Syftet med denna studie har varit att generera kunskap om det samtida abortmotståndet i Sverige genom att undersöka samtida och svensk abortkritisk diskurs, samt hur diskursen framställer abort som fenomen. Empirin har bestått utav texter från två abortkritiska organisationer: ”Ja till livet” och ”Människorätt för ofödda”. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt har varit en Foucault-inspirerad diskursteori, och empirin har analyserats med hjälp av en diskursanalys. Resultaten visar att den samtida abortkritiska diskursen i Sverige innefattar ett centralt element inom vilket fostret definieras som ett ofött barn, och därigenom konstrueras fostret som en egen individ med ett essentiellt människovärde. Vidare framställs abort som mord, likväl som en oansvarig och moraliskt felaktig handling. Däremot framställs fullföljandet av en graviditet och sedermera att axla föräldraskapet som det främsta sättet att ta ansvar. Ytterligare resultat identifierar ett element där abortkritik definieras i termer av kvinnans bästa; ett element inom vilket abort konstrueras som skadligt för kvinnor, och kvinnor konstrueras som offer inför abort och aborttvång. Slutligen hävdar diskursen sanningsanspråk genom hänvisningar till vetenskaplig kunskap och moraliska övertygelser; och genom att framställa diskursens världsbild som objektiv sanning så utmanas den allmänna svenska diskursen. / The purpose of this study has been to generate knowledge regarding the contemporary anti-abortion movement in Sweden, by examining the contemporary anti-abortion discourse and it’s construction of abortion as a phenomenon. The empirics has included texts from two anti-abortion organisations: ”Ja till livet” and ”Människorätt för ofödda”. The study has relied on a theoretical base of discourse theory inspired by Foucault, and the empirics have been examined through a discourse analysis. The results shows that the contemporary anti-abortion discourse in Sweden relies on a central element where the feetus is referred to as an unborn child, and therefore constructed as a person with an essential human worth. Furthermore, abortion is presented as an act of murder, as well as irresponsible and morally wrong. The act of carrying the pregnancy to term and then caring for the child is however presented as the ultimate way to take responsibility. In addition to this, a ”pro-woman”-element constitutes the discourse; constructing abortion as harmful to women, and women as victims of both abortion and coercion. Finally, the discourse claims its veracity by referring to science and moral convictions, and by claiming its view of the world as objectively true, the popular discourse on abortion is challenged.

The purpose of this study is to investigate conceptions that affects the results of school development in order to improve the language used while teaching within all subjects. The approach is a dialogical practitioner-research where the principal studies within her own occupation/school and is driven by a social constructionist framework of knowledge and learning. Laclau & Mouffe´s discourse-theory was used to analyze the articular-practice in eighteen teachers and their principal’s written reflections. The study focus discourses of school-development and second-language-development in relation to the nodal point ”learning”. It also focuses on teachers’ construction of identity within the school. The meaning of conceptions within school-development and second-language-development discourses are analyzed using discourse-theory methods. Conflicting meanings are also highlighted. The prior questions of the study investigates the conceptions of school-development and second-language-development and how they relate to current discourses and to each other. Conceptions that are connected to these discourses are compared with how the role of the teacher is described by the teachers themselves. The study shows an agreement on the necessity of school-development and improvement of language. Boundaries are made against those who don’t agree with school-development-projects. Different approaches are standing side by side within both fields and the role of the teacher are given multiple understandings due to their diverse experiences and framework of teaching. The understanding of the concept “diversity” alter in different fields. The meaning of “safety” varies, the teachers and principal have different thoughts on the idea of what safety is. The study shows a lack of research and science in the teachers written reflections. One implication of the study is that the conception of the role of teachers has to be reconstructed to be able to build a professional-learning-community. Different conceptions about safety has to be highlighted to avoid different understandings that prevents collaborative work between teachers. / Syftet med denna masteruppsats är att få syn på föreställningar som påverkar utvecklingsprocessen på en skola där målet är att arbeta mer språkutvecklande. Studien är att betrakta som praxisforskning med en dialogisk ansats, där rektor lär genom att forska i sin egen verksamhet. Studien utgår från en socialkonstruktionistisk syn på kunskap och lärande. Genom den diskursteori som utvecklats av Laclau och Mouffe synliggörs skolans artikulatoriska praktik, så som den framträder i arton lärares och deras rektors reflekterande loggar. De diskursiva fälten ”skolutveckling” och ”andraspråksutveckling” studeras i förhållande till nodalpunkten ”lärande”. Även lärarnas föreställningar kring subjektspositionen som lärare granskas. Genom diskursteorins verktyg synliggörs också de olika innebörder som ges kring begrepp som förekommer i diskurserna om skolutveckling och andraspråksutveckling. Även motsättningar lyfts fram. Studiens frågeställningar handlar om föreställningar kring skolutveckling och andraspråksutveckling och hur de förhåller sig till rådande diskurser och till varandra. Även föreställningar om begrepp som hör samman med skolutveckling, andraspråksutveckling, lärande och lärarrollen studeras. Studien visar att det råder enighet både kring nödvändigheten av skolutveckling och kring att utveckla det språkutvecklande arbetet på skolan. Markeringar görs mot ett diskursivt yttre, att motsätta sig utvecklingen. Olika diskurser kring andraspråksutveckling och lärande syns sida vid sida i de två fälten. Också lärarrollen ges skiftande innebörder, som kan kopplas till olika epoker och lärandeteorier. Föreställningar om begreppet ”olikhet” varierar i olika diskursiva fält. Motstående uppfattningar kring begreppet ”trygghet” framträder utifrån de olika subjektspositionerna som lärare respektive rektor. Studien visar att vetenskap och forskning inte är så framträdande i denna skolas artikulation. En slutsats som dras av studien är att lärarrollen behöver ges nya innebörder om man vill få till stånd en professionell lärande gemenskap. Även olika föreställningar kring trygghet respektive lärande behöver lyftas till ytan och synliggöras, för att undvika att motstridiga tankemönster står i vägen för det fortsatta gemensamma arbetet.

Studiens syfte är bidra med kunskap om likheter och skillnader mellan diskurser kring flyktingfrågan i traditionella medier och på Twitter genom att undersöka språkanvändningen samt explicita teman utifrån diskurser i tidningarna Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet samt i tweets på Twitter. Studien vill att få kännedom om och hur de traditionella mediernas diskurser samverkar med diskurser på Twitter. För att uppnå syftet med studien bryts syftet ned i fyra frågeställningar: vilka retoriska stilfigurer används i Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet och på  Twitter utifrån den valda problematiken? Vilka manifesta och latenta budskap går att urskilja med hjälp av språket i Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet och på Twitter?  Vilka negativa respektive positiva värdeladdade ord förekommer i Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet och på Twitter? Hur kan den visade språkanvändningen diskuteras utifrån diskursteori och dagordningsteori? Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgår från diskursteori och dagordningsteori samt kopplas samman med tidigare forskning i analysen. Studiens resultat visar att gestaltningen av flyktingfrågan manifesteras på olika vis genom språkanvändningen, till exempel i användningen av retoriska stilfigurer och värdeladdade ord. Twitters språkanvändning är mer dramatisk och kritik uttrycks mer explicit i jämförelse med språkanvändningen i Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet. Studien visar dock en möjlig samverkan mellan de båda medierna, då liknande teman hittades i respektive medier. Det var svårare att urskilja manifesta och latenta budskap i diskurserna på Twitter i jämförelse med diskurserna i Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet. De båda medierna subjektställer de svenska aktörerna medan flyktingar återfinns som objekt eller inte alls förekommer. Resultatet visar att det i den aktuella studien, finns en samverkan mellan dagspress och social medier. Dagspressens ämnen återfinns i diskurserna på Twitter, där Twitteranvändare tycker något om ämnet dagspressen tar upp. / The purpose of this study is to contribute to knowledge about similarities and differences between discourses in traditional- and social media concerning the refugee issue. Furthermore the purpose will be answered by exploring and compare the use of language and explicit themes in the discourses, in two of Swedens largest newspapers: Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, aswell as selected top-tweets on Twitter. The intention of the study is to receive understanding if and how the discourses in traditional media are reciprocating with the discourses on Twitter. To fufill the purpose of this study, four framing questions will be answered: which rhetorical stylistic figures are used in Dagens Nyheter, Svenska dagbladet and on Twitter? Which explicit and implicit messages can be discovered with help from the used language in the discourses in Dagens nyheter, Svenska dagbladet and Twitter? What negative respectively positive emotive words occurs in the newspapers and on Twitter? How can the result of the used language be discussed by Discourse theory and The agenda setting theory? The study’s theoretical framework are The agenda setting theory and Discourses theory, the theories will be connected to previous research about representation in the media in the section of analysis. The study’s result shows that the figuration of the refugee issue are displayed in different ways through the use of language, for example in the use of rhetorical stylistic figures and emotionally charged words. The used language on Twitter contains more explicit negative and dramatically charged words compared to discourses in Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. However the study indicated a cooperation between the traditional- and social media, due to similar themes that were discovered. Nevertheless, it was more difficult to distinguish the explicit and implicit messages in the discourses on Twitter compared to Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet. The subjects in the newspapers where rediscovered on Twitter, where users consider something about the subject which shows some tendencies of collaboration between the newspapers and social media.

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka musiklärares syn på arbete för inkludering och ökad mångfald i kulturskolan. Studiens forskningsfråga handlar om hur musiklärare konstruerar och legitimerar sin syn på arbete för inkludering och ökad mångfald i kulturskolan. För att undersöka detta har tre fokusgruppsintervjuer genomförts på tre olika kulturskolor. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av diskursteori och den data som genererats ur fokusgruppintervjuerna har bearbetats och analyserats med hjälp av diskursanalytiska redskap. I resultatet presenteras sex diskurser utifrån lärarnas konstruktioner om synsätt på arbete för inkludering och ökad mångfald i kulturskolan. Dessa handlar om att arbetet för inkludering och ökad mångfald ses som givet, som motsägelsefullt, som socialt utvecklande, som extern verksamhet, som svårt och som gemensamt ansvar. Resultatet presenterar även föräldrar och skola som två kontextuella påverkansfaktorer som på olika sätt påverkar diskurserna. I diskussionen behandlas två mer övergripande motstridiga diskurser om arbete för inkludering och ökad mångfald som självklart respektive icke självklart, i relation till tidigare presenterad litteratur. / The purpose of this study is to examine music teachers’ views on the work for inclusion and increased diversity in Swedish Community School of Music. The study’s research question concern how music teachers’ construct and legitimate their views on the work for inclusion and increased diversity in Swedish Community School of Music. To examine this three focus group interviews were held at three different schools. The theoretical framework of the study is discourse theory and the data generated from the focus group interviews has been processed and analyzed with discourse analytical tools. In the result the six discourses found are presented based on the teachers’ constructions about the work for inclusion and increased diver- sity in Swedish Community School of Music. These discourses is about how the work for inclusion and increased diversity is seen as given, as contradictive, as social developing, as ex- ternal activity, as difficult and as mutual responsibility. The result also shows parents and school as two contextual factors which affects the discourses in different ways. In the discussion two more general contrarious discourses, about the work for inclusion and increased diversity as obvious and non-obvious, are discussed in relation to previous presented literature.

This undergraduate thesis is written for an ethnological standpoint with the purpose of studying how concepts of masculinity is discursively constructed in relation to the women dominated work field of nursing. This is done by analysing the material gained from six interviews with male and female nurses with the poststructuralist theory of political discourse by the theorist Laclau and Mouffe. By doing this the thesis has concluded that masculinity is foremost constructed in relation to the nursing femininity within the work field and the strong masculinity from outside of it. While also being interconnected in systems of meaning where masculinity is created, reproduced and questioned in a continual cycle.

The present Bachelor thesis examines the medial representations of ”vulnerable areas” (Swedish:”utsatta områden”) and the people living in those areas. In order to achieve my purpose a qualitative discourse analysis is conducted by applying Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory. A total of 14 debate articles and editorial pages published in the two Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen are analyzed. Three prominent discourses are identified in the analysis: a criminalization discourse, an ethnification discourse and a poverty discourse. The first two are found to be most prominent in the empirical material. The result shows that the construction of the collective identity of people living in ”vulnerable areas” substantially is fixated around ethnicity and criminality. This is believed to have an impact on the public debate about interventions in these areas. / <p>2019-02-19</p>

<p>This thesis describes how social work language practice circulates around the implementation process of an evidence based structured assessment tool – Savry. The purpose is to examine and understand the social workers language practice in a working group that uses this structured assessment tool in their work with youth. The purpose is also to look for dimensions of identity in terms of discourse. The ontological viewpoint is post-structuralism where language is in focus. The theoretical framework is discourse theory based upon the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. This theory is used as a basis of the creation of an analytical toolkit which emphasises the concept chains of equivalence and nodal points. The study is based upon qualitative interviews with social workers in a group in the social services for children and youth, who uses the evidenced based structured assessment tool - Savry. The study concerns the structuring around two identities. Theese identities circulate around the nodal point “knowledge” and defines it in two different ways through chains of equivalence. One of the identities equivalates scientific research to the nodal point knowledge, the other equivalates the unique experience to the same nodal point. Theese identities seames to be the result of a hegemonic strategy articulated by one of the two. The purpose of the strategy seams to be the incorporation of as many discursive elements as possible into one dominating discourse. This is also done through the principal exclusion of certain discursive elements, witch is the characterisation of power in discursive theory. The character of the struggle for dominance is not equal. It is instead characterised by the expansion of the chains of equivalence by the scientific knowledge based identity to incorporate discursive elements form other discourses. This is identified as a hegemonic strategy with the purpose of organising consent around the definition of the concept of knowledge and its consequences for social work practice.</p>

This thesis describes how social work language practice circulates around the implementation process of an evidence based structured assessment tool – Savry. The purpose is to examine and understand the social workers language practice in a working group that uses this structured assessment tool in their work with youth. The purpose is also to look for dimensions of identity in terms of discourse. The ontological viewpoint is post-structuralism where language is in focus. The theoretical framework is discourse theory based upon the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. This theory is used as a basis of the creation of an analytical toolkit which emphasises the concept chains of equivalence and nodal points. The study is based upon qualitative interviews with social workers in a group in the social services for children and youth, who uses the evidenced based structured assessment tool - Savry. The study concerns the structuring around two identities. Theese identities circulate around the nodal point “knowledge” and defines it in two different ways through chains of equivalence. One of the identities equivalates scientific research to the nodal point knowledge, the other equivalates the unique experience to the same nodal point. Theese identities seames to be the result of a hegemonic strategy articulated by one of the two. The purpose of the strategy seams to be the incorporation of as many discursive elements as possible into one dominating discourse. This is also done through the principal exclusion of certain discursive elements, witch is the characterisation of power in discursive theory. The character of the struggle for dominance is not equal. It is instead characterised by the expansion of the chains of equivalence by the scientific knowledge based identity to incorporate discursive elements form other discourses. This is identified as a hegemonic strategy with the purpose of organising consent around the definition of the concept of knowledge and its consequences for social work practice.

This dissertation focuses on the municipality (the local authority) as a participant in Swedish educational policy. The reform of school governance in the 1990s, gave municipality wider authority in the educational field and a greater responsibility for education. Discussions about the equivalence of education were a key aspect in decentralising school governance and responsibility for education, and questions were raised about how equivalence would be affected by increased local influence on education. Since the meaning of equivalence had become contested in educational policy, the answer differed. In the dissertation, political discussions about the municipality and about equivalent education are merged, and together form a base for the main question: In what different ways are the municipality constructed as a participant in educational policy? The analysis is undertaken within a curriculum theory tradition and from a discourse theory perspective that focuses school and education as situated in a field of tension determined by social and political struggle. The research interest is directed to the world as constructed in language and communication. The empirical material studied in the dissertation consists of national political texts, texts from the National Agency for Education and interviews with local politicians (local authority committee members). From the analysis, three discourses about the municipality as a participant in educational policy are identified. These are: The municipality as responsible for performance, which centres the construction of the municipality on a responsibility for educational performance. All actions undertaken by the municipality are in the discourse defined within a framework of goal achievement and results. The municipality as a non-participant, where the municipality has no place in educational policy or realisation of the educational system. Education is considered as a matter between the state, the professionals and the families. The municipality as a political-ideological actor, where the municipality is constructed as a participant with scope to organise school on the basis of certain political and ideological principles. The ideological stance adopted by the political majority guides the municipality’s actions in the educational field. The discourses have tangible consequences for the shape which school education assumes on a day-to-day basis in municipalities. Depending on which discourse that dominates a municipality’s understanding of its own role, the actions undertaken by that municipality will be more or less directed towards education performance, and more or less ideologically based. / Avhandlingen fokuserar kommunen som en part i Svensk utbildningspolitik. När styrningen av skolan reformerades i 1990-talets början fick kommunerna ett ökat ansvar för skolan, och större möjligheter och befogenheter att fatta beslut om hur den egna skolan ska organiseras. Diskussioner om utbildningens likvärdighet utgjorde en nyckelaspekt för den decentraliserade styrningen av och ansvaret för skolan, och frågan restes om hur likvärdigheten skulle påver-kas av ett ökat lokalt inflytande över utbildningsområdet. Eftersom betydelsen av likvärdighet hade blivit omstridd i den utbildningspolitiska debatten, fick frågan olika svar beroende på vilken innebörd som gavs begreppet likvärdighet. I avhandlingen förs de politiska diskussio-nerna om kommunens ansvar för skolan och om likvärdig utbildning samman, och dessa te-man utgör en helhet som ligger till grund för avhandlingens huvudfråga: På vilka olika sätt framträder kommunen som en part i utbildningspolitiken? Avhandlingens ansluter sig till en läroplansteoretisk tradition, och till ett diskursteoretiskt perspektiv där utbildningen och dess innehåll betraktas befinna sig i ett spänningsfält ytterst bestämt av sociala och politiska krafter i kamp. Forskningsintresset riktas mot världen som konstruerad i språk och kommunikation. Avhandlingens empiriska material består av natio-nella politiska texter, Skolverkstexter, kommunalpolitiska texter och intervjuer med kommu-nala skolpolitiker. Utifrån analysen kan tre diskurser om kommunen som en part i utbildningspolitiken identifie-ras. Dessa är: Kommunen som resultatansvarig, där konstruktionen av kommunen centreras kring ett ansvar för utbildningens resultat. Alla kommunens handlingar definieras i diskursen inom detta ram-verk av måluppnående och utbildningsresultat. Kommunen som icke-part, där kommunen inte ses ha någon uppgift i utbildningspolitiken eller skolans genomförande. Utbildning betraktas i diskursen som en angelägenhet mellan staten, skolans professionella och familjerna. Kommunen som politisk-ideologiskt handlande, där kommunen konstrueras som en part med utrymme att organisera skolan utifrån specifika politiska och ideologiska principer. De ideo-logiska ställningstaganden som görs av kommunens politiska majoritet är kraftigt vägledande för kommunens handlingar på utbildningsområdet och påverkar hur utbildning organiseras i kommunen. De olika diskurserna får påtagliga konsekvenser för hur den konkreta skolverksamheten tar form i en kommun. Beroende på vilken av diskurserna som dominerar en kommuns uppfatt-ning om sin egen roll, så kommer kommunens handlingar att vara mer eller mindre inriktade mot utbildningsresultat, och mer eller mindre politiskt-ideologiskt präglade.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how LKAB are portrayed in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN). The methods that were used were: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) combined with Critical Linguistic Analysis. These were used since they help to reveal the structures and unconscious meaning and power of word. It gives the tools to see how authority, power and meaning of words are constructed during social practice of the way they are used. To complement the method the theories that’s used are discourse analysis since CDA is both a method and a theory. A theory concerning journalism has also been included for the paper.As a result of the analysis, it shows that LKAB is portrayed as a large company with huge amount of economic resources. In articles with a positive attitude against the company they are regarded as a strong and active company in the Swedish economy during the financial crisis that generates a lot of money for the Swedish state. Articles that portrait LKAB in a negative way, regards them as a company that with the power of the state are allowed to look past the individuals that lives near the mines or the environment as long as it generates money for them and the state. The people living near the mines will have to accept the thing that’s happening to them. This paper also shows that the articles that were analyzed, all of them confirm and legitimize the power to certain sources used for facts which confirms that journalists needs certain sources to appear as secure but that also let the sources with power keep their power.