2002-05-08 Onsdag

[nibot]

Our party was amazing.

Things started to improve on Wednesday morning when the stereo equipment came. A "ljud och ljus" (sound and light) company delivered these big black crates to the korridor. Martin and I were the only ones home so it was up to us to lug the stuff up into the korridor.

When it was all set up and some korridor-mates got home, they looked at our newfound stereo equipment with eyes full of wonder. Rikard ran and got some CD's, and we sat there in the kitchen studying and enjoying the wonder of amplified sound. We opened the balcony door to project the sound out into the courtyard.

Then I ran off to take the exam for SAS 106. My studying had amounted to reading some articles about the EU, including some very interesting views of Swedish national character. My heart really wasn't into it, though, so my studying didn't amount to much. I didn't expect the exam to be very difficult, and, indeed, it wasn't. We were all releived to see three relatively familiar questions, from which we could choose two to answer. For completeness I include the questions here:

1. The most characteristic trait of the Swedish welfare state up till the 1950s was its universality. Discuss what this concept means, on which solical political fields a universal welfare was accomplished, and the reasons why Sweden entered on the path of universal benefits.

2. In the literature on welfare state research, Swedn often comes out as a model for gender equality. Describe on which parameters researchers claim that Sweden is more gender equal than most other countries, and evaluate the explanations on why Sweden developed into a model for gender equality.

3. Until WWII Sweden was rather homogenous in its ethnical composition. This changed after the war because of immigration. Describe the different stages of immigration into Sweden after WWII and why they occurred. Try also to evaluate the effects of large scfale immigration on the inherited welfare state.