"By promoting and defending human rights and freedoms, by promoting the participation of African civil society in the implementation of the policies and programmes of the African Union (AU), and by forging greater partnership between social and professional groups and governments, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) will play a critical role in the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. However, it is far from clear how this important organ is related to human rights organs of the AU which includes the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission), the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Court) and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Committee of Experts). How can effective relationships between ECOSOCC on the one hand, and these human rights organs on the other, be achieved for the realisation of the human rights mandate of ECOSOCC? ... The essay comprises five chapters. Chapter one is [an] introduction and begins by posing the research question and the justification for the research. Chapter two gives the introduction of ECOSOCC, its background, structure and mandates and looks into the satutes of ECOSOCC, its draft rules of procedure and its strategic plan for the years 2005-2007. Chapter three makes a comparative analysis with other regional human rights sytems, namely the Council of Europe and the Organisation of American States as a point of inspiration for the African system. Under chapter four, the research discusses and analyses the possible relationships and coordinative mechanisms ECOSOCC can create with the human rights organs of the African Union in order to fulfil its human rights mandate. Chapter five makes a conclusion and concrete recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Alejandro Lorite Escorihuela at the Faculty of Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"The OAU was a state-centric system. It is only in the last years of its existence and in the transition from the OAU to the AU that discussions on modalities for facilitating civil society participation in its activiites commenced. The AU Act emphasises the need to build partnerships between governments and all sectors of civil society. Enhancing civil society participation is one of the AU's objectives and principles. To achieve this objective, the AU Act created the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) as an AU organ. ... Following this introductory chapter, the second chapter will analyse ECOSOCC's legal framework and structure in relation to its facilitation of civil society participation in the AU. ECOSOCC's legal framework's conceptualisation of civil society and the concerns it raises will be discussed. Linked to the conceptualisation of civil society is the role ECOSOCC will play within the AU institutional structure, therefore this will also be discussed. In addition, ECOSOCC's legal framework will be analysed to identify whether it is in line with associative or deliberative democarcy. An examination of how ECOSOCC can utilise its linkages with the other AU organs to channel civil society's views will also be carried out. The discussion of the ESC and UN ECOSOC and the lessons to be learnt from them will be done in the third chapter. The fourth chapter will set out the study's conclusions and recommendations." -- Introduction / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr. Mohamed Habib at the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Syftet med denna uppsats är att analysera debatter och diskurser i svenska medier kring  Kulturrådets litteraturstöd från 2009 och fram till och med 2021. Det empiriska materialet består av 22 artiklar  hämtade från dags- och kvällspress. Genom att använda diskursanalys som teori och metod problematiseras flera  debatter. Frågor som ställs är: Vilka föreställningar om litteraturstödet kommer till uttryck i debatten? Vilka  positioner intar de olika rösterna i debatten? Vilka diskurser framträder i litteraturstödsdebatten och vad  kännetecknar dessa? Metod och teori utgår från Hedemarks användning av diskursteori. I analysen framträder tre  diskurser: en armlängdsdiskurs, en kvalitetsdiskurs samt diskursen mångfald och kommersiell likriktning.  Analysen avslöjade att kulturskribenter som politiker ofta har en framträdande position och ett stort inflytande  över innehållet i debatterna, och att dessa upplever att de styrande ignorerar principen om armlängds avstånd till  kulturskapande. Debattörerna är oense om kvalitetsbedömning men även om hur mycket innehållet ska beaktas  vid beslut om stöd. De professionella i form av bibliotekarier deltog inte alls. Vi menar att denna osynlighet är ett  resultat av att bara vissa släpps in i debatten, men också att det i slutänden är upp till varje enskilt bibliotek hur  förmedlingen av litteraturstödda titlar går till. / The aim of this thesis is to analyse debates and discourses in Swedish media about the support of  literature from the Swedish cultural council from 2009 and up to and including 2021. The empirical material  consists of 22 articles derived from the daily press, and by using discourse analysis as theory and methodology,  several debates are problematized. Questions posed in this study are: What views of the support of literature are  expressed in the debates? What positions do the different voices occupy in the debate? What discourses emerge  and what characterises these? The theoretical and methodological framework is based on Hedemark’s use of  discourse theory. In the analysis three discourses appear: an arm's length discourse, a quality discourse and a  diversity and a commercial one-dimensionality discourse. The analysis revealed that cultural writers as well as  politicians often have a prominent position and a great influence over the content of the debates, and that they are  of the perception that the government ignores the principle of arm’s length distance to cultural creation. The  debaters are arguing over quality judgment, but also how much importance should be considered regarding the  content when deciding which titles to support. The professionals, e.g., librarians, however, did not participate in  the debates. We believe that this invisibility is a result of only some being admitted into the debate, but also in the  end, it is up to each library how the dissemination of literature-supported titles takes place.