This research focuses on the use of feminized virtual avatars (FVAs) in the fashion industry and explores the risk of using FVAs for the appropriation and exploitation of marginalized communities and identities. Through a critical visual analysis of the virtual avatars Shudu Gram and Miquela Sousa, this study analyzes how they are made to represent gendered and racialized women’s bodies. The research aims to understand how the representations of FVAs reflect and influence power dynamics and social inequalities. This thesis found that the representations of Shudu and Miquela reflect and reinforce racial stereotypes, perpetuate gender inequalities, and uphold unrealistic beauty standards. Moreover, their representations of a Black woman and a Latina reinforce the exotification and Othering of Black women and Latinas, reducing their identities to a commodified aesthetic. Furthermore, the sexualized representations of Shudu and Miquela reinforce gender stereotypes and power imbalances. Finally, the lack of agency and autonomy in FVAs further complicates objectifying and exotifying portrayals. This research's theoretical and practical implications emphasize the need for critical analysis, ethical considerations, and inclusive practices in using FVAs. The study highlights the importance of critically analyzing FVAs and their implications within the context of gendered colonial legacies and structural inequalities.

Swedish Christian mission has a long tradition of sending missionaries abroad. The missionaryaim has been to spread the word of God, start congregations and fight poverty in the so-calledthird world. With the post-colonial awakening that has shed light on the hegemony that theglobal West has applied to the global South, critical voices have been raised against this typeof aid. This study wants to apply a post-colonial perspective which aimed to examine themission documents of the three denominations; Svenska alliansmissionen, Equmeniakyrkanand the Evangeliska frikyrkan, in order to examine how the views of each denomination on thephenomena of mission differ. This study also aimsto illustrate possible hidden power structuresin the texts of the communities. By applying a critical comparative discourse analysis in relationto a postcolonial theory, the content of the ecumenical documents was nuanced has been foundthat all three denominations base their missionary views on the same biblical quote and thusshare a consensus regarding the phenomenon. Further, three themes were disclosed within thetexts: Mission positivity, Colonial reflection and Eurocentrism. The only denomination thatmediated a colonial consciousness in relation to missions was Svenska alliansmissionen.Mission positivity and Eurocentrism were found in all three denominations. The result of thestudy is that all denominations carried out a form of a neo-colonial mindset through the notionsthat write about the missionaries in the global West the recipients in the global South. Thismakes visible a characteristic colonial discourse of all three communities in which they have aview of themselves as socio-culturally and socio-economically superior.

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Colonial legacies continue to impact representational practices in contemporary society. Social media platforms have provided a patriarchal marketplace in which female bodies become commodifiable products as ‘influencers’ and processes of racialisation and Othering are reproduced. A novel feature is the emergence of computer-generated imagery depicting feminized and racialised figures, or avatars, created by US and UK companies for profit. The objective of this thesis is to examine the problematics of the avatars in their construction, discursive practices and potential social and political impact by examining a range of material spanning from articles to social media images. To this end, a critical discourse analysis is conducted with a theoretical framework comprising feminist postcolonial theory and intersectionality. Building on feminist works on colonial legacy, conceptions of the Other, and Donna Haraway’s cyborg idea, measures of objectification and exotification are investigated. Exemplified by two leading avatars, the thesis explores their potential implications for power dynamics in society. The analysis found that while claiming to enhance representation and diversity the avatars effectively work against these goals. Considering histories of colonialism and the avatars’ profitability for patriarchal and capitalist agendas, they overtly and subtly reinforce systemic inequalities and materialise processes of Othering and racialisation embedded in social discourse. Expanding on existing disparities the avatars produce a novel marketable feature for corporations through social media that influences and shapes social perceptions spanning from fashionable ideals to, ultimately, political beliefs.

Teachers tend to refrain from using a postcolonial perspective in their teaching of literaturebecause they do not know quite how to approach the task. The purpose of this essay is to remedy such a problem. The argument is built on three concepts: unhomeliness, dual identities and othering. These concepts will first be introduced within a postcolonial context generally and will then be studied more specifically – through close reading – as main themes in Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Lucy. This essay aims to provide a model for educators to implement postcolonial theory in the classroom. Moreover, collaborative learning and dialogue will be presented as key elements in a teaching strategy that encourages teachers totackle the postcolonial perspective didactically.

This study offers a feminist critical discourse analysis of how Sida’s discourses can be viewed as consolidating a gender ideology and power asymmetries in gendered social orders. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) and feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) offer the theoretical and methodological framework to the investigation of gender ideology in Sida’s discourses. Postcolonial theory offers an additional theoretical framework with explanatory understandings of the ideological assumptions identified. According to the findings and in the light of chosen theories, this study suggests that a gender ideology that is underpinned by colonial and capitalist ideologies can be identified in Sida’s discourses. The results show that analyzes of how power systems operate in complex ways to produce gendered inequalities are not accounted for by Sida, whereby their contestation and transformation is hindered. It is also suggested that Sida, in complicity with other actors in the international development arena, has appropriated and distorted feminist concepts in a way that conceals dominant group interest and power dynamics. By shifting the focus away from such, it is further argued that Sida risks reproducing colonial images of underdevelopment and vulnerability as inherent to marginalized groups and as especially inherent to women. This study further suggests that Sida’s consolidating of power asymmetries in discourses is partially explained by the intertwining of institutions and discourses in the international development arena. The reasons behind the power of the identified discourses are argued to serve the maintenance of global hierarchies based on constructions of race and sex, in order to ensure a status quo in the capitalist process of accumulation by dispossession, which continues to benefit wealthy northern countries like Sweden.

<p>The purpose of the first paper is to serve as a critical review of the international student research. Particularly, the paper will explore current barriers in international student research specifically for Asian international students. The paper will use three frameworks for the critical review: neo-racism, critical race theory, and postcolonial theory and suggest three main barriers in international student research because of this: homogenization, overemphasis on individual factors, and the impact of stereotypes present about Asians in the U.S. Based on the frameworks used for critical review and the identified barriers, the paper will explore systemic racism in the experiences of Asian international trainees and suggest recommendations to support trainees in counseling psychology.     </p> <p>The study within the second paper explored the experiences of neo-racism for 13 Asian international doctoral student participants at Purdue University using qualitative thematic analysis. The study demonstrated a wide variety of experiences with racism, including interpersonal racism and the impact of racism that participants viewed as occurring to other Asian and Asian international students in the U.S. Results indicated that participants’ experiences of neo-racism were different based on social identities, language abilities, and nationality. The study proposes implications of these experiences, including ways higher education institutions can better support doctoral students during this sociopolitical time. </p>

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