This thesis will be concerned with articulating and defending a form of realist social theory entitled "emergentist Marxism". As such its principal objective is less to investigate or review the voluminous literature on "social realism" and more to show the ways in which Marxian social theory can be legitimately "constructed" as a specific "materialistic" application of ontological and methodological realism in the human sciences. The significance of this research is that it functions simultaneously as a contribution to the social science component of Roy Bhaskar's philosophical realism and as a Marxist commentary upon and perhaps intervention against it. The latter is less certain, however, because Bhaskar's depth realism appears to be consistent with the form of anti-reductive materialism defended here. "Realism" or "emergentism" refers to an ontological position denoting a stratified social world of irreducible levels, of which persons, practices and structures are the most fundamental, all of which are efficacious by virtue of the properties and powers which pertain to each of them. "Materialism" denotes the ontological position that the material structures of social systems vertically explain social and cultural structures without "explaining them away". Thus "emergentist Marxism" is an anti-reductive socio-historical ontological materialism and attendant dialectical realist method. Translated into practical social research, it is applied concretely here to the task of theorising the interface between the properties and powers which pertain to human agents and those which pertain to social structures in shaping the constitution and dynamics of social systems.

Spurred by recent developments in the history of emotions, this thesis looks at the place of emotion and irrationality in socialist political philosophy. I give particular attention to the shifting ways that socialists depicted the emotions of revolution. I argue that socialists had a complicated understanding of human nature, drawing on various philosophical discourses and scientific theories to grasp the ‘irrational’ and to relate it to the socialist project. Building on philosophies of ‘the passions’ developed by G.W.F. Hegel and Charles Fourier, Karl Marx sought to grasp the multi-faceted emotional forces of human nature and critique the primacy of acquisitiveness in liberal thought. During the British ‘socialist revival’ of the 1880s and 1890s, theorists like William Morris and E. Belfort Bax sought to follow Marx’s critique of self-interest. They pushed the passion known as ‘sympathy’, ‘solidarity’ or ‘fellowship’ to the fore as an integral and universal source of socialist feeling, which drove the struggle against inhuman conditions of late-Victorian capitalism. Darwinian thinking about the instincts and emotions challenged this ethical conception of ‘the passions’, and socialists sought to reframe the critique of capitalism around biological categories. They emphasised such concepts as the ‘social instinct’ of Karl Pearson and William Trotter’s ‘herd instinct’ to account for the natural need for sociability and the damaging artificiality of economic egoism. The industrial ‘Great Unrest’ of 1910-14, the First World War, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 spurred socialists to an examination of the emotions driving struggle between classes and nations. In the years after the Russian Revolution, the theories of Leninism, instinct theory, and Freudian psychoanalysis shared a moment of intense interest among British socialists. Both opponents of the Bolshevik regime like Bertrand Russell, and defenders of the Soviet state in the new Communist Party of Great Britain like Cedar and Eden Paul, drew on the so-called New Psychology to understand the meaning of 1917, to predict the direction of the revolution, and to inform their own approaches to socialism.

By engaging with ‘realism’ in the context of Socialist Realism in Bulgaria, a notion that inhabits the space in between fine art, ideology and art history, this practice-based research offers new insight into the examination of continuities between fine art during Communism and post-Communism, exploring the relationship between the abstract and the figurative and their functioning both within, and exceeding, the pictorial space of painting. The two main research questions that inform the studio work and underpin this study have been: How can art practice explore the official representations of Socialist Realism in post-Communist Bulgaria in the axis between photography and painting? How can this process affect an understanding of the relationship between abstract and figurative painting within the context of ‘realism’ of Socialist Realism and contemporary fine art in the country? By focusing on these research questions, this study conceptualises the relationship between the abstract and the figurative in the context of Socialist Realism in fine art in Bulgaria and its official representations after the collapse of the Communist regime. This relationship marked one of the central oppositions in fine art during the Communist era in the country, often constituting a dividing line between what was considered ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ art. This study is concerned with the differences in the definitions of ‘realism’ within Socialist Realism in Bulgaria over the years, differences which may be considered as ruptures in its development. Yet it acknowledges these differences within the framework imposed by the Communist ideology. The latter remained unchangeable, yet had a determining impact on the development of fine art throughout the Communist period. Furthermore, the study explores how fragments of this framework are transferred into the post-Communist period, and how they function in state-funded institutional representations of Socialist Realist works and in examples of former ‘official’ artists’ works, as well as in the readings of Socialist Realism after the fall of the Communist regime, readings which fluctuate between the oppositions of ‘official or unofficial’ art, praise or disavowal of Socialist Realism. In order to explore both the ruptures and the continuities, the research looks at Socialist Realism and its specificities in Bulgaria in relation to Socialist Realism in fine art in the Soviet Union and other post-Communist countries in Eastern Europe. The relationship between the abstract and the figurative is situated within this context and explored through a series of transformations of photographic sources into paintings. These transformations are performed by my practice, engaging with the photographic sources’ production, dissemination and display in relation to ‘realism’ in Socialist Realism.

This qualitative case study explored the development and exercise of voice at City Workshop, an anarchist-inspired alternative school for middle and high school students. Drawing from the dialogic tradition, I defined student voice as the complex and varied ways students express understanding, make themselves heard, and exercise agency over their educational experiences. In this study, I sought to move beyond traditional approaches to student voice that frame its meaning in instrumental terms and focus instead on its ontological and political dimensions. Through individual and focus group interviews, participant observations, document analysis, and a grounded theory approach to data analysis, I examined how students at City Workshop exercise their voices and how the educational practices of the school empower student voice. This study’s findings revealed the scope and power of student voice extended far beyond its practical effects. As demonstrated through the study, student voice was embodied in things students said, things they did not say, patterns of listening and dialogue, and even the environment itself. Relatedly, I learned student voice is empowered through dialogic governance and relational pedagogy, practices that invite students to play more meaningful roles as both individuals, learners, and community members. I also found City Workshop empowered voice by encouraging students to engage with issues of equity, power, and justice across a wide variety of settings and contexts, while dismantling barriers that restrict participation and engagement. Finally, the significance of this study lies in the attention it draws to the viability of experimental, dialogic approaches to schooling rooted in anarchist-inspired traditions and committed to broader educational transformation.

Abstract The presented study deals with Bakunin's conception of man in his anarchy period. The aim is to give evidence that his theory has legitimate place in the history of social sciences and that every attempt to disregard or to eclipse his opinions is unacceptable. This thesis tries to put his anthropological interpretation into the context of social sciences of that time and to show that the real foundation of the whole theory lies in natural evolutionism, which was a part of evolutionist theories of that time in general. This evolutionism was based on the results of the period scientific studies, widely using analogies between the natural and human worlds. The study begins with the theory of foundation and evolution of the natural world; from inorganic to organic form as the real essence of the Universe, then it moves on to the theory of foundation and evolution of the human capacity of thinking including the theory of religion, philosophy and science viewed as the historical forms of human intellect. It continues with the theory of the foundation and the history of human labour viewed as economic history. The following part of this study deals with patriotism and shows the connection between Bakunin's natural evolutionism and his interpretation of this phenomena. The last chapter deals with...

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As climate change becomes a pressing concern for policymakers and citizens around the world, a variety of security discourses have emerged framing the environment as a security issue. While dominant frameworks focus on securing national interests, the international order, or individuals in vulnerable positions, the ecological security framework presents a radical alternative discourse. Ecological security requires a refocusing of the security discourse onto the environment itself, vulnerable communities, and future generations, and requires the exploration of alternative forms of social and economic organization. This framework has often been discounted as an impractical and radical alternative to dominant discourses, however, in this thesis I argue that ecological security can, and is, being enacted by local communities around the world. Similarly overlooked, yet highly relevant to ecological security, is anarchist political thought and methodology. I suggest that anarchist methodology, when employed by environmental activists through direct action, can enable the enactment of ecological security by local communities. By investigating the connections and overlap between blockadia activism, anarchist methodology, and Indigenous resurgence, it is possible to envision a locally-based, bottom-up model of ecological security. Through an investigation of the conflict between Wet’suwet’en land defenders and the Coastal GasLink pipeline, this blockadia-anarchist-ecological security nexus is drawn out and examined as a possible path forward for climate security. / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to take the individual on a journey about what it is like to be engaged in radical anti-systemic activism in the 21st Century.  Along this journey the reader will learn about the experiences of what it was like to join the Occupy movement"an anti-systemic movement that began in 2011"through an empirical analysis of learning about and practicing the anarchist(ic) characteristics of the movement"horizontal, non-hegemonic, affinity and consensus-based ways-of-being as a part of your everyday lifeworld.  This journey is not only informed by my own personal experience joining the Occupy movement, but it is also informed by my simultaneous experience of maintaining the role of a radical activist-scholar throughout the process.  Accordingly, I will explore how this impacted my lifeworld both within and outside of academia, which informed the very framework, analysis, and outcomes produced in this thesis.  This project was thus also designed to inform social science research"particularly that on social movements"by reflecting on both social roles experienced in this journey in order to cohesively make sense of the paradoxes created by engaging in discourses about, within, and for the Occupy movement.  Of most importance, from an empirical and ontological experience as an Occupier and activist-scholar, this project will help to raise key questions about the frameworks to seek social justice utilized by contemporary anti-systemic social movements in the 21st Century"social movements that are now spreading around the globe. / Master of Science

O presente trabalho discute teoricamente o anarquismo, a partir de um conjunto amplo de autores e episódios. Para isso, identifica e analisa criticamente os estudos de referência do anarquismo, define uma abordagem teórico-metodológica para o tratamento do objeto, realiza sua definição, aponta seus debates fundamentais, estabelece suas correntes e esboça as grandes linhas de seu surgimento e desenvolvimento histórico. As teses centrais da dissertação sustentam que os estudos de referência possuem problemas significativos de ordem teórico-metodológica, envolvendo: a base de dados (histórica e geográfica) com a qual trabalham; a maneira que situam o anarquismo na história e a maneira que lêem a história; as definições de anarquismo elaboradas e adotadas; as conclusões extraídas de suas análises. Tais problemas dificultam as investigações. Uma abordagem fundamentada num método histórico e num conjunto amplo de dados, que interaja com as noções de totalidade e interdependência, permite os que os problemas dos estudos de referência sejam solucionados e que se realize uma investigação adequada do anarquismo. Dentre os elementos fundamentais que podem ser afirmados em relação ao objeto, estão: sua definição como uma ideologia coerente, um tipo de socialismo revolucionário, podendo ser descrita por meio de um conjunto preciso de princípios; a elaboração racional de críticas, proposições e estratégias fundamentais, sobre as quais se estabelecem suas duas correntes: o anarquismo insurrecionalista e o anarquismo de massas; seu amplo impacto popular entre trabalhadores e camponeses, nas cidades e nos campos; seu desenvolvimento histórico permanente e global, desde seu surgimento, na segunda metade do século XIX, até o presente. / This work discusses anarchism theoretically, from a wide range of authors and episodes. For this, it identifies and critically analyzes the reference studies on anarchism, sets a theoretical and methodological approach to the treatment of the object, establishes its definition, points its key debates, establishes its currents and sketches the broad outlines of its emergence and historical development. The central thesis of the research sustain that the reference studies have significant theoretical and methodological problems, involving: the database (historical and geographical) with which they work; the way they situate anarchism in history and the way they read history; the definitions of anarchism developed and adopted; the conclusions drawn from their analysis. Such problems hamper the investigations. An approach grounded in a historical method and a wide range of data, which interacts with the notions of totality and interdependence, allows the resolution of the problems present in the reference studies and the realization of a proper investigation of anarchism. Among the key elements that can be claimed in relation to the object, are: its definition as a coherent ideology, a kind of revolutionary socialism that can be described by a precise set of principles; the rational development of critics, propositions and key strategies, on which it establishes its two main currents: insurrectionist anarchism and mass anarchism; its broad popular impact among workers and peasants, in the cities and fields; its permanent and global historical development, since its emergence in the second half of the 19th century until the present.

O presente trabalho discute teoricamente o anarquismo, a partir de um conjunto amplo de autores e episódios. Para isso, identifica e analisa criticamente os estudos de referência do anarquismo, define uma abordagem teórico-metodológica para o tratamento do objeto, realiza sua definição, aponta seus debates fundamentais, estabelece suas correntes e esboça as grandes linhas de seu surgimento e desenvolvimento histórico. As teses centrais da dissertação sustentam que os estudos de referência possuem problemas significativos de ordem teórico-metodológica, envolvendo: a base de dados (histórica e geográfica) com a qual trabalham; a maneira que situam o anarquismo na história e a maneira que lêem a história; as definições de anarquismo elaboradas e adotadas; as conclusões extraídas de suas análises. Tais problemas dificultam as investigações. Uma abordagem fundamentada num método histórico e num conjunto amplo de dados, que interaja com as noções de totalidade e interdependência, permite os que os problemas dos estudos de referência sejam solucionados e que se realize uma investigação adequada do anarquismo. Dentre os elementos fundamentais que podem ser afirmados em relação ao objeto, estão: sua definição como uma ideologia coerente, um tipo de socialismo revolucionário, podendo ser descrita por meio de um conjunto preciso de princípios; a elaboração racional de críticas, proposições e estratégias fundamentais, sobre as quais se estabelecem suas duas correntes: o anarquismo insurrecionalista e o anarquismo de massas; seu amplo impacto popular entre trabalhadores e camponeses, nas cidades e nos campos; seu desenvolvimento histórico permanente e global, desde seu surgimento, na segunda metade do século XIX, até o presente. / This work discusses anarchism theoretically, from a wide range of authors and episodes. For this, it identifies and critically analyzes the reference studies on anarchism, sets a theoretical and methodological approach to the treatment of the object, establishes its definition, points its key debates, establishes its currents and sketches the broad outlines of its emergence and historical development. The central thesis of the research sustain that the reference studies have significant theoretical and methodological problems, involving: the database (historical and geographical) with which they work; the way they situate anarchism in history and the way they read history; the definitions of anarchism developed and adopted; the conclusions drawn from their analysis. Such problems hamper the investigations. An approach grounded in a historical method and a wide range of data, which interacts with the notions of totality and interdependence, allows the resolution of the problems present in the reference studies and the realization of a proper investigation of anarchism. Among the key elements that can be claimed in relation to the object, are: its definition as a coherent ideology, a kind of revolutionary socialism that can be described by a precise set of principles; the rational development of critics, propositions and key strategies, on which it establishes its two main currents: insurrectionist anarchism and mass anarchism; its broad popular impact among workers and peasants, in the cities and fields; its permanent and global historical development, since its emergence in the second half of the 19th century until the present.