År 1910 höll den socialistiske agitatorn Henrik ”Hinke” Bergegren föredraget ”Kärlek utan barn”, vilket ledde till ett generellt förbud mot agitation för preventivmedel, i folkmun kallat lex Hinke. Trots förbudet fortsatte Bergegren att agitera för barnbegränsning fram till sin död 1936 och publicerade mellan åren 1910 och 1936 en rad skrifter som kombinerade sexualupplysning med förfäktandet av rasbiologi. Samtidigt tog skrifterna avstånd från idéer om exempelvis befolkningsunderskott. I ett nyligen avslutat post-docprojekt har historikern Peter Bauer studerat Bergegrens skrifter i syfte att undersöka hur Bergegren såg på sexualitet, familjebildning och kärleksrelationer. Den föreslagna presentationen ämnar därför teckna en bild av Bergegren som en, om än motsägelsefull, politisk filosof vars idéer om fri kärlek än idag kan te sig radikala.

I svensk sexualitetshistoria beskrivs åren 1930–1950 som ett paradigmskifte, då upplysning om preventivmedel legaliserades och flera steg togs mot införandet av sexualundervisning i landets skolor. Detta skifte har vanligen kopplats till socialdemokratiska riksdagsinitiativ samt upplysnings- och lobbyinsatser av Riksförbundet för sexuell upplysning (RFSU) som grundades år 1933. Trots att RFSU var en organisation med flera lokalföreningar har forskningen framför allt fokuserat på den nationella mobiliseringen och således förbisett det arbete som ägde rum på gräsrotsnivå i lokalsamhället. Syftet med denna studie är därför att analysera RFSU:s mobilisering i Skåne och granska lokalpressens mottagande av organisationens arbete, vilket tillför ytterligare kunskap om bakgrunden till periodens sexualpolitiska reformer.

Undersökningen bygger på arkivmaterial från lokala RFSU-klubbar, förbundets centralstyrelse samt tidningsartiklar som beskriver tre viktiga aspekter av RFSU:s tidiga mobilisering. För det första lyckades organisationen, trots motstånd från kyrkan, etablera sig som en respektabel aktör som även det offentliga såg som en potentiell samarbetspartner. För det andra samarbetade RFSU på lokal nivå inte i första hand med det socialdemokratiska partiet utan knöt istället främst band till fackföreningar och mindre politiska organisationer såsom diskussionsklubbar. För det tredje visar studien att dessa band samtidigt utgjorde ett påtagligt problem för RFSU, då fackföreningar och andra politiska aktörer konkurrerade om medlemmarnas engagemang.

Studien visar sammantaget att RFSU till stor del följde det mobiliseringsmönster på nationell nivå som tidigare beskrivits av idéhistorikern Lena Lennerhed, men att det samtidigt fanns lokala variationer. Därmed bidrar studien till en fördjupad förståelse av opinionsbildningen kring en reformerad sexualpolitik under en formativ period i svensk politisk historia.

During the last three decades of the 20th century Swedish immigrant policy went through a profound change. In the late 1960s immigrant policy were based on assimilation but during the 1970’s and 1980’s this policy was exchanged to multicultural guidelines. These multicultural guidelines were however abandoned in the late 1990s when integration became a key word in the debate about immigrants.  This thesis investigates how these changes were made possible by a shifting understanding of immigrants in state and local discourse (the last represented by Malmö municipality) by operationalizing Carol Lee Bacchis What’s the problem represented to be analysis. 

Previous research has shown that the social category of immigrants during the first six decades of the 20th century understood immigrants as a threat towards the Swedish race and later the welfare state. From this perspective immigrant policy can be seen as the result of the creation of a problematized immigrant subject, a tendency that is also the case for later decades. The investigation shows that immigrants in the early 1970’s were mainly understood from a class and welfare perspective. During this period immigrants were seen as a threat towards the social cohesion of the welfare state as well as the social democratic ambitions of a raised standard of living for the working class. This understanding led to the development of a multicultural policy where immigrant culture was supported within state and local politics and by structural changes in the education system, aiming to include the category in civic life and improve their living conditions. 

 In the years between 1976 and 1985 the understanding of immigrants however changed. During this period immigrants became increasingly problematized for their lack of employment and a cultural difference. During the end of this period the multicultural policy changed from an emphasis on culture as a resource for social inclusion to that some parts of of a Swedish identity were not subject of choice. Furthermore, this period also lead to increased efforts at the individual level, were the policy aimed to give individual immigrants increased chances at the labor market. 

During the last fifteen years the 20th century immigrant policy became increasingly politicized, and immigrants became understood as radically culturally different from swedes. In this period immigrant culture were constructed as oppressive towards women and outdated when compared to the modern Swedish culture. Furthermore, the notion of immigrants as unemployed from previous decades continued to play an important part and immigrants were also conceived as living segregated. This view resulted in the creation of integration policies aiming to not handle immigrants as a from the general population different group. Instead, immigrants should become integrated in Swedish society through the general welfare with an emphasis that not all parts of a Swedish identity were choose able.

The result of the investigation show that European culture became increasingly normative in the development of Swedish migrant policy, thus excluding European immigrants from the problematized immigrant subject. Thereby the globalization of migration towards Sweden led to a development were immigrant policy shifted focus from class to cultural perspectives. 

In 2017, social scientists Ilker Ataç and Sara de Jong described the emergence of a new type of movement in Europe following the 2015 refugee crisis. According to the authors, these ‘new refugee aid movements’ are characterised by the way in which they combine humanitarian and political work with refugees. This combination sets them apart from conventional humanitarian NGOs (e.g. Caritas and the Red Cross) and social movements (e.g. the people’s campaign against nuclear power). This study examines if two Swedish organisations, Refugees Welcome to Malmö and Kontrapunkt, can be understood as part of this European trend. It is based on a thematical reading (following Hunt, Benford and Snow’s theory of social movement identity) of previously conducted interviews with movement volunteers. The main result of this study is that the investigated organisations share several features with the new type of movement. These shared features include a flexible way of working with refugees and the belief in the need for a political solution to the humanitarian crisis. Still, smaller differences are also identified. Refugees Welcome to Malmö, for example, chose to co-operate with local authorities, setting them apart from the European trend where the new movements often pursue autonomy from public authorities. Ultimately, this study calls for further investigation int