Dissertation project - Love and Alienation: Stories from Single Life

In my dissertation project, I examine the experiences of love among Swedish singles. The project is situated in a societal context where love constitutes a key ideal for how we should relate to one another in our intimate relationships. The aim is to examine how singles realize, or fail to realize, this ideal, and what consequences this might have for one's sense of self and well-being. The aim is also to theoretically extend on the concept of alienation, where alienation is defined as an estrangement of the ideals one strives to realize.

Love is in the project defined as a social relationship where the parties express a mutual recognition of one another as vulnerable beings. Love is therefore also necessary for a positive and secure relationship to oneself. In other words, love does not necessarily have to be realized with a romantic partner but can also be realized in other forms of intimate relationships.