<p>This rapport examines six Swedish workplace unions, in manufacturing internationalised companies, degree of internationalised trade union work. The report is based on interviews with local shop stewards. All local workplace unions were in some form internationalised. They were placed in three different groups of strategies: Passive, Tactical and Strategic. The Passive union only tried to get information; the Tactical unions were reactive against initiative from company management and used the channels provided of Industrial Relation laws. The Strategic unions where acting from an analysis that demanded collaboration with foreign trade unions and were active in trying to build contacts.In discussing why a local workplace trade union become internationalised three explaining factors was constructed: A relation to the company which gave the union more information and resources than the minimum level of required legislation. Second; a strategic analysis involving a threat against the employees. And third; a belief that the trade union could make a difference.</p>

<p>Social movements have long been valuable components of the struggle for a world with true justice. Along with the changing and modernization of society these movements also change, both in their actions as well as in the goals they want to accomplish. Technology is taking a greater part in many aspects of social life, creating new dimensions but also new social divides. This thesis examines how new social movements make themselves visible and affect the world around them through different kinds of networks. For the purpose of this study, we have chosen to study two social movements; the Zapatistas in Mexico, who have become known worldwide for carrying out the first informational revolution, and MoveOn.org, an American grassroots organization that struggles for increased democracy in the US. This thesis describes an empirical analysis of these two social movements, which are studied against a backdrop of the information age and globalisation. The study aims to highlight the effect these movements’ use of network technology has on their ability to reach their goals as well as how technology can be used to further democracy and justice in a global world.</p> / <p>Sociala rörelser har länge varit betydelsefulla komponenter i kampen för en rättvisare värld. I takt med att samhället förändras och moderniseras förändras också dessa rörelser, både i sina sätt att agera och i de syften de vill uppnå. Tekniken tar en allt större plats i många sociala aspekter och skapar nya sociala dimensioner men även nya sociala klyftor. De nya sociala rörelserna arbetar för ett erkännande av sina identiteter och kulturer. Denna uppsats undersöker hur nya sociala rörelser gör sig synliga och påverkar sin omvärld genom olika former av nätverk. För studiens syfte har vi valt att studera två sociala rörelser; zapatisterna i Mexico, som har gjort sig kända över världen för den första informationsrevolutionen, och MoveOn.org, en amerikansk gräsrotsrörelse som kämpar för ett mer demokratiskt USA. I uppsatsen redovisas en empirisk undersökning av dessa två sociala rörelser; vilka studeras mot bakgrund av informationsåldern och globaliseringen. Uppsatsen vill visa på vad dessa rörelsers användning av nätverksteknik har för betydelse för deras möjligheter att nå sina mål och hur teknik kan användas för att främja demokrati och rättvisa i en global värld. </p>

<p>This qualitative study focuses on the investigation of different actor’s ideas concerning gender and womanhood in a post-socialist nation Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this study is to try to provide experiences and attitudes of one not a new, but definitely one constantly changing phenomenon, trafficking in women for sexual exploitation. The qualitative data is mainly collected through nine interviews with people from Bosnian Governments, International organizations and NGOs during my stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The causes to trafficking are complex and intertwined but it directly relates to gender discrimination and attitudes on sexual relationships between women and men. The study sheds light on how the global politics and economics development situation and theirs affectsprovide gender segregation through the traditionally structures where men are seen as normative.</p>

<p>Resande, globalt engagemang och arbete utomlands av olika former är företeelser som förändrar människors syn på världen. Dessa tillhör samtiden och de blir därmed aktuella och relevanta att diskutera. Att vi lever i en global värld påverkar våra livsvillkor och innebär i sin tur nya möjligheter och förutsättningar för individen. Begrepp som är centrala att diskutera blir därmed livsstil, engagemang, svenskhet och världsmedborgarskap.</p>

<p>Large corporations have come to play a central role in today’s society. By analyzing how corporations describe their work with Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, my aim is to review how they view and relate to this role. CSR means that a corporation voluntarily takes a civic responsibility beyond that which is required by law. This can be in order to promote human rights, basic workers rights and a better environment, as well as fighting corruption.</p><p>In order to get at the role played by CSR, I have studied texts dealing with the subject, which have been published on the internet by the five largest Swedish corporations. The texts have been analyzed with a critical discourse analysis model inspired by Norman Fairclough. This means that the texts are analyzed linguistically, that discourses are identified, and that social theories about globalization, protest movements and brand name marketing are used.</p><p>The corporations base their texts on a public debate regarding a potential conflict betweengenerating largest possible profit and taking a corporate social responsibility. One side of the debate is represented by a neo-liberal market discourse, which places profit first, and the other by a social justice discourse, which places responsibility first. Together, these two discourses form key components in a particular discourse about CSR, which I have chosen to call a CSR-discourse.</p><p>Finally, the result of the study is problemized by putting it in contexts which dominate our world today. Hereby, risks with the corporations’ way of handling CSR are brought to light in a democratic perspective. The corporations describe how they, through CSR, want to safeguard all that which they believe is good, but that this at the same time must bring the company profit. Nowhere in these texts do the corporations come near answering the fundamental question of for whom it is most important to live up to the values of CSR. The question is therefore; who benefits from today’s CSR?</p>

<p>Sverige är ett av världens mest globaliserade länder och globalisering känns därmed som en självklarhet i dagens samhälle. Att något är en självklarhet behöver dock inte betyda att det är bra, varför det finns anledning till att undersöka vilken effekt globaliseringen egentligen har haft och kan komma att få på den svenska välfärden. Eftersom välfärd ofta mäts som tillväxt i BNP är det också detta mått som används i denna uppsats.  </p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är tudelat där den första delen består av att ta fram en modell inne­fattande faktorer av globalisering, som förklarar Sveriges BNP-utveckling mellan åren 1980 och 2008. Den andra delen av syftet är att, genom användande av den framtagna modellen, analysera hur globalisering har påverkat och kan komma att påverka den svenska BNP-tillväxten fram till år 2050.</p><p>Studiens metod består av en teoretisk och en empirisk del. Det teoretiska momentet utgörs av en litteraturstudie i dels globalisering och dels tillväxt vilken mynnar ut i en Solow-modell med humankapital som är utvidgad med faktorer av globalisering. Uppsatsens empiriska del består av insamling och bearbetning av statistik samt skattning och tillämpning av modellen för att skapa de olika scenarier som behövs för att uppfylla syftets andra del.</p><p>Slutsatsen för denna uppsats är att globalisering är en långsiktig källa till tillväxt. Studiens resultat visar att ekonomisk globalisering har haft mycket stora positiva effekter på den svenska tillväxten sedan år 1980. Med globalisering har Sverige haft en genomsnittlig årlig tillväxttakt på drygt två procent medan motsvarande siffra för ett scenario med helt avstannad globalisering ligger mycket nära noll. Globaliseringens effekter på den framtida BNP-tillväxten är dock ännu större. En simulering av den fortsatta utvecklingen med bibe­hållen globaliserings­­takt ger en tillväxttakt för år 2050 på nästan fyra procent, vilket är tre och en halv procentenheter högre än för det alternativa scenariot. Studiens resultat visar också att även med en halverad globaliseringstakt uppnås stora positiva effekter på både den historiska och den framtida tillväxten.</p> / <p>Sweden is one of the most globalized countries in the world and globalization is therefore a natural phenomenon in the Swedish society. However, that something is natural does not necessarily mean that it is good, why there is reason to examine the effect of globalization on the Swedish welfare. Since welfare is often measured as growth in GDP, this measure is also used in this study.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is divided in two parts where the first consists of developing a model, including factors of globalization, which explains the growth in Swedish GDP between the years 1980 and 2008. The second part of the purpose is to, by use of the developed model, analyze how globalization has previously affected and in the future may affect the economic growth in Sweden to the year 2050.</p><p>The method of this study is divided in a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical element consists of a literature study in globalization and growth that results in a human capital augmented Solow model that includes factors of economic globalization. The empirical element of the thesis consists of collecting and working with statistical data as well as estimation and use of the model to create the different scenarios that is needed to fulfill the second part of the purpose.</p><p>The conclusion of this thesis is that globalization is a long-run source for economic growth. The results of the study show that economic globalization has had large positive effects on the Swedish growth since 1980. During globalization Sweden has had an average annual growth rate of just over two percent while the corresponding figure for a scenario with no globalization is close to zero. The effects of globalization on the future growth are even larger. A simulation with continuing globalization shows a growth rate for year 2050 of four percent, which is three and a half percent units higher than for the alternative scenario. The results of the study also show that even a slower rate of globalization attains large positive effects on both the historical and the future growth.</p>

<p>The aim of this paper is to apply Robert N. Bellahs theory of civil religion, within a Swedish societal context. Bellahs theory was designed in, and influenced by American culture. Therefore, the “translation” of Bellahs theory does not come without problems. A methodological discussion concludes with methods focusing on national self-conceptions. Through this method, the Swedish social democratic notion of the “folkhem” can be related to the notions included by “the American way of life”. The “folkhem” as well as “the American way of life” includes ideas of the nation, made up by specific historical events, in both nations. Those ideas are vital parts of the national self conception in both nations. Historical premises are constantly reborn through the rhetorical reinterpretation, and through the eyes of Bellah, the notion of the folkhem creates a national embracive, ethical value system. The notion of the folkhem still is viable in the Swedish society. Contemporary use of the folkhem-notion is discerned by the threats of globalization and neoliberlismic tendencies. In the light of these threats, the folkhem-notion includes the preservation of Puritanism ideals.</p><p> </p>

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><em>Bachelor thesis in political science by Alexander Hassan, autumn 2008, “Effects of external factors on a nations democratisation process during the transition from authoritarian to electoral democratic rule – A categorical analysis”</em></p><p><em>Supervisor: Tomas Sedelius</em></p><p>In recent years globalization has become a hot topic in understanding the world we live in today. Globalization has indeed had a great impact on international relations and with it a great influence on the domestic conditions that determine a nation’s possibilities. It is therefore rational to hold true that this also would apply to a nation’s democratic process. This basic notion is what lies as a foundation for the thesis, where the purpose of the study is to examine the relatively new field of the international context and its significance on democratisation.</p><p>The aim of the study is to examine and determine, through a categorical analysis, the different forms and roles that the external factors can take during the process leading up to the transition and implementation of an electoral democracy, the most basic form of democracy.</p><p>The thesis thus has demanded the study and infusion of all discourses within the field of democratisation processes, as the only way to produce the roles and forms of the international contexts impact on the domestic process is through the study and determination of the different domestic spheres associated with the process.</p><p>The different forms of external influences have been studied within the confines of the third wave of democracy, and their roles in the democratic process determined depending on the respective domestic spheres they affect. The significant result of the studies where chiefly that all forms of external influence have the possibility to affect the democratisation process indirectly as well as directly. Where direct influence is exerted within the political sphere of the nation; where the actual transition takes place, and the indirect influence is exerted through the socio-economical and cultural sphere; which exerts its influence in the process through the political sphere. </p><p>The results thus show that it is hard to draw the conclusion that an indirect form of influence would be superior to the direct approach or vice versa, as both are prevalent in successful democratic transitions.</p>

<p>Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka vilken eller vilka faktorer som påverkar alkoholförsäljningens fördelning mellan olika alkoholvarugrupper och vilken av faktorerna som är mest betydelsefull, samt om det skett någon förändring av dessa faktorers påverkan mellan åren 1998 och 2007. Detta har skett genom regressionsanalyser där vi har använt oss av statistik om Sveriges kommuner och använt dessa som analysenheter. Vi har valt att analysera resultaten med hjälp av Pierre Bourdieus begrepp ekonomiskt och kulturellt kapital, samt Anthony Giddens teori om globaliseringen och världsstäder. Vi har använt oss av medianinkomst som indikator på ekonomiskt kapital. För kulturellt kapital har vi använt utbildningsnivå som indikator och för världsstäderna som globaliseringens nav, har vi undersökt närheten till världsstäderna Stockholm och Köpenhamn. Vår undersökning visar att andelen sålt vin ökar och andelen såld sprit minskar, ju högre utbildningsnivån i kommunen är. Vi fann även att sambandet mellan andelen sålt vin och sprit i förhållande till utbildningsnivån minskade mellan åren 1998 och 2007. Vidare kunde vi även finna att kommuner som ligger nära världsstäderna Stockholm och Köpenhamn, har högre andel vinkonsumtion. Detta visar att på att globaliseringen påverkar dryckesmönstren och även denna faktor hade större betydelse 1998 än 2007. Vi fann också att kommunernas medianinkomst påverkar vilken alkoholtyp som det säljs mest av i kommunen, men när vi jämförde den med andra faktorer förlorade den sin betydelse.Nyckelord: Sociologi, dryckesmönster, alkoholförsäljning, kulturellt kapital, ekonomiskt kapital, globalisering</p> / <p>The aim of this study is to examine which variable or variables that affect the division of alcoholic beverage selling in different types of alcoholic beverage, which variable that is the most important and if there have been any changes during the time between 1998 and 2007. We used regression analysis of statistics and used the Swedish municipalities as units. Furthermore we used Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts economic capital and cultural capital to analyse our data. We also used Anthony Gidden’s theory about the globalization and global cities. We used median income as an indicator for economic capital and level of education as an indicator for cultural capital. We also viewed how close the municipalities are located to Stockholm and Copenhagen as indicators for the importance of global cities. Our study shows that the proportion of sold wine increases and the proportion of sold spirits decreases the higher the mean education level in the municipalities is. The connection between the alcoholic beverage types and education level were stronger 1998 than 2007. We can also see a connection between how close to the global cites Stockholm and Copenhagen the municipalities are located. The wine selling is higher in the municipalities that are located close to the global cities than other municipalities. This shows the importance of the globalization as a factor that affects the alcoholic beverage selling. We also discovered a connection between median income and which alcoholic beverage type that is the most popular in a municipality. The importance of median income disappeared when we compared it to other variables.Keywords: Sociology, drinking pattern, alcoholic beverage selling, cultural capital, economic capital, globalization</p> / VG

<p>This thesis tries to evaluate the very large question of how globalization can be said to have an effect on democracy by reducing both concepts to a more usable format. In doing so it tries to evaluate how a special theory of democracy put forward by Robert Dahl in 1971 – polyarchy – could be said to be affected by the workings of contemporary globalization. When assessing the variables of the investigation, globalization is being represented by two constructed ideal images that are later measured against a set of seven variables extracted from Dahl’s theory.</p><p>By the use of qualitative text analysis the constructed ideal types help provide a framework for how one can measure the effects of globalization on polyarchy. The analysis ends in a result where it is clear that if globalization is understood as a neo-liberal ideal image it is making the circumstances for the creation of polyarchies in the future more favorable. However, if globalization is understood as an ideal image of world-system theory explanations then the circumstances for future polyarchies are less favorable. In a concluding discussion important implications of the results are highlighted when the thesis concludes that regardless of ideological starting point globalization can be said to affect the theory of polyarchy in such a way that it is in dire need of reevaluation. At the same time the essay concludes that whenever the concept of globalization is being used with scientific ambitions by politicians, they need to be aware of, and reflect, the different results that it brings depending on how it is explained.</p>