As they are employed in local government-owned, managed and funded institutions, local authority museum professionals experience their working lives within an organisational framework that is based on high levels of politics and administration (Lawley, 2003). Inherent to this governance model are pressures, constraints and structuring forces that affect the agency and practices of local authority museum professionals, and the makeup of their institutions. However, the literature does not sufficiently attend to the experiences of local authority museum professionals, in terms of their working lives and the distinctive environmental conditions that they operate within. This is especially the case in the contemporary context. Of the museum types, local authority museums have been the hardest hit by austerity (Museums Association, 2015a, 2017a; Tuck et al., 2015), and my research finds out about the experiences of their professionals based on the findings generated from the data of 30 semi-structured qualitative interviews. My research comprehends the interplays between structure and agency, following a trajectory from the micro to the macro, through the perceptions of the participants. It consists of the following investigative format. The first focus was on finding out about the cultures of the participants to learn about their backgrounds, which was achieved by using Bourdieu’s (1984) concept of cultural capital. Learning about their cultures helps to identify whether there was a lack of ethnic and cultural diversity in the profession, and assists in understanding more about the characteristics that underpinned and shaped the practices of the participants. Then, using DiMaggio and Powell’s (1991) concept of isomorphism, the second focus was on finding out about the structuring forces that homogenised the practices of the participants and their museums, albeit in different areas and to different degrees. Deviating away from structuration, the third focus was on the agency of the participants and their manipulation of pressures and constraints in diverse ways, which were potential areas of innovation. Moreover, the experiences of the participants are at the heart of the findings and discussions that are presented throughout my thesis. My research evidences that pressures, constraints and structuring forces, in the form of isomorphic processes (normative, mimetic and coercive), homogeneously affected the practices of the participants and their museums. These processes were caused by other professionals, institutions and organisations, along with policies and communities. On evaluation of the findings, it is concluded that isomorphism was a presence among the museums, and more broadly, local authority museums in the sector, although the findings show that homogenisation had its advantages and disadvantages, which centred on legitimacy and efficiency. Furthermore, the findings show that while the participants were highly restricted in exercising their agency, there were small signs of its presence in their construction of displays and building of community and councillor support. As they would be enduring austerity for the foreseeable future, the participants perceived that building support would help to foster the resilience and sustainability of their museums. On reflection of the findings and discussions that are presented in my thesis, suggestions about where future research and policy need to be directed are made.

Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) account for the largest group of children with a physical disability in the UK. Despite evidence that sleeplessness occurs commonly in children with CP, there is little in-depth research on their sleep. Previous research has relied on the viewpoints of parents, mainly mothers. No research has explored sleep from multiple family members’ perspectives within the same family. This study explores the meanings, organisation and practice of sleep for children with CP, their siblings and their parents. This qualitative study of 10 families involves 10 children with CP (aged 6-13 years), 7 siblings (from 5 families) and 17 parents. Influenced by existing literature on involving disabled children in research, qualitative semi-structured interviews are supplemented by data from children’s self-directed photography and sleep questionnaires, 2 week sleep diaries and actigraphy for all participants. Findings emphasise the importance of the social and family context of sleep. For children, the bedtime routine was significant with reference to their practice of sleep and differences were highlighted dependent on age and severity of CP. Night-time interactions with parents were important for children with severe CP experiencing sleeplessness. For some children, the use and location of their bedrooms enabled the attainment of privacy and autonomy. However, differences, regarding these factors, were found between children with severe CP and those without. Night-time parental monitoring of children with severe CP was common but methods differed depending on a number of intersecting factors including severity of the child’s CP, location of bedrooms and co-existing health issues. Different methods of monitoring had varying degrees of impact on parents’ sleep and on privacy for the child with CP. Co-sleeping was engaged in by a small number of parents with their disabled child at specific times and used as a strategy to protect the sleep of family members.

Changes in the Saudi family structure are having profound effects on the current cohort of older Saudi women. This is reflected in living arrangements whereby family patterns have been transformed from extended to nuclear ones. Previous social research has not examined the current situation of older Saudi women, with little known about their Quality of Life (QoL). This study explores the QoL of older unmarried Saudi women by analysing their family relationships, social lives and daily activities. It examines how family relationships, social integration, health and financial aspects are influenced by social policies and gender-related issues. The study is based on in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 50 widowed, divorced and never-married women aged 60-75 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from a range of socio-economic classes; 25 lived alone and 25 lived in inter-generational households. Gender segregation was a decisive factor that adversely affected the QoL of interviewees. They were dependent on their family or maids socially, instrumentally, and some financially on the ‘Goodwill’ of their children or relatives. Older divorced women were particularly likely to experience financial and social problems. Lower class and many middle class older women who lived alone were dissatisfied and suffered from depression, isolation and loneliness, whereas higher class women living alone demonstrated greater autonomy, independence and life satisfaction. Most interviewees had poor health and multiple chronic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which are linked to their socially and geographically restricted lives. Also, urbanization and associated cultural changes have adversely affected their QoL. Gender segregation driven by ultra-conservative patriarchy has resulted in the economic and social dependency and restricted lives of older unmarried Saudi women. State intervention is needed to improve the general situation of older women, such as establishing care homes, increasing social insurance income and providing medical insurance.

The present research adopted as its focal point of study the higher participants in small owner-managed manufacturing firms in the Kingston area of Surrey. A case-study approach was used in the research. The main-study sample consisted of eight firms drawn from the printing and electronics industries, i.e. four firms from each industry. In addition, an entrepreneur involved in the manufacture of wire products who was in the process of selling his firm to a public company before joining the latter as Managing Director, was investigated in order to assist in a deeper understanding of the situation of the small entrepreneur. The principal findings of the study centred around an observed dynamic process of entrepreneurial goal succession. Individually determined entrepreneurial goals, many of them having an essentially non-economic nature, were shown to change over time. Further, the goals valued at any one time were seen to conform more or less closely with one of three hypothesised ideal type entrepreneurial roles, each based upon a separate latent social identity. The three ideal type entrepreneurial roles were termed. "Artisan", "Classical Entrepreneur" and "Manager". Various facets of entrepreneurial experience were found to be associated, with entrepreneurial role type. Role specificity, job satisfaction, leadership style, role time intensitivity, environmental perception and business ideology were found to be dependent variables. In accordance with the organisational goal model of organisational effectiveness, the structurally and culturally prescribed goals of the firms studied were found to be expressed essentially in terms of the concept of profit. This goal was seen, in turn, to have an identifiable relationship with each of the three entrepreneurial roles. This relationship resulted in a decline in entrepreneurial independence and. discretion as the entrepreneur moved from occupation of the "Artisan" role to occupation of the "Classical Entrepreneur" role and, finally, to occupation of the "Manager" role. The underlying motivation for entry into entrepreneurship, and for subsequent movement between entrepreneurial role types, was seen as being based upon experiences of social marginality. Each of the three ideal type roles was seen as possessing potential for a solution to marginality in a different area of the total entrepreneurial environment. Finally, a scheme for an understanding of the firm's relations with its environment was conceptualised in terms of six facets of environmental control and an attempt was made to quantify them. The thesis questionnaires and case studies are presented in a separate volume accompanying the thesis.

No description available.

Diabetes has become a global health problem, with both physical and psycho-social impacts on people's lives. The South Asian communities in the UK have been identified as 'high risk' groups with high rates of type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. This thesis explores the experiences of type 2 diabetes among a group of Hindu Gujaratis in several locations in England. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit participants and a grounded theory framework was utilised to generate and analyse data. It is possible to suggest that health science discourse in a variety of forms has constructed a type of 'South Asian diabetic risk', alluding to a particular relationship between health and ethnicity. Through the use of qualitative methods participants in this research demonstrate active resistances to these constructions, through their accounts of diabetes management. By exploring the biographical, historical and socially embedded contexts that surround diabetes, participants constituted culture and ethnicity as dynamic entities, contingent on social, political and personal contexts. Within the context of qualitative methods, the role of the researcher and the various ways in which identities connect and need to be explicitly explored also forms a central idea within this work. This thesis highlights these active and dynamic constructions of cultural and ethnic identity. Health research needs to acknowledge the many varied ways in which people are able to manage their conditions as part of their overall social and cultural context. Situating health and illness experiences within a wider experiential field allows the possibility of fluid notions of identity to be implemented, and the relationship between health and ethnicity to be theoretically informed. These considerations may contribute to an understanding of how people manage their diabetes and where help and support might best be channelled.

This thesis explores the networks, life courses and outlooks of Polish post-accession migrants in London. Aside from investigating both social and economic integration approaches, the thesis also examines migrants’ settlement strategies, highlighting their fluid and shifting character. The first two empirical chapters analyse respectively the economic and social aspects of Polish newcomers’ migration trajectories in London. They not only demonstrate what the key motivations for migration are (i.e. predominantly the financial pull-factor), but also depict migrants’ attempts to seek what they regard as a normal socio-emotional quality of life throughout their trajectories in London. This discussion also connects to notions of home and belonging as well as migrants’ views of where they would eventually intend to settle down, which the last two empirical chapters aim to illustrate. This research has been situated within the literature of post-war migration movements that explore the concepts of migrant community, ethnic diversity, cultural identity, hybridity, global economic mobility and finally transnationalism. The experiences of Polish post-accession migrants to Britain connect to many of these themes, particularly in relation to the ways migrants negotiate their economic aspirations, socio-cultural identity and belonging. The research itself consists of qualitative interviews with fifty-two Polish post-accession migrants to London and participant observations in a variety of social and community gatherings. This thesis contributes to the existing study on global economic mobility, transnational networks and liquid identity through exploring factors that affect migrants’ adaptation strategies into the socio-economic structures of the receiving society. Furthermore, my research advances the study of post-accession mobility involving Central and Eastern European migrants. While investigating the trajectories of Polish migrants living in London, I scrutinise the dynamic character of their migration motivations, occupational advancement as well as a powerful role of their networks (both local and transnational) on the evolvement of their identity and their changing plans for the future. The empirical findings of the study emphasize that the character of Polish post-accession mobility within the enlarged European Union goes far beyond a simple definition of economic migration. The complexity of socio-economic factors lying behind migrants’ narratives in Britain underlines the many challenges that they confront when competing for better work opportunities or attempting to establish their new social networks. Along with negotiating their status of foreign workers with a non-British socio-cultural background, Polish migrants develop their settlement strategies which are, to a degree, liquid and subject to their changing life priorities.

This study focuses upon Greek women aged in their twenties and thirties, examining how they have experienced ‘emerging adulthood’ amidst the post-2008 social and economic crisis. Despite several commentaries charting the social consequences of the Greek crisis, few have examined exclusively on young women. This thesis is among the first to demonstrate the gendered effects of the Greek crisis. Based on in-depth interviews with 36 young women in Thessaloniki and Athens, the study assesses how young women negotiate ‘emerging adulthood’, by examining certain attributes of the crisis, combined with Greece’s unique cultural fabric. The thesis examines how traditional markers of adulthood, such as having a job, acquiring accommodation, establishing stable romantic relations and forming families have been considerably curtailed due to the effects of the crisis. The findings of the thesis are positioned around three major themes; firstly, the importance of education and work for young women during emerging adulthood. Due to a reduction in labour market opportunities in medium-high skilled work, young middle-class women have found themselves facing considerably curtailed employment prospects. The study examines how young women negotiate these challenging employment contexts, learning to find ways of coping within these situations. Secondly, with most young women forced to live with parents, the thesis examines the ways these living situations provide both a safety net, but also a hinderance to their sense of autonomy and independence. Finally, the thesis explores how young middle-class women in Greece negotiate love and intimacy under conditions of financial hardships and a general context of uncertainties and insecurities. The thesis concludes with the argument that significant social uncertainties and repeated experiences of personal injustice and social strain have resulted in resignation - an accepted state of their life events with few alternatives and hopes of positive change.

Capturing a snapshot of around the time of the 2015 general election, this research explored the motivations, experiences and thoughts of Germans living in the South-East of England regarding their decision to migrate and settle in the country. As lifestyle migrants, their motivations for moving to the UK - rather than being predominantly economic - are constitutive of an individualised pursuit of 'a better life'. Employment and education related reasons were as common among participants as personal life motivations like being with a loved one, and, likewise, a desire to experience life in a different culture. Their accounts of settling in the new environment are largely absent of serious difficulties, which is mostly due the cultural proximity of country of origin and destination, as well as the relatively high level of secondary (and in some cases tertiary) education they benefitted from before embarking on their migratory journey to the UK. Respondents displayed a strong desire to learn the 'British way of life' and blend in as much as they could by letting go of German habits and by purposefully not seeking out or associating with co-ethnics. Their ability to do so is attributed to their white, Western European privilege that provided them with the 'capital' to be able to visually blend in and have the necessary language skills not to depend on co-ethnics. Due to a perceived stigmatised national identity and a strong sense of unease regarding the 'slippery slope' of patriotism, most respondents identified more with transnational and local sources of identity rather than national ones. While this tendency is likely to stem from their nation's Nazi-past, their thoughts, convictions and self-reported behaviours suggest that they can be understood as part of a (possibly) relatively small, but symbolically significant emerging European civic culture facilitated by the European project of integration.

Household workers occupy the lowest position in Bolivian gender, ethnic and class hierarchies: the great majority of them are rural, indigenous and working-class women. In 1993, they created the National Federation of Bolivian Household Workers (Fenatrahob) and they began their struggle for the protection of household workers’ rights. The major result of this campaign was the creation 2450/2003 Law that Regulates Paid Household Work, which gave household workers almost equivalent legal rights to the rest of the Bolivian workforce. In 2006, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS, in Spanish) left-indigenist party, with Evo Morales as president, won state power, pledging to improve the situation of household workers across Bolivia. In this MPhil thesis, I analyse the main demands of the social movement of household workers during the first ten years of Evo Morales in government (2006-2016) and the policies that the government implemented to fulfil the demands of the movement. I explain the partial satisfaction of the demands of the movement through the analysis of the relations between the movement and the government (institutionalization, as it is denominated by social movement scholars). The research contributes to the literature on household workers’ mobilisations, social movements outcomes and social movement institutionalization. The research is based on thematic content analysis of documents produced by Fenatrahob and the Bolivian government, semi-structured interviews with Bolivian officials and activists, and secondary sources.