Scholars that study civil resistance mainly focus on factors that explain success or democratisation yet overlook what shapes an important link between the two: negotiations. This study asks why some civil resistance movements enter extensive negotiations with the regime while others do not and argues that the decision to negotiate in nonviolent campaigns is a function of a movement’s organisational capacity. Civil resistance movements with highorganisational capacity present fewer transaction costs for the regime and face fewer in-group constraints for entering negotiations. Thus, civil resistance movements with high organisational capacity are more likely to enter and conduct extensive negotiations with the regime. I test thehypothesised relationship through a structured, focused comparison of the Hirak in Algeria in 2019/2020 and the Sudanese Revolution in 2018/2019, relying on data collected through news wire reports. I find support for the hypothesis that organisational capacity matters for the scope of negotiations. However, the empirical evidence points towards the importance of the ability to shift tactics besides transaction costs and in-group constraints. Overall, this study presents a new theoretical framework, insights into the Algerian and Sudanese nonviolent campaigns and their negotiation processes and practical recommendations for civil resistance movements.

Resistance movements have become one of the most visible signs of advocating for social change, challenging an unjust system, and changing the status quo. This study aims to enhance our understanding of why some resistance movements choose a non-violent strategy, while others choose a violent one, by answering the research question: what explains the choice of violent or non-violent strategy in resistance movements? This thesis argues that when there is a presence of leaders or organisers, a movement becomes more cohesive, coordinated and able to provide protesters with an outlet for their emotions. In contrast, in the absence of a leader or organiser, a movement is expected to remain fragmented and the outbreak of violence being closer. Using the method of structured focused comparison, the hypothesis is tested on two protest movements in Tirana, Albania. Data was collected through interviews with protesters and archive research. The findings indicate that coordinated measures taken by leaders and organisers result in a cohesive resistance movement where there is a viable platform for protesters to phrase their grievances and claims for social change without resorting to violence.

This paper examines the various responses of progressive white southern clergy to school desegregation events in Arkansas. I investigate why no major white clerical movement emerged to support civil rights, arguing that internal and external factors limited their genuinely motivated witness. National and local clergy endorsed Brown for both religious and practical reasons, arguing that segregation was counter to Christian brotherhood and hurt worldwide evangelism. However, like William Chafe’s progressives in Greensboro, too many clergy worked for school desegregation but ignored African American voices, believing that their demands unnecessarily inflamed the local opposition and unfortunately urged patience and civility instead of justice. Furthermore, clerical intervention proved to be less effective than ministers expected. Sympathetic clergy experienced physical harassment and congregational opposition for speaking out, and local communities simply ignore their messages.

On July 29 2000, Uganda held a referendum to decide whether to continue with the ruling Noparty Movement system or to revert to the Multi-party platform. This research entails a qualitative content analysis of the role the media played in driving debate and understanding of the referendum and its role in the country’s democratisation process. The research is informed by Jurgen Habermas’s public sphere paradigm as well as the sociological theory of news production. The research covers Uganda’s two English dailies – The New Vision and The Monitor, examining whether they provided a public sphere accessible to all citizens and devoid of ideological hegemony. It concludes that the newspapers were incapable of providing such a sphere because of the structural nature of Ugandan society and the papers’ own capitalistic backgrounds and ownership interests. The research concludes that such English language newspapers published in a country with a low literacy rate and low income levels, can only provide a public sphere to elite and privileged sections of society. A case is then made that multiple public spheres would be better suited to represent the views of diverse interest groups.

After World War II some people from all over Europe started to say that the destruction of the European Jews never happened. This article is written to compare the argument the Holocaust deniers are using against science document. The materials that have been used for this comparison are the books “Dog verkligen 6 miljoner? Sanning till sist” and ”En tom säck kan inte stå” which are the Holocaust deniers material. From the other side I have been using the Swedish states internet side Forum för levande historia, the site of Världens historia and the documentary of Auschwitz from BBC. The arguments will be studied from post fact theory specters, were I will compare the facts from the two sides and put them together. I will do that by look how the arguments from the two sides are built. I have also made questions that I have been asking by email the two sides. The Holocaust denier’s sides are the Swedish party called Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen (Nordic resistance movement) and the other side is Forum för levande historia (Forum of living history). The result that this study will show are when you put all the arguments from the Holocaust deniers together, their argument will not be as strong as when they are by them self.

The purpose of this essay was to analyse the way two Swedish parties, The Swedish Democrats and the Nordic Resistance Movement, represent women in articles written for members of their parties. The qualitative analysis was done on a small number of articles using Norman Faircloughs Critical Discourse Analysis and with the theoretical framework of mainly Frank Ankersmits aesthetic representation, but also metapolitics and red and blue pill. The main questions that has been answered are how women are represented in the articles, i.e. what roles they are given, and how this is motivated, including also how women can be attracted to these discourses. The result of this essay has shown that the discourses uses by the two parties are connected in a way, to support each other, instead of putting forth other arguments. The role of the woman as mother and wife works because as a part of it, her role is also to support men. Without that he cannot be the man he is supposed to be, and the woman cannot either, because feminism is destroying that possibility.

The presented doctoral thesis deals with the hitherto neglected personality of the Slovak politician Ivan Markovič (1888-1944). The aim of the thesis is to clarify the political activity of Ivan Markovič, to analyze his ideological anchoring and to increase the overall awareness of his person in the context of Czecho-Slovak relations in the first half of the 20th century. The thesis is divided into four chapters and an epilogue, while the individual chapters are devoted to the study of various time and thematic contexts in which Markovič was active. The first chapter introduces the research into the broader context of Czecho-Slovak relations and the background of the first years of Markovič's life. The second chapter examines his work as the founder and editor of the magazine Prúdy in the period before the outbreak of the First World War. The third chapter deals with his activities in the resistance movement abroad during the war. Finally, the fourth chapter deals with the activities of Markovič in the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party and his involvement in the top politics of the interwar Czechoslovak Republic. The epilogue presents the last years of Markovič's life as a political prisoner in Nazi concentration camps and outlines the destinies of his family. For the research of...

Studien “Harmlös - eller inte?”  undersöker memes skapade av den högerextrema organisationen Nordiska motståndsrörelsen (NMR) för att se hur de framställer etablissemanget i  kopplat till covid-19. Studien undersöker även hur dessa memes är konstruerade. Memes är ett framgångsrikt digitalt verktyg som används på internet. Deras största kännetecken är ironi och humor. På senare tid har memes även börjat användas som opinionsverktyg då de levererar budskap snabbt och effektivt. Högerextrema organisationer i synnerhet använder memes särskilt flitigt för att nå ut och locka nya följare. Teorier som använts för att uppnå studiens syfte är representationsteorin, ideologier samt teorin om intertextualitet. Analysen har genomförts på 13 memes i bild- och textform genom en kritisk diskursanalys baserad på en anpassad version av Carvalhos (2008) modell för diskursanalys. Analysstegen som används är layout & struktur, objekt & aktörer, språk, grammatik och retorik samt ideologiska ståndpunkter. Resultatet visar att Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen i sina memes anpassar nyheter som rör coronapandemin till att passa sin fiendebild. NMR framställer etablissemanget som något främmande och opålitligt i samband med Covid-19. NMR använder humor, ironi och satir för att kritisera makthavarna. Dessutom finns starka kopplingar till högerextrema idéer, bland annat antisemitism, homofobi samt våld- och dödshot. / The study "Harmless - or not?" examines memes created by Swedish far-right organization The Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) to see how they portray the establishment in connection with covid-19. The study also examines how these memes are constructed. Memes are a successful digital tool used on the internet. Their biggest characteristics are irony and humor. Recently, memes have also started to see use as tools of opinion-making, as users can derive meaning from them quickly and efficiently. Right-wing extremist organizations in particular use memes particularly extensively to reach out and attract new followers. Theories used to achieve the purpose of the study are ideology, the theory of representation and the theory of intertextuality. The analysis has been carried out on 13 memes in image and text form through a critical discourse analysis based on an adapted version of Carvalho's (2008) model for  discourse analysis. The analysis steps used are layout & structure, objects & actors, language, grammar and rhetoric as well as ideological positions. The result shows that the Nordic Resistance Movement in its memes adapts news related to the corona pandemic to fit its image of the enemy. NMR portrays the establishment as something alien and hostile in connection with Covid-19. NMR uses humor, irony and satire to criticize those in power. In addition, there are strong links to right-wing extremist ideas, including anti-Semitism, homophobia and threats of violence and death.

This study investigates Hizb'allah's successful but competing dual development as an extra-institutional Shi'a social movement and an institutional political party. Hizb'allah has traditionally been studied from the perspective of one of its many natures, such as a social movement, Islamic movement, resistance, or political party, each perspective bringing with it limitations and differing interpretations of its identity, motivations, and success. The motivation behind this research was to seek an interpretation of the movement's development and success that would encompass these multiple natures. Through an interpretation of social movement ‘life-cycles', a social movement ‘development model' is proposed that accounts for contradicting theories on the ‘success' of social movements, interpreting success instead as an ability to exhibit simultaneous institutional and extra-institutional natures. The hypothesis provided in this work is that it is an ability to simultaneously exhibit institutional and extra-institutional natures that can be a source of strength and success for a movement, drawing capital from both while avoiding accountability that typically accompanies institutional politics. This challenges traditional theoretical approaches in terms of linear life-cycles with few paths for the social movement to choose from. In turn, questions arise regarding notions of social movement life-cycles being uni-directional, continuously progressing towards ‘institutionalization' or demise. Ideas of an ‘end-date' or ‘inevitable outcome' of social movements are also confronted. This interdisciplinary study is conducted by means of media, archival, and empirical research (participant observation, interviews, and surveys), focusing on changing constituent perceptions of the movement between 1985 and 2013. It is also argued that Hizb'allah's strength is its ability to draw from both extra-institutional and institutional resources while simultaneously avoiding accountability. However, it was also found that, by forming the 2011 governing coalition, the movement upset this balance by subjecting itself to accountability inherent in governance, in turn leading to ‘schizophrenic behaviour' as Hizb'allah sought to serve conflicting constituent and state interests. The significance of this research is that it not only provides an explanation for Hizb'allah's success, but also provides an interpretation of social movement development that accounts for multi-natured movements.