During the COVID pandemic of 2019, Sweden saw a huge increase in food prices, as many of the country's grocery chains import a large amount of all foods. This research is motivated by the Swedish Parliament's motion "Self-Sufficiency of Food in Sweden" and the need for innovative solutions to enhance Sweden's food supply. This study focuses on alternative urban agriculture methods, with a focus on aeroponics, aquaponics, hydroponics, and vertical farming, and their potential for self-sufficiency in Sweden. This study aims to fill the gap in Swedish research on soilless urban farming methods and contribute to the understanding and acceptance of the alternative methods above. The study seeks to determine whether the yield of alternative cultivation methods is comparable to traditional methods, soil-based and greenhouse-based farming, in terms of resources invested and to identify the alternative method with the highest yield. Resources in this thesis will be defined as the amount of water that is used. Our thesis aims to support businesses and local governance in decision-making regarding implementation of alternative urban farming in Sweden. A literature search was conducted using keywords such as hydroponic, vertical farming and sustainability. Statistical analysis of collected data indicates significant differences in yield and water usage among the collected examples which resulted in vertical hydroponic farming offering the highest yield in terms of space utilization, with significant statistical significance (p < 0.05). Additionally, hydroponic farming requires the least amount of water compared to other methods although this is not a certainty as there was no significant statistical difference between the different methods. The study demonstrates that hydroponic farming can achieve higher yields compared to traditional soil-based farming and other alternative farming methods. The study emphasizes organizational and governmental solutions to improve self-sufficiency at the local and national levels. Alternative urban farming methods offer a sustainable contribution to increasing self-sufficiency while minimizing resource usage.

Föreliggande uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur ”invandraren” i relation till brottslighet framställs i diskursen samt vilka premisser representationen vilar på. Metoden utgörs av en kvalitativ diskursanalys, diskursen utgörs av opinionsbildande texter i dags- och kvällstidningar. Det har framkommit ett antal olika konkurrerande diskurser som samspelar. Den dominerande diskurser består av en presumtiv hållning att kategorin ”invandrare” är mer kriminell än övriga kategorier. En annan konkurrerande representation är ”invandraren” som offer för främlingsfientlighet och en politiserad debatt, eller dålig socialpolitik. ”Invandraren” beskrivs i genomgående termer som offer för hög arbetslöshet, låg utbildningsnivå, fattigdom, isolering och dålig integrations- och migrationspolitik. Inte sällan förekom samtliga representationer tillsammans. Sättet att beskriva ”invandraren” som mer utsatt och i behov av ”vår” hjälp bidrar till en reducering av ”invandraren” som ständigt i behov av sociala åtgärder, detta i sin tur kan förväntas bidra till en bild av den framtida förbrytaren.

Abstract:

In 2011, the Libyan and Syrian crises caught the attention of the media and international society. Whereas the former reached a positive outcome in compliance with the application of the Responsibility to Protect norm, the latter continues to claim the lives of thousands of people to this day. Despite calls by the international community, China and Russia continue being an impediment for the adoption of measures in Syria in the name of the Responsibility to Protect. Their arguments are in line with the criticized Libyan intervention. Nevertheless, it is possible that the real reasons behind this shift of attitude from one crisis to another, are nothing more than a neo-realistic response to regional politics.

Keywords:

Libya, Syria, Responsibility to Protect (RtoP), Neo-realism, Social constructivism, China, Russia.

This thesis examines the difficulties encountered in the process of establishing the CommonEuropean Asylum System, taken from a discursive perspective. The focus of the study isthreefold; why are specific issues highlighted by the European Union Member States, how isthe discursive conflict expressed within the discourse on CEAS, and what definitions ofsolidarity are promoted by the Member States. In purpose of addressing these focuses,discourse theory, issue salience and solidarity through burden sharing are used as theoreticalframework. By applying critical method and discourse analysis, this study has managed toestablish that the security issues are among the most highlighted, whereas the geographicallocation of a Member State seems to be an explanatory factor to a Member State’s specificemphasis. Regarding the discursive conflict, the definitions of the concepts mutual trust, fairdistribution and cooperation are especially contested. Furthermore, the external dimension ofsolidarity is proven to be the precedent definition of solidarity.

Boken ger en överblick över organiseringen och den diskussion och problematik som präglar politik och förvaltning i ett pluralistiskt modernt samhälle. Frågan är t.ex. hur enskilda individers och gruppers behov av frihet och självbestämmande kan förenas med behovet av ömsesidiga hänsynstaganden och gemensamma, kollektiva angelägenheter i en demokrati. Att arbeta i politiskt styrd verksamhet innebär att man möter både praktiska och etiska problem som skall lösas i samråd med många andra inblandade aktörer. I ett avslutande kapitel i boken behandlas därför etiska frågeställningar som präglar den offentliga förvaltningen.

Implementering av politiska reformer berör centrala statsvetenskapliga problemområden. I artikeln diskuteras, med erfarenheterna från implementeringen på lokal nivå av rättighetslagen LSS, möjligheter och hinder att via sociala reformer skapa rättvisa levnadsvillkor för personer med omfattande funktionshinder.

Rapporten redovisar resultatet från en utvärdering av projektet "Regional samverkan för distansstudier i Entreprenörsregionen" som, med stöd av Nationellt Centrum för Flexibelt Lärande (CFL), pågick mellan våren 2003 och våren 2005. Utvärderingen genomfördes inom ramen för ämnet Statsvetenskap vid Sektionen för Hälsa och Samhälle på Högskolan i Halmstad, på uppdrag av projektets ledare vid Entreprenörsregionen.

This thesis is about the phenomenon filter bubble and how it affects the participant democracy. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how participant democracy is presented together with the filter bubbles in articles of filter bubbles. The questions that is answered inthis thesis is: In which way is filter bubble described in the Swedish newspapers “Dagens Nyheter” and “Svenska Dagbladet”? How is participant democracy presented in relation tofilter bubbles? The results show us that the Swedish newspapers DN and SvD is presenting the filter bubbles in their articles and has different arguments that goes within the participant democracy.

Innovationer och innovationssystem har på senare tid fått en allt viktigare roll i synen på vad somfrämjar ekonomisk tillväxt och regional utveckling. Forskning visar att statliga satsningar inominnovationspolitiken uppvisar ett prioriteringsmönster där kön synes vara en organiserandeprincip. Tekniktunga branscher som främst sysselsätter män som anställda får majoriteten av demedel som delas ut för att stödja och utveckla innovativa processer . I Halland är Hälsoteknik etts.k. prioriterat tillväxtområde och därmed mottagare av dessa medel. Hälsoteknik har somområde en potential att vara gränsöverskridande då det sammanför mansdominerade branschermed könsbalanserade och kvinnodominerade branscher. Uppsatsen studerar om tillväxtområdetoch innovationssystemet hälsoteknik utmanar de dualistiska genuskonstruktioner som forskningvisat att den svenska innovationspolitiken bygger på, samt visar på genusperspektivets relevans iatt synliggöra obalanser i strukturer som kan verka tillväxthämmande.

This thesis, as a case study, focuses on the perspective of foreign news reports on Taiwan’s first time hosting an international multi-sport event, the World Games 2009 in its biggest port city Kaohsiung. The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung, the significant Olympic type mega-event as to Taiwan, is applied as the approach to public diplomacy and soft power for the purpose of expanding Taiwan’s international space. It is expected to raise publicity and mass media exposure to boost Taiwan’s international profile and spur its tourism industry. From Taiwan’s image-marketing strategy, practices to foreign news reports, it outweighs to study foreign media’s reflection on Taiwan and the World Games 2009 as the important evaluation on the mega-event as a whole. This thesis attempts to answer two research questions: How was the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung reported by the foreign media? Did hosting the World Games improve Taiwan’s image? It presents the results and perspectives of foreign news reports by qualitative methods: case study and discourse analysis of online-English news reports and some quantitative methods applied on data. It combines news reports study with theory, model of public diplomacy, mega-event and expected-model. Within 101 pieces of online-English news found related to the World Games 2009, it unveils fruitful results such as the failure of interpreting the core story (Taiwan’s images and values) by foreign media during the sporting extravaganza, and it echoes Rivenburgh (2004)’s three viewpoints toward the Olympic type event (intercultural challenges, less news about host country’s culture and dramatic news). By the amount of news and the absence of foreign media on the press conference indicates that foreign media did not pay much attention to the World Games and Taiwan. In spite of reporting the sports and games, other major topics of reports were Taiwan’s hosting the event, the greenest solar-powered stadium designed by Japanese, Toyo Ito, Chu Chen’s promotion itinerary to Beijing and China’s absence on the opening and closing ceremony which triggered foreign media’s great concern.

Syftet med föreliggande uppsats är att utifrån ett teoretiskt och begreppsmässigt ramverk, bestående av en diskussion kring demokratiteori, governance, samstyre och deltagande, att genomföra en analys av samstyret i naturumprocessen. Förloppet kring naturum utgjorde en betydande del i processen kring bildandet av Kosterhavets nationalpark. Karaktäristiskt för naturums samstyre har varit att företrädare för myndigheter från nationell, regional och kommunal nivå har styrt och samarbetat tillsammans med företrädare från lokal nivå. De aktörer som har ingått i samstyret har varit Naturvårdsverket, Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland, Strömstads kommun, Kosternämnden och helårs- och delårsboende kosterbor. Fokus finns framförallt på medborgarnas och Kosternämndens deltagande. Kosternämnden är en partiopolitisk nämnd och ett deltagardemokratiskt forum som har bildats på Kosteröarna i Strömstads kommun i norra Bohuslän. Samstyret analyseras med hjälp av en analysmodell som har konstruerats med utgångspunkt från det teoretiska ramverket. Det metodologiska tillvägagångssättet har inneburit att naturumprocessen har spårats bakåt och kartlagts med hjälp av intervjuer med de aktörer som har varit involverade i samstyret. En dokumentanalys har genomförts av dokument från myndigheter, från Strömstads kommun, från Kosternämnden, från olika webbsidor och från Strömstads Tidning.

Resultaten visar att naturums samstyre har varit funktionellt på ett övergripande plan. Likväl har legitimitets- och förtroendekriser kunnat identifieras som går att härleda till beslutsprocessens utformning och de lokala aktörernas, Kosternämndens och helårs- och delårsboendes kosterbors, deltagande. För att bedriva samstyresprocesser krävs resurser, processledning och kommunikations- och deltagandeplaner.

This paper examines the different attitudes of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the United States of America with regards to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint inter-Korean economic project located in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The paper uses the theoretical framework of Social Constructivism to analyze the different ideas available in the political discourse of both actors with regards to North Korean policy in general and policy towards Kaesong specifically. The paper relates these ideas to the positions both actors have taken with regards to the inclusion of Kaesong products in the S. Korean-U.S. FTA.

The article examines a key priority in European Union policy toward the east and south: the effort to turn the external border areas into secure, stable, and prospering regions via support for cross-border cooperation. This features highly in a range of policies brought together under the European Neighbourhood Policy and in the partnership with Russia. The main question asked by the article is if these policies live up to the goal of involving local actors. Based on a content analysis of pro- gram documents and a categorization of project partners by actor type, the article argues that the notion of “local” can be subject to various un- derstandings, but if we understand local versus regional along the lines of the European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) classification, the policy in practice is undoubtedly tilted toward regional rather than local cross-border cooperation. In addition, the article argues that the four objectives of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument-Cross Border Cooperation (ENPI-CBC) do not match what could realistically be achieved with the resources available. © 2019 Berghahn Books

The Defense Bill of 2020 meant a significant increase in investment in the Swedish defence. Even if the investment is not comparable to the rearmament during the Second World War and it does not reach the same level as the Swedish armed forces of the Cold War neutrality had, the investment constitutes a change of trend. During little over a decade, the defence has gone from being described as a “special interest”, constantly exposed to reductions, to now being the subject of investments that mean that the Armed Forces is re-established in several places in the country. Capabilities and units that have been the subject of reduction discussions will be reinvigorated and the operational capability will increase. The period has also involved investments in, the almost dismantled, total defence in order to increase society's resilience and the protection of its citizens. With this dissertation, the authors want to investigate whether the changes in defence and security policy over the past decade can be described according to a theoretical frame of reference of realism and liberalism. The dissertation’s main empirical material consists of foreign and security policy documents and declarations from the periods 2008/09, 2014/15 and 2019/20. These documents are examined qualitatively with a method for thematic analysis and changes in the empirical result are analysed according to the ideal types of realism and liberalism. The inquiry’s conclusions show that the defence policy changes can be described according to the ideal types of realism and liberalism, and Swedish defence policy has in several respects gained an increased element of realism even though the ideology is consistent. Some documents describe it as a paradigm shift. 

In this article, we investigate local level reactions to the top-down state steering for the housing of refugees in Sweden. We especially reflect on events after the increased refugee reception in Sweden in 2015 and the introduction of a Settlement Act in 2016 which made it mandatory for municipalities to receive a specific number of refugees and organise accommodation. This has resulted in a wide array of housing situations for refugees concerning standard, costs and temporary solutions. A multi-level governance framework from on central government steering perspective is applied. We argue that the modified legislation can be understood as a change in governance throughout the years — from persuasion to economic incentives and, finally, to coercive methods. Sweden is a country that has distinguished itself as one refraining from particularity and continuing to work towards equality between newcomers and citizens. In relation to recent legal and political developments, we identify a change — a paradoxical change, as governance for the more-equal reception of refugees in Sweden seems to lead to increased inequalities for refugees on the local level. © 2021, The Author(s).

The purpose of this study is to examine the party leader of the Swedish democrats, Jimmie Åkesson. The aspects that we look into is if there are any rhetorical differences in his speeches at Almedalen the year of 2011 and 2018. Along with the rhetorical side the other aspect that will be examined is the differences in ideas and ideological roots that shines through at the two different speeches at Almedalen. In order to point out differences we used two different methods. The method used in the rhetorical spectrum is based on Bo Rhenbergs steps to analyse political speeches. For the part that focuses on what ideas that mediates and which types of ideological roots his speech derives to, we used Mats Lindbergs analysis to identify values and an own constructed model based on literature regarding ideologies for the ideological analysis.  What we find in the rhetorical analysis is that Åkesson's rhetoric has changed marginally. It appears that he uses more of ethos' argumentation at the number 2018 than at 2011. Åkesson thus uses much of all the three rhetorical aspects. It also appears that the shift between the different styles Åkesson uses to convey the speech to the audience changes something between them both years. ​In the idea and ideological analysis, here too, the differences are relatively small. The actual differences in which values ​​the speech contains are few, but they exist. Differences are not based on the fact that the party or Jimmie Åkesson has changed values ​​and started to lean more to the right or to the left, instead the differences lie on which topics are in focus. 

After the cold war the border or epicenter in the conflict between east and west has moved

north. From central Europe to the Baltic sea region. The Åland archipelago in the middle of

the Baltic Sea, is a military strategic interest for many actors in the Baltic Sea. Demilitarized

and neutral according to international law. This thesis will study the Swedish, Finish, Russian

and Nato perspective of which impact Åland has a on national security policy and military

strategy for the Baltic region. What are the mechanisms and strategic motives for the actors in

using Åland for military purposes. Will the international agreements concerning Åland have

any effect in armed conflict?

This case study is performed as a qualitative study based on Graham Allison and Philip

Zelikows book Essence of decision which will also serve as frame of reference for the thesis.

In order to understand Ålands special status according to international law, we have made a

historic exposé which aims to give the reader the background needed to understand the islands

significance, both historically and present. The analysis is based on four perspectives; The

actors ideological position, The rational actor model (RAM), Organizational behavior and

Governmental politics.

The result of this study shows that Åland will not be left untouched in case of a conflict in the

Baltic area. Due to the geographic position of the islands it will be affected regardless of its

status in accordance with international law. The motives for using Åland for military purposes

can be found with all our four actors with regards to the islands strategic location. The one

who can control Åland will also increase his ability to control sea and airspace in the northern

Baltics. He will also be able to control the sea lines of communication in to the bay of

Bothnia. The incentive to re-militarize Åland and use the island for own military purposes

however varies with the four actors. We have found that the incentive is strongest with

Finland and Sweden and very limited with Russia and Nato. Ålands status as demilitarized

and neutral will probably not have any big significance in an armed conflict in the Baltic sea

area. However, it may delay military intervention on Åland but not stop it.

The aim of this thesis is to gain a deeper knowledge of how the individual and its rights and duties is portraited against the state, in the question of the abolition and reincorporation of the Swedish conscription and has it occurred a dislocation in the relation between the two. To achieve this a qualitative text analysis is combined with a VBF-analysis and analysing a total of four documents produced by the Swedish state, concerning the conscription. Two of the documents affect the abolition and the remaining two the reincorporation. To be able to examine how the individual’s rights and duties are looked upon by the state, three political philosophies, libertarianism, liberal equality and communitarianism, were used as the theoretical framework. The results of the study show that the view of the individual´s rights and duties has changed from the abolition of the conscription to the reincorporation. Where the abolition was dominated by libertarianism and the reincorporation had a clear communitarian view.

Kandidatuppsatsens syfte är undersöka tesen De amerikanska drönarattackerna är legitima, och genom att analysera folkrättsliga normer, suveränitetsprincipen, rapporten om The Responsibility to Protect, FNs stadga och säkerhetsrådets resolutioner och lyfta fram de argument som stödjer eller undergräver tesen. Uppsatsens metodologiska del handlar först om en idékritisk kvalitativ textanalys där dokument och texter analyseras, och sedan ska en argumentationsanalys där en pro et contra-lista skapas av de argument som textanalysen lyfter fram, detta för att få en djupare förståelse för hur komplext internationell rätt är ur en normsättande vinkel och varför politiker och experter kan ha svårt för att enas om en gemensamma tolkningar av det normativa ramverket som styr agerandet i väpnade konflikter. Kandidatuppsatsens syfte är att enbart titta på de juridiska aspekterna, och därför utlämnas andra aspekter såsom etiska, moraliska, ideologiska med flera från denna forskning.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka förutsättningarna för implementeringen av tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning på Arbetsförmedlingen. Vidare ska intentionerna med tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning undersökas för att ställas gentemot tjänstemännens förutsättningar. Implementeringsproblematik är något som kan förekomma om rätt förutsättningar inte finns bland dem som ska implementera. Förutsättningarna har i uppsatsen undersökts med hjälp av Lundquists tre implementeringsvillkor – förstå, kan och vill. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts som metod och genomförts med tjänstemän på Arbetsförmedlingen och med organisationschefen för att besvara syftet och frågeställningarna. Uppsatsen redogör för den tidigare forskning som är relevant och går vidare in på det teoretiska ramverket som ligger till grund för studiens analys. Resultatet visar att tjänstemännen förstår vad som efterfrågas av dem och har kompetens för att genomföra arbetssättet. Deras motivation ökar vilket innebär att viljan finns där. Men det finns inte tillräckligt med resurser i form av tid, pengar och personal för att kunna genomföra deras uppdrag utifrån tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning. 

Seven years ago the Swedish government launched a Regional Reform Programme with the aim of establishing a new intermediate level of governance alongside the national level and that of the local municipality. The conditions for achieving constructive institutionalization differ considerably in Skåne and Västra Götaland, the two regions participating in the pilot programme. However, the level of citizen participation (i.e. voter turnout in regional elections) in the two regions does not differ--in both regions, citizens have demonstrated tremendous indifference towards the new fora. One reason for this could be that the reform has to a very large degree been built on traditional political structures, which in turn have suffered a loss of credibility in the past decades. There might, however, also be reason to question the often presupposed link between a region's degree of socio-cultural consolidation and its acceptance as a vital and meaningful political entity.

The thesis has focused on John J. Mearsheimers theory of offensive realism and applied it onto the contemporary relations between People´s Republic of China, Russian Federation, and the presence of United States in Europe and the Asian-Pacific region. The thesis concludes that the probability of war is moderate, due to the current balance of military power in each respective region. China is actively challenging the United States both militarily and politically in the international community, albeit without successful results. Russian hegemony in Europe is balanced and kept in check by the NATO alliance, which the United States is an integral part of. The Sino-Russian relations are marked by an overall respective tone between the two powerful Asian states.

The thesis concludes through a mixed-method-design that the balance is currently maintained between the three states, but any deviation one way or another risk overthrow the world into an unbalanced state which is by far the deadliest, according to Mearsheimer's offensive realism.

For the last couple of years, European environmental risk assessment (ERA) regulations have undergone significant changes. The new 1107/2009 directive which came into effect in 2011 has triggered an on-going debate on defining specific protection goals for ERA. During this period, we conducted a study on policy change among the most influential ERA stakeholders from Europe. We interviewed 43, purposively sampled, participants from the European safety authorities, plant protection product industry and academia. Transcribed interviews underwent thematic analysis conducted separately by two coders. As we followed the advocacy coalition framework, our findings focus on stakeholders processes, interrelations and values behind the ERA policy change. The main challenges emerging from our analysis turned out to be the slow uptake of scientific developments into ERA and very broadly defined protection goals. The use of safety factors and cut-off criteria left risk assessors with many uncertainties. With ERA in its current form it turned out to be impossible to determine whether the current scheme is over- or under-protective. Still, the study shows that the problem of over- or under-protectiveness lies deep in the perception of stakeholders and depends greatly on their priorities. Academics strive for better ecological relevance as a priority. They have concerns that ERA is oversimplified. Regulators worry that ERA relies too much on risk mitigation and is possibly not protective enough, but at the same time, the majority believes that the assessment is well established and straightforward to follow. Industry representatives would like to see ERA based more on probabilistic risk assessment. Recent changes, according to risk assessment and management practitioners have led to an inevitable increase in complexity, which is not perceived as a positive thing, and does not necessarily translate into better risk assessment. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

The objective of the international study Political Communication Cultures in Western Europe is to analyse the attitudes, norms, and values that drive the relationship between political actors and journalists and thereby detect the underlying patterns of political communication behaviours in Western democracies. Taken together, these orientations can be summarised under the term “Political Communication Culture” of a country.

This work, with contributions from leading scholars in the field, addresses the challenges, obstacles and opportunities for increased women's political representation in Thailand.

In Thailand, as in most other Asian countries, politics has traditionally been a male preserve. Compared to men, women have not been visible in governance and politics. Although Thailand was among the first Asian countries to grant the right to vote to women, after almost seven and a half decades’ of slow, incremental gains for women in politics, the representation of women remains no more than a blip on a political landscape dominated by men. There is still little analysis on the participation of women in politics at various levels of government in Thailand and research to date is fragmentary. However, interest in this field is growing in light of the development of democracy with the introduction of the new constitution in 1997, as well as changes in civil society. In this paper, the case of Thailand is used to achieve three main objectives. First, the position and advancement of women in the Thai parliament will be analyzed in order to contribute to research on women’s political representation in the developing world. Second, the case of Thailand will be used to test some of the assumptions and theories developed in the advanced industrialized democracies of Europe and North America concerning the impact of women in public office. Third, the major barriers facing the entrance of women into the national parliament in Thailand will be examined to see whether the Thai case is consistent with research findings on women and politics in industrial democracies of the West.

The ability of a small elite of highly educated, upper-class Asian women to obtain the highest political positions in their country is unmatched elsewhere in the world and deserves study. But there is a marked lack of relevant research as well as of comprehensive and user-friendly texts. Aiming to fill the gap is this timely and important study of the various obstacles and opportunities for women's political participation and representation in Asia.

In all times soldiers have fought wars with orders from the political ruling power. Therefore the soldier becomes the utmost instrument for implementing the political objective in conflicts. In modern conflicts, the soldier is a frontline bureaucrat. If the soldier does not understand, can, or will act in agreement with the political objective, the soldier's actions is not based on legitimacy. The polical objective with the intervention will not be accomplished.

Swedish soldiers who participated in the international forces in Afghanistan have not fully understood their government’s goals, and what the efforts aimed at resolving. Soldiers have not fully been given the practical or theoretical ability required to work with the goals of the intervention. Soldiers also showed a willingness to participate in the conflict which can not be fully regarded as being in line with the goals they are supposed to resolve. The soldier’s willingness to reach the goals has been influenced by the reality of the conflict in which the soldiers participate in. The soldier also experienced a disengagement in relation to what the political will wants to achieve, and the physical reality the soldier has been working in.