This study incorporates a critical AOP theoretical framework in order to answer the central research question which seeks to reveal the ways in which queer people of colour conceptualize their intersecting identities and resist interlocking systems of domination. Photovoice, a community-based and visual PAR methodology, enables participants to visualize their everyday realities through photography, describe their lives through these photos and individual narratives, and through critical dialogue create themes which speak to their collective experiences. Participants spoke of how historical displacement and intersecting experiences of marginalization resulted in emotional and psychological responses which complicated their relationships to mental health. Key findings reveal the complexities of integrating a historicized trans-national identity and the contemporary effects of political and structural intersectionality on the lives of queer people of colour in Canada. By collectively conceptualizing strategies of survival and resistance, this collaborative and community-building process generated new knowledge, which will serve to inform social work policies and practices. / Cette étude emploie un cadre théorique critique AOP afin de répondre à la question centrale de recherche suivante: Quelle sont les façons que les minorités sexuelles racialisées conceptualisent leurs identités intersectionnelles et comment résistent-ils aux systèmes de domination qui s'enclenchent? Photovoix est une méthode de PAR, visuelle et communautaire, qui permet aux participants de s'imaginer leurs réalités quotidiennes à travers la photographie en prenant des photos et en créant des narrations. Avec le dialogue critique, les participants ont crée des thématiques collectives. Ils ont décrit le rapport entre leur santé mentale et leur état émotionnel et psychologique résultant des effets complexes de déplacement historique et des expériences d'exclusion intersectionelles. Les résultats indiquent que les minorités sexuelles racialisées au Canada développent une identité historique et transnationale et sont enclavées par les effets politiques et structurelles de l'oppression intersectionnelle. En créant des stratégies de survivance, ce processus communautaire a produit des nouvelles connaissances qui serviront de s'informer des pratiques et des mesures politiques de travail social.

A escolha dos meios em que se vai comunicar a ciência é uma importante estratégia para progredir na carreira científica ou, simplesmente, garantir o cumprimento da demanda cotidiana. Publicar em periódicos considerados de melhor qualidade e visibilidade tem sido uma exigência cada vez mais comum entre cientistas, sobretudo da área de ciências biomédicas e exatas. A comunicação da ciência nestes quase 350 anos, desde a criação dos primeiros periódicos, ganhou dimensão, prestígio e influência. Nesse cenário, Nature e Science, periódicos centenários e multidisciplinares, estão entre as publicações de maior prestígio na academia mundial. Esta tese de doutorado busca entender a mudança de papel dos periódicos científicos, desde a primeira metade do século XX, e o histórico das contribuições brasileiras para a ciência mundial. Um levantamento sobre tais contribuições foi realizado, por meio de busca no banco de dados internacional Web of Science, totalizando 370 contribuições na Nature (1937- 2009) e 254 contribuições na Science (1936-2009). Também foram realizadas entrevistas com 16 cientistas que publicaram nesses periódicos para entender suas escolhas e os impactos pessoais e profissionais de suas contribuições. À estratégia para difundir e compartilhar informações para a construção da ciência somou-se o marketing científico a priorizar veículos, autores, instituições, áreas do conhecimento, temas, visões, paradigmas. Nature e Science são representantes ativos e paradigmáticos desse novo ciclo da comunicação e da própria percepção sobre a construção da ciência. Suas páginas sugerem um desenvolvimento da ciência feito em saltos qualitativos e revolucionários, o que contribui para uma visão parcialmente deturpada sobre a construção da ciência e, inclusive, para uma percepção distorcida dos próprios cientistas sobre suas colaborações para a ciência mundial, que passam da prioridade do envolvimento intelectual, para a visibilidade e os resultados cientométricos. / The choice of the means to communicate science becomes an important strategy to progress in the scientific career or, simply, to guarantee the fulfillments of daily demands. Publishing in journals considered of better quality and visibility has been a frequent requirement among scientists, mainly from the biomedical and hard sciences. The communication of science in the last 350 years, since the creation of the first journals, has acquired dimension, prestige and influence. In this scenario, Nature and Science, centenarian and multidisciplinary journals, are among the publications of greater prestige in the world-wide academy. This thesis aims at understanding the change of role of scientific journals, since the first half of 20th Century, and describing the Brazilian contributions for international science. A survey on such contributions was carried through, by searching in the international data base Web of Science, which totalized 370 contributions in Nature (1937-2009) and 254 in Science (1936-2009). Interviews had also been carried through with 16 scientists who had published in these journals to understand their choices and the personal and professional impacts of their contributions. The strategy to spread out and share information in order to build science up has been added to the science marketing which prioritizes journals and means of communication, authors, institutions, fields of knowledge, topics, opinions and paradigms according to the interest. Nature and Science represent active and paradigmatic assets of this new cycle of communication and of the perception of the construction of science. They suggest a development of science made in qualitative and revolutionary jumps, which contributes to a partially distorted perception about the construction of science and, also, about the scientists own contributions to science, that once has prioritized the intellectual involvement and now focuses on the visibility and the scietometric results.

Magistro darbo objektas – komunikacijos samprata komunikacijos moksluose, darbo dalykas – vieninga komunikacijos samprata komunikacijos moksluose. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti Niklaso Luhmanno sistemų teoriją ir jos pritaikymo komunikacijos mokslams aspektus. Šiam tikslui pasiekti iškelti šie uždaviniai: išanalizuoti komunikacijos sampratą komunikacijos moksluose; išanalizuoti Luhmanno sistemų teoriją; nustatyti ir išanalizuoti Luhmanno sistemų teorijos pritaikymo komunikacijos mokslams aspektus; kritiškai įvertinti Luhmanno sistemų teoriją. Atlikus literatūros analizę, taikant lyginimo ir sintezės metodus, darbu nustatyta, kad šiandien komunikacijos mokslai patiria daug mokslui esminių problemų, iš kurių paminėtinos šios: kelios besiskiriančios ir tarpusavyje dialogo beveik neieškančios komunikacijos paradigmos, šimtai ribotų komunikacijos teorijų, komunikacijos mokslų fragmentiškumas ir jų lėtas progresas. Tačiau esmine komunikacijos mokslų problema siūloma laikyti vieningos komunikacijos sampratos komunikacijos moksluose nebuvimu. Šiuo darbu kelta hipotezė, kad Luhmanno sistemų teorija, atliepdama daugelį komunikacijos mokslų problemų, pateikia universalią (vieningą) komunikacijos sampratą, kuri taikytina komunikacijos mokslams. Šiuo darbu hipotezė patvirtinta ir argumentuota, kad Luhmanno sistemų teorija teoriškai ir praktiškai pritaikoma komunikacijos mokslams. Teorinis Luhmanno sistemų teorijos pritaikymo komunikacijos mokslams apsektas – persvarstydama informacijos ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This work aimed to tackle some problems of communication sciences that were suggested to be counted as key ones, such as several different and distant communication paradigms, heaps of limited communication theories, fragmented study field in communication sciences, slow progress of communication sciences. But the general problem of communication sciences is suggested to be the absence of a single and unified understanding of communication as such in communication sciences. The work is pointed to the search of a unified conception of communication in communication sciences. The hypotheses of the work suggests that Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory gives you a unifying conception of communication in communication sciences. To prove that the author of this work analyzed the application of Luhmann’s systems theory to communication sciences. Doing that he analyzed the conception of communication in today’s communication sciences, as well as the Luhmann’s systems theory as an object, and the aspects of the application of Luhmann’s systems theory to communication sciences. Lastly, Luhmann’s systems theory was valued critically. The analysis of Luhmann’s systems theory showed that this theory has a twofold relevance to communication sciences. Firstly, coping with core problems of communication sciences Luhmann’s systems theory suggests a new conception of communication. According to Luhmann, communication could be described as a social system formed in the process of interaction of... [to full text]

The paper examines ??red packets?? ?? a form of informal payment ?? in the Chinese health-care system from the perspectives of power and ??inxit?? theories. Drawing on qualitative data collected from focus groups, interviews and documentary sources, the research investigates, from doctors?? perspective, the giving, taking, declining and disciplining of and solutions for red packets. Findings testify to four hypotheses developed from the theoretical perspectives, leading to the conclusion that red packets emerged from and can exert an influence on the power relationships between doctors, the Party-state and patients, and are a response to distrust and quality shortage in the health-care system.

Australia has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world. Epidemiological data indicate that young men (15-25 years of age) make up one of the most vulnerable groups. The print media regularly portray men in this age group as aggressive and violent in various ways (on the sporting field, at war, in their cups, in contests and in leisure, all of which which take on many different forms). This dissertation presents a collection of such images gleaned over a number of years, the purpose of which is to evoke Durkheim's notion of suicidogenic currents that flow through the ??collective consciousness??, finding, according to Durkheim, their clearest expression in suicide rates. Using the notion of ??suicidogenic current?? as a sensitizing concept, this thesis traces the way in which violence weaves its way through social life and influences social relations that may be conducive to suicide. It will be argued that the images presented ?? arranged, for effect, as photomontages ?? express the celebration of violence as a powerful social trend which runs not only through social activity, but also through hearts and minds of contemporary persons; as such, it constitutes one of the suicide-inducing conditions in contemporary society.

At a peripheral glance the collective action of a social movement group creates a perception of rational and homogenous internal group identity. This fa??ade has led some social movement theorists to take for granted the internal cohesiveness of the groups they are studying. Yet this emphasis on the rationality and structure of collective action over-simplifies the complex and dynamic interactions that occur in the construction of individual and collective identities. Accordingly, the constructivist New Social Movement theoretical paradigm actively eschews these misleading assumptions, instead granting primacy to the study of the reflexive, complex and dynamic interactions that occur in the construction of individual and collective identities. By employing the tools provided by New Social Movement theory my study unravels one such under-researched identity, namely the diverse and multifaceted ??eco-spiritual?? identity. The rich narratives of actors who consider themselves spiritual and are environmental activists are analysed through a case study of the Wilderness Acton Group, a collective within The Wilderness Society, Sydney. Analysis of the fieldwork data informs a theoretical and empirical understanding of social movements with regard to the negotiation and construction of political goals; trajectory and rejuvenation; individual movement motivation and participation; ongoing construction of group identity and solidarity; emotional commitment; action event selection; and group rituals, activism and practices

This research conducts a conceptual and qualitative investigation into the practices, rationales and functions of imprisonment in NSW. A specific system of imprisonment, in this case the prisons operated by the NSW Department of Corrective services, is explored in order to examine the practices, processes and justifications for incarceration. The various purposes, theories, rhetorics, practices and contradictions of the prison system in NSW and the ways in which the people who are responsible for the administration of this system make sense of its operations and its incoherencies, are central to this analysis. This research utilises a hybrid methodology involving aspects of content analysis and grounded theory. At the centre of this research are eight interviews with senior NSW Corrective Services staff. This analysis is supplemented by interview with ex-prisoners, and other people familiar with, but not working for Corrective Services. In addition a documentary analysis of both Corrective Services documents, and external literature examining NSW prison is carried out. The findings of these analyses are then explored with reference to both their internal coherency, as well as their relationship to a range of theoretical frameworks. The thesis connects abstract and philosophical questions of punishment and penalty with the logistics of running the prison system in NSW. This research found a diversity of practices, understandings and justifications of imprisonment which connected to particular cultural, social philosophical and structural trends. These included victimary discourses, the rhetoric of progress, the influence of managerialism, the faith in ???objective??? professionals, the increasing emphasis on empiricism, the conflicts between coercive practices and individual responsibility, the construction of prisoners as dangerous, and an ongoing struggle for purpose. Imprisonment in NSW was found to be characterised by discrepancies between the intentions of its administrators and pragmatics of its practice, conflicts between internal explanations of its purpose, as well as contradictions between internal Corrective Services accounts and external expectations about the roles, functions and practices of imprisonment. Theoretical perspectives explaining why these characterise imprisonment in NSW were developed. These perspective include the ???ought/is??? confusion of penal administrators, the inhumanity of humane containment, the myth of technocratic amorality, and the sedimentation of purpose.

The last decade has delivered rapid structural change to the Australian electricity sector. The common conceptualisation of the sector's restructuring has been narrowly based around sector-specific regulatory change and the creation of a national electricity market. This thesis argues that such a focus provides an incomplete and inaccurate explanation of the transformation. Three closely interrelated layers of policies and actions embodying the precepts of neoliberalism, and implemented by the state, have driven the sector's transformation. These policies and actions transcend 'electricity-centric' policies and encompass policies which have become systemic to the Australian public sector as well as a third layer which has transformed the prevailing industrial paradigm across all industry sectors. The drivers of the electricity sector's restructuring -- and the outcomes and beneficiaries arising -- form the core research focus of this thesis. The research task is addressed by using the analytical framework of the French theory of r??gulation. The analysis reveals that the electricity sector has been Australia's second largest contributor of privatisation proceeds, remains dominated by government ownership and has falling levels of foreign ownership. Higher relative wage levels and union membership are also evident as have been job losses and substantial real price increases for households whereas those for business have generally fallen. The purported 'reform' centrepiece, the national electricity market, was found to be increasingly uncompetitive due to its own regulatory regime and market manipulation by government-owned companies. In addition, the sector exhibits a heightened precariousness: an unprecedented financial vulnerability arising from a strong appetite for debt and derivatives and exacerbated by payments to government owners not by new investment in generation capacity; increasing tensions between the nation-state and local-state concerning the national electricity market and compromises with labour; and an exposure to political and financial risks from the sector's global integration. The clear winners from the sector's restructuring are the owners of capital and the state, particularly the local-state, although the sustainability of this situation is questionable. The analysis also generates a number of propositions about the application of r??gulation theory to sector-based research.

The thesis documents the changes in Italian public opinion towards the Euro. Its aim is to assess the relevance of economic factors for the decline in Italian support for the common currency. The thesis begins by assessing the extent to which support for the Euro has declined in Italy. While there has been popular, media and political comment on this issue, the thesis investigates the changes in attitude through the use of survey material and concludes that there is compelling evidence that public support for the Euro has declined in Italy. The thesis adopts a utilitarian/rational choice approach in order to investigate the reasoning behind the Italian public's developing relationship with the single currency from 1998 to the present. Its central question is: How have economic factors impacted on the Italian public's support for the Euro? The analysis focuses on Italians' perceptions - not their actual knowledge - of national and individual level economic changes brought about by the single currency. The thesis investigates how such perceptions have impacted Italian popular support for the Euro over the period 1998-2007. The method employed in this thesis is primarily based around analysing quantitative data gathered from Standard and Flash Eurobarometers. Other sources considered are academic literature and newspaper articles. The analysis clearly suggests that Italians' optimism towards their national and personal economic situations have all decreased since the Euro was introduced, concurrently with their diminishing support for the Euro. This work suggests that the main reason for decreased support lies in Italian perceptions that the Euro has contributed to worsening economic situations at both the national and individual levels. In particular, Italians believe the Euro has spurred inflation and diminished their purchasing power, and accuse it of failing to promote economic growth and jobs. However, Eurobarometer data combined with newspaper articles indicate that it is the perceived economic consequences at the individual level - loss of purchasing power due to Euro-related price increases, and pessimism towards their household financial situation - that more strongly determine Italians' decreasing support for the Euro.

Experiences in the early years of life are increasingly recognised as significant predictors of long-term cognitive and psychosocial behaviour. This thesis focuses on one aspect of early development: the cultural identity of the young child and investigates the influence of continuity of practice between home and the child care centre in this development. The use of child care services for very young children has increased dramatically in the past two decades. For the first time in history there may be more babies aged 0-3 years in care situations than babies who are cared for at home - this impacts upon the child’s micro-culture (individual, unconscious practices guided by beliefs, norms and values) and macro-culture (ritualistic, symbolic behaviour, often conscious which is tied to belonging to an ethnic group). This study investigates the way in which child care centres contribute to the development of micro and macro-cultural identity in very young children. This study was originally designed to increase the knowledge base about the ways in which interactions with children (particularly in relation to sleep and feeding micro-cultural practices) differ between home and child care service and the implications of these differing practices. As the study progressed a new focus was developed and evolved into an analysis of communication processes between parents and staff and the effects of those communication processes. Qualitative methods on non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews and semi-structured questionnaires were used to address the research questions. Recommendations from the study focus on setting level and policy issues. The early childhood sector is called on to redress notions around communication and partnership building with parents / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)