This thesis examines how discourses of biology textbooks can work to constitute various kinds of subjectivities. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach to discourse analysis I examine how four Ontario secondary school biology textbooks discursively delimit what can be thought and acted upon, and in the process work to partially constitute students/teachers as sex/gendered; neocolonial; neoliberal (and a subject of work), and ethical subjects and subjectivities. This thesis engages the topic of how discourse can constitute subjectivity in science in three basic ways: First, on a theoretical level, in terms of working out an understanding of subject constitution/interpellation that would also be useful when engaging with other sociopolitical and ethical questions in science education. Secondly, in terms of an empirically based critical discourse analysis that examines how various statements within these four textbooks could set limits on what is possible for students to think and act upon in relation to themselves, science, and the world. Thirdly, this thesis represents a narrative of scholarly development that moves from an engagement of my personal experiences in science education and current science education literature towards the general politico-philosophical topic of subjectivity and biopolitics. This thesis begins with a discussion of my experiences as a science teacher, a review of relevant science education literature, and considerations of subjectivity that relate specifically ii to the specific methodological approach I employ when examining these textbooks. After this I present five chapters, each of which can be thought of as a somewhat separate analysis concerning how the discourses of these textbooks can work to constitute specific subjectivities (each involving different theoretical/methodological considerations). I conclude with a reflection/synthesis chapter and a call to see science education as a site for biopolitical struggle.

This thesis examines how discourses of biology textbooks can work to constitute various kinds of subjectivities. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach to discourse analysis I examine how four Ontario secondary school biology textbooks discursively delimit what can be thought and acted upon, and in the process work to partially constitute students/teachers as sex/gendered; neocolonial; neoliberal (and a subject of work), and ethical subjects and subjectivities. This thesis engages the topic of how discourse can constitute subjectivity in science in three basic ways: First, on a theoretical level, in terms of working out an understanding of subject constitution/interpellation that would also be useful when engaging with other sociopolitical and ethical questions in science education. Secondly, in terms of an empirically based critical discourse analysis that examines how various statements within these four textbooks could set limits on what is possible for students to think and act upon in relation to themselves, science, and the world. Thirdly, this thesis represents a narrative of scholarly development that moves from an engagement of my personal experiences in science education and current science education literature towards the general politico-philosophical topic of subjectivity and biopolitics. This thesis begins with a discussion of my experiences as a science teacher, a review of relevant science education literature, and considerations of subjectivity that relate specifically ii to the specific methodological approach I employ when examining these textbooks. After this I present five chapters, each of which can be thought of as a somewhat separate analysis concerning how the discourses of these textbooks can work to constitute specific subjectivities (each involving different theoretical/methodological considerations). I conclude with a reflection/synthesis chapter and a call to see science education as a site for biopolitical struggle.

The growing global awareness of sexual violence as a weapon of war has been accompanied by the strategic and pervasive inclusion of women’s personal stories of war rape. This representational strategy of Western media, academia and humanitarian policies was critically examined in order to understand how war raped women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are discursively situated as “Other.” Drawing on the theoretical concepts of abjection and objection, the study did not question the truth of women’s experience but rather examined whether the pervasive inclusion of war rape stories constituted a true feminine subjectivity. A foucaldian notion of discourse provided a method to expose meaning and dominant discourses, which make certain identities and stories of war rape more visible than others. The purpose of this study was to critically engage with dominant Western discourses of war rape and provide a more complex understanding of how diverse power structures, identities and representational practices impact the struggle of Congolese women to open self-determined pathways of empowerment. A qualitative method of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to examine the textual and visual processes of representation. Samples of text were taken from three main areas: media coverage (print, television, web based magazines, and films), feminist academic literature (journals, reports and books), and humanitarian policies (UN mission reports, Security Council resolution, mandates and reports). The results revealed that war rape victims, the DRC and acts of war rape were all positioned as “Other” and as a media spectacle that was further consumed by Western audiences. It was also found that certain war rape identities and social factors remained invisible, including the West’s complacency in the DRC conflict. Ultimately, the study finds a tension between discourse as a tool of liberation and a tool of power and control. This thesis recommends that anti rape activists must examine their own dominance over war rape victims and consider new strategies—beyond the simple act of storytelling—that will position rape victims as the subjects (not objects) of their own struggle to end war rape. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2011-03-22 12:21:28.209

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In this thesis I examine the notion of ethical subjectivity as characterized by an original relationship to alterity. Drawing upon Derrida, Levinas and psychoanalytic theory, I give a picture of a subject who is fundamentally responsive and inexorably bound to others, and I discuss the ethical and political implications of this condition. I extend the discussion of 'others' to include technology, suggesting that our ethical responsibility to alterity has been radicalized through deconstruction.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Environmental Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 305-321). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR19807

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster, 1971. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-565).

Thesis (MA)--University of Melbourne, School of Languages & Linguistics, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p.97-100)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2009. / Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts and Education. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-347)