The purpose with this study is to investigate the experiences some adult Romans have of co-operation between Romani parents and school. The study is based on interviews and has been inspired of critical ethnography and hermeneutic theories. What views have the Romani adults and parents on parental co-operation with school? Which strategy do they see as a practical way for improved parental co-operating with school? The study show that the Romani parents who participated in this study do want a very close co-operation and have used strategies of open communication and giving suggestion on how to co-operate with the schools. One of the informants has had the opportunity to give an in-dept interview and this gives an example of a more diversified picture of the Romani parental patterns in relation to school. The adult Ro-mani group that has been interviewed thinks that a close co-operation with school is very im-portant. One suggestion of improvement from the interviewers is teacher-assistans to improve the schools parental co-operation. There where also suggestions that educational efforts of the school is needed for all students and to include knowledge about who the Romani people are and about their history, culture and language. Some of the parents even showed examples of giving suggestions to teachers to increase the contact by writing in a dairy for each student. The parents in this study also reports of institutionalized antigypsyism and discrimination. In that view the in-dept interview gives an explanation to why the co-operation is believed to be so crucial. There is a fear that the public authorities in somewhat way would hurt the Romani children.

The aim of this study has been to examine how a few members of the Finnish and non- Scandinavian Romani subgroups experience their own, and their groups, situation on the Housing- and Labour Market. We´ve studied our respondents’ experiences of discrimination, which difficulties they think there are, what strategies can be used to deal with these difficulties and also their own ideas on how to improve the situation for the Romani people in the Swedish society. This has been done by six individual structured interviews which have been analyzed with concepts from Symbolic Interactionism, including Goffman’s Dramaturgical Role Theory, definition of Stigma and Kelly’s theory of Personal Constructions. Our results show that the respondents either have been victims of discrimination themselves, or have family/friends that have, which has led to adjustments to the expectations of how an employee or a houseguest should be. Our respondents believe that difficulties getting/keeping a job/house are a result of prejudice towards the Romani people and the main strategy that can be used is hiding their ethnic identity on these arenas.  Ideas for improvement include members of the majority population and Romanies working together long term to develop knowledge about the Romani people.

Political tolerance is defined as the willingness to tolerate political ideas, actions, or practices of others that one disapproves of or finds objectionable. Tolerance is considered an indispensable democratic virtue. Contemporary debate in liberal, pluralistic societies covers a variety of controversies regarding tolerance as a concept, its exact meaning as well as its practical boundaries. Other factors such as different perceived threats by the majority group lower tolerance towards minority groups even in democratically stable countries. Sweden as a state rest on a strong liberal democratic foundation with emphasis on individual freedom and dignity as well as to the idea of political equality. Meanwhile, Sweden is confronted with increasing intolerant attitudes and public expressions of intolerance towards immigrants as well as other minority groups. Another consequence is hesitation among citizens to publicly express their opinions and a sense of self-censorship. Thus, the state fails to guarantee all individuals their equal right to political freedom and self-determination.  Although previous research has recognized the challenge of balancing political tolerance with other democratic values such as equality and autonomy, no such study has yet been conducted. This thesis is a contribution to the field of research. The aim is to empirically study how tolerance is expressed from a liberal democratic perspective on freedom of expression and thought towards three minority groups in Sweden: Jews, the Saami people, and Muslims. Applying a qualitative, comparative method, the thesis analyses how tolerance is expressed in media based on three liberal democratic core values: participation, autonomy, and equality. The chosen method provides a deeper understanding of how toleration is expressed towards each minority group. It also shows how the minority groups equal right to freedom of expression and thought is perceived. The results show that each minority group provides a different perceived threat in which toleration towards them are affected. The results therefore questions if there is an indication of a difference in the perception of citizens equal right to freedom of expression and thought in Sweden as a liberal democratic, pluralistic state.

Syftet med examensarbetet var att undersöka samer och samisk religion i relation till undervisningsämnet religionskunskap. Studien har undersökt läroplanernas utveckling, både från grundskolan och gymnasieskolan med fokus på samisk religion. Läromedel inom religionsämnet har dessutom granskats i relation till läroplanernas förändringar samt för varje undervisningsstadium. En enkätstudie har slutligen genomförts vilken ligger till grund för lärares framställning av samisk religion i undervisningsämnet utifrån Lgr 11 och Gy 11. Metoden som tillämpats i studien har varit en komparativ metod samt kvalitativ metod med kvantitativa inslag. Resultatet visar att samisk religion fått större plats i läroplanerna i relation till samhällsförändringar. Läroplanerna utgör den grund som läromedel utgår från, med andra ord struktureras läromedel utifrån läroplanernas innehåll liksom fokusområde.  I samband med Lgr 11 och Gy 11 har samer med tillhörande religion fått större utrymme i läromedel. Trots detta visar studien att förhållandevis få läromedel behandlar samer och samisk religion i relation till andelen läromedel som granskats i examensarbetet. Resultatet visar att drygt hälften av lärarna som medverkat i studien undervisar om samer, detta trots att majoriteten av lärarna menar att tiden inte räcker till. Flertalet lärare anser det viktigt att belysa samer och samisk religion i undervisningen, lärarna önskar därför att lärarutbildningar i större utsträckning lyfter Sveriges nationella minoriteter. Majoriteten av lärarna menar däremot att de har tillräckliga kunskaper för att samer ska behandlas rättvist i undervisningen. Resultatet har skildrats i relation till ett diskursteoretiskt ramverk för att synliggöra maktstrukturerna gällande majoritetssamhälle och minoritetssamhälle. / The purpose with this advanced professional degree was to research Sami populations with associated religion in relation to religious education. In addition, the study has researched the development of the national school curriculum from primary school and secondary school with focus on Sami religion. Development and changes in teaching materials in accordance with the development of the school curriculum and its various phases has also been examined. To conclude, a survey has laid the foundation for a study of teachers' own portrayal of Sami religion in RE for Lgr 11 and Gy 11 students. A Qualitative Comparative analysis methodology has been practiced in the study with some quantitative uses. The results of the study show the Sami religion has received a larger place in the national school curriculum in relation to societal changes. The school curriculum sets the foundation the school materials are based on, in other words the materials are structured on the basis of the curriculum and its focus area. In relation to Lgr 11 and Gy 11, Sami with associated religion has seen a significant place in teaching materials. Despite this, there are comparatively few teaching materials that cover Sami population with Sami religion in relation to the amount of researched materials. Results show about half of the teachers participating in the study include Sami population and history in their teachings, despite the majority of teachers stating that time spent is not enough. Many teachers state Sami studies are important in education and wish that teachers' education include Sami more frequently. However, the majority of teachers report that they have sufficient competence for Sami to be covered in their teachings. The result has been described in relation to discourse theoretical framework to cast light on the hierarchical structures concerning majority and minority society.

Trots att Sverige anses vara ett av de ledande länderna inom jämställdhet så har vi en utav de mest könssegregerade arbetsmarknaderna i Europa med en tydlig uppdelning mellan var vi finner en majoritet av män och en majoritet av kvinnor på arbetsmarknaden. I här studien har kvinnor som arbetar i två av de största skogsföretagen i Värmland intervjuats med syftet att undersöka erfarenheter av att ta sig till och arbeta i en mansdominerad sektor för att identifiera faktorer som bidrar till att upprätthålla en könssegregerad arbetsmarknad. Detta görs utifrån frågeställningarna; Vilka faktorer har präglat kvinnors intåg i den mansdominerade branschen? Vilka upplevelser präglar erfarenheten av att vara kvinna i en mansdominerad bransch? Arbetet använder en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer som insamlingsmaterial. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av Berger och Luckmanns (1991) ‘Social construction of reality’, West och Zimmermans (1987) teori om att göra kön samt Kanters (1993) ‘Men and women in the corporation’. Resultatet visar på att deltagarnas resa till skogsindustrin har präglats av familj, uppväxtort och utbildning. I förhållande till vad de har mött när de väl kommit in i industrin så har även individens självbild i relation till bilden av vem som anses passa in i skogsindustrin identifierats som en möjlig påverkansfaktor i kvinnors intåg i skogsindustrin. I resultatet framgår det att deltagarna har en uppfattning av skogsindustrin som välkomnande och tillgänglig för alla typer av människor. Trots det så har en bild av hur man behöver vara för att trivas i skogsindustrin identifieras i materialet. Bilden som målas upp är närmare ett maskulint ideal medan feminina egenskaper läggs fram som mindre fördelaktiga. Deltagarna upplever inte att de har mött någon särbehandling mot dem baserat på deras kön, däremot så framgår det i deltagarnas berättelser om hur det är att vara kvinna i en mansdominerad industri att det finns erfarenheter där de möts av motstånd, ifrågasättanden och press på att anpassa sig efter det rådande idealet. Avslutningsvis identifieras dessutom ett mönster av att kvinnor följer andra kvinnor inom organisationen, något som läggs fram som kan agera både som ett hinder och en språngbräda för kvinnor i organisationerna. Sammantaget antyder resultatet att gamla värderingar fortfarande lever kvar i organisationen och riskerar att producera och reproducera könssegregationen på arbetsmarknaden samtidigt som deltagarna själva inte delar den uppfattningen. / Despite being considered one of the leading countries in gender equality, Sweden has one of the most gender-segregated labour markets in Europe, with a clear division between where a majority of men and a majority of women are found in the workforce. This study interviewed women working in two of the largest forestry companies in Värmland, with the aim of investigating their experiences of entering and working in a male-dominated sector, in order to shed light on factors that contribute to maintaining a gender-segregated labour market. The research questions addressed in this study are: What factors have influenced women's entry into the forest industry and what shapes the experience of being a woman in the forest industry? The study employs a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews as the data collection material. The theoretical framework is based on Berger and Luckmann's (1991) "Social Construction of Reality," West and Zimmerman's (1987) theory of "doing gender," and Kanter's (1993) "Men and Women in the Corporation". The results indicate that participants' journey into the forestry industry has been influenced by family, place of upbringing and education. In addition to the factors encountered upon entering the industry, the individual's self-image in relation to the perception of what kind of person fits into the forestry industry has also been identified as a possible influencing factor in women's entry into the industry. The results reveal that participants perceive the forestry industry as welcoming and accessible to all types of people. However, a certain image of what it takes to thrive in the industry is presented in the material. The image portrayed is closer to a masculine ideal, while feminine qualities are presented as less advantageous. Participants do not perceive any differential treatment based on their gender; however, their narratives about being a woman in a male-dominated industry highlight experiences of encountering resistance, questioning, and pressure to conform to the prevailing ideals. Furthermore, a pattern is identified where women follow other women within the organization, which is presented as both a barrier and a stepping stone for women in these organizations. In summary, the results suggest that old values still persist within the organization and risk perpetuating gender segregation in the labour market, despite the participants themselves not necessarily sharing that perception.

Minority protection mechanisms in international law aim to guarantee certain individual rights to persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, such as freedom of culture, religion and language. These rights can be considered to be of collective interest for minority group identity and therefore often require the possibility of collective enjoyment. In addition to general human rights and principles of non-discrimination, minority protection can alternately be ensured through minority specific rights. However, minority specific rights would not operate effectively without evolving a concept of collective (or group) rights in international law. Hence, while this kind of approach can provide legal methods for balancing the interests of individuals, groups and the state, it creates the possibility of conflicts with the international framework of individual rights. The ottoman millet system sets a historical example of minority protection instruments based on a collective concept of human rights. Furthermore, the ottoman history offers an illustration of what could go terribly wrong with a collective rights model. By analyzing the millet system and the ottoman legal reforms in the nineteenth century I will discuss reoccurring issues with collective rights. I will argue that incorporating collective rights within a structure founded on individual rights is a problematic way of protecting individuals belonging to minorities and other vulnerably ethnic groups. Looking through the historical development of universal human rights some important aspects of its main principles will be brought up in this paper.

This study has as an objective to compare and evaluate the living conditions of two immigrant children residing in different places in Sweden. Given that immigrants often are looked upon as a social and physical vulnerable group in relation to disadvantageous socioeconomic conditions the children's lives were analyzed in relation to four public health objects. By using Runkeeper, GIS, Equipop data, time geographic material, telephone conversations and a web survey the children lives are analyzed within their activity spaces. The children formed their lives in different socioeconomic environments and adapted their lives after their conditions. The perspective on individual level can be put in contrast with studies based on society level. In relation to this the lives of these two children are observed as deviant because they showed a good health status in social and physical aspects. Some theories and hypothesis could be verified and some of these could be falsified. Keywords: Activity spaces, immigrant, socioeconomic conditions, health status.

This essay deals with recurring grotesque motifs in Mikael Niemi’s novels Kyrkdjävulen, Populärmusik från Vittula (Popular Music from Vittula), Fallvatten and Koka björn (To Cook a Bear). It aims to widen the academic understanding of Niemi’s works by focusing on their aesthetics in relation to previous studies, which have mostly been concerned with placing Niemi in a context of Tornedalian minority literature. With the grotesque defined as monstrous and boundary breaking imagery that challenges common rational, ideological or moral world views, this study shows that these motifs can both strengthen, nuance and undermine postcolonial interpretations of the novels.Through Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the grotesque, emphasis is placed on the subversive and utopian aspects of the grotesque motifs. With the use of Sigmund Freud’s term the uncanny (das unheimliche) and Julia Kristeva’s term the abject, psychological and emotional aspects of the selected motifs are drawn to the surface. And, by turning to Sara Ahmed’s thoughts on emotions and performativity, the function of disgust in said motifs is examined. The grotesque motifs in question are: the degradation of the mouth, the lower animals, the boy with the knife, the witch mother, and the androgyne. The first part of the analysis shows that in Niemi’sworks the mouth is associated with storytelling, power, agency and the subject’s ability to both knowand express himself, but also to take the world into himself and be changed by it. The mouth is often degraded, which in a carnivalesque manner results in a linguistic revival. The second part of the analysis argues that lower animals, such as rats, reptiles and bat-like devil spawn, are symbols of the abject – that which man must cast out in order to exist. The motifs of the rats and devils are associated with themes of language, identity and writing, but also allude to a threatening feminine principle. In the third part of the analysis, the motifs of the boy with the knife, the witch mother and the androgyne are found to be juxtaposed to and interwoven with each other in narratives concerning gender, sexuality and coming of age. The results of the study show that Mikael Niemi utilizes grotesque aesthetics to give shape toprocesses of growth and change, captivity and liberation, and a complicated sense of identity that eludes clear and rational definitions. The grotesque in these novels is not purely utopian in a Bakhtinian sense, but more emotionally ambivalent. A determining factor to whether the grotesque image brings true renewal or only a repetition of past pain is the will and choice of the individual. Thus, Mikael Niemi’s novels speak not so much of the power of a minority identity, as of the power and potential of the individual to reinvigorate that identity. They form an individualized, existential project in a Tornedalian context.

Abstract This essay will be interested in what the sami minority experience of swedish majority society can look like. In short, the purpose is to contribute to an increased understanding of sami life as representatives of a minority in a swedish majority society. The primary material that will be used is the film Sameblod (2016) which deals with identity creation, what it can mean to hide or renegotiate one´s identity and also issues concerning reconciliation on various levels. I will identify and make visible different perspectives on life, as they are portrayed in the film. In order to make visible different perspectives on life, its possible problems and how these can be interpreted, analytical questions will be asked of the material. The survey will then address these analytical questions based on different thematic divisions, identity, world-views, sami minority in the encounter with majority society and reconciliation. In summary, the analysis shows some particularly prominent perspectives on life. The first is a sami minority perspective and the second perspective is from a swedish majority society perspective. A third perspective shows a person as a bearer of both a sami perspective and a swedish majority society perspective, which shows how a person´s identity can be shaped and renegotiated through life. Relational problems of various kinds appear in the film. Both on an individual level, on an interpersonal level and in the relationship between the sami minority and swedish majority society. Key words: Sameblod, worldviews, identity, sami minority in relation to swedish majority, reconciliation.

Ever since Kosovo’s declared Independence in 2008, the nation has opted for a multi-ethnic approach by adopting a legal framework that contains several laws promoting and protecting minority rights, although these have remained rather stagnant in implementation. The minorities in Kosovo have furthermore been affected by the Serb-Albanian relations and inter-ethnic tensions by creating divisions and societal challenges. The purpose of this study is to examine the current situation for minorities in Kosovo, along with studying the limitations and possibilities of the implementation of minority rights and societal opportunities. Additionally, this is a case study based on the experiences and views of Torbeshis being a minority in Kosovo which exemplifies the situation of how minority rights are expressed in a social and political context. The  methodological approach of semi-structured interviews was applied which provided the primary data consisting of empirical findings and results from interviews. The data was then analyzed with the assistance of the theoretical framework of social constructivism, along with the intersectionality concept as a complementary tool with an applied narrative analysis. The results indicated that the inadequate implementation of rights is the common denominator concerning minorities' situation, possibilities, limitations and experiences. The focus of the international community on Serb-Albanian relations has further shifted the attention from minority issues. Although the legislative framework is advanced, minorities generally seem to face more limitations than possibilities, with potential for a positive turn. Minorities face limitations such as security concerns, freedom of movement caused by linguistic obstacles, together with restricted participation and access in political life. The Torbeshis face similar issues as mentioned, together with forms of discrimination, ethnic redefinition, assimilation and interrelationship between to major ethnic groups. / Sedan Kosovos förklarade självständighet 2008 antog konstitutionen en lagstiftningsram innehållande flera lagar som främjar och skyddar minoritetsrättigheter, men trots implementeringen har dessa lagar förblivit relativt stillastående i praktiken. Kosovo definierar därmed sig själva som ett multietniskt samhälle i samband med fastställandet av dessa lagar. Minoriteterna i Kosovo har dessutom påverkats av Kosovos efterkrigstid och den Serbisk-Albanska dynamiken där spänningar mellan etniska grupper förekommer i landet och skapar diverse splittringar och samhällsutmaningar för minoriteterna. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka den aktuella situationen för minoriteter i Kosovo, tillsammans med de existerande begränsningar och möjligheter som finns för implementeringen av minoritetsrättigheter och samhällsmöjligheter. Studien tillämpar en fallstudie som utvärderar Torbesjers erfarenheter av att vara en minoritet, vilket illustrerar hur den nuvarande situationen av minoritetsrättigheter uttrycks i en viss social och politisk kontext. Det metodologiska tillvägagångssättet som tillämpas är semistrukturerade intervjuer och utgör det primära materialet bestående av resultat från intervjuer samt empirisk data. Datan analyserades sedan med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket social konstruktivism med intersektionalitetskonceptet som ett kompletterande verktyg, och slutligen applicerades en narrativ analys för att behandla datan. Resultatet av studien visar på att den otillräckliga implementeringen av rättigheterna är den gemensamma nämnaren när det kommer till minoriteters situation, möjligheter, begränsningar och erfarenheter. Det omfattande fokus som läggs på relationen mellan serber och albaner av det internationella samfundet skiftar ytterligare uppmärksamhet från minoritetsfrågorna. Trots den avancerade lagstiftningsramen verkar minoriteter i Kosovo möta fler begränsningar än möjligheter, med potential för en positiv förändring. De begränsningar som minoriteter bemöter i Kosovo är säkerhetsproblem, rörelsefrihet, språkliga hinder, samt ett begränsat deltagande och tillgång i det politiska klimatet. Torbesjer står inför liknande problem, tillsammans med former av diskriminering, etnisk omdefiniering, assimilering och ett mellanförskap i förhållande till de etniska majoriteterna i landet.