Pierre Bourdieu and Fredric Jameson are in many respects two of the most influential contemporary theorists. Bourdieu's comprehensive theoretical model, termed "genetic structuralism", is a fruitful alternative to traditionally dichotomous modes of thinking: subjectivism vs. objectivism, agency vs. structure, micro vs. macro analysis. His model aims to subsume these divisions, by accounting for the generative ability of both mental and structural forces. Jameson on the other hand, as "America's leading Marxist critic", offers an engaging account of contemporary culture, as he attempts to find the connecting thread of our increasingly disjointed social reality to history. The following work is but a brief account of these wide-ranging theories. Its order of progression starts with contextualizing Bourdieu and Jameson in the framework of cultural debates, followed by an analysis of the structure and logic of both Bourdieu's and Jameson's theories, after which comes a look at how these theories are applied to analyzing literary works. Finally the last part tries to grasp these theories in relation to each other, by highlighting some of their differences and similarities. / Master of Science

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This thesis investigates the role that philosophy and science play in Gramsci's Prison Notebooks. While there is growing recognition of the importance of philosophy in Gramsci's prison work, the importance of science and its relationship to philosophy often go unremarked. Yet both fields were important to Gramsci's prison project. The bulk of the thesis consists in a detailed philological study of the unabridged Italian edition of the Prison Notebooks by Valentino Gerratana which brings out the importance of both philosophy and science to Gramsci's work, as well as their inter-relationship. In fact a crucial part of Gramsci' work while in prison, the part belonging to a second and most productive phase of the prison work according to current scholarship on Gramsci, consists in an effort to reconstruct Marxism as a philosophy of praxis within which a special place was reserved for science. Gramsci in fact dealt extensively with both natural science in its relationship to philosophy and, even more importantly, with social sciences like economics and political science. This was in keeping with the insight that Marxism was born out of the encounter between philosophy, economics and politics, which constituted the three keystones of Marx's new theory for Gramsci. The first part of this thesis analyzes Gramsci's reconstruction of Marxism as a philosophy of praxis, examining how the foundational concepts of praxis and human nature were interpreted by Gramsci in such a way as to lay the foundations for his theory of science. It then considers this theory of science in detail, examining first the place that Gramsci's reflection on natural science played within his reconstruction of Marxism, then considering how he laid the foundations for economics and political science within Marxism. Two novel concerns emerge in this discussion: the centrality of social science to Gramsci's reconstruction of Marxism and the importance that the individual played in both his philosophy and in this social science, particularly in economics. / Cette thèse explore le rôle de la philosophie et de la science dans les Carnets de prison de Gramsci. Alors que l'importance de la philosophie dans les écrits de prison de Gramsci continue de gagner en reconnaissance, l'importance de la science et de son rapport avec la philosophie est souvent négligée. Ces deux champs de recherche sont toutefois aussi important l'un que l'autre dans le projet réalisé par Gramsci lors de ses années passées en prison. La plus grande partie de cette thèse consiste en une analyse philologique détaillée de la version italienne complète des Carnets de prison établie par Valentino Gerratana. Elle met en évidence la double importance de la philosophie et de la science dans les écrits de Gramsci et le rapport qui les unit. Effectivement, une part essentielle de l'oeuvre de prison de Gramsci, identifiée par la recherche portant sur Gramsci comme un second volet distinct et plus productif de ses écrits de prison, se présente comme un effort de reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis au sein de laquelle une place particulière est réservée à la science. En fait, Gramsci s'est largement intéressé aux sciences naturelles dans leur rapport avec la philosophie et, de manière plus importante encore, avec des sciences sociales comme l'économie et la science politique, et ce en cohérence avec l'idée que le marxisme est né de la rencontre de la philosophie, de l'économie et de la politique, les trois piliers de la nouvelle théorie de Marx chez Gramsci. Dans un premier temps, cette thèse analyse la reconstruction du marxisme comme philosophie de la praxis par Gramsci en examinant comment les concepts fondamentaux de praxis et de nature humaine sont interprétés par Gramsci de manière à jeter les bases de sa théorie de la science. La thèse s'intéresse ensuite à cette théorie de la science en détails, examinant d'abord la place des réflexions de Gramsci sur les sciences naturelles au sein de sa reconstruction du marxisme, puis en considérant la manière dont il établit les fondements de l'économie et de la science politique au sein du marxisme. Deux préoccupations nouvelles émergent de cette discussion : la centralité des sciences sociales dans la reconstruction du marxisme par Gramsci et l'importance de l'individu dans sa philosophie et dans ces sciences sociales, particulièrement en économie.

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Although philanthropy is a traditional pattern of activity in our society, its sociological implications, particularly the institutional and money-raising aspects, have not been greatly explored or investigated. It is this type of activity which the sociologist should investigate since, from common sense observation, it is evident that it is a recurrent feature of our urban life requiring the efforts of numerous individuals, fincially and otherwise.

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This study analyzes the claims-making and counter-claims-making on citizenship and faith by American and Canadian Muslim political actors over the 2001-2008 period. It highlights the interactive processes by which competing discourses on citizenship and faith are negotiated to produce divergent constructions of Muslim citizenship: mainstream, liberal, secular, and progressive. Utilizing insights from theories of citizenship, collective identity and social movements, I show how divergent collective identities are produced within the same categorical group through complex interactions between: a) ideological baggage and biographies of claims-makers; b) demographic patterns of communities; c) historical tensions in the traditions and identities that are being negotiated; and d) the actual political constellations, both proximate and durable, in which such claims and counter-claims are being made. Moreover, such contests about collective identity, citizenship and faith are not only relevant for the group (American Muslim or Canadian Muslim), but also help highlight the inclusions, exclusions and blindspots in national narratives about belonging and hierarchies of obligations and how these are challenged. / Cette recherche analyse les revendications et les contre-revendications liées à la citoyenneté et à la foi faites par les acteurs politiques musulmans américains et canadiens durant la période 2001-2008. Elle met en évidence les processus interactifs par lesquels des discours en concurrence sur la citoyenneté et sur la foi sont négociés et aboutissent à des constructions divergentes de la citoyenneté musulmane, ces constructions étant de type dominant, libéral, laïque ou progressiste. En utilisant des concepts des théories sur la citoyenneté, sur l'identité collective et sur les mouvements sociaux, la recherche explique comment des identités collectives divergentes sont produites au sein d'un même groupe à travers des interactions complexes entre : a) le bagage idéologique et les biographies des revendicateurs; b) les structures démographiques des communautés; c) les tensions historiques par rapport aux traditions et aux identités qui sont négociées; et d) les constellations politiques actuelles et préalables aux revendications et contre-revendications. De plus, ces contestations concernant l'identité collective, de la citoyenneté et de la foi ne sont pas seulement pertinentes pour le groupe étudié (les musulmans canadiens ou américains), mais elles contribuent aussi à mettre en relief les éléments qui sont inclus, exclus et omis dans les discours nationaux sur l'appartenance des citoyens et sur les hiérarchies dans les obligations, ainsi que la façon dont ces discours sont remis en question.

How "social change organizations" balance organizational imperatives with progressive, or "principled," values is a dilemma commonly addressed in the sociological literature (cf. Minkoff, 2002; Ostrander, 2004). This challenge is particularly important where organizations are undergoing a process of change (Kelley et al., 2005). However, few studies have used internal working conditions as a dynamic on which to measure this balance. Thus, using the internal dynamics of two contemporary human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as a means of understanding these challenges, the broadest objective of this dissertation is to understand how organizations with principled values do or do not construct "exemplary" workplaces (Lofland, 1996). Changes to the gendered nature of the organizations are examined as a specific indicator of this exemplary behaviour. Using new institutionalist literature as a guide, I demonstrate the ways in which isomorphic pressures shaped human rights organizations throughout the 1990s. Specifically, I show that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch shared a shifting institutional environment, including political climate favourable toward the human rights discourse, increased attention from media, increased pressure to professionalize, the need to present themselves as legitimate and accountable, and the need to respond to competitive pressures. I found that as both organizations responded to these pressures and opportunities in their institutional environment, they adapted internal structures, strategies, and behaviours. The result was increased hierarchy, competition between employees, performance pressures, and emotionally repressive workplace norms. Moreover, men and women often experienced these changes differently. The investigation of two organizations, however, revealed that this connective chain was also shaped by the specific histories, structures, and cultures of each organization.

The retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) was first identified in association with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2009. Following the publication of this research there erupted a major controversy within the scientific literature over the status of the XMRV virus, that wound to a close in 2012 with the editorial retraction of the original research and the conclusion that the virus was a laboratory artefact. This paper maps the dynamics of the XMRV-CFS controversy, and how the status of the virus itself changed over the course thereof. The question of the "reality" of both the virus and its putative association with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome were pivotal to the actors involved, and the thesis focuses on how the endogenous discourses of artefactuality (along with the procedures, materials, and instrumentation with which such discourses were entangled) figured into the perpetuation and eventual resolution of the controversy. / Le rétrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) a été identifié pour la première fois en 2009 en association avec le Syndrome de fatigue chronique. Suite à la publication de ces recherches, une controverse importante a éclaté dans la presse scientifique quant au statut du virus XMRV. Cette controverse s'achèvera en 2012 avec la rétractation de l'article original et la révélation que le virus était en fait un artefact de laboratoire. Le présent mémoire retrace la dynamique de la controverse autour du couple XMRV-SFC en examinant de plu près le changement de statut du virus au cours de cette même controverse. La question de la « réalité » même du virus et celle de son lien putatif avec le Syndrome de fatigue chronique occupent une place centrale au sein du débat entre les scientifiques concernés. Le mémoire s'intéresse donc en particulier au rôle qu'ont joué dans la perpétuation et l'éventuelle résolution de la controverse les discours endogènes concernant l'artefactualité, ainsi que les instances matérielles (procédures, matériaux et équipements) rattachées à ces discours.

In 1952 the Committee on Physical Planning of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University undertook a programme of research into the physical aspects of urbanisation in the Province of Quebec, the results of which were to be embodied in a report to be presented to the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The research programme was divided into three Projects, one of which dealt specifically with "The Extent and Quality of Residential Development in the Metropolitan Area of Montreal During the Decade 1941-1951".