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In academic literature underwear is a largely neglected part of women’s clothing which, this thesis argues, is nonetheless as important as ‘outward’ dress itself. Indeed in some ways underwear is more interesting in the sense that it is hidden from view but still appears to have considerable social/discursive importance. The thesis suggests that underwear functions as a source for (re)constructing female identity and that women ‘learn’ through their embodied experience of choosing the ‘right’ underwear for the right occasion to fashion elements of their identity accordingly. Using a conceptual combination of work by Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and selected feminists, alongside theories of consumption, the thesis argues that underwear can be seen as a technology of the self and as embodied cultural capital. It functions both as a support for outerwear and the body, and as a tool for self-fashioning and self-improvement due to the intense sensations it can produce for the wearer. Using a series of focus groups and interviews, based on the concept of identity opseis which reflects the different sides of identity a woman arguably plays out in her everyday life, the thesis aims to contribute to the field of the sociology of consumption by exploring the role of socio-cultural imperatives and of taste in the consumption of women’s underwear. The empirical data indicate that underwear is used for the construction and reconstruction of various feminine identities, including worker, mother, sports player and sexual partner. It analyses the importance respondents attribute to underwear according to whether it is hidden or visible; the physical/psychological sensations it induces for the respondents; the varying mobilisations of underwear to support aspects of the female identity project; the role of taste when choosing underwear; and the experiences the respondents report regarding shopping for underwear. Thus this thesis contributes to the limited scholarly literature on underwear and establishes an understanding of how such mundane forms of body work can be elements of constructing women’s ongoing and complex identity projects.

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In latent variable models the existence of one or more unobserved (latent) variables is posited to explain the associations between a set of observed (manifest) variables. These models are useful for analysing attitudinal survey data, where multiple items are used to capture complex constructs such as attitudes, which cannot be directly observed. In such research they are most commonly applied in the form of factor analyses based on linear regression models. However, these are inappropriate when observed items are categorical, which is often the case with attitudinal surveys. Latent trait and latent class models, based on logistic models, are then more suitable. In this thesis I demonstrate how they can be employed to address common challenges in attitudinal survey research. The case study data illustrating these challenges are from the Eurobarometer survey on public perceptions of biotechnology, fielded in 2002 in fifteen European countries. Using these data I investigate the viability of cross-nationally comparable measures of three central constructs in studies of public perceptions of biotechnology: attitudes towards applications of biotechnology, knowledge of biology and genetics, and engagement with science and with biotechnology. The analyses aim to capture these complex constructs, taking account of 'don't know' responses by including them as categories of nominal observed items, and exploring the comparability of measures of these constructs cross-nationally by assessing the similarity of measurement models between countries. The results of these analyses are informative in three ways: substantively, adding to our knowledge of people's representations of biotechnology; methodologically, increasing our understanding of how the survey items function; and practically, informing future questionnaire design. I also formulate a taxonomy of issues and choices in attitudinal survey research as a conceptual framework through which to discuss more broadly the potential value of latent trait and latent class models in survey research in social psychology.

The primary aim of this thesis is to establish that the central tenets of conventional social theory cannot be sustained in the light of modern evolutionary biological theory (the theory of inclusive fitness). In particular, it is argued that the central social scientific assumption of a radical separation between biology and culture raises insuperable problems for the formulation of the motivation of action, when the logical consequences of modern Darwinian biology are fully considered. At the same time, however, it is argued that recent attempts to apply evolutionary theory to the direct analysis of human social behaviour - <i>human sociobiology</i> - have been fundamentally unsuccessful, theoretically, but above all, empirically. The central problem which the thesis formulates, therefore, is of how to conceptualize human action as motivated in accordance with the expectations of evolutionary biology, whilst recognizing that such action does not necessarily conform either in its immediate subjectivity, or in its objective distal consequences, to the predicted patterns of inclusive fitness theory. The solution to this problem is sought through an analysis of the level of phenotypic selection at which explanations should proceed; it is concluded from this that the appropriate level must be that of <i>psychological mechanism</i>, and that the sociobological emphasis on overt behavioural pattern crucially ignores the interactive nature of the gene-environment relationship. Accordingly, it is argued that only by proceeding at the level of psychological mechanism, can the motivation of culture in general, and in particular maladaptive behaviour, be understood in terms of evolutionary theory. Through an examination of the evolutionary logic of psychological models, it is argued that evolutionary theory strongly suggests a model which resembles, in important respects, that advanced by classical psychoanalytic theory. In particular, it is argued that the psychoanalytic conception of motivation, and the special relationship which Freud conceived between instincts and objects permits an analysis of empirical behavioural variation - even <i>maladaptive</i> variation - in full accordance with the expectations of evolutionary theory. The final chapters of the thesis illustrate the method of analysis proposed with reference to the example of apparently maladaptive variation in human sexual behaviour.

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E. L. Waterton, Rhetoric and Reality: Polities, and the Discourses of Heritage' in Submission of thesis for PhD. Bibliographic details: 493 pages; 9 illustrations, 9 in colour; 26 tables; 29 figures, 27 in colour; 69pp. bibliography. Over the past few decades, heritage has taken up a prominent position on public, academic and policy agendas. However, precisely what heritage is, and what cultural and social `work' it does, has yet to be adequately apprehended in a policy sense. Instead, the immense range of concerns, values and meanings conceived by an array of interest groups has been distilled and generalised into a seemingly coherent collection of policies. I low does this work? This research examines the discursive constructions of heritage and charts the development and dissemination of an aiilhorised Lierrluge discourse (AlID). Asa point of conflict, the thesis takes up a particular interest in the intersection of this discourse with recent calls of social inclusion. Primarily, the aim is to reveal the work (both linguistically and socially) the Al ID does in diminishing alternative heritage perspectives. In order to do so, this thesis places acute focus on policymaking and draws on a range of debates emerging from the social sciences. Principally, it employs the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of Critical Di. icoitrso, Analysis, but this is supplemented with Q illelhodoloiy, in-depth interviewing and participant observations. This multi-method approach requires a dual focus that examines both the social contexts and linguistic features surrounding the practice of heritage management. As such, considerable interest is placed upon the syntaxical, grammatical and lexical constructions of heritage internal to a collection of policy documents, including the ANIA11 (1979), the NI1r1 (1983), PPG 15, Power of Place: I he Fntrire o% the Ilistoric fnviro, rmeiit, The Historic Environment: . -A Force for our Future, and the IIerila; e Protection Review. The constructions of `heritage' embedded within these documents is simultaneously analysed against the external context of the heritage sector in England. The research concludes that the dominant notion of `heritage', revolving around an uncritical collection of assumptions regarding the immutable, physical nature of heritage, revered for its rarity, aesthetics, age and monumentality and conserved for the educational and informational benefit of future generations, continues to hold considerable influence. 'this dominance has continued despite recent calls for social inclusion and an increased interest in `public value'. As such, it is argued that new emphases of inclusivity and plurality operate at the level of rhetoric only, and rarely translate in reality. Instead, the : AIID continues to create, sustain and promote a particular way of seeing heritage. Moreover, this dominant vision does not appear to dominate, it appears as natural.

This thesis investigates the work of Michel Foucault (1926-1984), and particularly his <i>The History of Sexuality: An Introduction (THS,</i> 1981), within a feminist framework. It considers the usefulness of Foucault on both a general level and on the specific issue of incest. Incest has long been a topic of interest in the social sciences, but more recently its theorisation has been the preserve of feminism. In contrast with earlier sociological interest in the incest prohibition, feminism has relocated incest within the context of sexual violence. Exploring the relationship between the feminist analyses of incest and Foucault's arguments on power, sexuality and discourse, elaborates the subtleties of the feminist position. However, Foucault's work is also challenging to a feminist position, and as a result of the confrontation with his writings, a certain amount of rewriting of the feminist analysis is advocated. Although the passages in <i>THS</i> that refer to incest are few, incest is placed at a pivotal position in Foucault's schema. This thesis discusses the place Foucault accords incest, and uses his argument as a framework for thinking about the ways in which incest is spoken about and in a reconceptualisation of the place of 'the incest prohibition' in feminist analyses. The second half of the thesis moves to the field of law in an analysis of the parliamentary debates which have formulated the crime of incest in both English and Scots criminal law.