Lead is a serious developmental neurotoxin with the capacity to interrupt brain development and impair functioning. Since at least 1930 numerous case studies in American, Canadian and Australian literature have identified lead based paint in the home as a source of poisoning for young children; and since at least 1990 evidence has shown that it is the lead dust from deteriorating paint in older homes and renovating activities that is the primary source of chronic exposure for young children today. Not much is known about the extent of childhood lead poisoning in Canada. Gaps in our understanding include a lack of national survey data on childhood blood lead levels and an absence of reliable data to determine the era of housing that poses the greatest risk. This thesis posits that despite this paucity of research knowledge there is evidence to suggest that populations of vulnerable children continue to be harmed by exposure to historic sources of lead, such as lead-based paint found in older housing stock. This thesis examines the evidence to support this contention by critically analyzing the Canadian public health response to the issue of childhood lead poisoning. Specific attention is paid to discourse corresponding to lead-based paint, the putative major pathway of exposure for children ages 1 to 5 years. Using Foucault’s genealogical/archaeological approach, as elaborated upon by Rawlinson (1987) this thesis discusses the socio-political and economical processes that shaped health care knowledge regarding childhood lead poisoning in Canada and influenced the way knowledge was produced and used by health care providers and policy makers. The analysis is assisted via a comparison of Canadian public health discourse with American discourse, with an emphasis on discourse appearing in the post leaded gasoline era (1990-2008). The strength of a Foucauldian archaeological/genealogical analysis for nursing research and particularly for this analysis is in its focus on discourse, surfaces of emergence, transformations, mutations, contingencies, events, recognition of power/knowledge strategies, descriptions of discipline technologies and consequences, and suggested possibilities of resistance. This thesis proposes that surveillance data constituted both a product and acatalyst of the dominant view on childhood lead poisoning occurring from residential sources and posits that a lack of Canadian context specific surveillance data was the major “policing” factor limiting Canadian public health discourse. Further, privileged access to blood lead survey data maintained the view that childhood lead poisoning was a problem of the past or an American problem. Third, tensions among Canada’s two federal agencies which hold primary responsibility for lead, health and housing resulted in a weakened response whereby, to date, no legislation exists to protect vulnerable populations of Canadian children from exposure to historic sources of lead in residential dwellings.

In the past, human rights have often been studied as philosophical or legal concepts. In this thesis, Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis is adopted to examine them as social practices, specifically focusing on the human right to food. This is done through a discursive analysis of a corpus of documents drawn from FIAN International, a human rights organization advocating for the human right to food, and La Via Campesina, an international peasant organization which also aims to realize the right to food but is not itself a human rights organization. Findings highlight how each of the organizations define the right to food, and show that these differences are tied to the structure of the organizations themselves. This suggests that human rights organizations such as FIAN are more constrained by their need to balance legitimacy and programmatic visions than are other types of organizations in the struggle for meaningful social change.

This dissertation is a political sociology of production of knowledge about insecurity that focuses on the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 as its empirical study. Inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology and the insights of Critical Discourse Analysis, it analyzes the media coverage of Iraq in order to identify ‘actors with the capacity to make statements’ and their contributions to the process of securitization. In addition to its analysis of agency, it offers a theorization of time in security and securitization. By analyzing evidence (intelligence), it explores the question of ‘acceptance of audience’ in Securitization Theory. Contextualizing securitization in a broader social space, this project argues that securitization can be understood as the double movement of soft and hard securitizations that respectively refer to reproduction of language and construction of existential threat.

We live in a world where the resources are not equally divided and that is why charity work is needed. The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is a global organization that works for children’s human rights around the world. But perhaps even charity work, which´s often glorified in the society, need to be looked at from different directions. Research about intercultural education, globalization and charity shows that even good deeds can end up reproducing the problem that was supposed to be solved in the first place. There is no research about UNICEF´s work from this perspective and since UNICEF is a global organization that focuses on children and education and has an important role in society, they are an interesting object for research. That is why this study has examined “UNICEF Annual Report 2013” based on the problem to draw attention to minorities exposure and discrimination, without reproducing the majorities global hegemony. The questions that drove this study were which knowledge that was spread about the children and UNICEF in UNICEF´s report, what agency this knowledge enabled and which voices that were heard in the report. “UNICEF Annual Report 2013” was examined based on Faircloughs (1992) critical discourse analysis and three-dimensional method and the text, discursive practice and social practice of the report were analyzed. As a theoretical framework postcolonial theory and especially Gayatri Spivak where used due to their focus on global inequalities and the idea that there is still an ongoing colonialism of human thoughts and intellects around the world, where the European epistemology has been spread as a universal truth (Andreotti, 2011; Spivak, 2004). In “UNICEF Annual Report 2013” three different discourses where located: “Childrendiscourse”, “Educationdiscourse” and “Charitydiscourse”. The result of the critical discourse analysis showed that children are portrayed as innocent victims that only get an ability to change their life through the education that charity organizations like UNICEF provide. The knowledge about the child that gets an agency and voice through education can be criticized from a postcolonial perspective. The picture of the educated child indicates that UNICEF are able to see the children that can´t be seen and hear the voices that can´t be heard, which may lead to a contra productive dream about a local hero created by a European epistemology. Research about the ability to draw attention to minorities exposure and discrimination, without reproducing the majorities global hegemonies indicates that there is no easy solution to this dilemma. As postcolonial theory and intercultural education promotes, everyone needs to approach this problem and question the position that they speak from, otherwise they may end up reproducing the majorities global hegemony and the dilemma that they wanted to solve in the first place.

In recent times, young Canadians have become both subject and object of electoral promotion strategies. These strategies, effected by both state and extra-state organizations, respond to social concerns about the failure of younger cohorts to engage with the political system through the formal channels provided– particularly, voting in elections. These concerns, taken with the increasing popularity of information communications technologies, have propelled some organizations to reach out online, with the goal of increasing voter turnout rates. The main focus in this research is the range of approaches taken by different groups in response to the perceived problems related to young people and their disengagement from electoral processes. Using a multi-method research design, this study examines the relationships between young peoples‘ interests in, and understandings of, Canadian politics, and the online electoral promotion strategies attempting to address them. By triangulating Critical Discourse Analysis with focused group interviews with youth and interviews with communications representatives of several non-partisan organizations, I analyze the extended communicative encounter between state, extra-state organization, and citizen, as framed by the issue of 'youth and electoral disengagement'. My research problem is to explore the communicative cycle of electoral promotional discourses, their production, dissemination and consumption. I ask how these various understandings relate to each other, and what this might mean for the democratic public sphere. By focusing on the way the dominant outreach strategies 'speak to' and engage with youth, I unravel a paradox whereby the framework of communication in some of these materials, meant to help people who are alienated from the political process, in fact functions to reiterate the exclusionary tendencies of democratic politics that necessitate the engagement strategies in the first place.

In 2006, the BC Public Service published the first of a series of corporate human resource plans entitled “Being the Best”. One of the key goals of these plans is to improve employee engagement at the BC Public Service. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used to uncover the ideas and assumptions that underlie the employee engagement construct at the BC Public Service as well as better understand the influence these beliefs have on power relationships within the organization. Because there is a paucity of critical literature specifically focused on employee engagement discourse, the critical discourse analysis considers the broader discourse of human resource management. The analysis reveals that values and assumptions associated with the discourse of New Public Management (NPM) are woven into and across the texts. Three themes emerge from the analysis: transformational change is necessary and there is only one ‘right’ way to solve the crisis; the public servant identity is reshaped around the entrepreneurial spirit; and the organizational culture is redefined to align with NPM values. The effect of this discourse is to maintain and intensify managerial control over front line employees. / Graduate

Over the past decade, the Ontario Ministry of Education has committed to increase relevant teaching material for Indigenous students. While seemingly significant, a mere “increase” in “Indigenous content” is not enough to combat the racist and colonial mentality inherent within the Ontario history curriculum. Canadian history is steeped with idealistic, imperialist discourses organized around keywords such as peacekeeping and multiculturalism, as well as progress, development, identity, and nation building. The latter serve to not only erase, but also to legitimize the atrocities of Canada’s colonial past. At the 2009 G20 meeting, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated, “Canada has no history of colonialism.” In keeping with scholars such as Smith and Alfred and Corntassel, I argue that not only does Canada have a history of colonialism, but the mainstream curriculum must be decolonized if Canada is to move towards an equal and just society. The theory guiding this research is decolonial theory. In addition, Fairclough’s conceptualization of Systematic Textual Analysis provides the methodological basis for this project. I analyse three textbooks approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education for the grade ten history curriculum, as well as supplementary curriculum documents. Considering two objectives, change and a colonial mentality, I find only modest change between 2000, 2006, and 2008 in Indigenous content in the curriculum. Further, a colonial mentality continued to be deeply entrenched within all three textbooks and the history curriculum itself. This research seeks to open up the questions and responsibilities pertaining to the wrongs of the past and contribute to the burgeoning field of decolonized knowledges and education. / Graduate

Progressing into the 21st century young pregnancy and parenthood in the United Kingdom is a focus of political, media and public attention. The country is described as experiencing an epidemic, with the highest rates of young pregnancy and parenthood recorded in Western Europe. Statistics demonstrate that in 2000 38,690 under 18 year-olds in England became pregnant, of which 44.8% ended in legal termination. In light of this data, and within their remit to address the issue of Social Exclusion, New Labour commissioned a report into young pregnancy resulting in the development and implementation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. The Strategy has two main aims; namely reducing the rates of young conceptions and providing better support and education for young parents. This thesis argues from a conceptual framework that questions the contested assumption that young pregnancy and parenthood is a problem. A literature review demonstrates a lack of representation of the voices and experiences of young mothers. This directs the research question to ask what is the experience of young mothers in their own words and placed within context? Critical Discourse Analysis is used to examine three examples of context shaping data that includes government policy, a newspaper article and a radio talk show programme. The analysis reveals discourses that suggest there is a right time and framework for motherhood. These discourses form a dialectical relationship with voices and experiences of young mothers that are analysed using Discourse Analysis. This analysis elicits two key central discourses permeating the experiences of young mothers that are the Good- Bad mother binary that informs and exacerbates experiences of maternal ambivalence. Moreover, these discourses inform the practice of discrimination against young mothers. The thesis concludes with a call to listen to the experiences of young mothers in order that their needs might be more fully understood. It suggests that discrimination against young mothers be incorporated into Equal Opportunity and Anti- Discrimination policy.

There is a public perception that Canada is an ideal place for cultivating global citizenship because of its culturally plural demographics and official policies of multiculturalism. Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a growing field in Canadian education and is an explicit focus in the Alberta social studies curriculum. This thesis brings together four conversations within which multiculturalism and GCE are both related and conflated: (a) the public perceptions of Canada as a model of cultural diversity and global citizenship, (b) the scholarly discussions of GCE and multiculturalism, (c) the policy context where multiculturalism is set alongside GCE, and (d) the practical ways that the two are mutually related in curriculum and lesson documents. There are four interrelated sections to this thesis; each identifies the tensions inherent to multiculturalism, GCE, and the perceived relationship between these fields. First is a wider philosophical and theoretical framing of the topic. Second is the examination of educational research on the topic. Third is a critical discourse analysis of policy, curriculum, and lesson plan documents in the province of Alberta. Last is a synthesis of the findings from all three sections. The analysis finds that there are philosophical and ideological tensions inherent to both fields and to the relationships between them. This contributes to conceptual and ideological conflation and confusion. This finding raises some important concerns in terms of possibilities and constraints to thinking about cultural diversity and social inequities in new ways. It highlights how multicultural contexts of GCE can lead to the recreation of tensions, conflation, and ambiguity. However, the Alberta context demonstrates that a multicultural context can also open critical spaces and possibilities for GCE through engagements with tensions and complexities. Thus this thesis contributes theoretically, by presenting a framework and perspective for interrogating and critically inquiring into the relationship between the two fields. It also contributes to the policy and curriculum discussions in educational research and practice by highlighting the importance of foregrounding key tensions inherent to each field and by identifying the potential negative consequences of leaving these tensions implicit.

There is a public perception that Canada is an ideal place for cultivating global citizenship because of its culturally plural demographics and official policies of multiculturalism. Global Citizenship Education (GCE) is a growing field in Canadian education and is an explicit focus in the Alberta social studies curriculum. This thesis brings together four conversations within which multiculturalism and GCE are both related and conflated: (a) the public perceptions of Canada as a model of cultural diversity and global citizenship, (b) the scholarly discussions of GCE and multiculturalism, (c) the policy context where multiculturalism is set alongside GCE, and (d) the practical ways that the two are mutually related in curriculum and lesson documents. There are four interrelated sections to this thesis; each identifies the tensions inherent to multiculturalism, GCE, and the perceived relationship between these fields. First is a wider philosophical and theoretical framing of the topic. Second is the examination of educational research on the topic. Third is a critical discourse analysis of policy, curriculum, and lesson plan documents in the province of Alberta. Last is a synthesis of the findings from all three sections. The analysis finds that there are philosophical and ideological tensions inherent to both fields and to the relationships between them. This contributes to conceptual and ideological conflation and confusion. This finding raises some important concerns in terms of possibilities and constraints to thinking about cultural diversity and social inequities in new ways. It highlights how multicultural contexts of GCE can lead to the recreation of tensions, conflation, and ambiguity. However, the Alberta context demonstrates that a multicultural context can also open critical spaces and possibilities for GCE through engagements with tensions and complexities. Thus this thesis contributes theoretically, by presenting a framework and perspective for interrogating and critically inquiring into the relationship between the two fields. It also contributes to the policy and curriculum discussions in educational research and practice by highlighting the importance of foregrounding key tensions inherent to each field and by identifying the potential negative consequences of leaving these tensions implicit.