Minoritetsgrupper har fått allt större uppmärksamhet i samhället, likaså har diskussioner om diskriminering på grund av hudfärg, etnisk eller kulturell bakgrund och jämlikhet fått större plats i media. Dock visar statistiken på att hatbrotten och diskrimineringen mot dessa människor ökat i Sverige. Svensklärarnas utmaning blir därför att i enlighet med Lgy11 bidra till förändringen av detta, vilket kan göras genom skönlitteraturläsning. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilken skönlitteratur eleverna inom kurserna svenska 1 och 2 läser samt hur lärarna tolkar och tillämpar det centrala innehållet om skönlitteratur med fokus på minoriteter och mångkulturalitet. Undersökningen bygger i huvudsak på en kvalitativ intervjumetod där fyra svensklärare inom den gymnasiala utbildningen och en skolbibliotekarie intervjuats. Vidare har en kompletterande kvantitativ elevenkät implementerats i studien där endast gymnasieelever deltagit. Resultaten visar på att lärarna främst arbetar med västerländska författarskap. Inslagen av kulturer utanför väst är få i skönlitteraturundervisningen och likaså är inslagen av de nationella minoritetsgrupperna.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka förekomsten av icke-västerländska författarskap i läroböcker för svenska på gymnasiet. Undersökningens grund är en pedagogisk textanalys, vilket är en form av innehållsanalys. Fyra läroböcker avsedda för svenskämnet på gymnasiet har analyserats genom en pedagogisk textanalys med såväl kvantitativa som kvalitativa inslag. Uppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkt har främst varit Edward Saids postkoloniala teori och Mekkonen Tesfahuneys tankar om ett eurocentriskt utbildningssystem. Vikten av ett etnografiskt förhållningssätt i skolan är också en del av teorin. Resultatet visar att icke-västerländska författarskap ges skiftande utrymme i de olika läroböckerna. I den lärobok med störst andel icke-västerländska författare utgör dessa 22 procent av den totala andelen författarskap, medan motsvarande andel för läroboken med minst representation är 2,5 procent. De didaktiska utgångspunkterna för hur de icke-västerländska författarskapen enligt läroböckerna ska behandlas i undervisningen skiljer sig också åt. Eftersom det finns stora skillnader både vad gäller innehåll och didaktiska utgångspunkter i olika läroböcker riskerar undervisningen i skolan att inte bli likvärdig, beroende på i hur hög utsträckning lärarna använder sig av läroböckerna i undervisningen. / The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of non-Western authorships in textbooks for Swedish at upper secondary school. The study is an educational text analysis, which is a form of content analysis. Four textbooks intended for the Swedish subject in upper secondary school have been analyzed by an educational text analysis of both quantitative and qualitative elements. Thesis theoretical base has been primarily Edward Said´s postcolonial theory and Mekkonen Tesfahuneys thoughts about a Eurocentric education system. The importance of an ethnographic approach in schools is also part of the theory. The result shows that non-Western authorships are given diverse space in the different textbooks. In the textbook with the highest proportion of non-Western writers, these are 22 percent of the total proportion authorship, while the corresponding proportion of the textbook with the least representation is 2,5 percent. The didactic starting points for how non-Western writers should be treated in teaching according to the textbooks also differ. Because of the big differences in terms of both content and didactic starting points in the various textbooks, the education in schools risk to not be equal, depending on the extent to which teachers using the textbooks in teaching.

Chaos-Gnosticism is a branch of the occult tree which through an eclectic approach tries togather all the dark, antagonistic aspects and forces from certain religions and mythologies ofthe world in order to reach back to the primeval Chaos, the stage that existed before theCreation. With a fundamental gnostic worldview the cosmos is seen as a prison, created byDemiurges, and in Chaos a total freedom rules.The philosophy (or Chaosophy to use a term used by the Chaosgnostics) has spread all over theworld during the past ten years or so. It is vital, in connection to this fact, to give the importanceto the music scene, especially the genre called black metal, for the spreading of theChaosgnostic ideas. Some of the leading bands in this genre, for instance Dissection, Watainand Arckanum, have adopted the Chaosgnostic tenets into their music and thus making theseideas more known all around the world than they otherwise would have been. That being said,it is not clear how many actual practioners of Chaos-Gnostcism there are since it is mainly anindividual religion and the handfull of orders that exist display no sorts of missionary ambitionsand are, additionaly, quite closed for outsiders.Although the first ideas of Chaos-Gnosticism emerged in Sweden in the middle of the 1990´s,an in-depth academic survey has not yet been made on the movement itself. This essay aims tochange that by putting Chaos-Gnosticism in its correct historical and occult context and also byshedding some light on the fundamental tenets and beliefsystem aswell as the importance ofnumerology and central symbols. The essay also presents the three different Chaosgnosticbranches that has emerged to date: Temple of the Black Light, with its Qabbalistic approach,Templum Falcis Cruentis, inspired by folktraditions of Central America and the biblical figureof Cain and finally Thursatrú in which the Chaosgnostic worldview is adopted on Old Norsemythology.

The aim of this study is to situate the locus of the Swedish branch of freemasonry, Svenska Frimurare Orden, in the contemporary religious landscape. The research questions are as follows: On what grounds can the Swedish branch of freemasonry be considered religious? If the Swedish branch of freemasonry is considered religious, how does it fit into the contemporary society among the plethora of new religious movements? In regard to the first question, a definition of religion is required, thus Bruce Lincoln’s theory with four domains of religion is used to decide to what extent the Swedish branch of freemasonry can be described as a religion or a religious movement. To be able to answer the second research question the four sociological narratives as presented by Meredith B. McGuire are used to analyze the results of our study.   The results are reached through examination of the common laws of the Swedish branch of freemasonry and the data found on their official website, combined with hermeneutic interpretation. Our conclusion is that the Swedish branch of freemasonry through its explicit connection to Christianity, in addition to its esoteric and occult practices both fits into a historical continuity regarding religion in Sweden, as well as with contemporary societal currents regarding new religious movements.

G. R. S. Mead is an important but neglected historical personality of the British fin-de-siècle occult, Theosophical, and post-Theosophical milieu. While previous scholars of Theosophy have portrayed the Theosophical movement as quite cohesive in nature, I argue that it might have been a lot more pluralistic, with ostensibly key Theosophical concepts being open for debate. By a careful study of Mead’s editorial activity, his debates with other Theosophists in leading occultist journal over the period 1890s through 1910s, I illustrate that Mead held alternative views of key Theosophical concepts. This gives us a clue as to how the movement of Theosophy can be characterized differently. I suggest that we speak of many different “Theosophies” rather than one singular “Theosophy” to better capture the seemingly diverse makeup of the Theosophical movement. I look at three areas wherein Mead’s views differed from those of other important Theosophists: the concept of “the Masters” as spiritual authority, which sources to turn to and how to interpret them, and the question of whether occultism should be understood primarily in theoretical or in practical terms. I propose that by seeing Theosophy as a debating ground where many different Theosophists competed over the definition of their particular kind of Theosophy, we might also better account for why so many post-Theosophical currents emerged. Lastly, Mead’s concept of “Gnosis” might have served as a bridge between his Theosophical and post-Theosophical periods, as the concept’s meaning, along with Mead’s spiritual outlook, does not appear to have changed over time. This gives some consequences to how we conceive of post-Theosophy, since he does not fit neatly within that category.

With this essay my aim is to uncover the content in the discography of the Swedish Black Metal act Watain in respect to lyrically expressed religious themes revolving around the tendencies within occulture and the Black Metal scene. To investigate the matter I have combined quantitative and qualitative analysis methods from the fields of corpus linguistics as well as content analysis, which provided me with an array of key words and their respective concordances (Key Word In Context, KWIC) in the texts. Through the analysis three overlapping main themes became apparent: satanism, gnosticism and finally apocalypticism. I described each of the themes in detail based on my linguistic findings in the corpus so as to yield a deeper understanding of the religious symbols communicated in the material and their interrelationship. The result was that neither one of these could be explained in isolation as they are all part of a larger system of philosophy, namely the esoteric movement chaos-gnosticism tied to the Swedish order Temple of the Black Light, but also products of occulture. The discussion proved that, although satanism may seem to be the thematical centerpoint in Watain’s lyrics, it is not, as this is a far too simple conclusion in relation to the complexity of the results. Instead, the content requires to be understood in terms of the dark Left-Hand Path spirituality as well as the occultural melting pot of paranormal and occult ideas. / <p>För att få tillgång till mitt korpus och mina korpusresultat hänvisar jag till min privata e-post adress hans.jonsall@gmail.com alternativt att man kontaktar mig via sociala medier.</p>

People who are racialized in Sweden as ‘Asian’—a panethnic category—come from different countries or ethnic backgrounds and yet, often face similar, gender-specific forms of discrimination which have a significant impact on their whole lives. This thesis centres women who are racialized as 'Asian', focusing on how their racialization affects, and is shaped by, their social, professional and intimate relationships, and their interactions with others—in particular, with white majority Swedes, but also other ethnic minorities. Against a broader context encompassing discourses concerning ‘Asians’ within Swedish media, art and culture, Swedish ‘non-racist’ exceptionalism and gender equality politics, the narratives of nine women are analysed through the lenses of the racializing processes of visuality and coercive mimeticism, and epistemic injustice.

This thesis is about the geopolitics of feminist knowledge and the role of the visual arts in conceiving and reconfiguring postsocialist feminist imaginaries. Its central concern is to contest the fantasy, prevalent within Western feminist theorizing, of a “lag” between Western and former Eastern Europe. The thesis explores these imaginaries on a micro scale, zooming in on the deeply personal and political artwork of a contemporary feminist and lesbian-identified Estonian artist, Anna-Stina Treumund. This partial and limited focus on Treumund’s photographic self-portraiture enables us to look into the intensities and specificities of individual experience in postsocialist space. Throughout, the thesis evokes a whirling subject as a feminist figuration. This is simultaneously a reference to the embodied and the relational structure of knowledge-systems and world-making. Drawing on postsocialist, postcolonial, queer and feminist visual culture studies, the author argues that Treumund’s art is always already embedded in the local context, as it builds on and problematizes the existing discussions of feminist generations, theorizing, activism and art practices. Combining close readings of Treumund’s artworks with contemporary theoretical debates in feminist studies, encounters with the artist and autobiographical narratives, this thesis asserts: there is no “lag”. More importantly, it is of utmost ethical and political importance to pay closer attention to geopolitical locatedness as an axis of difference that matters in contemporary feminist theorizing. / Den här doktorsavhandlingen handlar om geopolitik i feministisk kunskap och bildkonstens roll i förståelse och omskapande av postsocialistiska feministiska föreställningar. Dess huvudsakliga fokus handlar om att bestrida den i västerländsk feministisk teori ofta förekommande fantasin om att före detta Östeuropa på olika sätt ”släpar efter” i relation till väst. Doktorsavhandlingen utforskar dessa föreställningar på mikronivå då den zoomar in på det djupt personliga och politiska bildkonstarbete utfört av den samtida feministiska och självidentifierat lesbiska estniska konstnärinnan Anna-Stina Treumund. Avhandlingens partiella fokus på Treumunds fotografier i form av självporträtt möjliggör för oss att få inblick i de intensiteter och specifika förhållanden som utgör en individuell erfarenhet av att befinna sig i det postsocialistiska rummet. Genomgående i doktorsavhandlingen används det virvlande subjektet som feministisk figuration. Figurationen innebär simultant en referens till den förkroppsligade och den relationella aspekten av kunskapssystem och skapande av världen. Med utgångspunkt i postsocialistiska, postkoloniala, queera och feministiska studier av visuell kultur argumenterar författaren att Treumunds bildkonst alltid redan är inbäddad i en lokal kontext, detta sedan den växer fram ur och problematiserar de diskussioner som pågår mellan feministiska generationer, i teori, aktivism och bland konstutövare. Genom att kombinera närläsning av Treumunds konstnärliga arbete med samtida teoretisk debatt inom feministiska studier, med möten med konstnärinnan, och med självbiografiska berättelser, försäkrar denna avhandling: det finns ingen “eftersläpning”. Än mer väsentligt är att betona att det är av yttersta etisk och politisk vikt att ägna mer uppmärksamhet åt geopolitiska lokaliseringar som skillnadsskapande faktor i samtida feministisk teoribildning.

This study analyses two non-western novels used in the subject of Swedish in upper secondary school: Fatou Diomes The Belly of the Atlantic and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichies Half a Yellow Sun. Looking at how the books female main character relate to Stuart Halls theory of cultural identity, I come to the conclusion that they somewhat differently relate to an essential ”authentic” self. Salie talks explicit about a generic African soul that she possesses. Olanna never talks about anything ”authentic”, but her narrative and contrary subject positions can be read as a way of demasking her European ”white” self in favour of a truer Igbo self. I also come to the conclusion that both novels use themes of alienation related to gender structures and positioned westernness and that this kind of reading could contribute to interesting classroom discussions about a dynamic interpretation on culture and identity.

Då asylsökande åberopar sexuell läggning eller könsidentitet som asylskäl, är den egna berättelsen inte sällan den enda bevisning som finns att tillgå. Detta innebär att trovärdigheten i den asylsökandes framförande av sin berättelse tillmäts stor vikt. Tidigare forskning har funnit att trovärdighetsbedömningen i västerländska länders asylprövning påverkas av vilken handläggare som hanterar ärendet, och dennas stereotyper av sexuell läggning och könsidentitet. Förekomsten av stereotyper har härletts till kompetens- eller rutinbrist. Exempelvis har det anförts att asylprövande myndigheter och domstolar lider brist på normkritik och nyanserad kunskap i hbtq+-personers olika omständigheter och leverne. Denna studie erbjuder en annan hypotes, med utgångspunkt i etablerad politisk teori och samtida statsvetenskaplig forskning: Att ideologin romantisk liberalism präglar västerländska länders asylprövning. Det finns empiriskt stöd för att människor i västvärlden i allt större utsträckning värdesätter individuell frihet. Tidigare forskning har antagit att detta värdesättande leder till ökad tolerans och välkomnande av ökad mångfald. Ett sådant positivt förhållande ifrågasätts emellertid av flera statsvetare, däribland den svenska statsvetaren Gina Gustavsson. I en avhandling från 2014 presenterar Gustavsson en beskrivning av en romantisk gren inom liberalismen. Denna ideologi framhåller ett obevekligt, provokativt och kreativt uttryck för individens originalitet: både vad avser beskrivningar av vad människan är, och värderande utsagor om hur människan bör vara. En sådan syn, menar Gustavsson, är en förrädisk förståelse för frihet som kan urarta i intolerans, trots att den utges för det motsatta. Med ideologianalys prövas rätts- och myndighetsmaterial från ett urval västerländska länders asylprövning mot en idealtyp av den romantiska liberalismen. Resultatet är att den romantiska liberalismens frihetsideal i flera avseenden kommer till uttryck i urvalet västerländska länders asylprövning. Slutsatsen är att beslutsfattare och utredares upptagenhet av särskilda uttryck för den asylsökandes identitet, kan förstås som en manifestation av den romantiska liberalismens frihetsideal. Detta snarare än som uttryck främst för kompetens- och rutinbrist, såsom tidigare forskning konstaterat. Vidare förs en diskussion kring betydande spänningar mellan den romantiska liberalismen och mänskliga rättigheters universella anspråk. Detta särskilt avseende asylsökandes begränsade möjlighet eller avsikt att leva upp till romantiskt liberala frihetsideal. / As asylum seekers invoke sexual orientation or gender identity as a reason for asylum, their own story is often the only evidence available. This means that the credibility of asylum seeker's presentation of their story, often is given great importance. Previous research shows that credibility assessments in Western countries can differ depending on the sexual orientation and gender identity stereotypes of the case officer who is handling the case. The existence of stereotypes has been related to lack of skills or routine. For example, it is in previous research stated that asylum reviewing authorities and courts suffer from a lack of norm criticism and nuanced knowledge of lgbtq+-persons' different circumstances and living. This study offers another hypothesis, based on established political theory and contemporary political science research: That the ideology romantic liberalism characterizes the asylum procedure in Western countries. There is empirical support for the fact that people in the Western world increasingly value individual freedom. Previous research has assumed that such values leads to increased tolerance and a welcoming of diversity. However, such a positive relationship is questioned by the Swedish political scientist Gina Gustavsson. In Gustavssons’ dissertation from 2014, a description of a romantic branch of liberalism is presented, which elevates a relentless, creative and provocative expression of the individual's originality: both in terms of descriptions of what an individual is, and evaluative statements about what an individual should be. Such a view, Gustavsson says, is a treacherous understanding of freedom that can degenerate into intolerance, even though it is issued to stand for the contrary. With ideology analysis, judicial and governmental material from a sample of Western countries' asylum procedures is tested against an ideal type of romantic liberalism. The results of the analysis show that the ideal of freedom of romanticism, in several respects, can be found in the asylum procedure in a sample of Western countries. The conclusion is that decision makers and investigators' preoccupation with specific expressions of the identity of the asylum seeker can be understood as a manifestation of the freedom ideals in the romantic liberalism. This rather than a lack of skills and routine, as previous research has found. Furthermore, a discussion is held regarding that there is considerable tension between romantic liberalism and the universal claims of human rights. This particularly regarding the asylum seekers' limited ability or intention to live up to the freedom ideals of the romantic liberalism.