Browsing by Subject "Sweden"
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(2022)The rise of the scientific theories and race biology at the beginning of the 20th century was one of the main factors that caused the Sámi people to be marginalized, as they were characterized as “inferior” for the rest of the Nordic citizens. They were photographed, measured, and the remains of their ancestors were exhumated and taken to universities to serve as material and evidence for the racial theories of the time. The purpose of this thesis is to study and emphasised the arguments used during the discussions about the repatriations of the human remains in both cases to understand the outcomes and the impacts on the Sámi societies. To understand the development of both process and their outcomes, a comparative analysis of different medias covering the subjects at this time was done, following the ideas of Asgeir Svestad and Kjell-Åke Aronsson, in order to synthetize the information and reach a conclusion. Since the 1970’s, Sámi peoples have been fighting for their rights and self-determination in multiple fronts, notably by demanding the repatriation of the remains of their ancestors to their lands. The Rounala case in Sweden and the Neiden case in Norway are two examples of repatriation among the Sámi communities. Both were covered by the medias and rised numerous discussions about the handling of the human remains as part of cultural heritage in the context of colonialism. Different opinions were expressed about the potential reburial of the remains and the possibilities further to analyse the bones to learn more about the Sámi history. The development of the cases led to the reburial of the human remains from Neiden and the remains from Rounala to be archived in the Ájtte museum in Jokkmokk for several years.
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(2015)During the mid-19th century, Sweden was almost a completely unknown country in the Czech Lands due to the geographical distance and the lack of historical relations, aside of the Thirty Years’ War. However, from the 1860’s onwards, there was a visible increase of Czech interest in foreign countries, including Sweden. The objective of this thesis is to analyze how the portrayal of Sweden developed between 1848 and 1914. This is done by analyzing of the general reasons behind the increase of interest in foreign countries and with an in-depth look at the increase of Czech interest towards Sweden. The method used in the thesis is historical research, which critically analyzes primary sources, such as travelogues, articles in newspapers and magazines, and historical fiction published between years 1848 and 1914. The primary sources are compared to each other in order to establish similar and ambivalent themes in the portrayal of Sweden. The general interest in foreign countries is explained as a consequence of an overall modernization process, which started already during the last third of the 18th century and influenced industrial, political, social and cultural developments in the Czech Lands during the 19th century. The increase of interest in Sweden was initially the result of the overall interest in foreign countries from the 1860’s onwards, but which later developed into a genuine interest by the Czech intelligentsia. The research of primary sources shows that there was no homogenous portrayal of Sweden, but two different perspectives of how Sweden was portrayed in the Czech printed sources. The first one, the traditional one, connects Sweden mainly to the Swedish invasion of the Czech Lands during the Thirty Years’ War. This theme appears in a great number of historical novels, where Swedes are portrayed predominantly in a negative way. The second perspective developed through travelogues, written by Czech tourists and travelers who visited Sweden. The Thirty Years’ War is presented as something that happened a long time ago and which has nothing to do with the contemporary Swedes, praised for their friendliness, kindness, neatness and manners. By the beginning of the 20th century, the portrayals of ruthless, looting warriors coexisted with the modern portrayal of Sweden, which presented Swedes as “the French of the North,” with great advancements in the fields of engineering, women’s rights, arts and literature and children’s education.
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(2023)Youth climate activism has accelerated on an unprecedented scale since 2018 and of the rising popularity of international activist movements Fridays For Future and Extinction Rebellion. Gender and age affect all social positions, but the meaning of girlhood is scarcely studied in the context of youth climate activism. This thesis aims to address this gap and offer valuable perspectives on girls’ experiences of agency and girlhood in climate activism, which is a powerful way to practice active citizenship. This thesis delves into girls’ gendered and age-specific positions in the youth climate movement and explores the boundaries activist girls experience due to their girlhood. The material consists of interviews with 13 girls from Finland, Sweden, and Denmark who are active on climate matters. For the purpose of the analysis, the participants are categorised as climate activists and climate agents, depending on their self-perceived position and forms of action. I study the positions of power and their connection to different cultural positionings by using an intersectional approach in the analysis. I present the ways climate activism is practiced by the participants, both in the public and private spheres. The participants are in different parts of their activist journey and have different experiences of age-related boundaries. Being a girl also produces boundaries for agency both in social and public arenas. The boundaries are often set by adults, but the participants experience their parents being a great support, even when the boundaries for activists are negotiated. Critical voices towards activism usually come from adults outside the movement or in a school environment. School climate/environment groups are also important arenas for young people to get engaged in climate activism. The strong involvement of girls is normalised in the movement, which the participants reflect on resulting from girls’ socialisation to care about other people and the environment. Regardless of the emphasised inclusiveness of the movement, some gendered boundaries and obstacles, such as the cultural notions of girls as individual heroes and experiences of not being safe, remain and need to be overcome to act.
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