Filtyp
From its beginnings in 2001, the World Social Forum (WSF) has gained notice as a manifestation of ‘grassroots globalization.’ Is this new political formation of transnational activists an open space for organizations to gather, or does it constitute a social movement itself? The present study examines this debate among analysts and participants, using ethnographic data collected via participant-ob
Caregiving is emerging as a global issue, as countries around the world are facing aging populations, including China. The intent of this study is: (1) to explore what needs Chinese urban family caregivers express, and in what way they may differ depending on certain background variables; (2) to explore what support, both formal and informal, is available for them; and (3) what changes to existing
Many of the Programs, Funds and Specialized Agencies of the United Nations were founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. The purpose of the creation of these organizations has long since been replaced by new ones. This thesis addresses the challenges experienced today by three of the most prominent UN Specialized Agencies, Funds and Programs, FAO, UNICEF and WFP. The thesis' research
Virtual currencies have recently emerged at the intersection of Internet and finance, bringing unprecedented innovations in payment systems, money and finance. In particular, Bitcoin is examined as the first example of virtual currency, dating back to 2009. Ever since virtual currencies emerged, they received increased attention from public, private and societal regulators, especially in the field
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an influential global actor that in recent years has been criticised for the lack of female representation at their annual Davos summit. The WEF has justified this disparity as simply reflecting the current state of female leadership worldwide. This thesis explores both descriptive and substantive representation within the forum in order to determine whether or no
The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyze how the levels of equality and trust influenced the development of different Welfare State Regimes in Brazil and Sweden (see Esping-Andersen 1990). In order to show the relationship between inequality and trust, the dissertation utilizes Jordahl’s (2007) mechanisms which posteriorly will be related to the specific historical contexts of both coun
This paper engages in the study of identity formation in Swedish foreign policy debate. The study is situated within a broad constructivist field of research, drawing upon theoretical debates on subjectivity and the performative making of the state. The study draws upon the notion of ontological security and claims that sub-state actors, just as individuals, search for stable identities and a sens
In Kenya, the commercialization of smallholder agriculture has become an inte¬gral part of the national strategy to address the problems of economic and food poverty. Despite extensive governmental efforts to promote the transition of smallhold¬ers from subsistence-based to commercially-oriented livelihoods, a broad based transformation of the sector has not yet materialized. The thesis is based o
Large-scale mining has been declared to be a central development strategy of Colombia which has caused the emergence of resistance movements of peasant, ethno-territorial and indigenous groups. This study analyses the concept of resistance in the framework of the Afro-Colombian community of the river Yurumanguí. This community has managed to keep its territory free from externally driven mining an
Fifteen years after the adoption of UNSCR 1325, the resolution and its effects remains contested. Sweden, a champion of gender equality, was one of the first countries to adopt a National Action Plan and is now leading the push for worldwide implementation of UNSCR 1325. At the front of Sweden’s internationalist efforts is the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). Internally, the SAF acts to be a gender equ
This thesis explores a group of young Western-oriented Chinese consumers called xiaozi in Shanghai, comprised mainly by young individuals from an urban lower middle-class background who attempt at adopting a lifestyle and identity marked by a taste for fine arts and foreign culture. The study shows that by means of social distinction through taste and foreign cultural practices the xiaozi youth ca
This thesis focuses on the case of education and habilitation services in Cienfuegos, Havana, and Pinar del Rio to describe the well-being of persons with intellectual disability. The welfare of the target group is assessed through an ethnographic study of how actors from the societal sectors policy/service/household perceive that the well-being of individuals with intellectual disability is and c
Previous research has showed that Iranian immigrant women integrate easier and have a more positive attitude towards the Swedish society than Iranian men when they resettle here. In light of this, I employ a gender and social identity approach with the intent to understand the integration differences between Iranian immigrant men and women from Iran who live in Sweden. Gender and social identity t
This thesis focuses on the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) in Denmark and Norway in an attempt to gain insights into what stimulates and maintains pro-environmental behaviour. Norway stands out as an exceptional case with a significantly better marketshare of EVs than anywhere else in the world. In an attempt to shed more light on what causes these results, the study applies the theoretical framew
Global migration of both skilled and unskilled persons from developing countries to developed countries is on the increase and to understand the underlying factors behind the increase, this research examines how migration theories like pull-push factors of migration, world system theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of need explain those factors that cause migration among Nigerian university workers. I r
This study works on collective identity formation in the Gezi movement by favoring of visual frame analysis, surveys and social media resources. Seeking to understand the linkage among collective identity and the reasons of participation in a demonstration and visual art, I designed a survey on 100 people who involved or supported the Gezi resistance. Then, a visual frame analysis was conducted in
The increasing trends of immigration in the affluent North nation-states from the global South has led to the growing awareness of the problem of immigrants' political integration and their resulting participation in the existing political systems of this nation.The importance of this subject is underscored by the challenges posed to the established understanding of nation and citizenship, on
The low levels of workforce participation achieved by Sweden’s immigrants is an issue that has challenged policymakers for over 35 years. Recently, the significance of this issue in the minds of Swedish voters has been made clear, as Sweden elected the first far-right anti-immigration party into parliament in almost 20 years. In late 2010, in an effort to combat the ongoing issue, the government i
In the past few years women’s empowerment and gender equality initiatives have been under increasing pressure to measure their impact. This thesis explores the stakeholders’ experiences with the monitoring and evaluation practice with a case study of a women’s fund that provides grants to grassroots women’s organizations in South Africa. The study is based on previous research, the grassroots deve
This research is a qualitative inquiry into the experience and everyday lives of international volunteers. Given the novel aspect of international volunteering in being a social phenomenon, this research was conceived with the aim to be an explorative study and to yield new elements with implications for future research. Indeed, the research participants account for a yet unexplored area of resear
