Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / This dissertation focuses on the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci and the relevance of his concepts of hegemony and intellectuals to South Africa. Gramsci’s writings have a strong Italian resonance. The dissertation emphasises parallels as well as differences between the Italian and South African contexts to demonstrate that his theories on topics such as the creation of a proletarian state, the Revolutionary Party, passive revolution and language, in addition to the key concepts of intellectuals and hegemony, can be successfully applied to apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa – even though these theories were originally designed to fit the turbulent Italy of Gramsci’s own time. The argument proceeds through a rigorous textual analysis of both Gramsci’s pre-prison and prison writings as well as the works of various commentators on Gramsci. Through interpreting, assessing and analysing Gramsci’s writings and those of commentators, it becomes evident that underpinning all of Gramsci’s activities and writings is a vision for an improved society in Italy, a proletarian state in which the masses were no longer exploited by other social classes. The dissertation uses this vision to reflect on past and present South African political and social landscapes, exploring in the process how Gramsci’s thoughts can be used both to illuminate the problems inherent in apartheid South Africa and to redress the growing inequities in post-apartheid South Africa. The dissertation also applies Gramsci’s thought to South African literary texts, especially to Zakes Mda’s Heart of Redness. Though Gramsci has been used to interpret South African situations before, there has been to date no detailed study on his theories’ applicability to both the apartheid and the post-apartheid eras. The dissertation therefore contributes to the growing reputation of Gramsci’s works as textbooks for promoting and achieving a better society, free from all forms of exploitation. / University of Zululand

[pt] A renúncia é tema clássico e, portanto recorrente nos estudos sócioantropológicos. O objetivo deste trabalho é mapear as especificidades de um renunciante modelar brasileiro. O trabalho propõe-se utilizar as duas versões da biografia de Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel, aquele que ficou conhecido na história do conflito de Canudos como Antonio Conselheiro, ambas transcritas na obra clássica de Euclides da Cunha, Os sertões. Nosso alvo é contrastar as duas versões no intuito de discutir em detalhe as dimensões sociais e ideológicas que a sociedade local ressalta para que um dos seus membros seja obrigado a abandoná-la, transformando-se num ser individualizado: num indivíduo fora-do-mundo. Uma entidade sociológica que, como renunciador, morre socialmente para sua sociedade, mas renasce numa coletividade marginal e paralela. / [en] Renounce is a classical theme and therefore a recurrent subject in social and anthropological studies. The purpose of this work is to map the specificities of a Brazilian standard renouncer. The research aims to use two versions of Antonio Vicente Mendes Maciel´s biography, who became famous in the history War of Canudos (1896-1897) as Antonio Conselheiro, both transcribed in Euclides da Cunha´s classical work, Os Sertões. Our purpose is to contrast the two versions in order to discuss, in details, the social and ideological dimensions emphasized by local society so that one of his members is obliged to abandon it, transforming himself in one individualized being: an out of world individual. A sociological entity that, as a renouncer, dies sociologically for it, but establishes a new marginal and parallel collectivity.

No description available.

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Kanonistische Fakultät--Pontificia università gregoriana, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. XIII-XLI.

This dissertation is an ethnography of U.S. women negotiating the shifting terrain of reforms to federal welfare policies. Chapter one reviews literature relevant to the dissertation themes. I discuss the work of anthropologists relevant to understanding U.S. welfare reform and gender, public policy and kinship, as well as the concepts of neoliberalism and neoconservativism which frame my analysis of the ethnographic material. In chapter two, I introduce a context for understanding everyday life in San Antonio for low-income women. After providing a brief historical context for understanding the public housing and urban poverty in San Antonio, I parse out events and themes related to public housing that punctuate and constrain the lives women, including the disparities among different City neighborhoods and significance of public housing in women's lives. Chapter three critiques flexibility as a strategy to meet the requirements of welfare reform and attain economic self-sufficiency. I describe gendered and classed perspectives on the marriage promotion component of welfare reform and contextualize these programs with women's lives and relationship choices. In chapter four, I look at marriage and marriage promotion as a component of welfare reform. I review complications and obstacles that women associated with marriage, such as blended families, domestic violence, and barriers to continued public assistance. These factors all affect women's considerations about marriage as a timely and appropriate choice or a way to improve their social and economic situation. Chapter five explores child care dilemmas encountered by women receiving and leaving welfare for employment. While subsidized child care is an option for some women, the employment opportunities available to them require a high degree of individual flexibility are frequently inconsistent with the surprisingly inflexible available formal and informal child care arrangements. Without subsidies, women are often unable to secure and maintain low-wage jobs that are available to them. I understand this predicament in the broader context of the gendered aspects of neoliberalism and welfare reform.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 343-353). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR29495

Thesis. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: John Hill. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-100) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.