This thesis attempts a critical examination of the work of the French ethnologist and sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. It reads his work in the context both of the intellectual traditions within which and against which Bourdieu has elaborated his sociological theories, and of the socio-historical developments in postwar France which those theories have sought to describe and explain. Following the development of Bourdieu's thought chronologically and thematically, the thesis argues that his most important works have been centrally concerned with the analysis of a series of social and cultural changes contingent on France's transition to an era of late capitalism, an era characterised by decolonisation, the advent of mass consumerism, unprecedented expansion in the university sector and the consequent challenge to the humanist culture traditionally dispensed there, the waning of a once dominant Left-wing political discourse and its replacement by discourses of managerialism, business efficiency, and neo-liberalism. Hence, rather than analysing key Bourdieusian concepts such as 'practice', 'habitus', 'strategy'. `cultural capital'. and `field' in purely theoretical terms, this thesis will understand such concepts as explanatory tools which emerged in response to a particular historical conjuncture, questioning the contribution they might make to our understanding of that conjuncture. The French intellectual field, with its poles of attraction and repulsion, forms an integral part of that historical conjuncture and this thesis will, therefore, also examine how Bourdieu's approach defined itself in relation to the key protagonists in that field, analysing his debt to figures such as Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau- Ponty, Gaston Bachelard, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx, as well as his more agonistic relationship with figures such as Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Frantz Fanon, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Whilst this thesis neither pretends to provide the definitive reading of Bourdieu's work nor claims that his work's significance is limited to the particular context in which it was produced, it does argue that a detailed understanding of that context forms the necessary precursor to any objective assessment of the work's strengths and weaknesses.

Drawing from Pierre Bourdieu’s socio-cultural approach, this qualitative research project aimed to: (a) understand the responses to current body norms and expectations tied to health and physical appearances amongst underprivileged young women; and; (b) understand to what extent the dominant obesity discourse is inscribed in these women’s bodily habits. Results highlight that participants were aware of the dominant obesity discourse through their perceptions, sentiments, and dispositions towards bodily norms and expectations. Despite their awareness, underprivileged living conditions generated other sets of priorities, such as motherhood, achieving economic stability, completing education, and gaining physical independence which were far greater preoccupations. Underprivileged young women’s ‘choice of the necessary’ is based on optimizing resources and prioritizing needs and responsibilities. Findings support the use of Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts which consider the effects of various aspects of underprivileged living conditions on lifestyles.

This thesis seeks to uncover some of the cultural practices central to youth activist subcultures across three urban centres in Canada: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. I undertake this work within the context of rising moral and state claims about the apparent need for ‘good citizenship’ to be exercised by young people, alongside a late modern relationship between liberalism, neoliberalism, and Canada’s history of class- and race-based exclusions. The theoretical framework bridges cultural and political sociology with youth cultural theory. It also draws heavily upon the work of feminist philosophers of agency and the state. The main methodology is ethnographic, and was carried out within a phenomenological and hermeneutic framework. In total, 41 young people, ages 13-29, were involved in this research. Participants self-identified as being involved in activist work addressing issues such as globalization, war, poverty and/or colonialism. The findings of this study suggest that the effects of the historical and contemporary symbol of the ‘good citizen’ are experienced within youth activist subcultures through a variety of cultural means, including: expectations from self and schooling to be ‘responsible,’ with its associated burdens of guilt; policing practices that appear to rely on cultural ideas about the ‘good citizen’ and the ‘bad activist’; and representations of youth activism (e.g. within media) as replete with out-of-control young people being punished for their wrong-doings. Wider effects include the entrenched impacts of class- and race-based exclusions, which manifest within youth activist subcultures through stylistic regimes of ‘symbolic authorization’ that incorporate attire, beliefs, and practices. Although findings suggest that many young people come to activism via a predisposition created within an activist or Left-leaning family, this research also highlights the relational means by which people from outside of this familial habitus can come to activist practices. Taken together, findings suggest that youth activism must be understood as a cultural and social phenomenon, with requisite preconditions, influences, and effects; that such practices cannot be disassociated from wider social inequalities; and that such effects and influences demand scrutiny if we are to reconsider the role of activism and its part in expanding the political boundaries of the nation-state.

The study explores what shapes decision-making in governance in the New Zealand public healthcare services. It contributes to the understanding of the impact of the beliefs, perceptions and roles of the decision-makers and the tensions in public healthcare services in New Zealand. The focus was on ascertaining the characteristics of the people as individuals and as members of groups, their skills, preparation and the experience required to make governance decisions in healthcare services in New Zealand. The research analysed data from interviews with individuals in senior positions in public healthcare services in New Zealand, focus groups made up from those individuals and observations of formal District Health Board (DHB) meetings. The context for the study is the New Zealand public healthcare services within the DHB model. This study focuses on the organisational and operational aspects of governance from the socio-anthropological viewpoint of Pierre Bourdieu. Bourdieu’s methodology was chosen as it highlights the interaction of power and the management of tension between individuals and groups in different, but abutting, fields of practice. Using Bourdieu’s methodology the researcher has placed healthcare services in an economy of political power where the capital individuals and groups bring to an environment is demonstrated through their power and influence within a particular field of practice. In this study the field of practice is governance in New Zealand public healthcare services. The method involved purposive sampling of participants from three DHBs. The participants included appointed and elected members, chairmen, chief executives and senior clinicians from medical and nursing cohorts. The participants identified 22 abstracts which determined the shape of their decision-making. Through analysis and reflection these 22 determinants were organised into groups reflecting the generic principles of governance identified in the literature. The study concludes that decision-making in governance is shaped by the concepts of professional maturity, quality and safety, power and tension and fiduciary duty within the context of structure and time. The scope of governance is connected across healthcare organisations by the tension of power manifested through the capital individuals and groups bring to the interaction or field of practice. The study also found that there are two aspects to decision-making in governance which allow transferability of the concepts of governance across healthcare service organisations. Firstly, governance is decision-making in good faith with independence of mind and with the appropriate skills, diligence and care on behalf of others. Secondly, the structures of governance operationalised in audit, laws, guidelines, codes and principles support the decision-making on behalf of others. Consequently, the rules of decision-making in governance in healthcare services are the same whether the decision is being made in a clinical or corporate environment. They are enacted differently because of the different contexts. The study brings together the determinants in their concept groups into a framework in the context of structure and time. Use of the framework will enable those with governance responsibilities to shape their governance decision-making from an informed and common base which recognises the tensions in the field of healthcare services governance.

Doctor of Philosophy / Using the Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service in 1994 as its major case study, this thesis hypothesises that, although this inquiry had a far reaching impact on both the personal and working lives of police officers in the organisation itself, it proved ineffectual in its attempt to control corruption. It argues that corruption, and the subsequent inquiries into this corruption, can be seen to have a cyclic nature and the failure of such inquiries has a long and international history. It contends that the nature of the public inquiry itself can be seen to contribute to the continuation of the cycle of corruption. Clearly, putting an end to corruption requires more than the investigation, public exposure and punishment of a few corrupt police, followed by a generalised tightening of the chain of command. Instead, this thesis demonstrates that the problem is primarily an organisational one and it is important to look at management reforms. This thesis contends that the cycle of corruption involves the nature of police work; the catalyst that triggers the inquiry; the inquiry itself and the issue of the report; and the police and community responses. An examination of all these factors is crucial to understanding the cycle’s dynamics. The final report of the Wood Royal Commission was in 1996 and this thesis specifically analyses the cycle of corruption in relation to the response of the police executive to this inquiry. It shows how the police response focused on the tactical crisis response central to operational policing — in this case appeasing official censure and community fears. As little more than a public relations exercise, senior management strategically addressed the specific recommendations of the report rather than creatively considering the implications exposed during the inquiry. The idea that corruption is a symptom of an ineffective system and not simply a slackening of effective control by senior management was never considered. In the aftermath of the Wood Royal Commission there was much discussion about ‘police culture’ being ‘a culture of corruption’. The forgotten casualties of the inquiry has been individual police officers, many of whom see policing as a vocation. This thesis has allowed many voices to be heard and used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse a wide range of information and data, which included personal interviews with serving police officers and members of external organisations, as well as printed material from Royal Commission Reports, Hansard and other government documents, internal Police Service documents and media reports.It has used Bourdieu’s theoretical approach which allows an analysis of the complex relationships involved between police officers as individuals who operate within the wider networks of a specific organisation and the way the personal is important as an explanatory tool of what happens within a policing culture and how this culture is perceived differently from within and without. Bourdieu’s theory also facilitates analysis of the interactions of this network with the wider community, putting in context the responses of both the police service and the community. The connection with the personal is important as an explanatory tool of what happens within a policing culture and how this culture is perceived differently from within and without. Bourdieu constructs an understanding of the ‘nature of the game’ of policing and the shaping of the individual within police culture, giving insight into the source of moral dilemmas, personal beliefs and personal behaviour. As the current management system of command and control is at the heart of this response, this thesis has also analysed the assumptions inherent in this management philosophy, considering both necessary operational strengths as well as organisational weaknesses. A central theme of the thesis is that open dialogue will reduce the incidence of corruption and risk within policing institutions. This thesis argues that there must be an integrative approach to reform — accountable, active leadership combined with critically constructed practical approaches that tackle the complexity of the dynamics embedded in the ‘nature of the game’ of policing itself.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1996. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Notre Dame, 2007. / Thesis directed by Eugene Halton for the Department of Sociology. "April 2007." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-88).

Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2007

Proefschrift Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. / Auteursnaam op omslag: Marijke Laurense. Met lit. opg.: p. 295-314. - Met reg. - Met samenvatting in het Engels.