Building peace and preventing the emergence of new and existing conflicts is one of the fundamental objectives of the United Nations, seen as deep down as in the charter of the organization. As the United Nations has existed for some time their peacebuilding framework has changed on several occasions, with the most recent change taking place in 2016. This paper is concerned with how this new United Nations approach to peace from 2016 has changed the way in which the United Nations understands peacebuilding. As this paper is focused on peacebuilding, this study applies the theoretical lenses of Liberal peace theory, critical peacebuilding and Scandinavian peace theory to critically examine the current United Nations approach as well as the previous approach to peacebuilding. The use of the ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach allows for the identification of how the peace frameworks of the United Nations problematizes peacebuilding, the underlying assumptions as well as the effects. From this, it is determined that the new/current United Nations approach to peacebuilding has not significantly changed. Both frameworks are characterized by state-centricity with a focus on the necessity of liberal-democratic values being in place in order for sustainable peace to be achieved. The findings did show that the new approach emphasizes more interaction with local actors in the peace process however this emphasis was underpinned with a focus on peace through the state and not through the local.

Archaeology and art history are two disciplines that have a lot in common, especially in the pre-historic field where both disciplines rely on the same material – artifacts. Interdisciplinary methods have become increasingly more common the last few years and are very beneficial as it allows for more insight and variables into the study of the human pasts. This thesis aims to develop two methods from art history into methods fitting for archaeological material to investigate what type of information this can produce. The methods used are material analysis and spatial analysis. Spatial analysis studies human movement within an urban space, but this work considerer the placement of the individual within the grave instead as well as the grave goods. The method investigates how the placement of the grave goods relates and interacts with each other and the individual. The analysis can give clues and insight on who the buried individual was, their identity, and social role as well as giving indicators about the contemporary society the person lived in. When a spatial analysis is made it is favorable to carry out a material analysis as well. This is done to understand what type of materials the grave contains and what the material can tell. This will give depth and possibilities to understand the objects in the grave, their use, and the relationships they had to the individual. The material analysis in this paper is conducted with the help of an analysis scheme which is a tool that helps collect the same type of information from all the studied objects. The material that will be used are two ship burials from Valsgärde, 12 and 15, also known as the twin-graves as they are the only contemporary ship burials out of the grave field’s total of 15 ship burials. During the Viking age, it was common practice amongst the elite families to bury their dead in ship burials that included lavish gifts. Valsgärde in Uppland, Sweden, is an example of such a grave field with a long history. Graves from the Viking age, however, show the change that was present in the region, and traces of trade to the east can be found. Graves 12 and 15 are from the mid-10th century and some of the grave goods show influences from the east, both clothes, and items. The graves are the only of their kind at Valsgärde and even though they show the foreign impact they still follow the established grave traditions that Valsgärde have carried since the 6th century. The result from ship burials 12 and 15 are compared to Birka’s graves Bj 581 and Bj 944 who is similar in content, time and richness. The hope for this paper is to show how useful interdisciplinary methods can be, in this case, spatial analysis and material analysis with analysis scheme, to bring new aspects to graves and grave goods.

This thesis unravels the deeper meanings attributed to ordinary objects, such as clothing and food, in thirteenth-century Icelandic literature and legal records. I argue that women weaponized these ordinary objects to circumvent their social and legal disadvantages by performing acts that medieval Icelandic society deemed masculine. By comparing various literary sources, however, I show that medieval Icelandic society gradually redefined and questioned the acceptability of that behavior, especially during the thirteenth-century. This is particularly evident in the late thirteenth-century Njal’s Saga, wherein a woman named Hallgerd has been villainized for stealing cheese from a troublesome neighbor. If Hallgerd were a man, this behavior would have been considered rán, which was a masculine act whereby men challenged one another to take things by force. As a woman, however, Hallgerd’s clever use of ordinary objects was unsettling to men; her act, although mirroring the masculine expectations of rán, has been condemned by the author. Thus, by emphasizing the anxieties of men regarding such behavior, it is evident that later male authors, particularly those writing from the late thirteenth century onwards, considered this behavior as preventing society’s progression away from extra-legal conflict resolution. In doing so, the author of Njal’s Saga demonstrated that both women and men were aware of the power that these ordinary objects had in the hands of ambitious women, as well as how potentially dangerous and harmful to society they could be.

Nowadays actors within the business context are presented with a vast menu of different ideas which they can potentially adopt. This begs the question why actors choose to adopt a specific idea out of all the other available options. Our study explores the theoretical topic concerning travel of ideas, through the empirical context of leaders who practice extreme athleticism. The research question is: How and why do leaders adopt the idea of extreme athleticism? To answer this question, we assort several theoretical insights into six themes that are foremost predicated upon Scandinavian institutionalist contributions. The six themes are translation, previous practices, strategic purposes, fashion, legitimacy, and field, which is synthesised into a novel conceptual framework to help us understand how and why actors adopt an idea. The study is qualitative and collects data from 12 semi-structured interviews and 48 newspaper articles. Our main finding is that each of the six themes explored in this study are salient and helps us understand how and why actors adopt an idea, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. A suggestion for further research is therefore to develop and refine the conceptual model presented in this study.

Tourism industry plays an important role in developing countries like Thailand. An acccommodation is a key expense of almost every trip, therefore accommodation development need to be taken into account in order to attract target tourists from other countries. The long-stay tourism is important since the longer the tourists’ stay means the more receipts spent. Subsequently, many studies have been focused both on the tourism and real estate sides about long-stay accommodation in various types. Long-stay tourism in Thailand is an outstanding tourism alternative. Tourists from high cost of living, cold countries and aging population are the target market as we can see from the Americans, Europeans and Japanese tourists. Accordingly, future demographic structure is expected to increase so that cause emerging niche market called retirement home as a sub-set of the long-stay tourism. This thesis analyzes the attributes of the long-stay tourism in Thailand. The Scandinavian tourists are selected case studies according to their qualification and potential to be prospective customers. The opinions from the demand side, Scandinavian tourist-investors, were collected. Currently many projects of the Scandinavian are in the markets and will continue more as a consequence of predictions following tourism trend. In contrast, the study shows that there are some obstacles, which decelerate the growth of this market. Government policy is key to drive tourism and real estate sector to get along together. Until now, there is no exact solution but some alternatives from relevant market in sample countries were exemplified in order to develop tourism accommodation with the long-stay tourism in Thailand later on.

The Scandinavian Caledonides formed as a result of collision between the continents Baltica and Laurentia, in Silurian and Early Devonian time. The evolution of the orogen has been a topic of research since before the turn of the last century. However, there are still uncertainties regarding the character and timing of the orogenic processes involved in the formation of the Caledonian orogen. Identification and study of high-pressure terranes are a key to understanding the processes involved, and such terrains are found in Jämtland, central Sweden. The most well-known location is Mt. Åreskutan. This study focuses on the Helags Mountain, a locality potentially equivalent to Mt. Åreskutan. It has combined structural and mineralogical studies, pressure and temperature esti-mates, and monazite geochronology, in an attempt to obtain an overview of the metamorphic his-tory.The Helags Mt. geology, as on Åreskutan, is dominated by a klippe of high grade gneisses, overlying lower grade schists and amphibolites, both typical of the middle and lower part of the Seve Nappe Complex in the Swedish Caledonides. The gneisses are dominantly felsic and contain garnet. Two episodes of garnet growth, likely separated in time, are observed in the gneisses. The first episode probably took place in the presence of melt, as is evident from the presence of inclusion of so called nanogranites. This is further supported, but not fully confirmed, by observed homo-genization of the garnet core chemistry. Such processes take place at high temperature, above 700°C. Pressure estimates are less well defined and indicate about 1 GPa during this first garnet growth event. This event may be related to the observed migmatisation. The second garnet growth episode took place at lower pressure and temperature conditions, and similarities with garnet observed in studies elsewhere indicate a connection with shearing and emplacement of the Middle Seve unit. However, no garnets were observed in the studied shear zone, and it is with the available data not possible to confirm a relation to a specific event. Monazite geochronology has contributed Caledonian ages (400-480 Ma) but has not yielded any precise results with regard to the timing of the migmatisation and thrusting. / Den svenska fjällkedjan har en lång historia. Dess nuvarande utformning är ett resultat av att Iapetus-havet, en föregångare till dagens Atlanten, slöts och de tidigare kontinenterna Baltica och Laurentia kolliderade. Trots att fjällkedjan studerats flitigt sedan före sekelskiftet är det mycket som är okänt om de geologiska processerna som varit en del av bergens utveckling. För att bättre förstå fjällkedjans ut-veckling studeras bergarter från områden som varit särskilt kraftigt påverkade. Flera sådana områden påträffas i Jämtlandsfjällen. Denna studie har fokuserat på Helagsfjällets område, beläget i södra delen av Jämtlands län. Studier av det särskilt motståndskraftiga mineralet granat från områdets bergarter har tillsammans med dateringar av mineralet monazit givit ny information om områdets geologiska historia.Helagsfjällets geologi, liksom den välstuderade Åreskutan, utgörs av en enhet av granatförande gneisser, vilken överlagrar en undre enhet av lägre omvandlingsgrad. Detta är typiskt för den mellersta och lägre delen av det så kallade Sevekomplexet. Två generationer granater tyder på att minst två geologiska processer, skilda åt i tid, påverkat områdets bergarter. Den första av dessa granatgenerationer uppvisar bland annat inneslutningar vilka tolkas som bevarade delar av en tidigare smälta. Det är möjligt att denna granatgeneration är relaterad till den tidiga händelse som orsakat uppsmältning, av vilken spår kan studeras på flera platser i området. Tryck- och temperaturberäkningar visar att detta hände under tryck omkring 1 GPa, och temperaturer på över minst 600°C, kanske över 700°C. Den andra granat-generationen är mer svårtolkad. Tryck och temperatur var lägre, och likheter med granater observerade på andra platser tyder på att denna andra granattillväxt skedde i samband med skjuvning av den övre enheten, över den underliggande enheten. Försök att datera dessa två perioder av granattillväxt gav åldrar mellan 400 och 480 miljoner år. Liksom på Åreskutan tyder detta på en tektonisk historia som sträcker sig från Ordovicium till tidig Devon.

The title of this essay is "What are the effects of a cashless society on VAT evasion –A study on Denmark, Finland & Sweden". Due to an increasingly digitalized world there will be different effects on the economy. We are getting closer to a cashless society every day, but we do not know the consequences that this will have. VAT evasion has long been a problem and has been easy to go through with, due to all the payments made with cash. It would be interesting to see if there is going to be a change in VAT evasion now as we go towards a cashless society. The aim of the study was therefore to answer the question: what are the effects of a cashless society on VAT evasion. To answer this question we focused on collecting data from three Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Many articles were read on the subject before interesting data was collected to be analyzed. The data, mostly gathered from the European Central Bank, included the VATgap, number of payment terminals, number of ATMs, percentage of total payments made with cards, GDP and the Consumer Price Index for each of the three chosen countries. In the theoretical framework the theory around VAT is presented as well as a short discussion about the underlying factors on VAT evasion. There is also a section on how we have chosen to represent the cashless society and how this will be measured in the paper. In order with previous research the hypothesis of the study was formed to be that the VAT gap will decrease as we gotowards a cashless society. Multiple regressions were made on the data collected and the result analyzed. There was no significant relationship found between the VAT gap and any of the three explanatory variables. Instead the VAT gap seemed to be connected to what country that was studied. The coefficients of the variables seemed to indicate that there might be a positive relationship between the VAT gap divided by GDP and the number of payment terminals. The reason for this relationship was discussed to possibly be blamed on the fact that card usage increases the total transactions due to the speed and simplicity of card payments. In order to make the results more reliable it was suggested that the study would be enlarged to include more countries and specifically countries that are less digitalized and perceived to be more corrupt.

Drug overdose death rates in the United States have more than tripled since 1990 with more than 36,000 dying in 2008. In 2007 the estimated cost of drug use to U.S. society due to lost productivity, increased health care, and criminal justice costs was over $193 billion. Previous researchers have found that harm reduction is a viable treatment option within the field of addiction. The guiding premise in the harm reduction approach is that all people can achieve improved psychological and physiological health even if they are unable to be substance-free. However, there remains an important gap in the current literature regarding factors that may influence substance abuse counselors' use of the harm reduction model. Specific individual counselor independent variables (recovery status, education level, age, length of time in the field, and understanding of substance abuse conceptualizations) may play a role in counselors' acceptance of the harm reduction approach as a viable treatment for substance abuse. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate which variables played a role in counselors' acceptance of the harm reduction model. This research sampled 100 professional substance abuse counselors selected from the American Counseling Association (ACA) database. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to examine study research questions. Findings of this study indicated that disease and eclectic orientation conceptualizations were significant predictors of harm reduction acceptance, suggesting training targets for increasing acceptance of the harm reduction model among counselors. This is an important contribution to the existing literature and enhances social change initiatives by expanding the use of effective substance abuse treatment options.

Portland, Oregon had the potential in the 1870s to become the center of Nordic immigration to the Pacific Northwest. It was the primary urban center of the area, and the headquarters for Scandinavian mission work. In the 1870s, Nordics began to establish churches, clubs, lodges and newspapers. After the first fifty years, however, Portland's Nordic ethnicity was not as evident in the city's character as mere numbers might warrant.

The "History of the Danish Mission, 1850-1964," gives a detailed account of the Mormon "beginnings" in Denmark and attempts to trace the development of a system of proselyting and its effect upon the lives of both missionaries and converts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No attempt has been made in this study to record chronological detail to any extensive degree. Rather, emphasis has been placed on "beginnings" and major historical developments.This study includes an examination of the Scandinavian and Danish Mission records, several missionary journals and all known printed material related to the Mormon Church in Denmark. The Historian's Office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City is the chief source of information on the history of Mormon activity in Scandinavia. Most of the mission and emigration records have been assembled there. Two large manuscripts, "Scandinavian Mission General History" (1850-1920) and "Danish Mission General History" (1920 – the present), kept in several large loose-leaf folios, were most informative because they included many eye witness accounts taken from diaries, journals, letters, and newspapers. A manuscript history of "Church Emigration" provides a description of each organized emigrant company to 1869. Also the records of individual congregations and early Church periodicals were informative. The library of the Historian's Office, furthermore, has copies of all Mormon literature published in Danish--tracts, pamphlets, periodicals, and books. The Brigham Young University Library was also useful for its many books, diaries, and articles dealing with the Danish Mission. Because of the author's ability to read source material in the Danish language additional perspective was given to this study.