This research examines the complex and antagonistic discourses and practices interwoven in the domain of sexuality for well-educated young women in contemporary Turkey. In this light and following Foucault, I see sexuality as a social and cultural construct interrelated with power relations,structures of domination, and practices of submission and resistance - a grid of intelligibility that Foucault has defined as a dispositif. The analysis particularly focuses on how the discourses around virginity make connections, or are juxtaposed with, several other cultural and political discourses in the operation of power relations surrounding women's sexuality, within the context of Turkish modernity. The thesis uncovers the multiple layers of the constitutive process of young women's sexuality in Turkey. It draws on the sexuality narratives of eighteen well-educated young women and six of their mothers who are members of two generations in Turkish modernisation: the Daughters of the Republic and the Daughters of Feminism. The distinct yet connected consciousnesses of these generations are created by two important socio-political shifts in the history of modern Turkey: the introduction of the Turkish modernisation/westernisation project, and the emergence of second-wave feminism. As a Foucauldian approach to narratives of sexuality, the innovative methodology of this thesis traces marginalised stories, exploring the interrelations between life-histories, historically specific truths, knowledges, and discourses in the micro realms of sexuality. Deploying a narrative analysis in working with women's individual stories, this methodology also unfolds the multiplicities in the constitution of these stories, including the positionings of both the researcher and the participants.

This thesis has two main objectives. First, to develop a philosophical and theoretical framework for a cratological (from the Greek kratos: power) study of technology, i.e. one that explains and evaluates how certain technologies afford states or changes in the structure of power of the social systems in which they are embedded. The normative principle proposed is the ideal of equality of power. The second objective is to deploy these frameworks in an analysis of the technological and industrial development of systems for electric power supply. Driven by a quest to achieve greater economies of scale, the technological development of the industry during the 20th century emphasised constant increments in output scale and a model of centralised supply. Along with this process came a configuration and consolidation of the industry around a highly concentrated or monopolistic structure. In these conditions, utilities and other power companies acquired control over a key social resource, namely electric energy, and a concomitant share of social power. Since the 1980s, but particularly in the last decade, technological innovations are opening the possibility of a radical transformation in the industrial structure of power supply systems around the paradigm of distributed energy resources. Along with important technical, economic and ecological benefits, this new paradigm may afford a positive, from our cratological perspective, transformation: namely a shifting of control over the electricity supply system towards communities, small and independent generators, and a new breed of energy prosumers. All of these may find themselves newly empowered by the emerging technological paradigm, in a way that is similar to what is also becoming possible in the communications industry thanks to the development of the Internet.

Recruitment of overseas social workers is increasingly becoming popular with social workers migrating from developing countries to developed countries like the UK which suffer from chronic social worker shortages. Following the heavy recruitment of Zimbabwean social workers by UK local authorities in the early twenty first century, this study focuses on the migration experiences of Zimbabwean social workers recruited from Zimbabwe to come and work for a particular local authority in the UK. The general objective is to examine the forms of support utilised by the Zimbabwean social workers from arriving in the UK, integrating into the workplace and wider society and establishing a ‘home’ away from home. Considering how social capital has been said to bring about positive effects for individuals and society in previous research, social capital is assumed a key concept in this research. Semi-structured interviews were used as the primary data collection method to allow for deep exploration of the Zimbabwean social workers’ experiences together with questionnaires for triangulation. Findings from the study show that the Zimbabwean social workers were able to draw upon different forms of social capital to access as many resources as they could in an effort to develop themselves personally and professionally and eventually establishing themselves as UK citizens. The Zimbabwean social workers’ migration trajectories are far from being linear as most of them live dual lives participating socially, economically and politically back in Zimbabwe while living in the UK with plans to re-migrate for some, and to eventually return to Zimbabwe for others. Research findings may help to improve policy and practice for the recruitment and handling of overseas social workers in the UK and also help to raise awareness of the different types of networks that can be relied upon by these workers within and across borders.

Development theory, policy and practice have undergone considerable change since the end of Second World War 1945. In this period development has increasingly come to be understood as a process that must involve the "poor‟. And within development discourse, there is little disagreement that disabled people are amongst the poorest (Elwan, 1999; Katsui, 2007). According to the Asian Development Bank (2000:1), “poverty and disability reinforce each other.” However, although poverty affect both men and women worldwide (Welch, 2002), available literature on women and poverty (Buvinic, 1997; Omar, 2011) suggest that women‟s lives are characterised by increased poverty levels when compared to their male counterparts. This is largely due to women's subordinate status, which is compounded by the presence of impairment (Welch, 2002). This study explores the experiences of disabled people in development processes in Binga, a district of Zimbabwe shaped by Tonga culture and characterised by political oppression and isolation. Twenty disabled adults in three wards contributed accounts of their life experiences in narrative interviews. Interviews were also held with government officers, traditional community leaders (chiefs, councillors) and a representative of a national disability organization to elicit their understanding and awareness of disabled people‟s participation in development processes. Four focus group discussions with disabled and non-disabled people were held and six village and ward committee meetings observed to gain a deeper understanding of public attitudes to disabled people. Despite the modernising effects of globalisation in Zimbabwe, Tonga cultural beliefs still dominated understanding about the causes and implications of bodily impairment. Disabled people summarily defined and subjected to negative stereotyping, experienced pernicious social exclusion from community life, starting with low family expectations and aspirations, limited access to education and persistent exclusion from opportunities to take responsibility as citizens of their own communities. But employing Sen's capability framework, conceptualisation of development as freedom and considerations of justice, brings new insights not only into understanding disabled people‟s experiences of exclusion, but also possible ways in which disabled people could be included in the development processes of villages and wards in which they live.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.