IIn the essay Symbol prohibition? - Ideology, symbols and hate crimes the function of symbols in the process of manufacturing hate crimes are studied from a post- structuralist ideology-critical point of view.The paper aims to highlight how such a theoretical standpoint can explain the motives of hate crime based on a post-structural theory in terms of social economy, power, and social dominance. In a post-structural hypothesis, we assume that economic power gives rise to symbols used to create ideologies. In turn, ideologies are used to create institutions such as racist ideas and ethnic groups, by creating a sense of unity, among ethnical groups and a sense of superiority towards other competing groups. Through this relative position of power, the dominant group creates a sense of inferiority in those who are dominated by hate crimes. In this text, we analyze two documents written by the Government and its Investigation to define hate crimes by investigating whether racism and other symbols should be criminalized.This paper problematizes both of these documents’ positions, which aim to create new laws, by pointing out that the structural understanding of the symbols is lacking. And that such an ideology-critical understanding would have resulted in a more nuanced and partially different conclusion than the Government’s investigation reached. Here, the author wants to show the explanatory value of ideology criticism in criminology specially deals with hate crimes .

This thesis explores the social criticism expressed in the two films Gremlins (Joe Dante, USA,1984) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Joe Dante, USA, 1990) and how the films criticizeUS-consumer culture in the Reagan Era, addressing the wide-spread economic problems.To find an answer I have asked the following questions; in what way do the Gremlins filmsexpress social criticism, what are the threats and what functions do they have and has socialcriticism developed between the films and if so how? My hypothesis is that through anallegorical story, Dante attacks the capitalist society, and he does so by letting gremlins,monsters that previously attacked the machines of the allied forces during World War II,destroy the safe society that the Reagan advocated. The home, the finances and even SantaClaus himself, no one is safe from Dante's criticism.The films also reflect the fear of the unknown, such as the Soviet Union, the Asian market andthe African American population. In this thesis I arguethat the films, rather than perpetuatingthis fear, criticize it in the hope that some form of consensus can be created. I have alsodiscovered that the creatures in the movies reflect desire, greed and violence, and I believethat Dante may well want to tell us that the very thing that separates us from becomingGremlins which will lead to our total destruction is our desire to be better than them. If thatwill doesn’t exist inside us, consumption and fear will not disappear, but instead increase. Ihope my analysis of Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch will provide a broaderperspective on the genre. Because if two simple monster movies have been shown to criticizeseveral major societal problems in American society, what more overlooked horror movieshave done the same thing and deserve to be discussed?

This study aims to examine ways to understand the ideological dimension of Sustainable Development (SD), as it is portrayed in the Swedish school system, and the consequences thereof. By examining policy documents, in the form of curricula and formal reports from relevant agencies, the role of the concept of SD in the Swedish school system is discussed and analysed by applying the analytical methods of ideology criticism from a critical theory standpoint, with the aim to explore possible underlying ideological content. The research questions focus on if, and if so why, ideological components are apparent in the material through the theoretical framework of critical theory, with special attention paid to the theories of Žižek and Bauman. Special methodological considerations to the empirical aspect of this essay is applied to improve the rigidity of the analysis. A theoretical model of ideological awareness is sketched to illustrate the importance of theoretical knowledge going into the material. The analysis shows that the concept of SD can most accurately be described by using the marxist concept of fetischism, a form of reification, which displaces SD from its context and makes it both unquestionable and all encompassing. The ideological function of SD in the Swedish school system is argued to be the ability to suppress possibilities to discuss among other things: power inequalities, environmental questions from other aspects than SD as well as criticism of SD itself. The study concludes that raising an ideological awareness in teachers may be a way to grasp the immense ideological power the concept of SD holds in the Swedish school system and to counteract alienation in both teachers and students. New avenues of research are introduced from questions raised during this work and as a result of the conclusions reached.