This dissertation explores how social class matters in young men’s everyday relationship to digital media. The aim is to contribute to the existing knowledge about how young people incorporate digital media in their everyday lives by focusing on the structural premises of this process. It also presents an empirically grounded critique of popular ideas about young people as a “digital generation”, about the internet as a socially transformative force, and about class as an increasingly redundant category. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with 34 young men (16-19 years) from different class backgrounds, upper secondary schools and study programmes. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu, three classes are constructed: the “cultural capital rich”, the “upwardly mobile”, and the “cultural capital poor”. The analysis shows that class, through the workings of habitus, structures the young men’s relationship to school and future aspirations. This also engenders class-distinctive ways of conceiving leisure and digital media use. Through their class habitus and taste, the young men tend to orient themselves and navigate in different ways in what they perceive as a space of digital goods and practices, endowed with different symbolic value in school and society. The “cultural capital rich” are drawn to-wards practices capable of yielding symbolic profit in the field of education and beyond, whereas the other classes gravitate towards the “illegitimate” digital culture but deal with this different ways. These findings indicate that there are social and cultural continuities at play within recent technological changes. They also expose the structural differences hidden by sweeping statements about young people as a “digital generation”. Finally, they show that class, contrary to popular beliefs about “the death of class”, still represents a pertinent analytical category.

<p><p>Syftet med studien är att undersöka i vilken omfattning gymnasieelevers skolk är ett uttryck på brister inom skolans verksamhet. Utifrån syftet har två frågeställningar framkommit: Hur påverkar skolan som institution frekvensen av skolk? Vilket förändringsarbete bör ske inom skolan för att minska frekvensen av skolk? De perspektiv studien utgår ifrån är, kontextuellt samt ungdomskulturellt. Rapporten bygger på fem utförda fokusgruppsintervjuer med elever från årskurs två och tre på gymnasiet, samt sex enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolledning, elevhälsa och lärare. Materialet har bearbetats genom noggrann avlyssning av ljudinspelningar, med fokus på att finna likheter och olikheter i det empiriska materialet. Resultatet redovisas genom att väva samman informanters svar med relevanta begrepp och teorier, samt egna reflektioner och diskussioner. Genom en tematiserad meningskoncentrering, formuleras en komprimerad version av vad informanterna uttalat under intervjuerna. Som komplement till detta lyfts specifika uttalanden från våra informanter, genom citat som enligt oss bör belysas extra. Resultatet visar på en tydlig motsättning mellan personal och elever, där åsikter och erfarenheter kring fenomenet skolk skiljer sig åt i stor utsträckning. Materialet som helhet visar att relationen mellan elever och lärare på den aktuella skolan i dagsläget är ansträngd. Det resultat vi anser mest framträdande i vår studie, är faktumet att skolans gällande struktur och sociala miljö har en direkt inverkan på frekvensen av skolk. Det krävs en förändring inom skolan, i form av ett nytänkande, där elevens unika behov och välmående ställs i fokus.</p></p> / <p>The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which high school students´ truancy is a manifestation of shortcomings in school activities. Based on our aim, we have arrived at two questions: How does the school, being an institution, affect the occurrence of truancy? How can changes in the way of working in schools, reduce the occurrence of truancy? The study is based on contextual, and youth culture perspectives. The report is based on five focus group interviews with students from grade two and three in Swedish upper secondary school, and six individual semi-structured interviews with the school management, student health group and teachers. The material has been processed by carefully listening to audio recordings, focusing on finding similarities and differences in the empirical material. The results have been reported by weaving answers together from the interviews with relevant concepts and theories, as well as with our own reflections and discussions. A condensed version of what the informants have expressed during the interviews is retold in themes. To complement these retells, specific quotations from the informants which are considered especially interesting have been included. The results show a clear contradiction between staff and pupils, where views and experiences surrounding the phenomenon of truancy vary greatly. The material as a whole shows that the relationship between students and teachers at this school, in the current situation, is strained. The results we consider most prominent in our study is the fact that the school's existing structure and social environment has a direct impact on the occurrence of truancy. According to us, the school needs to change; the students´ unique needs and well-being should stand in focus.</p>

Syftet med studien är att undersöka i vilken omfattning gymnasieelevers skolk är ett uttryck på brister inom skolans verksamhet. Utifrån syftet har två frågeställningar framkommit: Hur påverkar skolan som institution frekvensen av skolk? Vilket förändringsarbete bör ske inom skolan för att minska frekvensen av skolk? De perspektiv studien utgår ifrån är, kontextuellt samt ungdomskulturellt. Rapporten bygger på fem utförda fokusgruppsintervjuer med elever från årskurs två och tre på gymnasiet, samt sex enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolledning, elevhälsa och lärare. Materialet har bearbetats genom noggrann avlyssning av ljudinspelningar, med fokus på att finna likheter och olikheter i det empiriska materialet. Resultatet redovisas genom att väva samman informanters svar med relevanta begrepp och teorier, samt egna reflektioner och diskussioner. Genom en tematiserad meningskoncentrering, formuleras en komprimerad version av vad informanterna uttalat under intervjuerna. Som komplement till detta lyfts specifika uttalanden från våra informanter, genom citat som enligt oss bör belysas extra. Resultatet visar på en tydlig motsättning mellan personal och elever, där åsikter och erfarenheter kring fenomenet skolk skiljer sig åt i stor utsträckning. Materialet som helhet visar att relationen mellan elever och lärare på den aktuella skolan i dagsläget är ansträngd. Det resultat vi anser mest framträdande i vår studie, är faktumet att skolans gällande struktur och sociala miljö har en direkt inverkan på frekvensen av skolk. Det krävs en förändring inom skolan, i form av ett nytänkande, där elevens unika behov och välmående ställs i fokus. / The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which high school students´ truancy is a manifestation of shortcomings in school activities. Based on our aim, we have arrived at two questions: How does the school, being an institution, affect the occurrence of truancy? How can changes in the way of working in schools, reduce the occurrence of truancy? The study is based on contextual, and youth culture perspectives. The report is based on five focus group interviews with students from grade two and three in Swedish upper secondary school, and six individual semi-structured interviews with the school management, student health group and teachers. The material has been processed by carefully listening to audio recordings, focusing on finding similarities and differences in the empirical material. The results have been reported by weaving answers together from the interviews with relevant concepts and theories, as well as with our own reflections and discussions. A condensed version of what the informants have expressed during the interviews is retold in themes. To complement these retells, specific quotations from the informants which are considered especially interesting have been included. The results show a clear contradiction between staff and pupils, where views and experiences surrounding the phenomenon of truancy vary greatly. The material as a whole shows that the relationship between students and teachers at this school, in the current situation, is strained. The results we consider most prominent in our study is the fact that the school's existing structure and social environment has a direct impact on the occurrence of truancy. According to us, the school needs to change; the students´ unique needs and well-being should stand in focus.

This dissertation explores how social class matters in young men’s everyday relationship to digital media. The aim is to contribute to the existing knowledge about how young people incorporate digital media in their everyday lives by focusing on the structural premises of this process. It also presents an empirically grounded critique of popular ideas about young people as a “digital generation”, about the internet as a socially transformative force, and about class as an increasingly redundant category. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with 34 young men (16-19 years) from different class backgrounds, upper secondary schools and study programmes. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu, three classes are constructed: the “cultural capital rich”, the “upwardly mobile”, and the “cultural capital poor”. The analysis shows that class, through the workings of habitus, structures the young men’s relationship to school and future aspirations. This also engenders class-distinctive ways of conceiving leisure and digital media use. Through their class habitus and taste, the young men tend to orient themselves and navigate in different ways in what they perceive as a space of digital goods and practices, endowed with different symbolic value in school and society. The “cultural capital rich” are drawn to-wards practices capable of yielding symbolic profit in the field of education and beyond, whereas the other classes gravitate towards the “illegitimate” digital culture but deal with this different ways. These findings indicate that there are social and cultural continuities at play within recent technological changes. They also expose the structural differences hidden by sweeping statements about young people as a “digital generation”. Finally, they show that class, contrary to popular beliefs about “the death of class”, still represents a pertinent analytical category.

From beatniks to hippies — challenging and revolving subcultural youths in Sweden 1959 to 1969 The purpose of this work has been to explore and analyse the transformation of the youth subcultures beatniks and hippies in a Swedish context between 1959 and 1969, by searching answers to the following questions: What was the background of the subcultures ? How were these subcultures established, transformed and developed in a Swedish context? What became their typical style and taste?, and in what rooms and places were these cultures practiced by Swedish youths?        Mass media, especially TV but also radio, film, books and records brought the world in and were the main reason youths in Sweden could identify themselves through foreign subcultures. They adapted most of the original style but brought in some local elements.       My studies show a close link between the beatnik-subculture and the hippie-subculture, in Sweden transformed through the mod-subculture. The freedom-movement and visions spread by “the beat-generation” were important as inspiration and guide to unite youths and challenge the national hegemony. The mod-culture established the subcultural practises in public rooms. The transnational bounds in the hippie-culture set a global perspective of the world rather than the previous regional or national perspectives.         It is shown in the study that intersectional boundaries were pushed by the subcultures. They helped to bring up equality among sexes and were a main force for women’s liberation throughout the 60’s. All classes were in some way involved in the subcultures, although they practised them in different ways.         Subcultural youth style was commercialized, popularised and became in many ways mainstream during the 60’s. These youth-cultures had a vast impact on cultural changes as well as changes in society in Sweden during the time of my research.

We chose to base our literature study on the meme phenomena. The meme is a portion of culture that is spread among us from mind to mind. Every time we learn something by copying others we use information that has been passed on from a previous person, that information can be seen as a meme. The theoretical frame for our methodology in our exam paper is founded on Forsberg och Wengström research on literature studies. Our aim is to describe to the reader in depth what a meme is and how they could be helpful in an academic and pedagogical setting.Our study will show how memes are seen predominantly as graphic designs and as artifacts for cultural representation parallel to their imagery. This means that the cultural reference is only clear to the beholder if they have corresponding prior knowledge to the reference.Our study will also show via concrete examples how this could be used in school settings and as pedagogical tools in the classroom.