In subsequent to Post-colonialism the African nations have dilated into different political directions. While some nations have established well-functioning democracies, others are still under authoritarian regimes. The aim of this thesis is to examine if civil society has an impact on democratic development in West Africa. Therefore the theoretical starting point is Putnam’s theory of social capital, but this study will also examine other possible causal explanations for democratic transition. This study will be based on a comparative analysis of Ghana and Guinea. Therefore these following questions will be answered: Does the civil society have any connotation in democratic development in West African countries? Has the military, international influence, socio-economic development and differences in the population affected the democratic development in Ghana and Guinea?  Which of the above factors is most beneficial for a regime change when transcending from an authoritarian rule to a civilian rule, and do they have a greater significance than the civil society? The main conclusion in this study is that civil society does not have any connotation for a regime change from authoritarian rule to a civilian rule in West Africa. The international influence is rather the most beneficial factor for such democratic development.

This thesis examines how themes about migrant workers, especially women migrant workers are depicted in the two films The world, Shijie 世界 (2004), directed by Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯 and Angels wear white, Jianianhua 嘉年华 (2017), directed by Vivian Qu, also called Wen Yan 文言. In the background of the thesis the subjects hukou 户口, the system of household registration; the floating population, liudong renkou 流动人口, the people who are not living at the place where they are registered at, according to the hukou system and black hukou, heihu 黑户, the people who lack hukou altogether are discussed. The methods used in the thesis are a qualitative thematic analysis and semiotics. The theories that are the basis of the analysis are Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze, Emirbayer and Mische’s concept of agency and Steven Lukes’s concept of power.    The themes that are explored in this thesis are work, accommodation, the ID card and the passport, the commodification of the female body and women who are sex workers, the female virginity, violence as well as symbols and role models. Both films show that a person’s status as a migrant worker who is lacking an ID card or as a migrant worker who has their hukou elsewhere determines the living conditions of the person in China. Angels Wear White depicts how being in possession of an ID card or not affects whether you get access to healthcare, work opportunities and your housing situation. In The World poor living conditions for the migrant workers are depicted. Both films show differences between the sexes, where women are treated as object of male desire and the female body becomes an object that can be bought by means of money or services. The female’s virginity before marriage is valued greatly, which affects the young women migrants’ experiences in the film.    Some symbols that appear in the film are the white dress, that symbolizes a female ideal, the ID card and the passport that are symbols of social as well as physical mobility in Chinese society, lastly the theme park is a symbol of the dreams and desires that are being shaped in contemporary China.   Keywords: “the floating population”, “hukou”, “female migrant workers”, “The World”, “Angels Wear White” / Den här uppsatsen undersöker vilka teman kring migrantarbetare, särskilt kvinnliga migrantarbetare skildras i the två filmerna The world, Shijie, 世界 (2004), regisserad av Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯och Angels wear white, Jianianhua嘉年华 (2017), regisserad av Vivian Qu också kallade Wen Yan 文言. I bakgrunden beskrivs bland annat hushållsregistreringssystemet hukou 户口; den flytande befolkningen liudong renkou 流动人口, de personer i Kina som inte bor på den plats som de är registrerade på enligt hukou-systemet samt heihu 黑户, svart hukou, de personer som helt saknar hukou.     Metoden för studien är en kvalitativ filmanalys som grundar sig på en tematisk analys och semiotiken. Teorier som används i analysen är Laura Mulveys teori om den manliga blicken, Emirbayer och Misches begrepp som beskriver agens samt Steven Lukes maktbegrepp.    De teman som behandlas i uppsatsen är jobb, boende, id-kortet och passet, kommodifiering av kroppen och kvinnor som säljer sex, den kvinnliga oskulden, våld samt symboler och förebilder. De båda filmerna skildrar hur en persons status som migrantarbetare utan hukou eller status som migrantarbetare med hukou på en annan plats påverkar personens levnadsvillkor i Kina. I Angels wear white skildras hur id-kortet eller avsaknaden av id-kortet påverkar möjligheten att uppsöka vård, möjligheterna till anställning och boende. Även i The world har migrantarbetarna erfarenheter av boenden som är undermåliga. I båda filmerna uppvisas skillnader mellan könen, där kvinnor blir objekt för manlig åtrå och där det finns exempel på när den kvinnans kropp och sexualitet blir en vara som kan köpas med pengar och tjänster. Kvinnans oskuld innan äktenskapet värderas högt, vilket påverkar de unga kvinnliga migrantarbetarnas erfarenheter i de två filmerna.     Flera symboler framträder i filmerna, den vita klänningen fungerar som en symbol för kvinnoideal, id-kortet såväl som passet fungerar som symboler för social och fysisk rörlighet i det kinesiska samhället och temaparken blir en symbol för de begär och drömmar som formas i Kinas samtid.