This thesis explores the UK's media environment and aims to decide whether the media show bipolar trends in reporting about immigration during the infamous EU immigration crisis. It utilizes the Natural Language Processing AI to assess a dataset of five major publishers in the UK - The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph - through the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The focus of the analysis are the dynamics of the media space in general as well as specifics of reporting of separate publishers. The applied method is a novelty to quantitative assessment of qualitative aspects of given texts and the thesis serves as an example of successful utilization of such approach. In comparison to the previous researches conducted on similar topics, the main benefits of utilization of the AI includes the ability to assess huge datasets, assured consistency and huge innovative potential. Being able to analyze a dataset of 1813 articles quantitatively, the method is as important as the study itself.

Prisoners constitute one of the most marginalized groups of society and prison education as a field remains under-researched and under-theorized (Szifris et al., 2018). Regarding European policy documentation it “has been surprisingly invisible” (Czerniawski, 2016, p. 202). This thesis seeks to contribute to the field of prison education policy research. It critically examines prison education documents of the UK, Norway and Ireland. The theoretical framework draws from critical theory, critical discourse analysis (CDA), critical pedagogy and critical adult education as well as neoliberalism in education. CDA serves hereby both as theory and method that allows us to uncover the different ideologies and assumptions underlying the documents.  The research suggests that the policy document of the UK follows a neoliberal and narrow approach to education where the value of education is exhausted by the fact that it can fill workplace shortages. Further, prisoners are portrayed one-sided with being an offender as the main characteristic. On the other hand, Norway and Ireland represent prisoners as persons with different backgrounds, needs and feelings. Both reflect notions of critical pedagogy and critical adult education thus emphasizing the importance of fostering critical thinking through education and education for personal development. Further, it stresses the alleviating function of education in prison. However, in the Norwegian document the language remains unassertive when it comes to the applicability of the right to education to foreign prisoners in Norwegian prisons. The Irish document leaves unclear from which perspective their objectives and concepts in education are considered. Additionally, the thesis also critically discusses the need for a wide curriculum in prison, perceptions of self-responsibility and problematizes the over-reliance on measurement in education.

This thesis presents the results of a qualitative survey designed to explore the provision and promotion of LGBTQ-themed resources in UK secondary school libraries. The aim of this thesis is to understand the practice of secondary school librarians in relation to the selection and promotion of LGBTQ-themed resources. By achieving this aim the study hopes to contribute to improving LGBTQ provision in school libraries. The theoretical framework used is Theory of Practice Architectures, which falls within Practice Theory. 113 secondary school librarians completed the survey. The survey data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results found that librarians have a proactive stance on LGBTQ provision, with most actively ensuring representation and displaying great knowledge about the topic and how best to support their students. Age suitability of resources is the main concern for many respondents, with most having age-restrictions in place for borrowing. Librarians vary in their choices of how to display and advertise the resources. There is a consensus that visibility is important but that this must not be done in such a way as to deter borrowers who need privacy while accessing the literature. Current school wide policies are described as being focused on inclusion and representation, enabling school librarians to emphasize diversity in stock selection, shelving, displays and other promotions.

Gibraltar is the only dependent territory in Europe. Although it is a small area, Gibraltar mixes different factors that together form the so-called question of Gibraltar. Gibraltar belongs to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is a colony, which, however, has considerable autonomy. The process of gaining greater autonomy for the region began after the Second World War. The Gibraltar national consciousness was largely shaped by defining out against London and especially to Madrid. In this thesis I examine a process of the national consciousness from the point of view of the theories of secession. I consider the question why does the desire for independence have not yet led to an independent state? Why is Gibraltar still in alliance with the British royal crown? The research is devoted to Gibraltar and nationalism from the point of view of the Gibraltarians. Who are they? Do they see themselves as a nation? How do they justify their conviction? And are they satisfied with the existing constitutional order in Gibraltar? Using the theories of secession I conclude that the Gibraltar nation have developed to a distinctive nation. Autonomy granted to him permits decision-making in most areas. The Gibraltarians do not aspire to the independence and secession from the United...

The immigration has became the main topic in many western countries during several past years. This thesis focuses on immigration policy of the United Kingdom, where immigration represents 12,5 % of the whole population. Namely it deals with immigration policy during the premiership of David Cameron in the years 2010 to 2015. This topic is relatively recent, therefore has not been sufficiently explored. Moreover, attention is usually focused on integration policy; as a consequence thesis should contribute to mapping of actual immigration policy in the United Kingdom. This thesis examines which specific changes in immigration policy have been introduced by the government of David Cameron. Immigration policy is analyzed on base of the new Immigration Act and other documents which amended new law, then on the reforms of visa policy. The main objective of the analysis is to map immigration policy of David Cameron and reveal the specific steps taken by the government. The thesis also examines whether the development of immigration policy changes are applied to all immigrants from non-EU countries, or only to a certain type of immigrants. It also rates the achievement of stated goals of the Conservative Party.

The sale of electrically assisted bicycles (‘e-bikes’) is growing at a rapid rate across Europe. Whereas market data is available describing sales trends, there is limited understanding of the experience of early adopters of e-bike technology. This paper investigates the motives for e-bike purchase, rider experience and perceived impact on mobility, health and wellbeing through in-depth interviews with e-bike owners in the Netherlands and the UK. Findings revealed that the motive for purchasing e-bikes was often to allow maintenance of cycling against a backdrop of changing individual or household circumstances. E-bikes also provided new opportunities for people who would not otherwise consider conventional cycling. Perceptions of travel behaviour change revealed that e-biking was replacing conventional cycling but was also replacing journeys that would have been made by car. There was also a perception that e-biking has increased, or at least allowed participants to maintain, some form of physical activity and had benefitted personal wellbeing. Technological, social and environmental barriers to e-biking were identified. These included weight of bicycle, battery life, purchase price, social stigma and limitations of cycle infrastructure provision. Additional research is necessary to quantify actual levels of mode substitution and new journey generation among new e-bike owners and the impact of e-biking on promoting physical health and mental wellbeing.

The European Union is claimed to exercise significant soft power in world politics due to its numerous ‘soft power resources’ (Nye, 2004: 11) that make it attractive to international audiences. A puzzle arises, however, when we notice that despite its vast ‘resources’, the EU fails to attract the British public, as demonstrated by the recent ‘Brexit’ referendum and the low support for the Union in the UK already before it. In this paper, I challenge the dominant resource-centric understanding of the EU’s soft power by adopting a constructivist approach that links attraction between subjects to perceived collective identity between them. By studying implicit frames in the British ‘identity discourse’, I discover the EU only weakly represented in the United Kingdom’s construction of the ‘self’. Based on my results, I argue that the EU fails to attract Britons, because they perceive their country to have little collective identity with the Union.My results demonstrate that when it comes to studying soft power, the focus needs to be on the audience’s perception. Also, more attention needs to be paid to the EU’s attractiveness to its own populations particularly these days, when the Union appears threatened by increased Euroscepticism in the member states.

This thesis examines the values and attitudes of the British Army’s officer corps during the period from 1871 to 1901, and how these values were linked to those of the British landed classes. Through studying the memoirs and other writings produced by the officers of this period, this thesis confirms that the link between these two systems was extremely close, and that the landed classes’ ideas of what constituted ‘gentlemanly’ behaviour were vitally important in shaping army officers’ conduct. This thesis argues that the acceptance of these values by the officer corps was not merely a product of their own social origins, but that officers subscribed to these values because they believed them to be particularly appropriate to military service. This attachment to gentlemanly values produced a deeply imbalanced set of competencies in the officer corps’ members, the effects of which remained present in the institutional culture of the army well beyond the end of this period. / Graduate / 2021-08-28

Democratic representation is crucial in a representative democracy. To elect representatives there are several different electoral systems. In the United Kingdom a majority system, the First past the post system, is used. This study aims to investigate how the First past the post system affects the democratic representation in the British parliament. Specifically, its focus is on how the democratic representation of the British political parties is affected.  This research is carried out by conducting a case study with the British parliament and the First past the post system as the studied case. The study is done by using textual analysis as the chosen method, where various texts are used as material to be able to reach a result.  The results showed several aspects of the First past the post system that affected the democratic representation regarding political parties. It suggested that theories such as Duverger’s law are applicable to the party representation in the British parliament, indicating that the First past the post system favours a two-party system where the representation of the other parties is flawed resulting in negatively skewed democratic representation.

No / The family as a social institution is often said to be undergoing rapid change or even crisis. Commentary in the media and by policy-makers sometimes claims a `breakdown¿ of the family, asserting that intimate ties of loving and caring are becoming more individualised and self-centred, even selfish. Some scholars see this as part of a broader process whereby traditional social ties such as class, religion and family are fading away. Instead, they argue, people are `compelled to choose their own biographies¿ and personal relationships are being individually and actively chosen from a diverse range of possibilities. Statistically speaking, marriage is decreasing in popularity, whilst living alone, cohabitation and births outside marriage are increasing. But what do trends like this mean? Does this mean `family breakdown¿ or, as much in-depth family research has argued, just that the outward form of families is changing but the inner core - the value people attach to their family relationships ¿ remains central? This project tried to answer this question by examining the British public¿s attitude to different family relationships and parenting arrangements. It looked particularly at cohabitation and marriage, partnering, divorce, solo living, living apart together, same sex relationships and friends.