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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 The purpose of the creation of these organizations has long since been replaced by new ones.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
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
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
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
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
Because societies, companies and people are different, there are different views on corporations' roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this study is to understand what, why and how some business organizations benefit and create business cases from corporate responsibilities and sustainability. It investigates which aspects motivates three companies, IKEA, Skanska and Trelleborg AB, using
Political analyses of the reform period China are plentiful, and for each analysis, there seems to be another version of a “China Model” or “Beijing Consensus” for economic and social development. This paper argues that these vague conceptualizations need to be rooted in empirical observations; they need to be products of induction rather than deductive processes that reiterate the preconceptions
In a world of increasing demands of energy, sustainable natural energy resources have never been more important. Power companies aspiring to harness this energy must now showcase their commitments to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The term CSR has gone through various changes throughout the past fifty years, and the change in definitions has been influenced by various actors, stakeholders
Global value chains are essential to understanding globalization in the nature of export-oriented markets and commodity flows to end-markets. Developing countries have experienced a recent wave of economic structural adjustment and introduced export-based reforms as an approach to pro-poor growth. This thesis takes South Africa’s post-apartheid wine industry as a case study to understanding the ac
The Namibian San people live in poverty and marginalisation and that despite the country’s constantly increasing economic wealth. Quantifiable factors such as unemployment and education are identified as the roots of the problem, and are being addressed through aid programmes. These quantifiable factors do, however, only present an incomplete picture of the problem. By performing a critical discou
The management of the mining sector in Sierra Leone is characterised by numerous integrations of government and donor agency policies, resembling that of global development agendas advocating for improvements of governance, transparency, capacity building and revenue generation. We must view the global policies in their local scales in order to substantiate their actual effects. The central argu
Abstract Development and security have historically fashioned distinct discourses. More recently, they have been inevitably linked both in discourse and policy, having as a consequence the so-called development–security nexus. The goal of this paper is to examine the construction of notions and the establishment and consolidation of the discourses that the main theories that shape the field of
The present work is an interdisciplinary and theoretical study on the topic of identity and the development of collective consciousness; an investigation of the ways in which people feel about and operate with their identities today. Identities are seen as a process circumscribed by the continuous struggle between the individual need for self-fulfillment and the demands of social structure and col
The study seeks to examine the conceptualizations of space and scale in development thinking. One of the important dimensions of the development is the conceptualization of space and scale. The mainstream development theory, which is modernization, theorizes space as a physical geographical style that is technical and measurable. Scale on the other hand conceptualized on the nation state scale. Cr
Fair Trade has noticed a new form of involvement for the public and the private sphere in relation to consumption. The aim of this study is to explore ethical consumption in relation to Fair Trade as well as the political aspect of it which has been relevant for supporting global causes and a form of citizen participation. The data collected for the study are an in-depth semi-structured interviews
