The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has since the start of the Syrian uprising in March 2011 moved from a low-key position in exile to become one of the main actors in the political opposition. There appears to be a consensus among researchers today on the democratic commitment of the Syrian Brotherhood. However, ambiguity remains regarding its commitment towards gender equality, women’s rights and participation. This essay focuses on the gender discourse of the Syrian Brotherhood’s leadership, according to its policy-documents, from 2004 – 2013. By applying a critical discourse analysis, a movement from a more Islamist, exclusionary discourse in 2004 towards a more inclusive, feminist inspired discourse in 2013 becomes apparent. Nonetheless, traditional gender roles linger and more Islamist and pan-Arab, pan-Islamic discourses are not distant features. The movement of the gender discourse towards greater inclusion confirms claims made by democratic theorists on inclusion and moderation.

På senare tid har de uppmärksammade härjningarna och våldsamma metoderna som används av Islamiska Staten i Irak och Syrien (ISIS) bidragit till en ökad oro och diskussion om vad som får muslimska ungdomar ifrån väst att ansluta sig till sådana hänsynslösa organisationer. Mot bakgrund av detta ville jag undersöka vilka tankar och antaganden som konstruerar en muslimsk ungdoms världsbild avseende identitet och tillhörighet. Denna studie syftar därför till att uppnå ökad förståelse för hur fenomenet radikalisering kan relateras till identitetsskapande hos muslimska ungdomar och vilka processer i identitetsskapandet som kan utgöra en risk för vägen mot radikalisering. För att lyckas med detta har jag utfört semistrukturerade utforskande djupintervjuer med muslimska ungdomar i Malmö. Min avsikt med denna studie har inte varit att utgå från att alla muslimska ungdomar är, eller har potential för att bli radikaliserade. Min avsikt har snarare varit att utforska hur identitet och tillhörighet kan säga något om vägar (pathways) till radikalisering oavsett av religiös tillhörighet. För att analysera informanternas berättelser har begrepp och ramverk från Social identitetsteori använts. Studien påvisar en stabil grund för bi-kulturell identifiering med en svensk och en muslimsk kontext bland ungdomarna som ingått i denna studie. Samtidigt går det att spåra en kluvenhet i att på grund av sin religiösa identitet inte alltid accepteras fullt ut i alla sammanhang och en känsla av medialt utpekande av muslimer som grupp. Informanternas berättelser synliggör också en upplevd intern konflikt bland muslimska samfund då terrorism som utförs i islams namn tvingar medlemmar i gruppen att både internt och externt markera ställningstagande i frågan om religiöst motiverat våld och terrorism. Denna konflikt i kombination med ett upplevt utanförskap som svensk muslim kan i sig vara grunden för att vissa ungdomar vänder sig in i andra delar av den muslimska gruppen för att söka acceptans och bekräftelse. I denna process finner en del av dessa ungdomar radikala och extrema rörelser. Dessa rörelser är isolerade från omvärldens intryck vilket möjliggör för extremism att gro. När medlemmar inom en sådan grupp vill öka sin status kan beteende och handlingar eskalera vilket kan leda till våld och terrorism. Ett sätt att förhindra denna väg mot radikalisering av unga muslimer skulle således kunna vara att skapa förutsättningar för muslimska ungdomar att kunna känna tillhörighet i sina olika sociala identiteter som både svensk och muslim. / As the brutality and violent means of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has become evident a general concern and public discussion has emerged about what makes young Muslims from the Western world to join such devious organizations. In light of this I wanted to examine the thoughts and assumptions that constructs the feelings of identity and belonging of young Muslims in the city of Malmo. This study thus aims to create a wider understanding of how the phenomenon of radicalization can be related to identities of Muslim youth and how the processes of forming identity can compose a risk for the individual to find pathways to radicalization. To accomplish this explorative semi-structured interviews with young Muslims in Malmo was conducted. My intention with this study has not been to assume that all Muslim youth is, or has the potential to become radicalized. My intention rather has been to explore how identity and belonging can tell something about routes (pathways) to radicalization regardless of religious affiliation. To analyze the stories of the young Muslims who participated in this study concepts and frameworks from Social Identity Theory has been applied. This study shows that among the young Muslims participating in this study there is a stable basis for a bi-cultural identification with both a Swedish and a Muslim context. It is though possible to trace some ambivalence in the bi-cultural identity of these individuals as their experience as being Muslims e.g. their religious identity are not always compatible or fully accepted in all contexts. Additionally the participants also perceive that Muslims as a group is being publicly singled out and criticized by media. The stories also reveals a perceived internal conflict among Muslim communities as terrorism conducted in the name of Islam compels members of the Muslim group to both internally and externally mark position concerning religiously motived violence and terrorism. This conflict joint with the experience of exclusion among Swedish Muslim can potentially become the reason for some young Muslims to turn into the wide range of Muslim communities in search for acceptance and affirmation. In this process some individuals will find radical and extremist movements. The isolation these movements/groups experience from outside impressions then enables extremism to flourish inside the group. When members of such a group strives to improve individual status the behavior and actions of the group can escalate which in turn can result in violence and terrorism. Thus to avoid this pathway to radicalization the solution lies in creating conditions that allows for young Muslims to feel belonging and inclusion in their bi-cultural identities as being both Swedish and Muslims.

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of principles and ethics that dominate four schools with a Muslim profile, two in Sweden and two in England. The specific objectives of the study are:  to examine educational policies with regard to primary schools with a confessional orientation in Sweden and England; to compare two primary schools with a Muslim profile in Sweden with two such schools in England; and in these four schools to describe and examine the manner in which school heads, teachers and other staff deal with the encounters between the values found in the national curriculum of Sweden and England respectively and the principles and ethics embodied in their private philosophy of life; to describe and examine the views of school heads, teachers and other staff on school leadership and any educational, ideological or personal role model they emulate; to describe and examine the expectations and views of parents with regard to the school with a Muslim profile; and describe the views of the pupils regarding their schools and the norms and values in school and; finally, to examine the attitudes of some local authority politicians in Sweden to MP schools. The findings indicate great difference between the two schools with a Muslim profile in Sweden, on the one hand, and the two schools in England, on the other. The fundamental reason for that lies in the parameters which had been established in these countries as the conditions for being permitted to establish and run a school with a confessional orientation. Since the schools in both countries had conformed to the relevant legislation and framework in their respective countries with regard to such schools, they had therefore consequently developed in different directions. / Partly financed by Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the lived experiences and treatment of Muslim women in their encounters with the social services. The primal themes for this study was: How does Muslim women experience the treatment of their case in the social services in a situation of need? How can the encounter and experience with the social services affect the clients trust in the social services?  What is the ideal treatment of women with a Muslim identity by the social services? The aim of this study was to investigate and capture the respondents lived perceptions and experiences with the social services, and thus the qualitative interview methodology was implemented to answer the research questions and hypotheses. Seven interviews with Muslim women were conducted in various districts of Stockholm, a city in northern Sweden. Five of the respondents were of ethnic Swedish origin and two were of other ethic origin. The results show that the majority of the respondents experienced a negative response at least once when in contact with the social services. Respondents emphasize that the unsafe and insecure meeting with the social worker was due to a non-verbal body language which they experience as an indication of preconceived notions about Muslim women, which is particularly experienced and described by the respondents with the Islamic headscarf. The trust in the social services decline in connection with the negative reflection of the respondents. However, the lived experiences with the social worker and the social services have not all been of a negative nature. The suggested ideal is also taken from the respondents own lived experiences with the social services.  A pervasive and consistent ideal is that the respondents want to be listened to, understood and respected for who they are as well as empowered rather than suppressed.  Key words: treatment, attitudes, Muslim women, social services, symbolic interactionism, trust, reliance (confidence) ideal, Rothstein, Mead, structural discrimination.   Nyckelord: bemötande, muslimska kvinnor, socialtjänsten, symbolisk interaktionism, tillit, förtroende, ideal, Rothstein, Mead, strukturell diskriminering.