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As the notion of digitalisation make its way further into our lives and society, the educational system must modernise – digitalise – in order to stay relevant. But where is the digitalised school heading? Drawing on governmental policy documents associated with Sweden’s national digitalisation strategy, the study aims to emphasise the political dimension of the strategy in order to analyse more fundamental questions regarding the idea and ideological function of the Swedish educational system in the late modern age. Thus, the analysis follows a conceptual framework of mainly Giddens (1991) late modernity theory in order to shed light on the strategy from the angle of Giddens institutionalised tripartite dynamics of social change: time-space distanciation, disembedding mechanisms and institutional reflexivity. Key findings are that the concept of digitalisation often is formulated as an incentive for stimulating market dynamics, retaining reflexivity and disembedding knowledge. In other words, to preserve and proceed the very nature of the late modern state, through the educational system and its student.

There are shared opinions about how young people's participation in politics looks like today. Some studies show that young people's participation in party politics has been drastically reduced. Simultaneously, other studies show how young people are more politically interested today than in a long time. Thus, young people have a strong interest in politics, but participate to a lesser extent in party politics. Then where does young people's doing of politics go? The purpose of this study is to show how societal changes such as increased individualization and digitalization have come to influence how young people do politics today. In order to understand the changes that have taken place in what is considered to be politics and how politics is being practiced today, we need to take a step back and look at the major societal changes that have taken place in late modern society. Through a qualitative study based on interviews, this paper has sought answers to how today's young people are doing politics in late modern society and how it can explain the paradox of declining participation in party politics and at the same time increasing interest in politics. The result showed that young people's doing of politics today has come to be individualized, where much of the doing of politics is based on the individual and everyday life. Therefore, what was previously considered personal and non-political has come to be politicized. This politicization of the unpolitical has been done at the expense of the political which at the same time becomes more unpolitical for the young, and thus the low interest in the political system and to channel its political action through political parties. Digitalization has also contributed to the fact that this individual engagement can be exercised via social media which has become an important political arena for young people today. To a greater extent, the young citizen now wants to be a political actor of their own and to influence themselves directly in relation to society, rather than having their views represented by politicians. In this way, past private acts such as consuming less meat and one's own career choices are largely political actions in late modern society.

Detta examensarbete undersöker de svenska riksdagspartiernas valprogram för att analysera de diskursiva uttrycken gällande utbildningspolitik med särskilt fokus på skolans syften. Uppsatsens utgångspunkt är att samhället befinner sig i en tid som kan benämnas som ett senmodernt samhälle, varvid den inriktar sig på valprogram för tiden 1998-2018. I analysen används en kritisk diskursanalys för att analysera texterna närmare och i uppsatsen tillämpas teorier om skola och senmodernitet av Zygmunt Bauman, Gert J.J. Biesta samt Tomas Englund. I analysen har synliggjorts att den senmoderna skolan främst präglas av tre tydliga. diskurser som möts i de svenska riksdagspartiernas valprogram. Främst syns begrepp ommätning och resultat , nostalgi och tillbakagång till det gamla samt ett klassiskt liberalt frihets- och förnuftsideal i texterna., This master thesis examines the electoral manifestos of the Swedish parliamentary parties in order to analyze the discursive expressions regarding education policy, with a particular focus on the purpose of education. As the thesis finds its starting point in the concept of late modernity, it focuses on the electoral programmes from the time period of 1998-2018. The analysis uses a critical discourse analysis to analyze the texts in closer detail. Theories on school and late modernity by Zygmunt Bauman, Gert J.J. Biesta and Tomas Englund form the theoretical framework. The analysis establishes that the late-modern school is primarily characterized by three clear categories of discourse which intersect in the electoral programmes of the Swedish parties. Primarily, notions of measurement and results are visible in the texts, along with nostalgia and a desire to return to the past, as well as a classical liberal ideal of freedom and reason., Examensarbetet är en del av den samordnade lärarutbildningen mellan Lunds universitet och Högskolan Kristianstad.

Under den senaste 20-års perioden har dataspelande ökat i popularitet bland stora delar av befolkningen i den industrialiserade västvärlden (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Dataspel har gått från att vara en fritidssysselsättning som ungdomar ägnar sig åt till att ha blivit ett signifikant kulturellt fenomen som stora delar av befolkningen ägnar sig åt. Dataspelande är dock fortfarande vanligast förekommande bland ungdomar av manligt kön (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). Denna studies syfte är att undersöka vilka drivkrafter medelålders män har till att spela dataspel online samt att söka en djupare förståelse för hur dataspelandet påverkar de medelålders männens självbild och känsla av tillhörighet. Den valda metoden är av kvalitativ karaktär och insamling av empiri har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med sex medelålders män som spelar tillsammans via Internet. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av Anthony Giddens och Stuart Halls teorier om identitet och identitetsskapande i det senmoderna samhället samt Randall Collins teori om sociala interaktionsritualer. Resultatet pekar på att medelålders mäns motiv till att spela dataspel i en online-miljö främst är att få tillgång till social interaktion och därigenom ha möjligheter till att bygga vänskapsnätverk. Informanternas spelande utgör ett slags virtuell och digital interaktionsritual som bidrar till att skapa en avslappnad miljö som tillåter informanterna att ladda sig med positiv emotionell energi som bidrar till att de klarar av att hantera en stressfylld tillvaro i det verkliga livet. During the past 20 years, computer games have grown in popularity among large parts of the population in the industrialized Western world (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Computer games have gone from being a leisure activity that young people are engaged in to being a significant cultural phenomenon that large parts of the population engages in. However, computer gaming is still most common among young males (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). The purpose of this study is to investigate the driving forces behind middle-aged mens gaming online and to seek a deeper understanding of how the computer gaming affects the self-image and sense of belonging among these men. The chosen method is of a qualitative nature and the collection of empirical data has taken place through semi-structured interviews conducted with six middle-aged men who play together via the Internet. The study's theoretical framework consists of Anthony Gidden's and Stuart Hall's theories on identity and identity creation in the late modern society as well as Randall Collin's theory of social interaction rituals. The result points to the fact that middle-aged men's motives for playing computer games in an online environment are primarily to gain access to social interaction and thereby have the opportunity to build friendship networks. The informants act of gaming is a kind of virtual and digital interaction ritual that helps to create a relaxed environment that allows the informants to load up with positive emotional energy that helps them cope with a stressful existence in real life.

Despite a high degree of individualism, associationism is extensive in Sweden, and it is said to have contributed to the democratization of Swedish society. Cultural associations constitute a significant part of the cultural range. In recent years, however, alarming reports of reduced involvement and membership numbers have been announced. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively investigate how cultural associations in Karlstad's municipality relate to general social development with a reduced membership flow in the associationism. The survey was conducted through semi-structured interviews with persons who have a trust assignment or some other relationship with cultural associations in Karlstad. The result was analyzed by content analysis. The survey shows a consistent view that there is a problem about either the commitment or the number of members and that the situation has changed over time, but also that the complexity of differences between different cultural associations makes it impossible to draw a general conclusion about the cultural associations as a unit. Generally, people with trust assignments in cultural associations experience the cultural associations standing stable. Some associations decrease in size or disappear, while others start or expand their activities. Persons with trust assignments within and in relation to cultural associations, holds a consistent view of the importance of associations for the rest of society, as they are considered important for democracy.

This study aims to examine, using a late modern perspective, the anti­vaccination discourse in Sweden. The study contributes to a better understanding of what is communicated in the discourse, the truths that are presented and how legitimacy is created. Through a broadened understanding of the way this resistance operates in digital media, we are given a better understanding of how authorities can respond to the increased vaccination resistance on these platforms. The theories used in this study is Ulrich Beck's theories of the late modern risk society, Henry Jenkins theory of participatory culture and media convergence and Michel Foucault's theory of power/knowledge and truth effects. The method used for this study is a discourse analysis inspired by Michel Foucault. The premise regarding the choice of material for the study was to adopt a position of a person seeking information regarding vaccine. Thus, a search at Google.com was made. The result showed that the authorities were under­represented in the hit lists in all the searches, and sometimes even completely absent. The results also show that the anti­vaccination discourse is characterized by a strong distrust of authorities, science and pharmaceutical companies. Further, truths about societal actors systematic cover­up of the vaccine's actual content and effects is revealed in the discourse. Moreover, there is a focus on the truths about vaccines. The vaccines are said to be ineffective, dangerous because of its toxic content and causing serious side effects. Furthermore, the diseases that we are vaccinated against is said to be harmless and natural. Overall, the anti­vaccination discourse presents a very critical view of the entire vaccine industry. Finally, this resistance must be faced and dealt with by the authorities to prevent serious social consequences due to decreased vaccination coverage.

How did the conformist “organization man” of modern welfare society turn into the restless and flexible market-rational individualist of late-modernity? And what role did technology play in this transformation? Drawing from inquiries like these, this doctoral thesis deals with topics such as technology, culture, and the production of social consciousness. The aim of the study is to elucidate the historical emergence of late-modern reason, visible in the socio-material process of automation. The study takes two mundane technical innovations as starting points to investigate dominant social values and rationalities embedded in, and emerging from material transformations in the production process of two late modern, Swedish organizations. Covering a period of roughly fifty years (1960–2013), the analysis relies on the interpretation of a variety of both contemporary and archived sources, including interviews, observations, witness accounts and archived material in the form of staff magazines, newspapers, photographs and official documents. While following a hermeneutical tradition of European ethnology the study is also an attempt to enrich its synchronous cultural analysis of everyday life with theory grounded in historical (dialectical) materialism. Along this line of thought the thesis suggests that many of the qualities, values and everyday experiences attributed to late-modernity, such as “flexibility”, “creativity” and “flat organizations” depend on the reification and embedding of modernist social forms, ideas and relations, such as instrumental rationality, routine labour and bureaucratic taxonomy into the material foundation of daily life.

During the last few centuries the way morality is understood has changed radically. In early modernity ethics was defined by Christian thought and Church authorities. Since the religious wars in the 17th century, moral philosophy has been looking for purely human foundations for ethics. Still, moral thinking among ordinary people in Europe became secular only during the latter part of the 20th century. Secular moral thinking has today developed different ethical theories. However, during the last few decades the idea of a common secularity has been questioned. Our multicultural society is now confronting post-secular undercurrents. In this book the author discusses how to understand these ongoing changes in the current moral discourse. The book is a collection of articles written by the author during his time as professor at Åbo Akademi University (1998-2015). He discusses how we can understand moral language and what the conditions for a meaningful use of such language are. The book sheds light upon contributions of ethics to urgent societal problems like environmental questions, questions concerning sexuality, the challenges for political life in our current multicultural societies etc. The author underscores the importance of the responsibility of every individual person. Eight of the eighteen articles are written in English, the rest in Swedish. The book is divided into four sections: I. Frames for morality in late modernity; II. Political ethics and theology – secular or religious?; III. Current moral challenges; IV. Ethics – a question of values. In a new introductory article, “Conditions for an open morality”, the author presents his intellectual and cultural landscape.

This study offers insights into the motif of monstrous corporality in a transmedia environment, through the vampire and zombie characters. Different narratives of corporeal transformation surround us constantly. On one hand, discourses of self-improvement in late modernity (Giddens 1991/2008) and ‘makeover culture’ (Johansson, 2006; 2012; Miller, 2008; Weber, 2009) demand a ‘creation of self’ through change and development, often in relation to physical appearance and bodily traits. On the other hand, numerous narratives of monstrosity and bodily change through destruction are also evident. This study takes on this double focus on corporality, against the backdrop of a late modern mediascape that has enabled people to imagine lives and possibilities different from their own through electronic mediation (Appadurai, 1996). As narratives now move between media platforms, new dimensions are brought to the imaginary, as different platforms interact differently with audiences. The aim of the study is to examine monstrous corporality in popular culture both in relation to media texts and audience practices through analyzes of representation, consumption and performance. The study examines medial and corporeal transformation through: concrete bodily change (the monstrous body), shifts between media platforms (transmedia) as well as the transmission of affect between media material and viewer (embodied spectatorship). These dimensions are explored in four empirical chapters, which examine two television series (True Blood and The Walking Dead) through textual analyses, the promotion of these series, audience participation (in online fora) and also participatory practices (Live action role play and zombie walks) through focus group interviews. The results indicate that the theme of monstrous corporeal change in TB and TWD reflects corporeal change in late modernity in several ways. Both transformations are focused on ‘before’ and ‘after’ and change of the monstrous body is connected to particular traits or parts of the body, which are also prominent in makeover culture narratives, such as skin, teeth and weight (appetite). The televisual narrative offers representations of bodily interiors and bodily harm that affect the viewers in a physical way, through an embodied spectatorship. The analyses of transmedia environments connected to the series indicate that the promotion of the programs use dimensions that emphasize the corporeal address, by bridging the gap between diegetic and actual reality. This is done through media environments (posters, websites and the like), and by introducing diegetic elements as actual, tangible objects in the actual reality of potential viewers. The analyses of posts on televisionwithoutpity.com show that participants use forum discussions as strategies to prolong and widen the media experience, and share it with others. Interviews with larpers and participants in zombie walks indicate that practices that stage the monstrous, also function as deepened embodied narrative experiences. Performances such as larps and zombie walks are interpreted as both conscious acts, and as strategies to handle unconscious performative (Butler, 1991/2006) dimensions of late modernity. Taken together, the zombie and vampire embody the pressures, risks and paradoxes connected to late modern makeover culture, and the mediated form they are presented through, tie them closer to those who engage in narratives about them.

Senmoderna reflexioner. Festskrift till Johan Fornäs, är en antologi med tjugotre artiklar tillägnade Johan Fornäs på hans 60-årsdag den 7 mars 2012. Flera av artiklarna utgår från teman i Johan Fornäs böcker, medan andra på olika sätt behandlar ämnen relaterade till hans breda och mångfacetterade intresseområden. Boken är indelad i fyra tematiska delar, som behandlar olika praktiker: teoretiska, mediala, estetiska och litterära. Under rubriken ”teoretiska praktiker” diskuteras olika aspekter av hermeneutik, kulturalisering och kulturellt kapital. Under ”mediala praktiker” återfinns studier av samtida mediefenomen och deras relationer till demokrati och politik. ”Estetiska praktiker” innefattar bidrag som diskuterar kulturella praktikers funktion i den offentliga sfären. I den avslutande delen, ”litterära praktiker”, analyseras utvalda litterära texter och den diskurs som omger dem. Huvuddelen av artiklarna är skrivna på svenska, med undantag av tre engelska bidrag. Late modern reflexions: Festschrift for Johan Fornäs is an anthology of more than twenty essays dedicated to Johan Fornäs on his 60th birthday 7th of mars 2012. Several of the articles included take Johan Fornäs’ books as their starting point, while others are related, in different ways, to his wide and diverse interests. The book is divided into four thematic parts, dealing with "Theoretical Practices", “Medial Practices”. “Aesthetic Practices” and “Literary Practices”. Articles included under ”Theoretical Practices” discuss different aspects of hermenutics, culturalization, and cultural capital. ”Medial Practices” offers studies of contemporary media phenomena, relating them to questions of democracy and politics.”Aesthetic Practices” include contributions that discuss the function of different cultural practices in the public sphere. The last section, ”Literary Practices”, takes a closer look at both select literary texts and the discourses surrounding them. Most of the Articles are written in Swedish, with the exception of three articles in English.

Late modern reflexions: Festschrift for Johan Fornäs is an anthology of more than twenty essays dedicated to Johan Fornäs on his 60th birthday 7th of mars 2012. Several of the articles included take Johan Fornäs’ books as their starting point, while others are related, in different ways, to his wide and diverse interests. The book is divided into four thematic parts, dealing with "Theoretical Practices", “Medial Practices”. “Aesthetic Practices” and “Literary Practices”. Articles included under ”Theoretical Practices” discuss different aspects of hermenutics, culturalization, and cultural capital. ”Medial Practices” offers studies of contemporary media phenomena, relating them to questions of democracy and politics.”Aesthetic Practices” include contributions that discuss the function of different cultural practices in the public sphere. The last section, ”Literary Practices”, takes a closer look at both select literary texts and the discourses surrounding them. Most of the Articles are written in Swedish, with the exception of three articles in English. Senmoderna reflexioner. Festskrift till Johan Fornäs, är en antologi med tjugotre artiklar tillägnade Johan Fornäs på hans 60-årsdag den 7 mars 2012. Flera av artiklarna utgår från teman i Johan Fornäs böcker, medan andra på olika sätt behandlar ämnen relaterade till hans breda och mångfacetterade intresseområden. Boken är indelad i fyra tematiska delar, som behandlar olika praktiker: teoretiska, mediala, estetiska och litterära. Under rubriken ”teoretiska praktiker” diskuteras olika aspekter av hermeneutik, kulturalisering och kulturellt kapital. Under ”mediala praktiker” återfinns studier av samtida mediefenomen och deras relationer till demokrati och politik. ”Estetiska praktiker” innefattar bidrag som diskuterar kulturella praktikers funktion i den offentliga sfären. I den avslutande delen, ”litterära praktiker”, analyseras utvalda litterära texter och den diskurs som omger dem. Huvuddelen av artiklarna är skrivna på svenska, med undantag av tre engelska bidrag.

The aim of this thesis is to study how self presentations and reflexive writing work as displaying identity in the school context. In the curriculum from 1994 and the current curriculum (GY11) for the Swedish upper secondary school, identity making is central in how the subject Swedish is defined. It is through language and different media the student will strengthen her individual and cultural identity. The material consist of students’ texts, inspirational texts and an assignment from the national test 2008 in the subject Swedish from upper secondary school. I examine how these texts provide a context for the student's own self presentation. I see this as a situation of interaction between the school as an institution and students’ writing. The study is discourse analytical where self presentations produced within the school are linked to a societal and historical context, based on theories on reflexivity and modernity, communication and enterprise culture and individualization/subjectivity and power. The methodological tools are primarily drawn from Systemic Functional Grammar and Narrative analysis. The results indictate a clear interaction when it comes to content as well as form between self presentation / life story and the construction of the assignment and the inspirational texts that the school provides. The discursive practice has great impact on the students’ own stories about themselves, and shows how the students handle the the discursive framework and the prerequisite provided from the school. The study's main contribution to school and writing research is to show how this is carried out.

Due to a recent increase in usage of the concept of intimacy within social scientific research, the overarching aim of this work is to investigate its meaning and significance in contemporary social life. The first part of the thesis reviews research on intimacy. Intimacy is perceived as being vaguely defined as a concept, leading to insufficient discussions concerning the significance of intimacy both as a social concept and as a social phenomenon in contemporary western society. In order to become more clearly defined as a social concept to use in future research, intimacy needs to be investigated as a social phenomenon. The second part explores and analyses intimacy as a social phenomenon by way of three partly phenomenological and partly theoretical analyses: the phenomenology of intimacy, the arithmetic of intimacy and the dark sides of intimacy. The three analyses result in a definition of intimacy understood as a kind of sociality, or mode of social being, characterized by an oceanic experience, mutual and complete directedness between the ones being in relation, an experience of mental as well as physical closeness, and an experience of time as “durée”. The third part discusses the proposed definition of intimacy as sociality in relation to contemporary social theory. In relation to an understanding of contemporary western society as late modern or radicalized modern, intimacy as sociality is discussed as a radicalization of a rational sociality, characteristic for modern society. The discussion takes the form of a dialectic critique of modern dualistic theories, proposing a triadic (dialectic) alternative for understanding basic forms of sociality and social relations. The vague notion of intimacy as a concept suited to characterize social life in contemporary western society is supported by this proposition.

The purpose of this thesis is to study the norms and values surrounding the family and the nation-state in Swedish family policy as they appear in Official Government Reports (SOU) on international adoption and assisted reproductive technology (ART) between 1953 and 2007. I argue that the committees’ reports can be viewed as normative statements constituting a hegemonic state discourse. The methodological approach is based on the ideas of Michel Foucault, especially the concepts relating to governmentality, such as power, knowledge, discipline and normalization, and the theoretical framework is inspired by feminist, postcolonial, and intersectionality critique of the nuclear family, heteronormativity, nationalism, and citizenship. In my analysis, focus is on similarity and difference, continuity and change, in the governmental committees’ notions of what is natural, normal, and morally right when it comes to reproduction and family relations. International adoptions have been regarded as humanitarian aid for third world countries, but they have also been associated with corruption, kidnapping, baby-selling, and the exploitation of poor countries. The committees’ have worried about the adopted children’s ability to adapt, their psychological health, and the question of origin. The right to know one’s origin is also considered to be of great importance for children conceived after ART. Reproductive technology was met in the beginning with suspicion and distrust, however, the techniques have been naturalized, and there has been a gradual liberalization of ART legislation in Sweden, which has opened up opportunities for alternative families. A central conclusion of this thesis is that the Swedish reproduction policies in late modernity are very complex, partly full of contradictions and ever changing. What is constant is the will to govern. Governing is achieved through positive governing such as information, education, treatment, benefits, and financial support, or through negative governing such as exclusions, prohibitions, penalties, and correctional measures. The reports are characterized by an interdependence between power and knowledge. Scientific knowledge, especially medical, psychological, and social scientific knowledge, is important for the committees’ arguments, but at the same time the scientists too are subject to government regulation, as some scientific disciplines and research fields are privileged over others. Processes of normalization and disciplination seem to be fundamental for surveillance of the individuals concerned and the society at large. I suggest that the committees’ main goal is to create responsible, society-changing, and self-governing citizens who live up to the norm. Vad är en familj, vilka kan bilda en familj och vem bestämmer det? Hur ser föreställningarna kring den ideala familjen ut? Och varför anses det viktigt att ha kännedom om sitt ursprung och att tillhöra en familj, en släkt eller en nation? I denna avhandling undersöks den svenska familjepolitiken kring internationella adoptioner och assisterad befruktning. Undersökningen bygger på statliga utredningar som utkom mellan åren 1953 och 2007, vilka återspeglar den förändrade synen på vad som är normalt, naturligt, önskvärt och moraliskt riktigt när det gäller barnalstrande och familjebildning. Utredningarna har gått från att betrakta utlandsadoptionerna som en god handling och en form av u-landshjälp till att oroa sig för kidnappningar, barnhandel och exploatering av tredje världen. Samtidigt talas det allt mer om adoptivbarnens psykiska ohälsa och att de måste söka sina rötter. Tidigare var det viktigt att barnen snabbt försvenskades och assimilerades i det svenska samhället, men i dagens mångkulturella samhälle ska barnen snarare acceptera att de är annorlunda och bejaka sitt etniska ursprung. Den internationella adoptionsverksamheten har allt mer kommit att kritiseras samtidigt som antalet adoptioner har minskat. I motsats till detta har inställningen till reproduktionsteknologi blivit allt mer positiv och antalet behandlingar ökat kraftigt. Den tidigare skepsisen och teknikrädslan har tonats ned och tekniken har möjliggjort nya sätt att tänka kring familj och normbrytande familjepraktiker. Detta har bland annat medfört att homosexuella par har fått tillgång till assisterad befruktning och att sambandet mellan sexualitet och reproduktion har luckrats upp. Viktiga ledord för verksamheten har varit jämställdhet och likabehandling. Tekniken har också medfört ett ökat intresse för genetiska förklaringar och biologiskt släktskap. Den svenska familjepolitiken har därför blivit allt mer inriktad på att säkerställa barnets rätt till sitt ursprung. Detta har fått den kanske något paradoxala konsekvensen att man både eftersträvar att bedriva en modern familjepolitik samtidigt som man försöker bevara några av den traditionella kärnfamiljens grundbultar.

The aim of the study is to analyse the stories of four homosexual women with Muslim backgrounds about coming out as homosexuals, from an intersectional perspective. The experience of coming out as lesbian and the intersectionality are related to different social contexts. The homosexuality becomes a problem in connection to family and countrymen while the Muslim background becomes more of a problem in relationships. Heteronormativity and gender system appear to be cooperating systems of oppression. These women don’t describe themselves as oppressed, but potential oppression is still something that influences their lives. They strive for freedom to be themselves in all everyday situations. The quest for freedom to be able to express their sexuality risks relationships with families and girlfriends. But freedom and symbiosis don’t have to be in opposition. These women have found contexts, for example among friends, where none of the social categories are problematic and where they can experience symbiosis. They can choose certain contexts where they are allowed to express their sexuality. The experiences of coming out is analysed as linked to development in late modernity.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur den senmoderna människans åsikter yttrar siggällande utbildning, arbete, fritidssysselsättning, resor, konsumtion och tro. Vidare vill jag undersöka ifall informanterna och deras åsikter kan kopplas samman med Mary Douglas teorier om kulturella typer och hur det yttrar sig. Jag vill även analysera om de är klassificerbara som David Brooks nyligen introducerade typ, BoBos. Slutligen vill jag undersöka huruvida mina informanter är typiska för dagens senmoderna samhälle. Den slutsats jag kom fram till var att informanterna är typiska för dagens senmoderna samhälle och att har de karaktäristiska drag som med fördel kan hänvisas till BoBos. De är individualistiska, relativistiska och delvis paradoxala, vilket också är tydligt i deras åsikter om hur de själva kan kategoriseras som grupp. The purpose of this study is to examine how the late modern man's opinions manifest themselves with regards to education, work, leisure, travel, consumption and faith. Furthermore, I examine whether the informants and their views may be linked to Mary Douglas's cultural theory of cultural types. I also want to analyze whether they are classifiable as David Brooks` recently introduced type, BoBos. Finally, I examine whether my informantsare typical of today's late modern society. The conclusion I came to was that the informants are typical of today's late modern society and that they usefully can be referred to as BoBos. They are individualistic, relativistic and partly paradoxical, which is apparent in their views of themselves as being classifiable as a group.

In this thesis, the expanding discourse of popular therapeutic culture on and for heterosexual couples is analysed. Three case studies have been carried out; self-help books for couples, TV programs with relationship-focus, and web discussion boards connected to the TV programs. The analysis is made in relation to sociological theories of individualization, therapeutic culture, feminist studies of couples and inequality, as well as inquiries of the private/public dichotomy. The thesis argues for a need to critically engage with the effects of individualization on couple relationships and gender. A responsible autonomous couple is constructed in popular therapeutic narratives. This couple is simultaneously autonomous and responsible for doing “couple work”, but also dependent on the experts’ definition of ideals of “the good couple” as well as on guidelines for ways to get there. As a result, the popular therapeutic narrative (contrary to the argument of theories of late modernity) ends up reproducing meaning-constitutive scripts for the heterosexual couple. In addition, the assumption of the responsible autonomous couple enables a reproduction of gendered stereotypes as well as gender inequality in the couple. Swedish popular therapy talks about the couple in gender-neutral terms, but e.g., the generalized “tools” offered to the participating women and men in the TV programs ends up reproducing traditional gender roles: men “take action”, “set limits”, and make decisions, and women “connect with their feelings”, “mirror” their men, and refrain from “controlling”. Furthermore, inequalities related to social structures and cultural norms of gender, such as unequal distribution of housework, cannot be framed as a “couple problem” in the discourse, but is understood in terms of “differences” related to “personality”. Popular therapeutic narratives are, however, challenged by the (mainly women) writers on the web discussion board. Most importantly, gender-neutral characterization of heterosexual couple relationships is questioned in the sharing of individual experiences. Thus, the thesis argues that popular therapy on the couple holds an – indirect – potential challenge of, not just the private/public dichotomy, but also the dichotomy of the personal/political. Avhandlingen fokuserar den framväxande populärterapeutiska kulturen om och för heterosexuella par. Tre fallstudier har utförts; självhjälpsböcker för par, tv-program med relationsfokus samt diskussionsforum på Internet, kopplade till tv-programmen. Den populärterapeutiska kulturen analyseras och diskuteras i relation till teorier om vardagens psykologisering, samt teorier om individualiseringens effekter på par- och familjerelationer (senmodern sociologi), i kritisk dialog med feministisk forskning. I avhandlingen argumenteras för nödvändigheten att kritiskt analysera individualiseringsprocessens effekter på parrelationer och kön. I den populärterapeutiska berättelsen konstrueras ett autonomt ansvarstagande par; ett par som ses som autonom och ansvarigt för att utföra ”pararbete”, men som samtidigt är beroende av den populärterapeutiska expertisens definition av ideal om ”det goda paret” liksom av metoder och verktyg för att förverkliga idealet. Effekten av detta är att den populärterapeutiska berättelsen (på tvärs mot den senmoderna karaktäriseringen) reproducerar meningskonstituerande manus för det heterosexuella paret. Konstruktionen av det autonoma ansvarstagande paret möjliggör också reproduktion av könade stereotyper liksom av könsojämlikhet. Svensk populärterapi talar oftast om paret i könsneutrala termer, men de generaliserade ”verktyg” som erbjuds de deltagande kvinnorna och männen i tv-programmen resulterar i praktiken i en reproduktion av traditionella könsroller: män ”handlar”, ”sätter gränser”, och uppmanas vända sig utåt mot offentligheten, medan kvinnor ska komma i kontakt med sina känslor, ”speglar” männen och uppmanas avstå från att vara ”kontrollerande”. Ojämlikheter relaterade till sociala strukturer och kulturella normer för kön, så som ojämlik omsorgs- och hushållsarbetsdelning, formuleras inte heller som ett ”parproblem” i diskursen utan blir, vad jag kallar, ett ”jämlikt problem”, formulerat i termer av individuella, personliga ”olikheter”. Den populärterapeutiska berättelsen om paret utmanas dock av de (framförallt kvinnliga) skribenterna på webbforumet. Det könsneutrala talet om den heterosexuella parrelationen ifrågasätts här – implicit och explicit – i skribenternas kritiska diskussioner om programmen och, framförallt, i deras delande av egna berättelser. Populärterapeutisk kultur om och för par kan därmed – genom att ge offentlig legitimitet åt parproblem – indirekt vara en utmaning av inte bara dikotomin privat-offentligt utan även dikotomin personligt-politiskt.

Does mediation via the Internet contribute to the use of the Bible as a cultural resource, and if so does this contribute to other ways of relating to the Bible as an authority? This is investigated in three steps. Firstly, quantitative survey data concerning Bible reading and other forms of contact with the Bible as well as attitudes to the Bible are scrutinized for variation over time and generational differences. Secondly, patterns of use on a Swedish Christian ecumenical web site on the Bible targeted at teenagers are explored. Thirdly interviews with young users of this web site are assessed in terms of detraditionalization. Earlier results emphasizing the privatizing effect of the mediation of religion are complemented by considering a cultural component against which the individual relates to religion in a manner which is both private and social. This study supports the findings of earlier studies on the Internet and religion, as to the significance of factors such as offline experiences of religion, attitude to pluralism, and technical features online. This study adds to those results by exposing how these features come into play in the use of a Christian website, and that such a site may also work as an arena for young people from diverse religious backgrounds. Thirdly, the role of the mediation of religion via the Internet for religious and social change is understood in a reciprocal manner: the Internet is a product of a time of insecurity, an agent contributing to this insecurity, as well as a cultural response to this insecurity. It is argued that the use of the studied website can be seen as detraditionalization, in terms of weakening of traditions and individualization of religion. The concept virtual plausibility structure is suggested for understanding the role of the Internet in between the individual and the social in late modernity.

The purpose of the thesis was to explore what students within vocational education are expected to learn and the practices that constitute vocational education in Swedish upper secondary school. The empirical basis for the thesis is two studies, both of which have been reported separately. In the first study, twelve vocational teachers were interviewed sequentially. Classroom observations were made of the tasks their students worked with and these supplemented the interviews. The second study consists of case studies of five teachers in academic subjects within vocational education. Here sequential interviews of the teachers and classroom observations of the tasks their students worked with were supplemented with group interviews of their students and, in two cases, of collaborating vocational teachers. A social perspective on knowing and learning was used for analysing data. The results from the interviews with the vocational teachers show that what they wanted their students to learn in vocational education (their object) is related to vocational knowing but is not the same thing. Knowing in school can be regarded as preparation for work within the respective vocational area, as preparation for further learning and as preparation for citizenship. The first category relates to vocational knowing, whereas the latter two relate to a broader commission of education in late modernity – the risk and uncertainty of the future work situation that the students are likely to encounter. The tasks were analysed regarding their content, form, and the tools used for completing the tasks. Three categories of tasks were construed: school tasks, simulated tasks and vocational tasks. School tasks are characterised by that they employ the practice of school, whereas the vocational tasks employ the practice of the respective vocation. Simulated tasks are specific in that they allow a testing and correction of the result before the job is done. Through school tasks the students were introduced into a new content. Vocational tasks were used in bridging school and work. Besides the obvious tools of the respective vocation, texts were also used as tools in the work with the tasks. Most texts were vocational texts, i.e. texts that were used in similar ways in school as within the vocation. The second study, case studies of five teachers in academic subjects within vocational education, focused the infused tasks their students worked with. These results showed that the teachers used three different steering documents for planning their work: the national curriculum for upper secondary school, the objectives of the respective programme, and the syllabuses for their subject. By using all three documents, they were able to construct infused tasks. These tasks made it possible for the students to see other aspects of their respective vocational area than within the vocational subjects, e.g. the environmental work, historical aspects etc. The texts the academic teachers used were not the same as those used by vocational teachers. These texts were texts ‘imposed by others’ (e.g. local authorities) but also used for work within the vocation. The ‘theorisation’ of vocational education, that has been claimed to be a consequence of the academic subjects, can be seen rather as a change within the vocations from an oral to a literate culture. In completing many of the tasks observed, theoretical knowledge from different domains, as well as skills were needed. Vocational education as a purely ‘practical’ education is therefore a myth. A variety of texts were used within vocational education for the work, mostly as tools. The literate practices of vocational education are similar to the literate practices of the vocations rather than to those of school. New tools seem to change working life and vocational education as well. This implies that a different kind of vocational knowing is needed. When employers control or simulate production processes instead of doing the manual work, vocational knowing becomes something else. This new kind of work is dependent on a different kind of experience. Thus the theorisation of the vocational education is a theorisation – or rather an abstraction – on many levels. Some of them have been developed within the vocations, others are imposed from the outside. Three social practices, vocational education, working life and academic education, formally have a joint responsibility for the vocational education. Depending on if and to what extent they collaborate, the learning practices offered to the students will differ. With collaboration, as in these two studies, the students encounter learning practices where the content from each of the three contexts can be experienced as reembedded into new contexts. Därtill 4 uppsatser

The aim of this study is to provide a picture of how political commitments have changed in Sweden during the last five decades This is done by drawing on previous scholarship and theoretically interpreted life course interviews with individuals born in one of three decades, who were also members of one of two Swedish unions (CEU, The Swedish Commercial Employee Union and TU, the Swedish Teachers Union). The theoretical concepts individualization, reflexivity and makeability are used as analytical categories for the interpretations. In the dissertation it is shown that, to the interviewees, politics has increasingly become something that the individual is interested in taking active part in her- or himself. This altered perception is described in terms of a growing individualization of the political agent. Further, a growing reflexivity regarding political matters and methods can be detected, making it more difficult to know both what is the problem, and how one might act politically to make a difference. This development, towards an individualized political commitment in combination with the increasing reflexivity, is interpreted in terms of a growing political makeability. Politics has gradually come to be perceived by the interviewees as open for participation and questioning. This makeability is, however, ambiguous. On the one hand it is possible and necessary to act politically, on the other hand not much is being done. Also, several of the CEU members express a double feeling of being marginalized in a system in which everyone is in principle invited. Using everyday life as a way to participate in politics is one way out of this somewhat troubling situation. Both the interviewees from the CEU and the TU see environmental politics of the everyday life as an area where it is possible to contribute politically in a manner they consider necessary and efficient. This way, political commitments are partly moving away from the arena of social movements and political parties. Instead, daily life has become a more important political arena.