For Christian professional youth workers, the transition from student to employee positions them at the interstices of convergent and competing discourses. This thesis argues that Christian youth workers can position themselves within these discourses by articulating an authentic faith integrated with professional practice. This positioning is produced and reproduced by performative expectations and the influence of relations of power. The notion of one, unitary professional identity is deemed futile as Christian professional youth workers mobilize a complex range of identities within a range of liminal spaces. Youth workers are suspended within an extended liminal state, which opens up different possibilities for professionalism within Christian professional youth work. This thesis contributes to knowledge particularly for the sociology of the professions and specifically with regard to training and subsequent employment of those within professional occupations. Theoretically, this thesis develops Turner’s thinking in relation to the three phases of separation, liminality and reincorporation and how they apply to the understanding of transition from training to employment. Turner’s phases appear to be incomplete for the understanding of the particular issues that individuals face in the forming of identity in late modern contexts. His thinking on separation and liminality adopt a more nuanced meaning in that the statuses are not as clearly defined as would be initially thought. Likewise, reincorporation is elusive, since Christian professional youth workers are suspended within a permanent state of liminality. This thesis redeems the notion of professionalism from a secular liberal ideal, allowing spirituality to flourish once again. A Christian professional can, and does, express an authentic sense of self within different discursive domains. The crossing of discursive boundaries allows for creativity and experimentation that enriches faith and professionalism. The two influence each other in productive ways. Professionalism as the profane becomes the sacred through the experiences of Christian professionals. Of course, professionalism becoming sacred is not the domain of the Christian only. This is pertinent for a person of any faith belonging to a professional occupation and seeking to express their faith through their work.

This thesis concerns the relatively recent phenomenon of part-time managers and professionals. The focus is the part-time working arrangement (PTWA) and specifically the process by which it emerges and develops, building on existing literature on working-hours preferences, the role of the organization in part-time working and alternative work organization for temporal flexibility. Two large private-sector organizations, each operating in the UK and the Netherlands, provided four different research sites for narrative interviews with 39 part-time managers and professionals. The key contribution to knowledge is to identify the process of developing a PTWA as a combination of the formal negotiation of a flexibility task i-deal and an informal process of job crafting. In a situation of high constraint – where the individual’s goals conflict with organizational norms and expectations – the tensions between ‘being part-time’ and ‘being professional’ necessitated identity work at each stage, as individuals constructed a ‘provisional self’ which in turn enclosed each stage of the development of the PTWA. The four stages were: first, evaluation of alternative options, including postponing the transition to part- time until more appropriate circumstances arise; secondly, preparation of the individual business case for part-time; thirdly, formal negotiation of a flexibility task i-deal; and finally an informal, unauthorized adaptation of the arrangement over time. Collaborative crafting of working practices (predictability, substitutability, knowledge management) provided greater opportunities for adaptation than individual activities. This study’s contribution to theory in the nascent field of part-time managers and professionals is a process model which suggests how three sets of discourses act as generative mechanisms at each stage of the emergence and development of the PTWA, creating or destroying ‘action spaces’. These discourses are: the perceived ‘nature’ of managerial and professional work, the perception of part-time as a personal lifestyle choice, and the understanding of part-timers as either ‘other’ or the ‘new normal’.

This thesis concerns the relatively recent phenomenon of part-time managers and professionals. The focus is the part-time working arrangement (PTWA) and specifically the process by which it emerges and develops, building on existing literature on working-hours preferences, the role of the organization in part-time working and alternative work organization for temporal flexibility. Two large private-sector organizations, each operating in the UK and the Netherlands, provided four different research sites for narrative interviews with 39 part-time managers and professionals. The key contribution to knowledge is to identify the process of developing a PTWA as a combination of the formal negotiation of a flexibility task i-deal and an informal process of job crafting. In a situation of high constraint – where the individual’s goals conflict with organizational norms and expectations – the tensions between ‘being part-time’ and ‘being professional’ necessitated identity work at each stage, as individuals constructed a ‘provisional self’ which in turn enclosed each stage of the development of the PTWA. The four stages were: first, evaluation of alternative options, including postponing the transition to part- time until more appropriate circumstances arise; secondly, preparation of the individual business case for part-time; thirdly, formal negotiation of a flexibility task i-deal; and finally an informal, unauthorized adaptation of the arrangement over time. Collaborative crafting of working practices (predictability, substitutability, knowledge management) provided greater opportunities for adaptation than individual activities. This study’s contribution to theory in the nascent field of part-time managers and professionals is a process model which suggests how three sets of discourses act as generative mechanisms at each stage of the emergence and development of the PTWA, creating or destroying ‘action spaces’. These discourses are: the perceived ‘nature’ of managerial and professional work, the perception of part-time as a personal lifestyle choice, and the understanding of part-timers as either ‘other’ or the ‘new normal’.

Recently there has been considerable interest in Cornish ethnicity reflected both by a rise in the numbers in Cornwall who identify as Cornish and by academic research. Cornish studies have constructed a regional narrative embracing Celticity and an economy based on primary industries, particularly mining, from which has evolved a distinctive culture. This study adopting an ethnographic approach, extends Cornish studies by considering a number of elements which have not previously been addressed. These include investigating how identity may be played out in a particular place to see whether there may be differences in how ethnicity is performed within Cornwall, looking at how it may be practiced collectively in the context of civil society and examining the relationship between ethnicity and place identity. Three settings within Penzance have been selected to represent some of the issues prevalent in twenty first century Cornwall. They include a study of festivals celebrating ethnicity and place identity, an investigation of how kinship and ethnicity are the basis for social cohesion on a social housing estate and an analysis of a dispute over harbour re-development reflecting tensions between regeneration and conservation. Investigating the civil society associated with each of these settings has identified a number of discourses which influence place images, are the focus for debate and reflect different ways in which ethnicity is articulated and performed. Influences on Cornish identity have been exposed which have not been previously explored by Cornish Studies including the relationship between civil society and the state, the importance of place mythology and the impact of inward migration. The study concludes that collective identities, ethnicity and place images are constantly in flux driven by discourses debated within the micro-politics of civil society and that the overarching narratives of Cornishness contain tensions and cleavages which help explain the fractured nature of much of public life in Cornwall.

This dissertation examines the representation of ethnic origins in Antonio Skármeta’s fiction. My hypothesis is that exile in Europe and return to Chile led the author to rethink his Dalmatian-Croatian roots and his sense of self in response to prevailing discourses of national identity. I assess Chile’s immigration history as well as the development of the idea of a homogeneous national identity. Blending concepts of ethnic narrative with theories of memory, identity, and literature, I trace Skármeta’s literary shift towards reclaiming his roots and initiating a critical dialogue with established notions of Chilean identity. I further argue that he grounds himself in literary tradition to inscribe immigrant stories into two major foundational genres, the historical novel and the family romance. I also show that, instead of accepting the truth-telling claims of historical fiction, Skármeta employs historiographic metafiction and intertextuality to emphasize the literary nature of fictional discourse and the role of literary figures in inventing the nation. Finally, I contend that these narratives constitute literary lieux de mémoire (Pierre Nora), which incorporate a subjective memory into the evolving discourses on Chilean identity, thereby recognizing pluralism and fostering mutual understanding.

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[pt] A valorização do professor é de suma importância para seu crescimento profissional. Ela pode se dar de diversas formas. O foco da presente dissertação é tentar compreender de que formas essa valorização é entendida por três profissionais da área de ensino de língua inglesa da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Através de entrevistas individuais e autobiográficas, cada uma das professoras aponta sua trajetória profissional e o que as motiva a pensar em deixar a carreira ou prosseguir nela pelo prisma do que entendem por valorização em sua área de atuação. A pesquisa é qualitativa e interpretativa na tentativa de compreender o que motiva as entrevistadas. Mesmo partindo de contextos distintos (escola pública, curso livre de inglês e escola particular), as três possuem visões comuns no que diz respeito à liberdade de atuação, remuneração e identidades impostas pela lógica mercantilista que o neoliberalismo trouxe para dentro do cenário de ensino. Todas dialogam, tendo ou não conhecimento teórico prévio, com teorias sobre valorização profissional docente, através de uma corrente da Linguística Aplicada voltada para as profissões. / [en] Teachers professional appreciation is of the utmost importance for their professional development. It can be achieved in a plethora of ways. The present dissertation focuses on trying to understand in which ways such valorization is perceived by three professionals of the area of English language teaching-learning in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Through individual and autobiographical interviews, each of the teachers discusses their professional journey and what motivates them to either consider leaving their profession or continue working as teachers, as they attempt to comprehend what professional appreciation is in their area of expertise. The research is qualitative and interpretative attempting to understand what motivates the interviewees. Even coming from different backgrounds (public schools, English courses and private schools), the three of them share similar visions in relation to freedom of agency, salary and identities imposed by the mercantilist agenda brought about by neoliberalism to schools. Regardless of having theoretical background knowledge about the theme, all of them echo theories about professional appreciation, also related to Applied Linguistics of the professions.

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