The subject this thesis will investigate concerns the matter of how political ideologies exist within public libraries with a focus on the democratic ideal. Public libraries are part of the political system and we want to show how political ideologies take their shape in public libraries and the possible consequences of this. With the help of three major political ideologies, liberalism, conservatism and socialism we investigate how the democratic ideals of these ideologies are expressed in documents that describes activities the libraries will and have performed. In order to identify these ideologies we use discourses in cultural policy as a bridge between the investigated documents and the political ideologies. As an analytical tool we have developed a model that describes the relation between text, discourse and ideology which we use in our analysis. The results of our analysis shows that there is an imbalance concerning how much influence the different ideologies have over the activities in the public libraries, where we have seen that the liberal ideals have the upper hand. These results are similar to those of previous researchers and we think it is important for the public libraries to be aware of the influence political ideologies have over cultural policy, on all levels, in order to be an objective institution for the citizens in our society.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine the roles ofthree different public libraries in three differentcommunities. In order to get some answers about the roles ofthe public libraries I have used the following questions: Howis the local cultural policy formulated? How is the locallibrary structured? What or which profiles has the publiclibraries in the three communities?I have made three qualitative case-studies in three differentcommunities. These three communities are somewhatlocated in the same area in order to identify any cooperationbetween them. The communities differ in sizes so that thereis a possibility to identify if the roles of the public librarydiffer according to population.I have used an analysis model created by MarianneAndersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen as my theoretical base.The model categorises the function of the public library infour different, yet overlapping centres; as a cultural centre,as a knowledge centre, as an information centre and as asocial centre.The analytical findings show that each of the three differentpublic libraries can be identified with all four functions ofthe theoretical model, however in different degrees. The firstlibrary is more distinct as a cultural centre, the second libraryis most distinct as a knowledge centre and the third is mostdistinct as a social centre. The libraries have got differentnumbers of cooperative partners. Cooperation is viewed asimportant by all three libraries, mostly by the economicaland inspirational contributions they provide. Cooperationalso makes the libraries more visible in their respective localcommunities. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to identify and describe thedifferent roles that are expressed in a public library by researchingthem in the four policy documents concerning Västerås public libraryin 2010 and by interviews with three specially chosen key persons.Further studied are the discourses that can be perceived in thematerial and whether or not the roles could come in conflict witheach other. Laclau and Mouffes discursive theory constitutes themethodical frame for this thesis and by using terms from discursivetheory the analysis was made in four steps.Seven roles were identified from the policy documents concerningVästerås public library and the interviews with the key persons. Thefirst role of the public library was the intermediary of knowledge andinformation, the second was viewed as a democratic role, the third asa marketing role, the fourth as a role that handled the collaboration,the fifth role was to improve literacy, and the sixth and seventh roleswere as a culture centre and a meeting place. With the help fromkeywords five major discourses were found within the material. Ademocratic, a pedagogic, a cultural, a giver of information and a userdiscourse.The conclusion of this thesis is that the public library in Västeråsseems to be a complex operation. The most prominent role is thedemocratic one. Further research could be to study the different rolesmore closely, though this thesis is about identifying them. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The increased popularity of e-books in the Swedish publiclibraries started a debate in newspapers and library journalsbecause of the increase in costs, which this popularity hadled to. The main subject of the debate was the businessmodel provided by the e-book vendor Elib, which accordingto some ruins the libraries financially. In this thesis, opinionarticles have been analyzed using a theoretical model ofcultural politics by the Danish Library and Informationscience researcher Dorthe Skot-Hansen. The results of thestudy showed that people from the library field, publishersand authors were the ones contributing to the debate. Theanalysis of the articles showed that the model of culturalpolitics which consists of four general motives: socialchange, education, economic growth and entertainment wasvisible in the articles. The motive of economic growth wasthe most dominant perspective in the articles, followed byeducation and social change. The arguments used in thearticles were different according to which part in the debateone had. Authors of articles from the library field were themost dominant part, using argumentations of the libraries asinsitutions contributing to social change, culturalexperiences and education. The perspective of economicgrowth was the most covered one in the articles, concerningthe economic situation for the libraries, the authors andpublishers rights to economic compensation for the lendingof e-books. The analysis of the articles also showed aconcern about the book markets and the libraries’ positionsin the digital society, a development which has lead to aninsecurity concerning the economics. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the local debate on the Music library in Västervik to see what arguments, pro et contra, that constitutes it. Since its opening the Music library has faced regular threats of being closed down. This is an issue interesting due to several factors, its lack of guaranteed public funding and relative importance to Västervik´s attempts at city branding being two. Using argument analysis, the thesis proposes that the local debate shows traces of both instrumental and culture centered, intrinsical views of the Music library, and that the instrumental view holds both negative and positive poles of opinion while the intrinsical counterpart is one-sidedly positive. Further, the thesis argues that this is in line with a long since documented shift in cultural politics towards a more market oriented discourse. / Program: Bibliotekarie

<p>This essay is a product of the author’s interest in silent films from Soviet, especially, documentary films. Before the 1920’s documentary filmmaking had mostly been limited to newsreels and short scenes. Only occasional feature-length documentaries had been made. During the 1920s, documentary film achieved new status, not only because of its use as propaganda; it was also identified as artistic cinema. Discussions how to use this genre were taking place all over Europe, and in the US. In France, many different journals on cinema were started. In Soviet the discussions later became politicised. It was a good climate for groundbreaking cinema, and Esfir Shub was one of the film pioneers in Soviet. The ambition with the essay is to give Esfir Shub theoretical approach to non-fiction film a greater acknowledgement. The thesis is how Esfir Shub combines titles and pictures with cutting in The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927) and to theorise the film with Shub’s own conceptual ideas. The method is close reading of the film and the articles written by Shub. The conclusions made by the author, is that Shub uses titles and pictures, in a dynamic cross-cutting between the oppressor and the oppressed. She is faithful to her own theories. She is only using authentically material and not played scenes; otherwise she would distort historical facts. The montage is built in two different ways. Firstly Shub use an ironic tone in the titles when she introduces the oppressors from the old regime, and comment these images widely. Secondly she uses pictures of typical symbols of capitalism and does not need to comment in such matter as earlier, because the film material she had captured speaks for itself.</p>

<p>Syftet är att granska relationen mellan konstnären och marknaden. Flertalet frågor behandlas, såsom om konsten och konstnärer står inför ett paradigmskifte, varför det är fult att säga konst och pengar i samma mening och vad verksamma konstnärer tycker om situationen.</p><p>Uppsatsen redogör för begreppet konstnär ur ett historisk och sociologiskt perspektiv. Förutsättningar för konstnären gås igenom med fokus på kulturpolitiken från 1974 tills idag, och marknaden. Fyra konstnärer har intervjuats för att skapa en bild av den realiteten som de verkar i, hur de ser på konstnärskapet och den bästa av världar.</p> / <p>The purpose is to study the relationship between the artist and the market. Several questions are dealt with, such as does art and artists stand before a paradigm shift, why's it a bad thing to mention art and money together and what do the working artist think about the situation.</p><p>The thesis deals with concept of the artist from a historical and sociological point of view. Preconditions for artists are clarified with a focus on cultural policies from 1974 and onwards. Four artists have been interviewed to create a picture of the working reality, what they think about their artistry and what the best of worlds look like.</p>

The aim of this two year master thesis is to analyze how digital preservation is presented as a problem in the Swedish national strategy for the digitization and digital preservation of the Swedish cultural heritage. In order to study which assumptions about digital preservation exists within the strategy I apply the discourse oriented methodological tools presented by Carol Lee Bacchi, which focuses on discerning what problem or, rather, representation of a problem exists within a specific policy. This study is a post-structuralist discourse analysis. The main focus of the study is on what assumptions and prerequisites the dominating representation of the problem is based upon and how the representation has evolved. The main material of the study consists of public investigations conducted by the Swedish state, governmental propositions and replies as well as other public documents upon which Bacci's methodological tools are applied. Results show that digital preservation is primarily interpreted as a financial problem as the national strategy and its surrounding documents stress the need of cost-efficient solutions. The discourse of cost-efficiency is based upon instrumental political ideals, and results show that there is a specific kind of terminology within the documents which strengthens the dominance of this discourse. The consequence of the dominating representation of the problem as being of a financial kind marginalizes other vital aspects of digital preservation.

Syftet är att granska relationen mellan konstnären och marknaden. Flertalet frågor behandlas, såsom om konsten och konstnärer står inför ett paradigmskifte, varför det är fult att säga konst och pengar i samma mening och vad verksamma konstnärer tycker om situationen. Uppsatsen redogör för begreppet konstnär ur ett historisk och sociologiskt perspektiv. Förutsättningar för konstnären gås igenom med fokus på kulturpolitiken från 1974 tills idag, och marknaden. Fyra konstnärer har intervjuats för att skapa en bild av den realiteten som de verkar i, hur de ser på konstnärskapet och den bästa av världar. / The purpose is to study the relationship between the artist and the market. Several questions are dealt with, such as does art and artists stand before a paradigm shift, why's it a bad thing to mention art and money together and what do the working artist think about the situation. The thesis deals with concept of the artist from a historical and sociological point of view. Preconditions for artists are clarified with a focus on cultural policies from 1974 and onwards. Four artists have been interviewed to create a picture of the working reality, what they think about their artistry and what the best of worlds look like.

The purpose of this paper is to view Karlstad Municipality and their financial support to non-profit organizations within equestrian sports. Despite the varying representatives of various equestrian sports in Karlstad, there seems to be a single beneficiary within the sport when it comes to financial support from the municipality.   The policies and plans concerning cultural development are directly compared to the Karlstad Municipality and its contribution to these organizations within equestrian sports. Through interviews and reports I have studied the process of financial support from the Karlstad municipality using an intersectionality theory based on Nina Lykkes guide on gender studies and feminist theory. Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on field, habitus and capital are also used as a method to enhance the understanding of equestrian sports and its role in modern Swedish society.   The conclusion is that the Karlstad Municipality is, for a several of reasons, promoting non-profit organizations within equestrian sports, which are operating as riding schools. Through the material I have processed, I have concluded that there are indeed some trends to be recognized. Equestrian sports have, in Swedish society, played only a minor role in spite of its popularity. The trend is, which I show in this thesis, that equestrian sports are becoming more significantly recognized in the field of popular sports. The Karlstad Municipality administers financial support to non-profit organizations such as riding schools working to reach goals and ambitions written in policies and plans concerning cultural development despite improvements that could be made for a more efficient path in achieving said goals and ambitions.