Es ist weithin anerkannt, dass globale Solidarität in Zeiten globaler Krisen von größter Bedeutung ist. Sie ist auch wesentlich für Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (Education for Sustainable Development/ESD). Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich in diesem Kontext mit Virtuellem Schulgartenaustausch (Virtual School Garden Exchange/VSGE). In VSGEs tauschen sich Grund- und Sekundarschüler*innen des Globalen Nordens und Globalen Südens über ihre Erfahrungen im Schulgarten mithilfe digitaler Medien aus. In drei Fachartikeln werden empirische Befunde aus vor allem qualitativer Empirie vorgestellt. Die erste Publikation umfasst einen systematischen Literaturreview. Dieser ergab, dass im Feld der internationalen Schulgartenforschung bisher kaum dieser Ansatz thematisiert wurde. Artikel 2 & 3 analysieren konkrete VSGEs. Hierfür wurden 23 semi-strukturierte Interviews mit Pädagog*innen geführt, die mittels der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse ausgewertet wurden. Im zweiten Artiekl wurden die Intentionen der Pädagog*innen hinsichtlich der Lernergebnisse der Schüler*innen untersucht. Diese zeigen einige Überschneidungen mit den Zielen von ESD auf. Um dies näher zu untersuchen, widmete sich die dritte Publikation den von Pädagog*innen beobachteten Lernergebnissen ihrer Schüler*innen. Es konnte die Förderung einiger der erwünschten Lernergebnisse beobachtet werden. Außerdem wurden die Schüler*innen durch die VSGEs zu Transformativem Lernen und zu Othering angeregt. Während ersteres mit den Zielen von BNE im Einklang steht, widerspricht Othering diesen. Zusammenfassend zeigte sich, dass VSGE ein innovativer Ansatz ist. Einerseits eignet er sich dazu, die globale Perspektive von BNE im Schulgarten umzusetzen. Andererseits zeigt die vorliegende Studie auch, dass VSGEs keine Garantie für eine gute BNE-Praxis sind, da diese auch Othering fördern. Die Arbeit schließt mit Handlungsempfehlungen für zukünftige Forschung sowie für interessierte und bereits aktive VSGE-Pädagog*innen ab. / It is widely recognized that global solidarity is of paramount importance in times of global crises. It is also essential for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In this context, this study deals with Virtual School Garden Exchanges (VSGEs). In VSGEs, primary and secondary school students from the Global North and Global South exchange virtually on their school gardening experiences. Three scientific articles present new findings from primarily qualitative empirical research and examine VSGEs under ESD criteria. The first publication is based on a systematic literature review. It revealed that in the field of international school garden research, little to no attention has been paid to VSGEs. In Articles 2 & 3 concrete VSGEs were analyzed with a particular focus on student learning outcomes from educators' perspectives. For this purpose, 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The second publication examines VSGE educators' intentions for students’ learning outcomes. These are compared with research on ESD, which indicated some overlap. To investigate this further, the third publication focused on educators’ observations regarding students’ learning. First, the promotion of some of the desired learning outcomes was observed. Furthermore, educators observed that, on the one hand, Transformative Learning and on the other hand Othering was stimulated by VSGEs. While Transformative Learning is in line with ESD objectives, Othering contradicts the aims of ESD. In summary, it has been shown that VSGE is an innovative approach and an opportunity to implement the global perspective of ESD in school gardens. Nevertheless, this study also shows that VSGEs are not a guarantee of good ESD practice. They also risk creating Othering between international students instead of fostering solidarity. The study concludes with recommendations for future research as well as for interested and already active VSGE educators.

This study addresses the post-revolutionary history of Roma in the Romanian public sphere by examining the social construction of this minority in press and history textbooks. The objective is to illuminate synchronic and diachronic structural patterns in public texts debating Roma in order to offer a deeper understanding of the Romanian xenophobia assuming that the public debate affects the status quo of Roma. Public texts represent fruitful channels of communication through which selective social realities par excellence, stocks of knowledge and typifications are proclaimed by different societal actors. The press possess a critical function whilst history textbooks a manipulative function advocating normative historical realties par excellence. The modi operandi utilized are quantitative, qualitative content- and critical discourse analysis, which are applied in the monitoring of approximately 6000 newspapers, 197 articles (1991-2012) and 6 textbooks (2008-2014). The results indicate that the media history of Roma resembled police investigations rather than conventional journalism. Manifest and latent stereotypifications have synchronically and diachronically formed uncritical and demonizing stocks of knowledge, whose societal truths sustained the othering of Roma in press and were depicted as a force behind the destruction of [“our”] national self-image. History textbooks have offered an inexistent stock of historical knowledge omitting, e.g. the slavery and deportations of Roma but highlighting ethnocentric perspectives, patriotism and other minorities.

In an ever-changing society, what is considered normal is also changing. Gender issues, ethnical questions and groups of people that have not been considered "norm" in the past are now visible and present phenomena in our everyday lives. The Swedish curriculum consists of two parts where the first is common values that are to be lived and taught in the classroom. The second part is the subject’s syllabi, with the aims and goals of e.g. the subject of history. Research shows that the subject of History is one of the school subjects were teachers put the largest amount of trust in the textbook. With no governmental control of the books, there is a big need to examine if the most commonly used history textbook follows the curriculum in not only the subject of history, but also in the values presented. Does it contain specific norms when it comes to people based on gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, handicap, religion or transgender identity? The aim of this study is to through critical discourse analysis, examine the discursive construction of these groups, with focus on the norm, using post-colonial theory, queer theory and a term called "and-history". Our results show that there is a systematic otherisation in all categories throughout the book.

Columnists and social media users commonly stated that terrorist attacks resonate differently in the world and they speculated on some potential reasons such as familiarity, number of victims, and the difference in expectations of a country to be a stage for a terrorist attack to explain this difference. An academic perspective, more specifically a sociological one, is needed to bring light to this debate. In this study, I aimed to understand the discourse after terrorist attacks and to find out if there is a difference between reactions to terrorist attack based on where they happened. This paper embraces a text mining approach to uncover what topics are discussed after four cases of terrorist attacks and to reveal if there is a discrepancy in reactions towards terrorist attacks based on the country they happened. The study consists of two parts. In the first part, the determinants of the public interest and support and how public interest differentiates between different cases of terror attacks is explored. In the second part, topic sentiment analysis is conducted to reveal the nature of the discourse on terrorism. Using the insights from social identity theory, realistic conflict theory and integrated threat theory, I argued that social group categorization in the context of terrorism takes place in a dichotomous manner as Western and Non-Western. This argument, social self-identities being based on ‘West vs. the Rest' mentality in the context of terrorism, is supported by the statistical evidence and the topic model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

European cities are becoming increasingly multicultural and diverse in terms of lifestyles and socioeconomic conditions. However, in planning for sustainable urban development, implications of this increased diversity and possibly conflicting perspectives are seldom considered. The aim of this thesis is to explore dimensions of justice and politics in sustainable urban development by studying inclusionary/exclusionary effects of discursive power of official strategies for eco-friendly living on the one hand and everyday lifestyles on the other, in ethnically and socially diverse areas. Two case studies have been conducted, one in a city district of Stockholm, Sweden, and one in an area of Sheffield, England. The empirical material consists of interviews with residents, interviews with planners and officials and an analysis of strategic planning documents. The case study in Stockholm illustrated the prevalence of a dominant discourse among residents in which Swedishness is connected with environmental responsibility in the form of tidiness, recycling and familiarity with nature. In Sheffield there are more competing and parallel environmental discourses. The mainstream British environmental discourse and sustainability strategies are being criticised from Muslim as well as green radical perspectives. The mainstream discourse is criticised for being tokenistic in its focus on gardening, tidiness, recycling and eco-consumption, and hence ignoring deeper unsustainable societal structures. This can be interpreted as a postpolitical condition, in which there is a consensus around “what needs to be done,” such as more recycling, but in which difficult societal problems and conflicting perspectives on these are not highlighted. In the thesis it is argued that the strategies for urban sustainability are underpinned by Swedish/British middle-class norms, entailing processes of (self-)disciplining and normalisation of the Other into well-behaving citizens. It is argued that an appreciation of the multiple and others’ ways of saving natural resources would make the sustainability strategies more attuned to social and cultural diversity as well as more environmentally progressive. Finally, the importance of asserting the political in sustainability strategies is stressed, highlighting the organisation of society and possible alternative socioenvironmental futures. / QC 20100421

The increasing numbers of refugee students in our schools present under-prepared and under-resourced schools with particular challenges because of the students diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, language acquisition processes, and ways of knowing and learning. Refugee students stories are unique in their texture and context compared to other stories, with their themes of oppressive governments, war trauma, loss of home and family, loss of cultural identity, and diaspora. These narratives shape the stories they live by (Clandinin & Connelly, 1999, p. 4). According to Clandinin & Connellys (2000) notion of four directions (p. 50) when researching experiences, this narrative inquiry involved looking inward and outward, and backward and forward into students lived experiences. Listening to the refugee students narratives of their past lives, their present experiences in high school and in the community, as well as their hopes for the future provides educators, administrators and policy makers with a clearer picture of their complex lives. The students narratives in this research give educators an opportunity to reflect on the ways we inspire and give hope to refugee students in our classrooms.<p> As the researcher, I have interwoven my personal experiences with war as a daughter and a mother along with my personal practical knowledge (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 3) as the students EAL (English as Additional Language) teacher together with the students narratives. The goal of this study is to provide participants with an opportunity to have their voices heard and attended to, especially in light of current teaching practices and proposed school transformation in their high school. This narrative inquiry identifies ways in which refugee students exist on the borderlands in high school and areas in schools that require attention. At the same time, it contributes an understanding of what needs to change to provide responsive educational practices in high school.

The increasing numbers of refugee students in our schools present under-prepared and under-resourced schools with particular challenges because of the students diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, language acquisition processes, and ways of knowing and learning. Refugee students stories are unique in their texture and context compared to other stories, with their themes of oppressive governments, war trauma, loss of home and family, loss of cultural identity, and diaspora. These narratives shape the stories they live by (Clandinin & Connelly, 1999, p. 4). According to Clandinin & Connellys (2000) notion of four directions (p. 50) when researching experiences, this narrative inquiry involved looking inward and outward, and backward and forward into students lived experiences. Listening to the refugee students narratives of their past lives, their present experiences in high school and in the community, as well as their hopes for the future provides educators, administrators and policy makers with a clearer picture of their complex lives. The students narratives in this research give educators an opportunity to reflect on the ways we inspire and give hope to refugee students in our classrooms.<p> As the researcher, I have interwoven my personal experiences with war as a daughter and a mother along with my personal practical knowledge (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 3) as the students EAL (English as Additional Language) teacher together with the students narratives. The goal of this study is to provide participants with an opportunity to have their voices heard and attended to, especially in light of current teaching practices and proposed school transformation in their high school. This narrative inquiry identifies ways in which refugee students exist on the borderlands in high school and areas in schools that require attention. At the same time, it contributes an understanding of what needs to change to provide responsive educational practices in high school.

Denna uppsats behandlar representationer av fadderskap i den kommersiella TV-kanalen TV4’s Faddergalan, ett välgörenhetsprogram som sändes mellan åren 1998-2009, i samarbete med biståndsorganisationen Plan Sverige. Uppsatsens syfte är att analysera hur fadderskapet konstrueras genom de representationer av fadder och fadderbarn som existerar i Faddergalan med en utgångspunkt i postkolonial teori. Studien har genomförts med hjälp av kvalitativ metod där diskurs och representation utgjort analysverktygen. Det empiriska materialet som ligger till grund för analysen omfattar samtliga program av Faddergalan som hittills sänts. Genom att analysera vilka språk och praktiker som omgärdar Faddergalan belyser uppsatsen hur fadderskapet konstrueras kring skillnad och hur fadderskapet innebär en asymmetrisk relation mellan fadder och fadderbarn i termer av givare och mottagare av bistånd. Ett dikotomiskt förhållande mellan fadder och fadderbarn framträder i Faddergalan och genomsyrar representationerna av fadderskapet vilket kan förstås i en bakgrund av andrafiering som placerar fadder och fadderbarn i imperialistiska relationer som bland annat tar sig form i kommodifiering av fadderbarnet och fadderskapet förknippat med svenskhet och kändisskap. Dessutom förstås fadderskapet som relation utifrån tanken om välgörenhet som en könad och rasifierad struktur som sätter biståndsmottagaren i en feminiserad roll gentemot en världsordning präglad av vithet och patriarkala maktrelationer.

Cette thèse de doctorat établit la relation entre les représentations de l’activité physique et sportive et les attitudes à l’égard des personnes porteuses de déficience dans un contexte interculturel, celui des étudiants en mobilité temporaire de l’université de Strasbourg. Il a été établi que certaines représentations de l’activité physique et sportive principalement centrée autour de la santé et/ou la compétition ont une influence sur les attitudes à l’égard des personnes porteuses de déficience chez les étudiants étrangers. Une enquête par questionnaire en ligne (N= 399), une démarche d’entretiens semi-directifs (N=20) et un recueil de données ethnographiques ont été articulés pour obtenir le corpus empirique à analyser. Pour examiner les attitudes des étudiants étrangers à l’Université de Strasbourg, nous avons élaboré le concept de « déficience dérangeante » en nous basant sur les notions « d’inquiétante étrangeté » et le concept de « vallée dérangeante » employés respectivement dans le champ de la psychologie et le champ de la robotique. De plus, nous avons utilisé le concept de « dimension culturelle » d’Hofstede, afin de découvrir s’il existe une forme d’homogénéisation culturelle dans la perception des personnes en situation de handicap. Ce travail a permis de mettre en lumière l’existence de discours idéologique sur l’accessibilité et le sport santé, s’exprimant dans toutes les cultures chez les étudiants étrangers. Ces discours sont présents dans les représentations de l’activité physique et sportive et dans les attitudes portées à l’égard des individus porteurs de déficience, ils utilisent d’ailleurs des mécanismes similaires. Il a aussi été démontré qu’il existe chez les étudiants une dichotomie entre le corps et l’esprit qui avait une influence à la fois sur les représentations de l’activité physique et sportive, mais également sur la vision de la déficience. Cette dichotomie s’exprimant chez tous les étudiants interrogés en dépit des différences de culture, bien qu’il existe certaines nuances en fonction de la culture interrogée. Il a également été observé des similitudes entre la façon dont les sportifs de haut niveau et les personnes porteuses de déficience sont perçus par cette population. En effet, ces deux populations sont vues comme « hors norme » ou comme étant des héros. Nous démontrons comment les représentations du sportif de haut niveau sont similaires à celles des personnes en situation de handicap, et en quoi ces deux populations vivent le même processus d’altérisation. / This thesis establishes a link between physical and sporting activities and the attitudes toward disabled people. Foreign students at the University of Strasbourg are put in an intercultural context. In this context, we have demonstrated that some physical and sportive activities, which mainly focuses on health and/or competition, have an impact on the attitudes toward disabled people. Quantitative thanks to an online survey (N=399), qualitative thanks to semi directive interview (N=20) and ethnographic methods were used to establish such link. In order to analyze we have elaborated the notion of “disturbing disability,” based on the Freudian notion of “worrying strangeness,” and the concept of the “uncanny valley,” mainly used in the field of robotics. Furthermore, we have used Hofstede’s concept of “cultural dimension” to uncover a cultural homogenization in the perception of disabled people. This homogenization manifests itself in every culture through some ideological speeches that are present in the representation of physical and sporting activities, and the attitudes toward disabled people. These speeches are not identical, but both are based on the same mechanisms. This work has also illustrated that for foreign students there is a dichotomy between mind and body that expresses itself in every culture, and has an influence in the perception of physical and sporting activities, as well as on disability. Finally, in this thesis we have proven that both athletes and disabled people are seen as “special”, “inhuman” or “heroic” because they both go through the same “othering” process.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the media discussions of the rape in Bjästa 2009 and to reveal how stereotypical illusions of ethnicity, religion and gender affect how media understands and defines violence. The rape in Bjästa occurred in a “Swedish context” but has been defined as honor related in other arenas outside media. This discussion occurred because the whole village turned against the woman that was raped and supported the perpetrator– a phenomena that speaks against the idea of an equal society and a behavior that is usually understood as honor related and something that the ‘others’ do. Therefore, I have chosen to investigate one case without comparing it to another, because the discussions of this particular case reflect how the debate about men’s violence against women and honor related violence generally is presented. I have argued that when a perpetrator practices men’s violence against women it is described and explained as something individual and as a result of psychological issues whereas honor related violence is explained as a collective action with cultural influences. I have examined 35 articles and 5 blog articles by using a critical analysis method and have specifically been interested in what explanations are used due to the fact that the involved were Swedish but were participating in a collective action of legitimating violence. The results show that the collective behavior is being explained by new explanations such as mass psychosis and collective cultures (that only occur in smaller cities). The strategy behind this is to separate and define the Bjästa case as something “unswedish” so the Swedish nation can uphold an image as an equal and individual society – and in the same time uphold the idea of honor related violence as something foreign and “imported”.