This thesis aims to discover and analyse the locals' perceptions of transit migrants in Necoclí and howthese perceptions influence their attitudes and behaviours towards the migrants. This research has beeninspired by the limited attention in existing literature towards the Colombian local communities impactedby transit migration through the Darien Gap, including their residents' perceptions and role in this type ofmigration. Ten semi structured interviews conducted to locals in Necoclí revealed the differentperceptions residents have of these migrants, varying from positive perceptions associated with economicimprovement to negative perceptions associated with tourism decline, disturbances and difficult access toresources. Locals also perceive transit migrants as human beings and as money or economy. The findingsreveal several attitudes and behaviours towards transit migrants from solidarity and empathy to suspicion,discrimination and xenophobia. Venezuelans are the transit migrants experiencing the most negativeperceptions, attitudes and behaviours from locals in Necoclí.

As a Marxist contribution to research on the concept of religious diaspora, this paper seeks to explore whether Muslims can be understood as a nationally oppressed people with an economic basis for organising collectively as a group. Drawing from a Marxist analysis of religion and national struggle, the paper seeks to explore the concept of an ethnicity formation premised on religious affiliation, namely that of the Muslim Ummah, and its organisational potential within a national struggle paradigm. Utilising the Hegelian Marxist concept of Aufhebung, or dialectical return, the study resituates the parameters of anti-colonial struggle beyond nation to the transnational arena, recapturing the economic basis of the Ummah and enabling an understanding of its contemporary emergence within and alongside national struggle mobilisations at both localised and transnational levels.

This study explores the influence of social media on Iranian students’ migration decisions, specifically choosing Sweden as their study destination. The study contributes to addressing identified gaps in understanding major factors and drivers of migration decisions and social media’s potential role in the process. A quantitative approach was utilized to collect data through the online survey of Iranian students currently residing in Sweden. The online survey aimed to research the key migration influencers and assess the impact of social media on respective decisions. The analysis indicates that migration decisions are influenced by a combination of internal and external factors. Generally, migration decisions are influenced by economic factors, related to the country of relocation, political climate, and personal development potential. Social media, specifically Instagram and Telegram, was a valuable source of information and social interactions; its impact was moderate compared to identified influencers. Despite a clear role in creating migration perceptions, economic, social, and safety factors drive these decisions to this point.

Today, the world faces its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. The number of forcibly displaced people globally has hit a historic high, with half of them being children. Most refugees seek shelter in neighboring host countries where they encounter barriers to accessing their fundamental right to education, resulting in the emergence of refugee-led educational initiatives. The 4A framework coupled with Nussbaum’s list of capabilities guides our analysis by applying the criteria of - availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability - and assesses the potential of refugee-led education among the Rohingya community. Building on a case study of education amongst displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, this research adds to the existing literature on refugee education. This study comprises semi-structured interviews with Rohingya refugees and humanitarian workers from Cox’s Bazar’s education sector as well as academic and grey literature to triangulate the findings. Situated within the academic subfield of migration studies, it contributes to ongoing peace and development efforts, highlighting the importance of global refugee education. The research finds that while refugee-led education initiatives in Cox’s Bazar demonstrate greater availability, accessibility, and adaptability to the Rohingya community’s context compared to traditional models, challenges remain in ensuring full capability development due to limited resources and government restrictions.

This paper explores the employment integration of Syrian refugees in the Swedish labor market, focusing on Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. As the largest migrant group in Sweden, Syrians face significant challenges in labor market integration. Understanding the key factors influencing their employment is crucial. By utilizing existing quantitative survey data collected from Syrian refugees in these cities, the study seeks to understand what key factors influence their employment levels. The study’s findings demonstrate that education and language proficiency often correlate with higher employment levels. Regional context also plays a role, with geographic location affecting employment prospects. Moreover, subjective discriminatory experiences are shown to negatively impact employment outcomes, highlighting the need for inclusive practices. Gender disparities are evident, with males consistently demonstrating higher employment levels than females, posing questions on gender roles. This research highlights avenues for improving the employment integration of Syrian refugees.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the values at an independent school with a religious profile influence teaching, classroom climate, and work culture from the teachers' perspectives. Using a qualitative research approach with semi-structured interviews, data was collected from teachers at the school. The analysis was conducted using thematic analysis, resulting in three main themes: the impact on teaching and classroom climate, the influence of values on the environment and interaction in the classroom, and reflection in collaboration and work culture. The results show that the values play a central role in creating an inclusive and respectful learning environment. Teachers use the school's religious profile to reinforce value principles, contributing to a cohesive and supportive school environment.  The study also identifies challenges in integrating values within a multicultural context. Limitations of the study include a gender imbalance among interviewees and the unique context of the specific school, which may affect generalizability. Future research should focus on exploring how different types of schools can work with their values to promote an inclusive and supportive learning environment. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur värdegrunden på en fristående skola med religiös profil påverkar undervisningen, klassrumsklimatet och arbetskulturen ur lärarnas perspektiv. Genom en kvalitativ forskningsansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer har data samlats in från lärare på skolan. Analysen genomfördes med hjälp av tematisk analys, vilket resulterade i tre huvudteman: påverkan på undervisning och klassrumsklimat, värdegrundens påverkan på miljön och interaktionen i klassrummet samt reflektion i samarbete och arbetskultur. Resultaten visar att värdegrunden spelar en central roll i att skapa en inkluderande och respektfull lärandemiljö. Lärarna använder skolans religiösa profil för att förstärka värdegrundsprinciperna, vilket bidrar till en sammanhängande och stödjande skolmiljö.  Studien identifierar även utmaningar med att integrera värdegrunden i en mångkulturell kontext. Begränsningarna i studien inkluderar en snedfördelning av kön bland intervjupersonerna och den specifika skolans unika kontext, vilket kan påverka generaliserbarheten. Framtida forskning bör fokusera på att undersöka hur olika typer av skolor kan arbeta med sina värdegrunder för att främja en inkluderande och stödjande lärandemiljö.

This study is an enquiry into the processes shaping rural livelihoods in peripheral areas. The study is situated in the field of livelihood research and departs in the persistent crisis within African smallholder agriculture and in rural policy debates during the postindependence era. The research takes a critical stance to the way that people-centred and actor-oriented approaches have dominated livelihood research, thereby over-shadowing structural and macro-oriented features. The aim of this study is to, through a historical perspective on rural livelihoods and policy regimes, uncover the political and economic processes, with their discursive foundations, that shape contemporary rural livelihoods in peripheral areas. The analytical framework emphasises four key factors: ideas of development and modernity; the terms of incorporation into the global economy; rural policy regimes; smallholders’ ways of making a living. Inspiration is gained from critical political geography, world-systems analysis and different perspectives on rural livelihoods and development. The empirical study is based on fieldwork in Chipata District in Eastern Zambia, investigations at the National Archives of Zambia, the British National Archives and library research. The findings are presented in three parts. The first part looks into contemporary policies and the situation among smallholders in Chipata District. The second part examines the history of the area up to independence in 1964. The third part examines the post-independence period which links colonial experience to the contemporary situation. The findings suggest that smallholders’ livelihoods are shaped by long-term politicaleconomic- discursive processes, rooted in the terms of the study area’s integration into the world-economy in the colonial period. Colonial policies peripheralised the area through tax, labour, and market policies and the creation of native reserves, all of which have led to contemporary problems of food insecurity, soil depletion and a marginal role in agricultural markets. Since the inception of colonial rule, semi-proletarianisation has been a dominant process in the area. Current diversified livelihoods are more a contemporary expression of this semi-proletarianisation than a consequence of postcolonial policies. The households in the study area show preference for a farming way of life. However, the development goal of modernity has since long led to an ‘othering’ of smallholders, labelling them backwards and resistant to change. In the early twenty-first century this ‘othering’ has been played out through a development programme aimed at changing attitudes and mindsets among the farmers in line with individualistic and entrepreneurial behaviour. The ‘othering’ discourses of contemporary and colonial policymakers display striking similarities in this case.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa uppsats var att belysa ämnet transferfasen och undersöka hur transferfasen påverkar vuxna immigranters psykiska och fysiska hälsa. För att fånga ämnets subjektiva dimension genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med två kvinnor och fyra män. Intervjuerna visade att alla informanter har genomgått en svår transferfas. För att analysera det empiriska materialet användes Lazarus och Folkmans copingteori. De resultat som framkommit i analysen visar att transferfasen har betydelse för immigrantens hälsa. Vidare visar resultatet att informanterna använde copingstrategier som ett verktyg för att orka hantera sin vardag. Undersökningen kan ligga till grund för andra forskare som i framtiden vill göra fortsatta studier av transferfasens betydelse för immigranten. / The purpose of this qualitative thesis was to examine the transfer-phase, and examine how the transfer-phase affects adult immigrant`s mental and physical health. To capture the subjective dimension of the subject semi-structured interviews with two women and four men were conducted. The interviews showed that all respondents had undergone a difficult transfer-phase. In order to analyze the empirical material, Lazarus and Folkman's coping theory was used. The results obtained in the analysis shows that the transfer-phase is important for immigrant`s health. Furthermore, the results show that the informants used coping strategies as a tool for managing their daily lives. The study may form the basis for other researchers who in the future want to make further studies of the importance of the transfer-phase for the immigrant.

Since 2001, Australia’s increasingly securitised and exclusionary asylum policy has been legitimated through a damaging discourse surrounding people who seek asylum. This discourse, reinforced by successive Australian Prime Ministers, has been instrumental in shaping policies which have a devastating human impact. While political elites across the West are distancing themselves from a discourse of inclusive multiculturalism, Australia continues to celebrate its multicultural success despite the ongoing tension between a rhetoric of inclusion and one justifying exclusion. Since discourse is both productive and reflective of the social world, shaping discourse can be understood as a means to shape reality. This thesis explores how discourse is constructed and reproduced through framing; a discursive practice that influences how certain issues are understood. The texts analysed are those in which Australian Prime Ministers and senior political figures defend policies of exclusion against people who seek asylum by boat as part of a broader policy vision for a Safe, Secure & Free Australia. In order to contrast the frames, narratives and discourses associated with exclusion, communications promoting the policy vision of an inclusive Multicultural Australia have also been analysed. The frames identified in the material reproduce particular narratives which help to maintain the hegemonic position of discourses which present Australia as a humanitarian, welcoming and inclusive multicultural society and situate people who seek asylum by boat as illegal, seeking an unfair advantage, and as a threat to national security. By identifying frames that consistently appear in the messaging of Australian political elites, we can understand how certain narratives have come to be accepted as truth.

This project explores, identifies, and interrogates how Swedish online mass media represent the issue of 'racisms' between people with migrant background/migrant groups and the implications of these representations on their lives. The materials are analyzed using the WPR approach (Bacchi 1999) and content media analysis. The theoretical background draws from social psychological theory of intergroup relations, postcolonial theory and critical race theory in order to establish an overview of the concept of ‘racism’ and how it can be used in relation to migrant groups. Where the media representations maintained that migrants can produce 'racism', led to further stigmatization and exclusion of migrant groups. Internalizing racism by migrants can result in self-hatred and practicing migrant respectability in order to differentiate themselves from undesirable migrants as represented in the materials. This project contributes in exploring the system of hierarchies which can deepen our understanding of how tensions and conflicts work between migrant groups.