For over a decade, the Saudi government has been actively promoting a privatisation strategy for Saudi sport clubs as part of ongoing wider policies aimed at stimulating the national economy through the privatisation of various economic sectors. Other ‘declared’ underlying objectives of the privatisation plan include reducing direct government spending, diversifying sources of income and increasing efficiency through greater involvement of the private sector. However, despite multi-millions of investments and years of political rhetoric, the progress made to-date has been very limited. This study adopts a theoretical framework based on the three key domains of strategising (i.e. the 3Ps) (e.g. Whittington, 2006; Jarzabkowski and Spee, 2009). Strategising differs from conventional strategy in that it regards strategy work as a pattern in a stream of goal-directed activity (Johnson, Melin, & Whittington, 2003; Jarzabkowski, 2005; Whittington, 2006). The deployment of the strategy-as-practice research agenda is recent and limited in sport management research, and empirical type of studies are noticeably scant. Hence, this study addresses part of this existing gap. On a practical level, the study puts forward policy recommendations towards enhanced understanding of strategising dynamics within sport organisations. Through holistic, embedded multiple-case study research design, comprising a sample of eighteen case studies, this study addresses the relationship between strategy and strategising through all phases of the strategy journey. In particular, the study aims to reveal how strategising practices are manifested in the strategising work around the privatisation of Saudi sport clubs and evaluate the various strategising actors’ roles at macro, meso and micro levels. The main findings are reported along two broad levels, firstly in terms of the three domains of strategising, and secondly with regards to the key patterns of strategising. Consistent with the predictions of theoretical framework, overall findings provide strong evidence for the key role played by the 3Ps and their strong interconnectedness within the overall dynamics of the strategising activity system. The second level of findings documents the dominance of the procedural type of strategising, which is mainly enacted through the widespread use of long-established formal administrative practices that came to typify centralised policymaking in Saudi Arabia. These findings are not surprising and are entirely consistent with existing evidence (for example, Jarzabkowski, 2003; Whittington, 2003) when considering the high levels of ‘embeddedness’ and ‘persistence’ of this type of strategising within the wider functioning and organisational culture of these entities. Hence, various facets of this prevailing situation could be seen as a the major obstacle in the face of any attempt to successfully introduce new ways of organising and strategising within the Saudi sport sector in general, and the sport club privatisation policy in particular.

Hip hop is part of a global economy of music, images and signs. In Tanzania, since political and economic liberalisation in the 1990s, local musical forms which appropriate the practice of rapping have become popular. Rapping has become a widespread practice which has produced musical stars as well as unrecorded ‘underground’ rappers. This study explores the aesthetic, performative and ideological commonalities and differences between these two forms of rapping. Situated at the intersection of debates about masculinity, youth and globalisation, this study will contribute to ongoing debates about new forms of identity and sociality created by rappers. It explores both appropriation from the transnational circulation of styles and signs as well as local orders of meaning rappers use to fashion themselves. While recognising the difficult social and economic conditions under which young people in Dar es Salaam live, I view rapping as productive and highlight the creativity, inventiveness and ingenuity of rappers.

Celebrity is one of the most central shaping and distorting forces in our society. My PhD thesis interrogates the nature of fame in contemporary culture that actively promotes individuality, image, consumerist lifestyles, and the constructed nature of the self. Celebrity culture is marked by a confusion of realms between public and private, talent and manufacture, and image and the ‘real self.' The thesis examines representations of success, failure and death in celebrity culture during the period between the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 and the end of year 2010. The thesis provides an analysis based on feminist thought through reading individual celebrities' narratives. The emphasis is on looking at fame as a process of success and failure, as represented in auto/biographies and the media. The thesis considers how media representations change the perception of celebrities and also how celebrities themselves affect these representations through confessional discourse, autobiographies, self-promotion, and image construction. Therefore, the thesis will analyse how success, failure and death are represented through individual celebrities' narratives, using case studies to examine both confessional and biographical/autobiographical discourses and media discourses. The emphasis is on tabloid media and an examination of the continuities between success, failure and death, revealing how representations of celebrity rely on narrative, sensationalism and the personal realm instead of facts, objectivity and the public sphere. The thesis pays particular attention to the analysis of the gendered nature of celebrity autobiographies with the aim of revealing how modern celebrity autobiographies confuse traditional gender boundaries. There is a new, decidedly negative side to celebrity culture, particularly evident in the media's emphasis on failure, scandal and death, reactions to which often take a nasty, bullying tone. The methods used by celebrities to deal with fame are varied and compelling and may offer us insights into how lives are negotiated in contemporary society.

Cet article a pour but de présenter la violence scolaire féminine en tant que phénomène social d’actualité dans les établissements d'enseignement. L'analyse se fait grâce à l’interprétation du rôle des relations, des stéréotypes et des rôles de genre, qui se trouvent à la base des comportement agressif et de la violence chez les élèves adolescentes, qui ne trouvent une autre façon que de résoudre les conflits avec les pairs de manière réactive, parce qu'elles ne connaissent pas d'autre moyen de le faire ou bien parce que de cette façon, elles gagnent la reconnaissance de leurs pairs avec qui elles partagent l'espace scolaire. Les raisons d'un tel comportement doivent être analysées dans les espaces de relation tels que la famille, l’école et le quartier ; structures sociales qui jouent un rôle dans la dynamique culturelle. Ce phénomène place les acteurs éducatifs dans la perspective d'une recherche de mesures d'intervention et de prévention contre les manifestations de cette difficulté dans les écoles. Il est important, également, d'établir le rôle des enseignants et leur influence sur le climat scolaire. Cette influence négative empêche le progrès dans l'utilisation de stratégies pour la résolution pacifique des conflits, évitant ainsi les comportements violents des adolescents, qui est considérée dans cette recherche comme facilitateur de ce qu'on appelle la violence scolaire féminine. L'analyse du phénomène nécessite une approche épistémologique et phénoménologique, et puis, la mise en tension des comportements observés avec les théories existantes sur le genre, la violence domestique, l'école et la culture scolaire. Ce processus a permit l’établissement des catégories d'analyse appropriées à la recherche, grâce auxquelles s’établit la discussion et les étapes à suivre dans la recherche de mesures d'intervention et de prévention. La conception méthodologique utilisée prend en compte la recherche qualitative de type participative, ancrée dans les « Núcleos de Educación Social y la Prevención de las Violencias Difusas en Contextos Educativos, (NES) ». Nous avons interrogé soixante et onze adolescentes âgées de 11 à 19 ans, de la sixième à la Terminale de cinq écoles publiques dans les quartiers de Santa Fe, Usme, Fontibón, Suba et Usaquen (Bogota – Colombie). Grâce à une stratégie de groupes de discussion (focus groups), les participantes ont exprimé les manifestations de la violence féminine dans différents contextes (sujet/famille, école, quartier) et étapes (rencontres/exploration, promenades, déplacements/transformations), tout en proposant des mesures de prévention et d'intervention pour le traitement du phénomène. L’analyse des résultats et la discussion rendent compte de la dynamique du phénomène, sa caractérisation et son impact sur l'environnement scolaire, afin de générer une réflexion en profondeur au sein des communautés scolaires, universitaires et scientifiques. Parmi les résultats obtenus sont présentés a) la possibilité que les participantes soient des vecteurs de coexistence au sein de leurs établissements scolaires en collaborant avec pour un renforcement du climat de l'établissement positif. b) Produire un historique sur la violence scolaire féminine afin d'identifier les différents étapes du phénomène, les facteurs générateurs de cette violence et les conséquences, de sorte que dans les écoles, la violence scolaire féminine soit reconnue comme un fait de société qui touche la vie quotidienne à l’école, de même que dans la vie des participantes et de leurs familles. / No abstract

A career as a professional footballer has long been regarded as a highly sought after occupation for many young males within the UK and, against this backdrop, since the 1970s increasing attention has come to be placed on the way young players are identified and developed within professional clubs. Particular concern has been expressed over the number of players who, having been developed by professional clubs, fail to secure a professional contract, and the ways in which clubs should help young players safeguard their futures through alternative career training. There, have, however, been very few studies that have analyzed the education and welfare provisions that are offered within professional football Academies and Centres of Excellence, and fewer still that have done this from a sociological perspective. By drawing upon the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias, concepts derived from symbolic interactionism, and existing work in the sociology of youth, the objective of this study is to examine the realities of young players' day-to-day working-lives, the experiences they have of the educational programmes they follow, and the welfare-related matters that arise within present-day Academies and CoE. Using data generated by self-completion questionnaires and focus groups with 303 players in 21 Academies and CoE in England and Wales, the findings of the study suggest that players continue to be socialized into a largely anti-academic culture that has traditionally underpinned the world of professional football, and in which the demonstration of a 'good attitude' and commitment to the more central members of players' interdependencies (especially coaches and managers) dominated all other concerns. Indeed, it was also clear that the deep-seated values players held in relation to the professional game as part of their individual and group habituses were shaped by the figurations into which they were born and had been developed during the more impressionable phases of childhood and youth. Players' welfare needs were significantly compromised by the strong degree of suspicion and obvious degree of mistrust that characterized their relationship with club management, which emanated from players' fears that confidential matters would always 'get back' to others inside the club. This was exacerbated, in almost all cases, by players' observations that they were treated as if they were 'bottom of the club' and whose welfare needs were not generally well understood by those working within Academies and CoE.

Seaside resorts’ fortunes have changed over the past half a century, and as a consequence many of the towns’ physical environments and inhabitants have altered. Many grew in population size through in-migration, particularly as a result of retirement, which took over from the holiday industry as a process that changed the socio-economic and cultural structures of these places. Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex is among those seaside towns that have undergone such changes, fuelled by exogenous forces but also influenced by key agencies actions that have been a catalyst for altering the physical environment which encouraged the in-migration of middle-life people and the retired. This thesis analyses the effect of these changes and the role key agencies have had. In particular, it argues the changing nature of retirement in-migration of ‘middle-lifers’ (aged 50-70), those approaching or entering retirement, has had a profound effect on the town. This thesis disputes conventional retirement migration theories identifying a new form of ‘lifestyle-affirming’ migration.

In 2015, Peccadillo Pictures released the movie 'Chemsex', an 80-minute documentary about the experiences of gay, bisexual and queer male (GBQM) drug users in London-men whose lives have been impacted by chemsex, that is, the mixing of illicit drugs such as crystal methamphetamine, gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and mephedrone with 'risky' sex. The film has been described by the media as painting a bleak portrait of a 'subculture on the edge'-one that is fueled by both the heteronormative marginalization of GBQM and the popularity of online and mobile-based GBQM social networks. The release of 'Chemsex' was prompted by research that reveals increases in GBQM drug use-not only in London, but among GBQM in many gay ghettos throughout the world. Most of these studies emerge from disciplines outside criminology-for example, behavioral health, epidemiology and public health. These studies also describe GBQM drug users as existing within a subculture. Moreover, these studies also link GBQM drug use to external marginalization and or stigma related to sexual identity or HIV-seropositivity. Yet, rarely are the cultural dynamics of GBQM drug use fully explored. Neither do these studies address the fact that drug use-in most jurisdictions-is a crime. Cultural criminologists argue that crime, deviance and transgression are part of an ongoing process that is interwoven with the dynamics of culture and all of its attendant meanings. This thesis explores the cultural dynamics that may shape the meanings that underlie GBQM drug use-in particular, drug use that is facilitated and or expressed through cyberspace. This thesis conceptualizes the cultural dynamics of GBQM drug using three tenets that are central to cultural criminological inquiries: that crime and deviance and transgression are often related to marginalization and oppression; that these phenomena are often subcultural in nature; and, that subcultures cannot be studied apart from their mediated representations. Complementing this framework is a research design that employs virtual ethnography, instant ethnography, ethnographic content analysis and visual content analysis. Critical discourse analysis is also employed in an effort to analyze the underlying power differentials that are present in the mediated representations of GBQM drug use. Using these methods, I was able to participate in the activities and understandings of GBQM drug users who were situated in cyberspace. Using the theoretical framework that was constructed, I was then able to analyze and draw conclusions as to the cultural dynamics that underlie their activities, behaviors, language, norms, rituals and values. One of the key findings of this thesis was in the discovery of shared group drug injecting experiences that are constructed as temporary networks using Skype and other webcam conference call applications. Another finding concerns the sharing by GBQM of drug-themed photo content in mainstream and GBQM social networks. A third finding involves their sharing of drug-themed videos to Internet 'tube sites'.

This practice-based project articulates the notion of an autoethnographic transect using Walking Home, a particular journey that I made in 2009, as its foundation. Borrowing key terms from the fields of ethnography and ecology, the project articulates a new contribution to knowledge by expanding the notion of a transect and using methods appropriated from autoethnography to generate visual arts practice in the wake of a long distance walk. Walking from London, England to St. Gallen, Switzerland the journey was undertaken in the wake of my father’s death. The key principle this project takes from autoethnography is that the position of the emotive self, as researcher and researched, can offer unique insights into a given field. Methods borrowed from autoethnography and ecology are re-employed throughout a transdisciplinary practice and body of research that, through the development of an ecological from of subjectivity, articulates an autoethnographic transect. The project expands the scale of a transect, from a line drawn across a field, to a journey taken across Europe; one that is drawn, walked and talked into being. Walking Home is presented in a holistic form whereby contextual and critical work is interwoven with and within practice: writing, image making, performance and installation. This interwoven process, whereby the practice and research become an inherent part of each other, is exemplified through a body of work called Fondue, a performance, taking place as a dinner party, which has evolved out of my engagement with autoethnography. An exhibition took place in Spring 2015, the outcomes of which are folded into this thesis. Articulating the notion of an autoethnographic transect as a new method within the field of visual arts practice this thesis will be of interest to performance practitioners, artists and writers engaged with the field of walking as a form of practice or process.

This study is a history of popular spectator sport in the city of Bradford between the years 1836 and 1908. Its major aim is to chart and analyse the experience of Bradford in relation to the national development of sport in the modern city and how spectator sport, in particular, helped shape personal and civic identities in a bourgeoning industrial community. This project builds on a growing body of work on the development of sport and leisure in British towns and cities during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it will both complement earlier studies on sport in Bradford and West Yorkshire and add to our understanding of how urban sporting and leisure cultures were forged through a combination of national trends and local economic and social peculiarities. The emergence of a national sporting culture ran parallel with an exponential acceleration in urbanisation, the adoption of the factory system, regularised working hours and growth in disposable income. Bradford’s sporting culture, however, was also a product of the city’s shifting social structures, which had been shaped by its unique economy. As a consequence, Bradford also played a significant role in determining the national sporting culture as well as reflecting wider trends. Bradford’s move from an essentially pre-industrial sporting landscape towards a recognisably modern one took place over a period of little more than fifty years. However, it will be shown that this was an uneven process. In challenging Malcolmson’s ‘leisure vacuum’ theory, it will be argued that Bradford’s sporting culture exhibited as much continuity as change. Pre-modern sporting practices, such as the game of knur and spell (presented here as a case study), for example, overlapped with the emergence of codified team sports. Nevertheless, the changes that were wrought in the second half of the nineteenth century were significant and lasting as an increasingly assertive working class had more time and money to spend on leisure. The thesis not only examines and charts how the development of cricket, soccer and rugby within the city were subject to changing economic and cultural contexts, but, especially through an analysis of the switch from rugby to soccer of both Manningham FC and Bradford FC, how agency was a crucial factor in bringing about historical change.

Cette thèse propose d’observer l’imaginaire des dispositifs numériques dans les musées d’ethnographie confrontés à la réalisation de dispositifs numériques pour la médiation tels que les tablettes tactiles ou les navigateurs de réalité augmentée. Ce travail s’intéresse au positionnement des professionnels de musée face à la présence croissante d’outils numériques dans l’espace d’exposition, sous-tendue par un discours promotionnel technophile de la part des sphères journalistique et politique qui décrivent ces technologies comme fortement souhaitables. Une enquête ethnographique réalisée dans deux musées soumis à une injonction technologique (le Museon Arlaten d’Arles et le musée McCord de Montréal) interroge les attentes et les imaginaires qu’ont les professionnels du musée de ces dispositifs. À l’aune du concept de trivialité d’Yves Jeanneret, il s’agit de comparer les discours d’escorte portant sur le numérique avec les discours des professionnels de deux musée d’ethnographie, afin de mettre à jour les modes de circulation de ces discours et les imaginaires qui les fondent. Répondre à ce questionnement a nécessité une démarche en trois temps. Il s’est agi dans un premier temps de relever les différents discours d’escorte portant sur les dispositifs numériques au musée et les injonctions qu’ils véhiculent afin de comprendre à quelles prescriptions les professionnels étaient exposés. D’autre part, interroger les professionnels de musée afin de relever leur imaginaire des dispositifs technologiques a permis de connaitre leurs attentes et craintes vis-à-vis de ces supports. Enfin, questionner les enquêtés sur leurs pratiques concrètes lors de la conception effective de ces dispositifs a permis d’observer des processus d’ajustement, prenant la forme de logiques d’opposition, d’adaptation et d’invention. Après avoir comparé le discours des professionnels avec les discours d’escorte médiatiques et politiques, nous avons observé un décalage entre les discours d’escorte sur l’innovation technologique au musée et la façon dont les professionnels de ces institutions culturelles évoquaient ces questions. Le caractère révolutionnaire des discours décrivant les technologies n’est pas repris par les professionnels des musées mais il est fortement nuancé dans un imaginaire raisonné et pertinent des technologies, assorti d’un rapport ambigu à l’innovation qui interroge les enjeux symboliques du progrès technologique dans la médiation muséale. / This thesis observes and explores the imaginary of digital devices when the latter are introduced, in the form of tablets or augmented reality browsers, to support mediation work in ethnography museums. The thesis examines how museum professionals position themselves in relation to the growing presence of digital devices in the exhibition space, which is underpinned by a technophile promotional narrative spun by the media and politicians who present the introduction of these technologies as highly desirable. An ethnographic study in two museums faced with the imposition of such technological agendas – the Museon Arlaten in Arles and the McCord Museum in Montreal – allows for an analysis of the expectations towards and imaginary of these devices by museum professionals. The concept of triviality, as defined by Yves Jeanneret, is used to compare the accompanying discourses on digital technologies with the discourses of professionals in the two ethnography museums, in order to highlight how discourses circulate, as do the imaginaries underpinning them. There were three stages in this study. First, the various accompanying discourses on digital technologies in museums – from both inside and outside of the institutions – and the agendas they carry were identified, so as to understand what was dictated to the professionals. Besides, the museum professionals were interviewed in order to identify what their imaginaries of technological devices were, which allowed for an understanding of their expectations and fears regarding these devices. Finally, asking the interviewees about their concrete practices when effectively devising the devices made it possible to observe processes of adjustment, from opposition to adaptation to invention. The comparison between the professionals’ discourses and the accompanying discourses offered by the media and politicians revealed a discrepancy between the accompanying discourses on technological innovation in museums and the way in which the professionals from the cultural institutions talked about this issue. The narratives describing these technologies as revolutionary were not taken up by museum professionals; rather, they were significantly qualified by reasoned, adequate imaginary of technologies, alongside with an ambivalent perception of innovation, questioning the symbolic dimension of technological changes affecting mediation work in museums.