Examensarbetet berör den bild som Dagens Nyheter publicerade den 21 juni 2006 gällande Komvux och om skolan som en elitenhet. Åsikten är att unga med fullvärdiga betyg vandrar från gymnasium till Komvux, i uppsåt att höja betygen. På så sätt hoppas de att bli antagna till de mer attraktiva utbildningarna såsom jurist kandidatutbildning och läkarutbildning. För att verifiera eller dementera våra frågeställningar, har vi analyserat texter både kvantitativt och kvalitativt samt som vi gjort empirisk undersökning i form av intervjuer, vilket skall återge den sanna bilden av Komvux (Gamlebyskolan) i Varberg. Materialet som vi har använt oss av är bland annat rapporter från både skolverket och utbildningsdepartementet. För att erhålla en teoretisk förklaring på våra frågeställningar, har vi använt oss av sociologiskt skrivna verk, författade av Ulrich Beck och Pierre Bourdieu. Utifrån resultatet kan vi dementera den bild som DN presenterade, då merparten av eleverna på Gamlebyskolan läste nya ämnen. Komvux är för den breda massan som planerar att läsa på universitet och högskolor, men dock inom de mindre prestigefyllda utbildningarna.

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse.

Contemporary international migrations take place during an “information age”, and information and communications technologies (ICT) have revolutionized transnational immigrant social networks. Immigrants can now maintain transnational connections with their source communities with less cost but more frequency than ever before. E-mail, web cameras, instant messenger services and social networking websites can be used to send very detailed reports about living and working in destination countries to contacts in social networks that span the globe. Drawing upon findings from 54 semi-structured interviews with immigrants in Toronto and other locations in Southern Ontario, this study examines the impact ICTs have had on the transnational social networks of Filipino immigrants in Canada. In this work I employ Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of social fields and forms of capital as a theoretical framework to develop the concept of “digital” capital, a valuable resource that can be converted into multiple forms of capital within transnational social networks. I illustrate how immigrants use digital technologies, and in particular social networking websites, to increase the size and diversity of their social networks, and to disseminate information about life in Canada. I also highlight how processes of social distinction and reproduction influence the accuracy of transnational information flows. This PhD project fills important gaps in the geographic literature, a discipline where ICT have been a relatively understudied research topic to date. It also contributes to the migration studies and transnationalism literature. Many studies that investigate immigrant ICT use have overlooked the importance of geography, and do not consider how uneven power relations between migrant source and destination countries shape immigrants’ on-line transnational activities. This research also makes important theoretical contributions to labour market theory. Classical ideas related to labour shortage and recruitment, hierarchies in the labour market, and the mechanisms of segmentation in labour markets have traditionally been grounded in processes that take place almost entirely in the destination country. This work demonstrates why a global or transnational perspective must be adopted when considering the labour market experiences of immigrants. The findings from this study demonstrate how the economic integration of newcomers in destination countries clearly has transnational dimensions.

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The aim of this study was to investigate in what way content marketing can be understood through podcasts as an alternative marketing tool. The material which the study was based on is Ölpodden, a podcast initiated by Carlsberg Sweden. The study intended to shed light on the interdiscursivity that emerges when brands are communicated through podcasts. Another aim was to understand how relationships and identities are constructed through the podcast by examining its intended audience. In order to achieve this a critical discourse analysis was used as both underlining theory and comprehensive method. The critical discourse analysis was also supplemented with two theorists witch highlights the audience’s construction of identity. The consumer's thoughts on Ölpodden was of importance to illustrate the convergence culture and the consumption of the podcast. Qualitative interviews were therefore used as a supplement to the critical discourse analysis. The purpose for the study was to contribute to an increased understanding of content marketing and a deeper knowledge of the communicative strategies it is based on. This purpose led to two main research questions containing two subquestions each. The first main question and subqueries were to answer on: How the discourse in Ölpodden could be understood and problematized in relation to convergence, commercialization and consumption culture, which the intended audience are and how groups and identities are created through the discourse. The other main question and subqueries were to answer on: How the discourse could be understood and problematized from a user perspective, in what way the discourse has impact on the listeners subjectivity and objectivity and how the recipients statements answers to a convergence culture. The result of the study indicates that the interdiscursivity in Ölpodden contains an entertainment discourse, a information discourse and a promotional discourse. Through these discourses the podcast aims to give beer a higher status in society. The podcast also creates an identity which the listener is expected to want to fit into. In the quest to fit into this identity individual's consumption patterns can change. Which ultimately would lead to increased gain for large concerns such as Carlsberg.

Coaching and the coaching process are characterised by a number of complex interactions between the coach, the player and the club environment. Yet understanding of the coaching process as a complex, holistic process remains limited. There are 'gaps' in our existing knowledge, particularly in comprehending the dynamic relationship between the coach, player and club environment, and in understanding the implications of these interactions for practice and the coaching process. This research sought to examine and represent the complexity of the coach-player-club environment interface, and to understand some of the ways that they interact to construct and impinge upon the coaching process. The research was conducted on the premise that a sound understanding of the complexity of the coaching process drawing upon empirical research, rather than idealistic 'models', can inform the future development of coaching practice and coach education. Within the framework of ethnography, the research took place over one season and used participant observation, unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews and group interviews in one Football Association, Premier League Academy. The aim was to explore the coaching process and practical coaching context, as played out in the day-to-day experiences of coaches and youth team players. In addition to the main case-study club, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five coaches working with youth teams at other clubs. The research used concepts from grounded theory and also the work of Pierre Bourdieu to analyse and present the data. In its findings, the study depicts a coaching process that is interdependent and interrelated and highlights complexity in each of the following elements: the club, sessions and games, players and coaches, relationships, and 'attitude'. The dynamism within and between each of these elements is illustrated in the ways that each can facilitate, constrain or even prevent 'effective' practice and the operation of the coaching process. Moreover, the research demonstrates the powerful nature of tradition and culture, highlighting their pervasive influence upon the coaching process and coaching practice. Life at the case study club was characterised by authoritarianism and pressure, and was relentlessly directed towards winning. This backdrop strongly influenced the relationship between coaches and players, and impacted upon the coaching process. Importantly, the research presents evidence to suggest that coach education may be a relatively 'low impact' endeavour in comparison to the coaches' other experiences which are presented as a significant force shaping both coaches' development and practice. To harness this experience and develop coach education, this research suggests that the governing body could consider embracing mentoring as part of coach education and, as part of this, coaches should be encouraged to engage in critical reflection in order to understand how cultural and other forces shape their practice. However, for mentoring to succeed, it must be grounded in a thorough understanding of the culture of football clubs, and the ways coaches draw upon their life experiences in football to direct their own practice and judge the practices and 'worth' of others. Importantly, this research begins to answer some of the criticisms levelled at previous research by examining interaction and complexity within the coaching process in-situ. It highlights the problematic, interrelated and interdependent nature of relationships that construct and influence the coaching process and coaching practice. Importantly, it highlights the important and under-researched link between coaching practice, the coaching process and the immediate and wider social context of football.

Celebrities used in advertising has recently been something that consumers have come in contact with on a daily basis. Corporations use celebrities and their attributes as positive reinforcement and association towards the company or their marketed product. Through increased usage of media, the consumers to this advertising technique have been given an opportunity towards better insight into celebrities’ daily life. People are not only receivers of advertising, they are also media producers for the medias agenda. This makes everyone significant in the distribution of advertising. The area of research is called Celebrity Endorsement. All theories within the area presume that all receivers interpret the message in the same manner. In classic communication research there are theories like habitus, encoding and decoding that are the basis for a receiver perspective. These theories are aimed inter alia at people’s past experience influences how people act in a social structure and the receiver thus detects the communication in different ways. In this study, we have therefore created a deeper understanding of consumer’s perspective in celebrity endorsement for further find links to the theories of classical communication research. In this study we want to create a deeper understanding from the perspective of the receiver of celebrity endorsement. This study is also to find connections to theories within classical communications research. The study will also investigate deeper to understand how people within the same target audience are decoding celebrity and advertising activities. To reach a result we have used a qualitative reception analysis, where focus groups from different target audiences has been used. Within the focus groups discussions of current TV-commercials and fictitious cooperation between celebrities and corporations were used for the participants to express their opinion of celebrities in advertising. The study’s result is summarized in four different perspectives, which emerged from the empirical material. The first perspective has been analyzed from the participants’ earlier experiences. The second perspective deals with the participants’ self-knowledge and differences in their capability to objectively being able to analyze their own, as well as the others capability of decoding the messages. The studies third perspective affects the participants’ confessions. This includes further differences in the participants reasoning and confessing or not confessing to celebrity endorsements impact on them. In the last perspective it is described how participants used irony to make a difficult topic easier to talk about. The result of our study shows that advertising with celebrities are decoded in more ways than are described in the models within celebrity endorsement and that classical communication research should be implemented Keywords: Celebrity endorsement, celebrity, encoding, decoding, habitus, Stuart Hall, Pierre Bourdieu, trademarks, brand

How do retail service industry employees perform appearance and identity to generate capital? This thesis is data collected through interviews with 5 female retail employees, analyzed in conjunction with relevant readings about performance at work through appearance and identity (Chapter 1 Erving Goffman), the involvement of the self at work for financial gain of the self and the employer (Chapter 2 Arlie Russell Hochschild) and the sale of self for the accumulation of forms of capital (Chapter 3 Pierre Bourdieu, Henri Lefebvre, and other theorists concerned with consumer culture). The thesis begins at the level of the individual, expands to the realm of the retail environment and its associated relationships, and finally moves to examining the circulation of forms of capital. I assert that the research participants, as embodied employees of lifestyle brands, provide a form of capital for their employers. The employees performances positively reinforce the retailers brands and images, and thereby reproduce consumer culture by inciting desire.

Historically adventure has been associated with successful, yet, dangerous endeavours that expand the knowledge, wealth, reputation, or safety of society. Previous research would suggest that the practices and stories of adventure have guided and benchmarked societal morals and ideas considered common �truths�. In New Zealand, society�s understandings of adventure are entwined with a mythologised cultural identity based on the egalitarian minded and physically active, outdoor pioneering male. These ideals were complimented and presented as a global representation of New Zealand by Sir Edmund Hillary�s successful climb of Mount Everest in 1953. The purpose of this thesis is to examine New Zealand�s understandings of adventure since 1953. The thesis centres its enquiry on a group of individuals who have obtained social distinction as adventurers, seeking to scrutinize in their adventure practice and narratives, adventure understandings that are legitimised or invalidated. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu�s theoretical concepts guide the enquiry approach. Bourdieu sought to transcend the false antinomy of sociology that presented dualist perspectives, such as the individual and society, conceptualising all practice in a dynamic matrix of relational social space. The individuals with distinction as adventurers personify the socially recognised and valued features of adventure. Equally, however, an amalgamation of features does not infer a definitive understanding. The substance of understandings, Bourdieu suggests, is in the relational strategies, consistencies, transformations, and knowing misrecognitions that frame the features of a practice in a social space. The research process adopted to examine the adventure understandings was a biographical narrative approach. The contention of this approach being, that in stories of life experience individuals with adventure distinction construct self and social meaning. The published autobiographical adventure narratives, media interviews, and related accounts of 12 New Zealand adventurers provided the initial research material. Additionally, nine of the adventurers took part in research interviews. The interpretation of the research material was framed by three of Bourdieu�s prominent conceptual ideas; the development of �habitus�, the struggle for �capital� in the field of adventre and the legitimacy of �distinction�. This interpretation was facilitated by theories related to adventure and leisure practice, the risks and contexts of adventure, and to individual, subcultural, and social identity. By applying a Bourdieusian lens on the practice and narratives of New Zealand adventurers with distinction, this thesis illuminates new aspects of New Zealand�s cultural understandings of adventure. It revealed a contested and relational struggle to have some practices legitimised as adventure and others devalued as contrived common thrills, or fortuitously survived reckless epics. A practice that typifies the thrill spectrum is �Bungy Jumping�, the contemporary global representation of adventure in New Zealand. In regard of epic practices, topical through the period of adventure interviews was the 2004 motion picture �Touching the Void�. Although this involved English climbers in South America in the 1980s, it has retained global prominence as a modern adventure/survival epic. The interpretation of this contested adventure space details the valued and recognised features that construct New Zealand�s understandings of adventure. The findings also provide an empirical basis for the equally valued misrepresented adventure understandings related to injury, exclusivity, and normalisation of practice. Additionally, the research interpretation indicates the potential for transformation of adventure understandings. Finally, although the study is situated within a specific social and historical context, it contributes to the on-going exchange of meanings about adventure, especially in relation to outdoor practice, in contemporary society.