This thesis investigates discursive identity creation used in the discourses of the governing populist political parties of Hungary and Poland, Fidesz and PiS. Considering the important role construction of social identities play in populism, this article argues that we need to enhance our understanding of how the Self and the Other is described and used in populist discourse. The analytical framework draws on earlier literature from the broader field of populism as well as from the fields of Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), security studies and discourse analysis. In this thesis, the Self is conceptualised as Hungary and Poland, respectively, and the Other is conceptualised as the West. The findings show that Hungary and Poland are depicted as unique, strong and brave, and that “the people” share a common and distinctive culture. Meanwhile, the West is depicted as controlling and not to be trusted. The historical victimization of the nation in relation to the West is important, and used to legitimize the current relationship of the two. Moreover, both discourses use similar rhetoric strategies to defend these identities. However, the analysis also points to differences between the discourse used by PiS and the discourse used by Fidesz, where the latter is more extreme in its identity construction. Hungary is depicted as more unique and the identity of the West entail a more radical degree of Otherness carrying a more direct threat towards the existence of the Hungarian nation. In the discourse used by PiS, on the other hand, the West does pose a threat to the sovereignty of the Polish nation, but Poland simultaneously identifies with and wishes to integrate further with the West. Lastly, the findings show that the discursive identity construction of Hungary, Polandand the West is closely related to new legislation planned or implemented by the parties, and is hence not only a rhetoric device.

[pt] Esta dissertação é baseada no trabalho de campo realizado em uma ocupação indígena no bairro do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro. Rico local de trocas interétnicas, o Instituto Tamoio dos Povos Originários é uma legítima aldeia de índios urbanos, como os próprios moradores se definem. Pataxós, Fulni-ôs, Apurinãs e Guajajaras dividem este espaço, que já foi sede do antigo Museu do Índio fundado pelo indigenista Darcy Ribeiro. Lá, uma pajé, das etnias Fulni-ô e Cariri-Xocó, coordena uma casa de reza, freqüentada pelos mais diferentes grupos sociais da metrópole. Embora a casa de reza tenha uma filiação declaradamente indígena, suas atividades podem ser melhor descritas como mágicas, tema que permeia todo o texto da dissertação. / [en] This dissertation is based on the fieldwork performed at an indigenous squatter situated at Maracanã district, Rio de Janeiro. Full of interethnic exchanges, the Instituto Tamoio dos Povos Originários is a true urban-indigenous village, as the residents define themselves. Ethnic groups as Pataxós, Fulni-ôs, Apurinãs e Guajajaras share the edifice, that was first seat of the brazilian Indigenous Museum, founded by the anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro. At the same space, a shaman woman, from Fulni-ô and Caririr-Xocó tribes coordinate an house of prayer, frequented by different urban groups. Though the house of prayer declares indigenous filiation, its activities can be better described as magical, subject that is broached in the entire text of the dissertation.

Research on international work experiences has to a great extent focused on an international assignment as a single event, and on how to optimize it from the organization’s perspective. This thesis addresses individuals’ subjective experiences of international work experiences and focuses on individuals with global careers, who see working abroad as a major element of their careers, involving several international assignments or international work experiences. With the recognition that individuals will work abroad on their own initiative a differentiation is made between repeat expatriates; expatriates with at least two international assignments for the same company, and international itinerants; working abroad for at least two different companies. The main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of global careers through applying an identity construction perspective on narratives of global careerists’ working lives. To address this purpose the global careerists’ identity construction processes are explored, and their career orientation, their identification with the organization and career, and country and culture are considered more directly. An important sub-purpose of this thesis is to make a comparison of repeat expatriates and international itinerants, in terms of their identity construction and identifications. An individual’s identity, or sense of self, is seen as constructed in social interaction, encompassing dualities such as both differentiation from and identification with others. This thesis addresses social identities as part of an individual’s identity construction in the transition in social, cultural and organizational context that an international work experience involves. The approach taken is that the increased understanding aimed for can be reached through narratives. Interviews were made with twenty Swedish global careerists. Each interview was constructed as a narrative and structured according to elements of narratives to construct aggregate narratives of repeat expatriates and international itinerants. The narratives were analyzed and comparison of repeat expatriates and international itinerants was made. The findings in this thesis show that all the global careerists in this study have experienced shifts in their identities and identity reconstruction in the course of their careers. External circumstances such as the type of location, the time abroad, and if the work abroad is perceived as temporary, is important to the global careerists’ identity construction.The findings illustrate that there are differences in repeat expatriates’ and international itinerants’ career orientations, in their identifications with the organizations they work for, with their careers and with what they do. The two types of global careerists differ in how they identify with their home country and culture and the countries and cultures they live in. The repeat expatriates and international itinerants also show different patterns in their identity construction.

Present dissertation aims to achieve three related objectives. First, it is aimed at investigating the theoretical view of Reicher and Hopkins (2001) that some people called &lsquo / identity entrepreneurs&rsquo / actively try to re-define the limits and the contents of the social categories. For this purpose social political milieu of Northern Cyprus is chosen as it is intended to achieve the ingroup members&rsquo / support by portraying national/ethnic identity constructions of National Unity Party, which acknowledges supporting the independence of Turkish Republic of North Cyprus and the Republican Turkish Party, which acknowledges supporting the unification of Cyprus. In accordance with the first objective, the official documents of two parties were analyzed by Structural Analysis of Group Arguments (SAGA) technique. The results confirm that the definitions of Northern Cypriots, the Cyprus Problem, the solutions of the problem, and collective threats and interests were constructed by these parties in the service of their own political projects. Second study purposes to explore the identity constructions of lay Northern Cypriots in order to investigate the relationship between political and lay constructions. By the second objective 19 Turkish Cypriots who were not involved in politics actively (classified as anti and pro-integrationists iv based on their votes at the Referenda of Annan Plan) were interviewed. The results indicate that the lay Northern Cypriots narrated three identities when defining themselves as &lsquo / Turkish&rsquo / , &lsquo / Turkish Cypriots&rsquo / and &lsquo / Cypriots&rsquo / , each of which implicated different constructions of the Cyprus problem, its possible solutions, and perceptions of collective threats and interests. All the constructions were made in accordance with their identity definitions and their votes at the referenda. The analysis also shows that the political and lay constructions are convergent at a great extent. Lastly, present work aims at investigating the relationship between national/ethnic identities and collective projects, quantitatively. Regarding the third objective a questionnaire study was conducted in North Cyprus, with 206 participants. The data confirmed the model, which proposed that social identities (Turkish, Turkish Cypriots and Cypriots) influenced attitudes towards unification through perceived collective interests and threats.

The thesis analyzes the role of politicized music of Kurdish music groups (koms) that emerged in the 1990s in the construction of Kurdish identity. The relation between politics and music is analyzed in the framework of the relation between nationalism and music and political movements&#039 / relation to music. Through koms&#039 / politicized music, the movement communicated its cause, told the struggle of the movement and aimed to mobilize the masses. In addition to this, music has functioned as a field where the collective identity of the movement as well as the Kurdish identity is constructed. As the Kurdish movement did not possess the institutional and ideological apparatuses of the national state in its national identity construction process, music started to play an important role. Through modernization of Kurdish folk music, the identity is constructed as a modern and authentic one. In addition, with the political lyrics of the songs, the national elements such as common language, common history and the imagined territory are constructed, popularized, and canonized. Despite their counter-hegemonic position, koms have articulated elements of the hegemonic discourses as well.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze Armenian ethnic identity construction, the dynamics influencing this process, and varying boundaries of this identity in Yesilk&ouml / y, which is one of the regions of Istanbul where Armenians prefer to live. The primordial as well as constructed aspects of Armenian identity in Turkey and the influence of objective and subjective definitions of Armenian collective identity constitutes the main themes of this thesis. From that perspective, homeland, history, myths, collective remembering, religion, language, rituals, the sense of being a member of a minority group, and perception of citizenship play a crucial role. Besides, relationalism, interaction with others, daily life practices, and relations with the nation-state appear as the other crucial elements of this identity construction process. Armenian identity in Turkey is multi-layered, situational and fluid. Together with the elements which provide the rigidity of identity such as religion, there are other loyalties such as ethnicity, traditions and language which give rise to plural and flexible identities. Armenian communities outside the national boundaries also serve for the self- positioning of the Armenians in Turkey.

In a university undergraduate dance department, students seem to be learning more than pirouettes and pas de bourees; students are learning how to construct their identities and present themselves as 'dancers'. As they progress through their undergraduate careers, the students are not only developing technical skills, but they are also learning the ins and outs of how dancers look, speak and behave. Based on three months of observation and in-depth interviews, it seems that developing into a dancer requires developing into an individual who shows unique commitment both to him/herself and to the art of dance itself. While many of the students enter the university focused on increasing their technical prowess measured in terms of turning ability, elevation in leaps, and flexibility, the older students in the program seem to be focused more on finding their own - individualized - standards of excellence, which frequently have little to do with technical 'tricks'.

This dissertation explores the culture of sport among African American male football players as well as African American perspectives on sport and success. A case study of six African American, Division 1 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) collegiate student athletes was conducted along with seventeen supplemental interviews with community members, parents, coaches and former athletes and fans. The participants answered questions that explored education, success, identity construction, ethnicity and sport. Archival data was also reviewed framing the discussion on football in Florida, links between education and sport participation and African American male academic achievement. While many perspectives varied, there were collective trends in relation to how African American Athletes in Florida define themselves as well as their perspectives on ethnicity and sport. The individual perspectives and collective trends are discussed in this dissertation.

My research uses participants' understandings to look at how people define and use the identities and categories of "vegetarian" and "meat-eater." My research examines what it means to be vegetarian, how ideals and moral hierarchies are understood, and how issues of identity importance, social support, and boundary work are components of vegetarian identity construction processes. My research highlights the unmarked character of the meat-eating identity and investigates the variations and complexities of eating behaviors and identities. Learning more about how both vegetarians and meat-eaters construct vegetarian identities contributes to our understanding of identities and how, despite ambiguities, people experience identities. I further previous work by focusing more on the boundaries and interactions that become meaningful when supporting ones identity. Through one-on-one in-depth interviews, I draw out perspectives and understandings of vegetarian and meat-eating meaning-making processes.This research demonstrates how, despite numerous variations within and between groups, people develop more or less socially shared ideas of what it means to be vegetarian, what vegetarian ideals are, and what moral meanings are produced by various eating behaviors. These ideas run through issues of vegetarian identity, including: identity importance, social support, and boundary work. Vegetarians and meat-eaters' interactions involve cognitive processing, self-presentations, and negotiations that are not as oppositional as stereotypical social ideas suggest. Meat-eaters play an active role throughout many of these vegetarian identity construction processes and provide a more balanced picture of them. Meat-eaters at times engage with vegetarians in the issues of vegetarian ideals, moral hierarchies, identity importance, social support, and boundary work.

This bachelor thesis is about the human identity in the postmodern society, and how it changes throughout the paradigm shift we’re going forward into. What kind of impact do the various blogs have on their public concerning the consumption of brands and fashion? And how come various big brands choose to do their product placement on specific blogs? In this thesis I will discuss and compare the changes from how we used to show our status in the society in the past and how we do it today with digital tools.  Why are people so urged to show others in the society who they are, and how come we do it by wearing specific clothes and brands that other tells us to wear in order to have a higher status? These phenomena’s reflects the way we build our identity today. The other aspect of the digitalization I’m discussing in this thesis is the importance of package-design in order to attract costumers to the physical store, and maintain the brand-loyalty during the transition for the stores.