This thesis contrasts the ideal of the adventure as drawn from historical-theoretical sources with the new socio-cultural form of the commodified adventure, exemplified in outdoor leisure products such as guided white water rafting, rock climbing courses and commercialb ungeej umps. It is proposedt hat, whilst the original form generatesa `taken for granted' meaning of adventure involving responsibility for ones self, the experience of uncertaintya nd personalc ommitment,t he latter kind of `adventure-as-commodityi's one of bounded responsibility, managed risks (removed uncertainty) and mere financial commitment. The meaningo f adventure,i t is suggestedh, as beenh ollowed out in order to make it palatable for consumption in the competitive marketplace. In an effort to understand the place of the adventure in late modernity, the plight of the individual is considered as they search for some respite from the monolithic structural constraints of `high' modernity. The classicala ccountso f disenchantmenitn Weber's iron cagea re contrastedp rimarily with the work of Georg Simmel, underpinned throughout by Nietzsche's ideas on the need for tensions between Apollonian and Dionysian social forms in healthy societies. The escapea ttemptso f the leisure adventurersa re thus characterizedin the study as part of the messy, complex aspect of modernity which thrives in between the regulative structural aspects which impinge on everyday life. This is the so-called forgotten broken ground of the other modernity as Lash describes it. In an effort to better understand the meanings derived from such escape behaviours, this empirical study of adventurers-atleisure examines the world of the sea kayakers on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales. A selection of data from studies of members of informal kayaking groups and consumers/professionaplr oviders is presented.T his is then analysedi n terms of the paradoxical problem of the `original' meaning of adventure contrasted with the commodified,r isk-removedv ersionss old to consumersa nd the form createdb y the independents eak ayakersw ho choosen ot to use the servicesf or sale. The conclusion is that there are adventure-like experiences available to all in all kinds of adventures ettings,a nd that momentaryf eelings of belongingnessa nd collective excitementa re accessibleth rough membershipo f temporary leisure protocultures (thiasos). The original adventure, however, is far more elusive, demanding as it does a willingness to break through beyond the expert systems and support structures which comfort the consumer of commodified adventure. Moments of letting-go; of self and of othersa re realiseablee ven in the commercial situation, but responsibility for the outcome is taken by a paid professional. Commodified adventure threatens to succumb to the Apollonian progression toward control and regulation, so that those who seek adventure but do not find its authentic form may increasingly turn toward more dangerous and socially damaging outlets for their spirit.

No description available.

Alcohol use has become a public health concern in the past decade in Vietnam. Mass media and public health campaigns have focused on ways of addressing excessive consumption of alcohol, the danger of home made alcohol, and reducing alcohol· related harms such as domestic violence, physical diseases, mental health problems, and often fatal road traffic accidents. Influenced by this public health approach, alcohol research in Vietnam has focused on the social and health costs of alcohol use and has not examined the wider social and economic factors that sustain local drinking cultures. This thesis uses a mixed methods approach to understand the dynamics of drinking cultures in Muong Khen, a rural to\vn in the northwest of Vietnam. Continuous waves of immigration in the past six decades have turned Muong Khen into a multiethnic community where Kinh internal migrants and their descendants (the major ethnic group in Vietnam) and local Muong and other ethnic minorities live together. The consumption of rice alcohol produced in large quantities by local households is popular in this region. Alcohol is not only an integral part of the local economy but is also a means through which people, and men in particular, of diverse etlmic backgrounds socialise and interact. The thesis argues that interetlmic drinking is a common phenomenon in the region and is an important element of social capital there. It therefore counters a commonly-held view in Vietnam that heavy drinking is an <ethnic minority problem'. Heavy drinking occurs frequently among local men across the two dominant etlmJc groups, despite the fact that they are well aware of the negative health and other consequences of alcohol overuse. In many cases, their heavy drinking reflects local tactics to maintain hannonious relationships as well as sources of support embedded in those relationships. Understanding that their heavy drinking could be negatively judged, many local drinkers use neutralization techniques in order to defend their self-image. I 4 Applying a mixed methods approach using interviews, ethnography and surveys, this study sets out to document the complexities ofMuong Khen's local drinking cuinlre and to design and use too ls to measure the associations between this culture and two phenomena: neutralization techniques and tactics for building interethnic social capital.

The work which is submitted for the degree of PhD by publication comprises eleven papers published in peer-reviewed journals: six sole-authored papers and five jointauthored. The publications span the years 1995 to the present, and the qualitative research projects from which the data and publications are derived were undertaken over a period of approximately ten years, commencing in 1994/95. The publications are included in full and are examined, both individually and within a more general context, in an overview. The overarching focus of the research coheres around the construction and maintenance of occupational and leisure identities, and more specifically in the case of the latter, on sporting identities. All the research projects from which the publications derive were qualitative in nature, apart from the earliest work on doctoral students in the social sciences, which was based predominantly on documentary analysis of the relevant literature. Whilst the unifying theme of the research and the PhD submission might be termed 'identity work', three principal strands can be delineated and these are described in some detail in the overview: 1) Occupational identities: contract researchers in the social sciences; 2) Occupational identities: doctoral research students; 3) Sporting identities: distance runners.

L’identité spectatorielle d’un étudiant est caractérisée par une émancipation dans ses pratiques cinématographiques, mais aussi par les traces, les cadres, qui ont été dessinés durant la socialisation primaire. L’identité de genre d’un étudiant est en constante négociation entre l’adéquation aux normes et la transgression. En cherchant à rendre visible la porosité de ces deux facettes de l’identité sociale, cette recherche propose une enquête qualitative qui laisse la parole aux jeunes hommes. À travers la mise en lumière de leurs goûts cinématographiques, leur panthéon personnel, et de leurs rapports à la masculinité, il sera possible de considérer que parler de films, c’est aussi performer le genre. / As a spectator, a student learns to own his cultural activities. He is also still determined by the first instances of socialization. As a gendered person, a student is between transgression and acceptation of the norms. This research aims to highlight that gender identity and spectatorship identity are both included in the social identity, but also that they are in constant interaction. Young men’s speeches are analyzed, with focuses on their movie tastes, their private pantheon, and their relationships with masculinity in order to show that talking about movies is also performing gender.

The thesis begins by acknowledging the writer's status as a fan. The stimulus for the enquiry emerges from the discrepancy the writer encounters between his fan experience and the ways in which the academy conceptualises fandom. Such theories serve to position the fan at extremes of the field of reader response: as either a passive, cultural dupe or as a radical, textual freedom fighter. By contrast, this thesis aims to take the diversity of fan response into consideration, and situate its analysis in very real concepts of people's lives. In the first of three parts, a typology is developed that examines the contested and disputed nature of fandom. Reference points are drawn from academic writing, popular media and a focus group session with fans of diverse interests. The second part is devoted to fieldwork. Fan conversations, observations and reflections are combined to create six intimate pen-portraits that convey differing ideas of fandom. Topics covered include fans of Doctor Who, The Adventure Game, Sheffield Wednesday football club; the users of archive TV website The Mausoleum Club; attendees at a Kirsty MacColl get-together;Panopticon( a Doctor Who convention); Forbidden Planet (a collector's shop). The final part, `Fandom and Modem Life', draws together the ideas of the thesis to propose a series of maxims on how fandom operates that emphasise complexity, diversity, the significance of emotional attachment, and fandom's interrelation to capitalism (of it, but not about it). Fandom's role is considered in relation to notions of religiosity and sexuality. Fandom is defined ultimately as a form of social identity possible in contemporary western society. The thesis concludes by speculating on how fandom may evolve in the future.

Les seniors n'auraient que récemment brisé le « tabou de la jeunesse» (Rochefort, 2004) et ne semblent de facto, plus exclus des pratiques physiques et corporelles. Ainsi , l''augmentation croissante de leur groupe d'âge (Richet-Mastain, 2007), réinterroge les problématiques autour de la corporéité de l'individu vieillissant, de son rapport à l'activité physique mais aussi à son corps de manière générale. L'étude du senior et de sa corporéité, définie par l'« ensemble des traits concrets du corps comme être social » (Berthelot, 1983), constitue un objet de recherche relativement nouveau dans l'horizon de la sociologie contemporaine, et permet d'aborder scientifiquement la complexité du lien que nourrissent les pratiques corporelles avec ce groupe pluriel d'individus portant fréquemment « les stigmates de l'âge » (Lebreton , 2006). De par les enjeux déterminants induits par ce groupe social, et la diversité manifeste de ces mêmes seniors, cette interrogation sur leur corporéité prend de par sa réalité démographique et sociale, toute sa complexité mais aussi toute sa légitimité. Quelles sont alors les raisons de pratiques, et les motivations réelles des seniors s'adonnant à des pratiques corporelles ? Leur corporéité est-elle alors, subie ou choisie ? Quelles sont leurs demandes corporelles et quels sens donnent t-ils à ces dernières ? / Seniors would have only recently broke the "taboo of Youth" (Rochefort, 2004) and seem to excluded from the more physical and bodily practices. Thus, the increasing of their age group (Richet-Mastain , 2007), re-examines the issues surrounding the corporeality of the aging individual, its relation to physical activity , but also to the body in general. The study's senior and his corporeality, defined by "all concrete features of the body as a social being" (Berthelot, 1983) is a relatively new research topic in the horizon of contemporary sociology, and allows to address the complexity of the scientific link nourish body practices with this group of individuals carrying plural frequently "the stigma of age" (Lebreton , 2006). Due to the critical issues arising from this social group, and the apparent diversity of these seniors, this question takes on their corporeality because of its demographic and social reality, its complexity but also its legitimacy . What then are the reasons for practices and the real motivations of seniors engaged in bodily practices ? Their physicality is it then suffered or chosen ? What are their personal demands and what meaning do they give them ?

Ce travail de recherche consiste à analyser et à restituer les principaux faits qui illustrent les changements provoqués par le numérique dans les industries culturelles et les pratiques du cinéma Art et Essai en particulier. A l’ère de la projection numérique, les salles de cinéma vivent une véritable révolution technologique. Cette dernière induit un changement dans les modes de consommation et d’accès à la culture. L’analyse des salles de cinéma Utopia et le concept « vidéo en poche » témoigne d’un nouveau usage des biens culturels à l’ère de l’économie numérique. / The present research sets out to study and scrutinise the key facts that illustrate the change in conditions caused by digital cultural industries and practice of the art of cinema and particularly the essay. In the era of digital projection, cinema halls are facing a true technological revolution. The latter induces a change in the consumption patterns and the access to culture The analysis of Utopia cinema halls and the video-in-pocket concept tell us a lot about this postmodern use of cultural artifacts at the age of digital economy.

Cette thèse examine la politisation dans un régime autoritaire à travers l’étude de deux mouvements rock contestataires en Biélorussie. Le rock « national » s’est constitué en tant que mouvement artistique dans les années 1980 autour de la production de la musique contemporaine d’inspiration occidentale chantée en langue biélorusse et de la promotion d’une vision hétérodoxe de l’« identité nationale ». Le tournant autoritaire des années 1995-1996 a provoqué la repolitisation contestataire de ce mouvement artistique. Les acteurs du rock « national » continuent de revendiquer le statut « underground » tout en aspirant à la professionnalisation dans le cadre du système de production commercial. C’est aussi au milieu des années 1990 qu’un autre mouvement contestataire se constitue – le rock anarcho-punk DIY imprégné des conventions du modèle Do it yourself internationalisé. Ce mouvement proche des groupements anarchistes prône l’amateurisme, la production artistique restreinte et le radicalisme des prises de position. Sur l’exemple de ces deux mouvements artistiques, la thèse étudie les logiques de politisation et les modes de contestation. / Based on a study of two protest rock movements in Belarus, this thesis examines the phenomenon of politicisation in an authoritarian regime. The “national” rock emerged in the 1980s as a modern artistic movement inspired by Western music conventions. Singing in Belarusian, this scene aspired to promote a heterodox vision of “national identity”. The authoritarian turn in 1995-1996 provoked protest re-politicisation of this artistic movement. “National” rock musicians continued to claim the “underground” status, while aspiring to professionalisation and commercial production. Against the backdrop of the authoritarian change, another protest movement emerged in the mid-1990s. Following the internationalised Do-It-Yourself model, the DIY anarcho-punk is closely linked to anarchist groups and promotes amateurism, limited artistic production and radical political expression. Based on the example of the two artistic movements, this thesis studies the logics of politicisation and the modes of political protest.

Dans un contexte de complexité territoriale où les référents spatiaux se multiplient, se fragmentent, se recomposent et entrent en concurrence, aborder la question de la territorialisation culturelle comme un processus communicationnel est le moyen par lequel ce travail contribue à la réflexion sur les phénomènes de requalification et de recomposition des territoires. Par emprunt de la notion de territorialisation à la Science politique et à la Géographie, notre posture s’appuie sur une boîte à outils (théorique et méthodologique) capable de construire un regard oblique dont le principe est celui de l’indissociabilité des composants d’un même phénomène. En effet, l’originalité de cette recherche se situe principalement dans l’articulation d’approches habituellement considérées comme irréconciliables étant donné le caractère polyphonique des discours qui participent de cette poïétique territoriale – les modalités de la (re)génération d’un territoire – : l’approche identificationnelle matérialisée par les discours des acteurs politiques, et l’approche appropriationnelle qui s’intéresse aux récits de pratiques territoriales des habitants et des usagers. L’enjeu scientifique de cette thèse réside donc dans la compréhension du fonctionnement de ce processus communicationnel et de sa capacité à enchanter, par la médiation des discours, un espace intercommunal.Pour la compréhension de ce processus, nous avons pris appui sur le cas d’Ouest Provence, ancienne « ville nouvelle » située sur les rives de l’étang de Berre, au nord-ouest de Marseille, marqué par une imposante activité industrielle et polluante. Cette agglomération se trouve aujourd’hui dans une phase de normalisation, après avoir bénéficié, pendant quarante ans, du régime exceptionnel de ce projet de développement urbain initié et soutenue par l’État. À partir d’une approche ethno-sémiotique, nous avons constitué et analysé un corpus hétérogène de discours circulants (discours d’inauguration de l’identité nouvelle d’Ouest Provence, extrait du numéro inaugural du journal intercommunal, toponyme, logotypes, programmes et éditoriaux de saison de la régie culturelle SCOP), et de discours provoqués (entretiens ethnographiques auprès des acteurs politiques, administratifs et culturels, et auprès des spectateurs-abonnés de la régie culturelle SCOP). L’objectif étant de mettre au jour le travail d’obturation d’une partie du champ de vision de l’habitant et de l’usager que mènent les acteurs politiques, par une restructuration de leurs pratiques ou du moins de leurs effets, afin d’enchanter leur imaginaire territorial. Et c’est par l’intermédiaire d’un opérateur, le dispositif de la régie culturelle Scènes et Cinés, que se met en place cette stratégie. Effectivement, la pratique de sortie au théâtre est donc décrite comme une pratique de mobilisation des habitants et des usagers de manière à leur faire-croire en cette « communauté imaginée » qu’incarne Ouest Provence. Mais à côté de ces discours d’élus, l’analyse des récits des pratiques des abonnés de Scènes et Cinés laisse entrevoir une territorialité dont les trois régimes que esquissés (le sentiment du chez-soi, l’engagement, et l’attachement à un être-ensemble) sont motivés par un rapport sensible au territoire. Cette dimension de la pratique de sortie au théâtre nous semble fondamentale en ce qu’elle révèle la nature du rapport individuel et collectif des spectateurs à leurs espaces de pratiques culturelles qui est, avant tout, façonné par la sensation et l’émotion. La territorialité spectatorielle constitue ainsi une expérience qui participe, tout au moins momentanément, du processus d’enchantement territorial. / Our research contributes to the understanding of a requalification and reorganization phenomenon by questioning cultural territorialization as a communicational process, in a context of territorial complexity where spatial referentials are multiplied, split up, recomposed and brought to compete with one another. Borrowing from the notion of territorialization as found in political sciences and geography, our posture is supported by a theoretical and methodological personal construction that enables us to build an oblique view point, the principle of which is the indivisibility of the above mentioned phenomenon’s components. Indeed, the originality of this research lies mainly in the combining of different approaches usually considered irreconcilable, given the polyphonic character of the discourses that participate in territorial poïetics - conditions of (re)generation of a territory - : the identification-based approach formed by political actors’ discourses, the function of which is the production and the circulation of standards and values in the public space, and the appropriation-based approach which is interested in the narrative given by inhabitants and practitioners of their territorial practices. The scientific argument of our thesis lies in the understanding of how this communicational process functions and its capacity to “enchant” an inter-communal space that becomes meaningful again, through the mediation of a series of discourses.In order to understand this process, we have used, as a case study, the urban community of Ouest Provence, which had the status of a “new town”, and thus benefitted for forty years, from major state development policies. This urban area, on the banks of the Etang de Berre, north west of Marseilles, where France’s major oil refineries, gaz and petro-chemical factories are located, is marked by this impressive industrial activity and the image of pollution that it gives. The Ouest Provence area is about to be “normalized”, by becoming an ordinary group of smaller towns with a new inter-communal status. From an ethno-semiotic approach, we have constituted and analyzed a heterogeneous corpus of circulating discourses (inaugural speech for Ouest Provence’s new identity, excerpts from the inter-communal newspaper inaugural issue, toponyms, logotypes, programs and editorials taken from the Scènes et Cinés’ cultural season) and instigated discourses (ethnographical conversations with political, administrative and cultural professionals and with the Scènes et Cinés’ spectators-subscribers). The intention was to bring to light the attempts by the political actors to modify the representations that local inhabitants and users have of their territory by restructuring in particular their theatre practices in order to re-enchant their territorial imagination. It is through an operator, the device of the cultural institution Scènes et Cinés, that this strategy is set up. The practice of theatre-going is thus described as a practice of mobilization of the inhabitants and the users so as to make them believe in this “imagined community” that the Ouest Provence embodies. The analysis of the practice narratives of the Scènes et Cinés subscribers gives us a glimpse of a territoriality where three aspects which we highlighted (the feeling of being at home, the commitment to the theatre, and the attachment to a sort of togetherness in this practice) are motivated by an emotional relationship to the territory. This theatre-going dimension seems to us fundamental, as it reveals all the complexity of the spectators’ relationships with each other and with the spaces linked to their cultural practices, which are particularly shaped by both individual and collective sensations and emotions. So, such a spectator experience is involved, at least temporarily, in the process of territorial enchantment.