THE ROLE OF MESSIANISM IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN IDENTITY AND STATECRAFT

Russian messianism – the longstanding idea of Russia as a ‘chosen’ nation with a historical mission is typically represented as a cliché with little or no relevance in politics. However, an increasing deployment of several interrelated messianic ideas and notions has been noted in both public and official Post-Soviet discourse, raising the question of how we should understand its persistence and contemporary revival. We first develop a conceptual framework based on insights about identity and statecraft from poststructuralist and related approaches, then proceed to trace key characteristics and narratives of Russian messianism in history and the secondary literature of various disciplines. The study proposes that Russian messianism should be conceptualised as a persistent discursive framework, holding a kaleidoscopic range of both complementing and contesting discourses, that have the purposes of legitimising the existence and policies of Russia as a state and defining Russian identity in ambiguous relation to a broad Western Other. This conceptualisation is then applied to contemporary Russian discourse. By analysing samples of key official discourse (2000-2007) the thesis shows how the Russian state adopts, negotiates and reproduces certain messianic narratives from public discourse, in which they abound. We then compare the convergence and divergence of the official and public political discourse with popular discourse, based on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 160 semi-elite and ordinary Russians, conducted in 2005. We find that the Russian messianic framework is widely used at all levels of discourse and among all categories of Russian people, but in ways and contexts different from in public and official discourse. Overall, this thesis makes contributions to Russian studies by providing a theoretical conceptualisation of Russian messianism; and to the study of international relations by an analysis of discourses central to the production of Russia as a collective identity, state and international actor

Productive tensions - engaging geography students in participatory action research with communities

ArticleCopyright © 2013 copyright Taylor & Francis.This study discusses the benefits and challenges of an undergraduate module on participatory geographies, involving students in co-producing research with community partners. The module challenges the knowledge production model predominant in Geography curricula. We argue that it develops students' skills and understanding through engaging them intellectually, socially and emotionally outside the university. As a student, two community partners and a professor, we offer our perspectives on the opportunities and conflicts that arose. We do not gloss over tensions in achieving the module's diverse aims, but suggest that these are productive for teaching, learning, research and the needs of community organizations

Solar cells for Uppsala’s sports facilities

The aim of this project was to evaluate the possibilities for solar panels on Uppsala’s sporting facilities and to suggest an expansion strategy. The project was based on a literature study concerning solar panels in general, an investigation of the most established solar panel manufacturers and an evaluation of their panels on a variety of factors. Additionally, an evaluation of Uppsala Sport- och Rekreationsfastigheters sporting facilities was made and combined with a field trip to gain more information about the buildings. The results from these investigations were used in the simulation programme PV*SOL, where five different facilities where simulated in two different scenarios with three different solar modules. The main difference between the two simulated scenarios was the amount of electricity sold to the grid. The simulation results show that facilities with large roof areas and high electricity consumption are most suited for installation. PV-modules of the manufacturer Sonnenstrom are recommended and a dimensioning of the installation according to scenario 2, where some electricity is sold to the grid, is proposed

Functional characterization of barley betaglucanless mutants demonstrates a unique role for CslF6 in (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan biosynthesis

(1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans (mixed-linkage glucans) are found in tissues of members of the Poaceae (grasses), and are particularly high in barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains. The present study describes the isolation of three independent (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucanless (betaglucanless; bgl) mutants of barley which completely lack (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan in all the tissues tested. The bgl phenotype cosegregates with the cellulose synthase like HvCslF6 gene on chromosome arm 7HL. Each of the bgl mutants has a single nucleotide substitution in the coding region of the HvCslF6 gene resulting in a change of a highly conserved amino acid residue of the HvCslF6 protein. Microsomal membranes isolated from developing endosperm of the bgl mutants lack detectable (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan synthase activity indicating that the HvCslF6 protein is inactive. This was confirmed by transient expression of the HvCslF6 cDNAs in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The wild-type HvCslF6 gene directed the synthesis of high levels of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans, whereas the mutant HvCslF6 proteins completely lack the ability to synthesize (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans. The fine structure of the (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan produced in the tobacco leaf was also very different from that found in cereals having an extremely low DP3/DP4 ratio. These results demonstrate that, among the seven CslF and one CslH genes present in the barley genome, HvCslF6 has a unique role and is the key determinant controlling the biosynthesis of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans. Natural allelic variation in the HvCslF6 gene was found predominantly within introns among 29 barley accessions studied. Genetic manipulation of the HvCslF6 gene could enable control of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans in accordance with the purposes of use

En studie hur Sapa Profiler AB kan använda sig av sociala medier i sitt varumärkesbyggande

BakgrundJag har fått i uppdrag av Sapa Profiler AB att ta fram konkreta förslag på hur de skulle kunna använda sig av sociala medier i sitt varumärkesbyggande.SyfteGe Sapa Profiler AB konkreta åtgärder på hur de kan använda sociala medier i sitt varumärkesbyggande.MetodJag har använt mig av kvalitativa intervjuer, benchmarking, netnografi och dokumentanalyser av Sapa Profiler AB:s eget material.ResultatJag har gett olika förslag på hur Sapa Profiler AB kan använda sig av sociala medier för att stärka sitt varumärke