This bachelor thesis in sociology is based on participatory observation and interviews in Mauritius done by two Swedish students who are studying Social change and social sustainability at the University of Halmstad. The aim of this study was to understand the social conditions that affect the organization Young Queer Alliance and their work to monitor and secure human rights regarding discrimination against sexual orientation in Mauritius today. The aim was also to see if Young Queer Alliance has opportunities for change towards a more socially sustainable society regarding this discrimination. The material has been interpreted and analysed by us through Foucault’s theory of power (2008), Jönhill’s dichotomy inclusion/exclusion (2012) and social mobilization (Sundh & Turunen, 2000). In some sections, we have done parallels between Mauritius and Sweden. The result of the empirical collection is complex and multidimensional and showed that; homophobia, religions, traditions, heterosexual norms and government influence the social circumstances for the organization. Paradoxically, a new thinking generation is emerging influenced by globalization and its processes. The “not-knowing-mentality” causes discrimination and can be prevailed with education. The thesis concludes that; the mentality is based on traditional norms and is influenced by history. Our generation cannot change history, but the future is ours to write.

With the advent of digital technology into our lives, the fact that the socially weakest stratum of society is lagging behind in digital literacy is becoming increasingly apparent. This problem is referred to as the second form of the digital divide. Since it has not yet been sufficiently examined, we carried out qualitative research using the grounded theory method, aimed at identifying the causes leading to this second form of the digital divide and defining the development model for this inequality. The collection of data was conducted by means of students solving tasks focused on digital literacy. In the course of this process, the computer screen was recorded and the entire investigator-student communication was captured on an audio track. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the students and their teachers. On the basis of analysis of the data, we created a theory of learning to handle an unknown software program. The process of learning exposes the student to various problems. The strategy used by each student to address these is chosen by the person depending on their previous knowledge of and experience with similar situations, particularly with similar software. The effectiveness of the applied strategy is overseen by the student's metacognitive control mechanisms. On the basis of the results obtained, the student's learning may (or may not) occur that improves the person's knowledge and skills, thus influencing how he/she addresses similar problems in the future. We see the benefits of our theory in describing a process of independent learning in the specific world of digital technologies. This can make the theory highly beneficial for teaching informatics. On the basis of this theory we described differences between socially excluded students and the majority in learning how to handle unknown programs. On the basis of our research, we believe in the long term that the difference in speed of lifelong learning in the field of handling digital technologies is the root cause of the emergence of the digital divide. During data analysis we identified a total of eight factors influencing the speed of lifelong learning in this sector; half of these also directly affect the level of digital literacy through the ability to solve problems. The resulting theory describes the lifelong process of the emergence of the digital divide. We see the main gain of our work in the identification of the process of emergence of the digital divide.

Despite the burgeoning literature on right-wing populism, there is still considerable uncertainty about its causes, its impact on liberal democracies and about promising counter-strategies. Inspired by recent suggestions that (1) the emancipatory left has made a significant contribution to the proliferation of the populist right; and (2) populist movements, rather than challenging the established socio-political order, in fact stabilize and further entrench its logic, this article argues that an adequate understanding of the populist phenomenon necessitates a radical shift of perspective: beyond the democratic and emancipatory norms, which still govern most of the relevant literature. Approaching its subject matter via democratic theory and modernization theory, it undertakes a reassessment of the triangular relationship between modernity, democracy and populism. It finds that the latter is not helpfully conceptualized as anti-modernist or anti-democratic but should, instead, be regarded as a predictable feature of the form of politics distinctive of today's third modernity.

[pt] Esta pesquisa põe seu foco principal na dinâmica de inclusão e exclusão em grupos de adolescentes no contexto escolar. Os grupos são construídos como pequenos agrupamentos de amigos cuja estrutura tem um caráter fluido e dinâmico e que se relacionam entre si, formando tramas ou redes de relacionamentos. Nessa dinâmica, o adolescente precisa se encaixar e ser aceito, o que nem sempre ocorre com êxito, pois o grupo que funciona como elemento agregador, também é aquele que pode promover a exclusão. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa busca ouvir os adolescentes sobre a dinâmica da formação desses agrupamentos, assim como sobre questões relacionadas aos processos de inclusão e exclusão. Trata-se de um estudo de cunho etnográfico que procura aliar a perspectiva sócio-histórica de construção de identidades, na qual as mesmas são construídas dentro de um contexto social, cultural e histórico, a uma abordagem microanalítica com enfoque na análise de narrativas em interação. Para a análise de narrativas, a pesquisa utiliza categorias labovianas de forma flexível, em especial a de avaliação. É observada a performance narrativa/identitária, com foco na avaliação, e tal análise se faz com base no método de análise de posicionamentos, o qual permite observar como os indivíduos se posicionam em relação às suas identidades e às identidades de seus interlocutores. A pesquisa, enfim, dimensiona a comunidade aqui estudada como microcosmo que possibilita uma perspectiva local e cria inteligibilidade sobre questões ligadas à cultura adolescente, mormente sobre os processos de inclusão e exclusão que se dão na dinâmica de formação de grupos de adolescentes na escola. / [en] This research puts its main focus on the dynamic process of inclusion and exclusion in adolescent peer groups in the school context. Peer groups are constructed as fluid and dynamic small groupings of friends, which relate to one another, forming relationship nets. In this dynamic process, adolescents have to fit in and be accepted. This does not always occur successfully because the same group which functions as a binding element, may also promote exclusion. In this sense, the research aims at listening to adolescents not only about the dynamic formation of those groupings, but also about inclusion and exclusion processes. This ethnography-based study allies a socio-historical perspective on identity construction in which identities are constructed within a social, cultural and historical context, with a focus on the analysis of narratives in interaction. For the analysis of narratives, this research uses Labovian categories flexibly, namely, evaluation. It also observes narrative/identity performance with a focus on evaluation and that observation is based on the positioning approach to narrative analysis, which allows for the analysis of the ways individuals position themselves in relation to their identities and the identities of their interlocutors. The research frames the small community studied here as a microcosmos which gives rise to a local perspective as well as intelligibility about issues concerning youth culture, especially those concerning the processes of inclusion and exclusion that take place within the dynamics of adolescent peer group formation in school.

Student Number : 8802461M - M Ed research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / The main purpose of the study described in this report was to explore educators’ perceptions and their attitudes towards immigrant learners in their school and how those impact on them, at work and in their social lives. This study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Questionnaires were used as research instruments in this study and semi-structured interviews were also carried out with individual educators. The sample of the study constituted thirteen educators from a school in Gauteng. The school was chosen because of its situation and because it is a co-educational school in an area with many immigrants. Educators’ comments suggest that they are not adequately trained or prepared to deal with immigrants in their classroom. They perceived that they were not sufficiently equipped or informed with the policy of inclusion to accommodate immigrant learners. Further areas of concern expressed by educators include an inability to overcome the language barrier when dealing with the learners from outside South Africa, and a generalised lack of support by employers and superiors. From the results of this study, one can deduce that in general educators perceive immigrant learners as an additional burden to deal with in a classroom situation, which impacts negatively on their work performance.

The aim of this paper was to study what impact sports participation has on young people and how nonprofit people and representatives of sports associations work to counter exclusion and how they contribute to inclusion. We investigated if, and if so how, participation in sports and physical activities can generate inclusion and counteract exclusion for young people. In this study we have completed six qualitative interviews with non-profit persons and representatives of sports associations. We interviewed two people who work voluntarily in sports and four people who have a leadership role in sports associations in a specific municipality. This selection was made in order for us to get a broader picture of how the strategies of non-profit and associations might differ in practice regarding exclusion and inclusion for young people. Based on our respondents' answers from the interviews, we have identified four main themes; expectations and demands, the socialization arena, working methods and the negative and positive factors of sports. We analyzed these themes based on previous research and theory sections and to our purpose and issues. The main conclusion we made was that sport contributes to community, belonging, joy, exercise, reduced risk of physical and mental illnesses and facilitates the integration of newly immigrated youth. Our conclusion regarding negative factors with sports are that young people might develop some form of eating disorder, overload their bodies if they exercise too much and that the risks of getting physical injuries might increase if they participate in sports too much. In response to our last research question, it emerges that economy might be an exclusive factor that sport associations try to prevent in different ways. The associations and the working methods of the non-profit people differ in terms of generating inclusion and counteracting exclusion.

Abstract [en] On 27 April 2017 Sweden was struck by an Islamic terrorist attack which with various terrorist attacks in Europe, lead to increased Islamophobia and far-right populism in the country. This has seemingly led to Swedes becoming more prone to believe Islamophobic conspiracy theories. Such as the notion that Muslims are terrorists and Islam a violent religion from which terrorism springs to life. This twisted perception and further Islamophobia can lead to Muslims being perceived as a potential threat, due to being associated with terrorism. Since radicalization has been linked to social alienation and discrimination, the concern regarding increased Islamophobia in Sweden and what consequences it has on radicalization among Muslims in Sweden is warranted. Islamophobia is a form of discrimination against Muslims, but research regarding radicalization has not fully integrated the concept of Islamophobia with Islamic terrorism and its radicalization. This despite the increase of global Islamophobia and the witnessed increase of Islamic terrorism in forms of [Western] foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), as well as home-grown cells and planned lone wolf attacks in recent years, which all indicate a potential increase in Islamic radicalization. As Islamophobia, far-right populism and extremist sentiments are growing in Sweden, this thesis presents a desk study through a qualitative text analysis, to investigate how the current climate and development affects Muslims in Sweden, and whether they are excluded as a result to presumably enhance national security. This is done through an abductive approach with an analytical framework focused on radicalization processes and the perspectives of inclusion and exclusion. The potential correlation between Islamophobia and radicalization among Muslims, where Sweden is used as an example to exemplify the consequences of Islamophobia regarding Islamic radicalization and security through exclusion contra development through inclusion is presented in this desk study.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between spatial politics and sex work in order to demonstrate how spatial exclusion can be used to consolidate power imbalances in the public sphere. To achieve this, this thesis explores and compares the situations between two countries with opposing approaches to sex work – abolitionism in Sweden and decriminalisation in the Netherlands. Frame analysis is used to examine how these two states diagnose sex work as a problem and propose and justify solutions. This thesis finds that, despite the differing ideological standpoints towards sex work, the consequences of the differing legislative approaches of these two countries are more similar than might be expected, in relation to spatial politics. Both approaches to sex work result in the spatial exclusion of sex workers, tangibly from the urban environment and normatively from public debate. This result has significant ramifications. By rendering sex work invisible to the public eye, many sex workers are forced into less stable and less secure working conditions. Given that both the Dutch and Swedish approaches to sex work legislation are justified under the guise of promoting women’s rights, this issue is extremely significant and deserves further analytical interest.

This essay uses The Kite Runner, a well-known novel written by Khaled Hosseini in 2003, to analyse what is missing in the novel. Much of the previous research has discussed Hosseini and the main characters' roles as well as the important part of the settings to discover unseen messages. However, only one has analysed the novel through a gender perspective. This essay analyses the meaning behind the absent mothers and the present fathers through the use of Hélène Cixous’ view of women in literature and Hisham Sharabi’s theory of neopatriarchy. This paper argues that The Kite Runner intends to replace motherhood with fatherhood through the absence of mothers (and women) and the presence of fathers (and men), to strengthen patriarchy. The novel shows that women are unnecessary through their absence, which the characters of Soraya (who is infertile), Sanaubar (who is absent but returns and dies “again”) and Sofia (who is dead) demonstrates. In order for the woman to be present, she must be imperfect and if she is absent, the man claims both fatherhood and motherhood. Also, the novel uses male characters such as Hassan and Sohrab to make them feminised in order to need salvation and form the idea that those in need of rescue (in this case they are rape victims) can only occur to women or feminised men. Thus, this novel not only excludes women but also strengthen patriarchy and male dominance. This essay intends to contribute within the field of English literature, but further research is needed to demonstrate and make visible of gender inequality and (male) dominance.

This thesis will explore the complex relationship between marketplace exclusion and symbolic resources mediated by the market, for older consumers who have traversed from a socio-cultural identity in the majority to stand on the periphery of consumption. Employing a Consumer Culture Theory influenced perspective and using Baudrillard critical theory of symbolic exchange and death as a lens of analysis, this thesis will utilize a psycho-social method to explore how and why older consumers find themselves excluded from the market. As well as how this absence is negotiated in a society where inclusion in social life is dependent on consumption. This thesis postulates the market as an ideological structure that promulgates a capitalist ideology of life as an affirmatory force and, therefore, negates death. In doing so this thesis problematizes the dominant notion of the market in theory and practice, in particular, the notion of the market as a free and open space for participation. Contributing to an explorative effort to shed light on the complex relationship between exclusion and sign-value, marketplace representation and ideology.