-argument skapas en diskussion kring kärnvapenavskräckning där centrala argument identifieras. Argumenten analyseras sedan i en argumentationsanalys samt slutsats utifrån ett rättighetsperspektiv med fokus på rätten till liv. Rätten till liv definieras utifrån General Comment No. 36 (2018) som berör artikel 6 rätten till liv inom den internationella konventionen om de medborgliga och politiska rättigheterna. / The essay analyses whether nuclear deterrence threatens or protects the right to life. By collecting pro- and contra-arguments it has been possible to create a discussion around nuclear deterrence as well as to identify key arguments within the two groups. The central arguments are then analyzed in an argumentation analysis and conclusion from a human rights perspective with a focus on the right to life. The right to life is defined from the General Comment No. 36 (2018) on article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the right to life.

Neither altruistic nor commercial surrogacy is allowed in Sweden but neither is it forbidden for Swedes to travel abroad for surrogacy arrangements. The debate on allowing altruistic surrogacy in Sweden has grown and changed in recent years, from being seen as an unusual method of reproduction to becoming a major family policy issue. In a 2013 report by the Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics aimed at examining the permissibility of altruistic surrogacy, all members of the council agreed that commercial surrogacy is not ethically justifiable. There are several arguments against commercial surrogacy, including the fact that it takes place under exploitative and coercive conditions. Hence, Sweden would never allow commercial surrogacy. However, the majority considered that altruistic surrogacy could be justifiable under certain conditions. The arguments about whether altruistic surrogacy can violate human rights are not as numerous. This thesis has aimed to examine the arguments for and against allowing altruistic surrogacy in Sweden by analysing debate articles and other argumentative newspaper articles. These arguments have then been assessed against four ethical principles, namely respect for human dignity, self-determination, self-ownership and the principle of the best interests of the child, to determine whether or not altruistic surrogacy should be allowed in Sweden. With the help of argumentation analysis, debate articles from several Swedish newspapers regarding altruistic surrogacy have been analysed and the results show that the pro-surrogacy side claims that a ban on altruistic surrogacy risks limiting women's right to self-determination and self-ownership over their own bodies. While the anti-surrogacy side argues that allowing altruistic surrogacy violates our human dignity, which states that we should be treated as ends and not as means. What emerges is that both sides of the altruistic surrogacy debate see the current Swedish legislation that neither prohibits nor allows surrogacy as problematic. Both sides argue that it risks leading to Swedish citizens continuing to travel abroad to use commercial surrogate mothers who are often mistreated and exploited. But here the pro-surrogacy side argues that the solution is to allow altruistic surrogacy to stop Swedes from travelling abroad. While the anti-surrogacy side argues that allowing it would not reduce the number of trips abroad and a total ban on surrogacy is the solution.

This diploma thesis deals with the argumentation of guests of selected debates of the talk shows Otázky Václava Moravce and Máte slovo s M. Jílkovou publicizing. The format of these talk shows assigns these debates the confrontational nature, which leads their participants excluding the presenters to the argumentation duels. The subject of the research is a detailed analysis of the argumentation used by guests of the selected debates of the respective talk shows, including finding an answer to the question of what role the presenters play in it. The analysis put a particular emphasis on eristic dialectics, the concept created by Arthur Schopenhauer, which is understood to be a science of human intransigence. The concepts of Rhetological Fallacies of Jiří Kraus or David McCandless are taken into consideration in the second place as well. Linguistic and suprasegmental means as well as nonverbal level of the communication are being examined too. The aim of this analysis is, on the one hand, to describe the axiology and the associated efficiency of argumentation of the main guests at selected debates of Otázky Václava Moravce and Máte slovo s M. Jílkovou and on the other hand, to verify the usability of eristic dialectics to deconstruct myths, manipulations and distortions of facts in these debates....

This Master Thesis aims to answer the question why the EU foreign policy-makers decided toimplement the Eastern Partnership (EaP). As the EU foreign policy decision-making processis based upon consensus between all EU Member States, an argumentation analysis isconducted to find the arguments that the policy-makers use to convince the others. By usingHabermas’ Theory of Communicative Action, the arguments are categorized into pragmatic(security and economic interests), moral (humanitarian values) or ethical-political (culturalvalues) logics. The research material consists of official documents and statements of the EUinstitutions. Then, the arguments are evaluated as whether they can be said to be legitimate,‘mobilizing’ arguments: intelligible, appropriate and true. The main result is that even if allargumentation categories are used by policy-makers, none of the categories can be said to becompletely legitimate. Therefore, an ideological perspective is a possible complement to thecategories within the Theory of Communicative Action. This perspective would possibly addto the understanding why the EaP was implemented.

The question regarding male circumcision in Sweden became a relevant topic within the public debates during the last three years. Due to the Swedish political party, Centerpartiet’s decision to strive for a ban on male circumcision, this debate surfaced after the 28th of September. Participation in the public debate came from different directions and perspectives on male circumcision. In this thesis I focus on different actors and their public opinions in debate articles published between the years of 2018-2019. The aim of this thesis is to examine how critical arguments are constructed from perceptions of a decreasing significance of religion within late modern societies. This results in a motivation to ban the performance of male circumcision without medical indication. By using the qualitative text analysis of systematic text condensation this thesis closer categorizes the arguments into the three themes of “children’s bodily integrity”, “the delimitation of medicalization” and “the religious other”. In addition to this, the thesis also looks into the argument from the analytical framework on argumentation analysis in order to distinguish “normative” and “factual” arguments in the debate. To look closer at the constructions of the critical arguments within the debate this thesis uses the theoretical framework of Sara Ahmed (2011). From a phenomenological inspired perspective this thesis further looks into the argument’s correlation and construction of a collective body. This in particular is the construction of the secular- in relation to the religious body. Constructions of the religious body allows for secular ideas to circulate around national symbols and principles, which results in an exclusion of religious motives and perspectives. The thesis further sheds light on the cultural imbedded “medical gaze”, from the theoretical perspective on medicalization of Karin Johannisson (2013). This thesis aims to examine the reproduction of the medical superiority within debates on questions regarding the human body, like the one on male circumcision. The thesis illustrates the complexity of religious visibility within the Swedish context. Although the critical arguments reject the religious motives of male circumcision, the debate increases the religious visibility in the public debates.

The thesis "Monument as the materialization of memory in relation to the current generation and the role of the media" is devoted to the analysis of media discourse of contemporary memorials. The discourse of contemporary memorials is represented in the thesis by media coverage in the Czech periodical printed media regarding to two memorials installed in the Czech Republic. The first is a monument of General Patton in Pilsen and the second is a monument of the Czechoslovak RAF aviators in Prague - Klárov. Examined media coverage related to memorial scandal in Deník VLP, Mladá fronta DNES, Lidové noviny, Blesk, Metro, Haló noviny and Právo belong to the years: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015. The form of contemporary memorial discourse was examined with the help of multiple methods including quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis represented by textual and argumentative analysis. Based on the combination of the mentioned methods basic form of the discourse of contemporary memorials was described with the main focus on media communication containing the topic of foreign affairs and the concept of memory. For this purpose, Marshall McLuhan's perspective was used, which describes the media exposure of artistic interpretation, or the concept of memory as described by Pierre Nora. The various...