The numerous youth subcultures to emerge since the end of World War Two act as what I call “biopolitical cultural apparatuses” that help subjects navigate the discontinuity in values, labour, and material expectations between the Fordist and neoliberal formations. As such, subcultures play a socializing role, helping subjects adapt to an increasingly precarious and austere social sphere; but they also generate new forms of community, and new experiences of personal and collective agency that can contribute to significant social transformation. Responding to the contemporary body of “post-subcultural” studies, I combine Giorgio Agamben’s analysis of biopolitics and Slavoj Žižek’s treatment of the Lacanian symptom to frame a theory that can highlight the politically progressive elements of subculture, while at the same time acknowledging their complicity with elements of the cultural dominant. Complementing Dick Hebdige’s theory of the incorporation processes to which subcultures are subjected, I offer spatial-temporal incorporation as a predominant way in which subcultural difference is recuperated by patriarchal and capitalist structures. At the same time, the heterotopic spaces subcultures produce enable new solidarities and friendships to develop, and can offer important experiences of alterity within the fluid and individualized regulative structures of late capitalism. I investigate these dynamics through a focus on skateboarding as a subculture that is particularly representative of the kinds of control structures faced by contemporary, Western subjects. My dissertation concludes with a detailed case study of the struggles of skateboarders to maintain and preserve an aging skateboard park in Beasley, a downtown neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton’s project to re-brand itself as a post-industrial “hub” for the “creative economy” places the skateboarders in the position of having to manage their (sub)cultural capital in a new way, as developers attempt to gentrify the neighbourhood. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis describes contemporary subcultures as helping subjects navigate the shift from a Fordist to neoliberal society. A combination of Marxian theories about contemporary capitalism, Giorgio Agamben's theories of the apparatus, bare life and the friend, and Jacques Lacan's theories of the symptom are used to understand subcultures as both responding to this shift in values and institutions, and possibly providing forms of community and agency that anticipate a post-capitalist world. A particular focus on skateboarding and the extreme sports industry illustrates these theories. Specific chapters detail the extreme sports industry, the nascent street skateboarding culture in northern Ontario town of Barrie in the nineteen eighties, and the history of Beasley Skateboard Park in downtown Hamilton, Ontario.

This study seeks to explicate the intercultural experiences of Puerto Ricans within the diaspora of Central Florida. Specifically, the navigation of communication behaviors among intergroup and outgroup behaviors as Puerto Rican individuals acculturate into the area. This study utilizes communication accommodation theory as its basis to understand integration into a host culture and the impacts on socio-cultural communication behaviors. Findings show the importance of studying diasporic communities as they develop such as that of the Puerto Rican community in Central Florida because it situates the reality of an individual and groups sense of identity in a new cultural context. This research showcases Puerto Rican diasporic individuals struggling with the bilingual brain and acculturating based on their environment. Communication accommodation behaviors are thus deeply rooted in marginalization and negative treatment of diasporic individuals as the "other" in multicultural scenarios. Intercultural self-identity and intersectionality has therefore been impacted by the dynamic between the home culture and host culture.

In this thesis I argue that a suburban cultural imagination developed transnationally during the post-war period (roughly 1945-1970) rather than as a cultural phenomenon largely associated with the 1950s United States. I situate the suburbs—in both their physical and cultural constructions—as my primary focus and discuss the suburb's influence on hegemonic culture by performing an in-depth comparison of the U.S. with another country with a long history of suburbanization—Australia. Given that the suburbs structure several social, cultural, economic, political, and historical vectors—which all in turn inform issues of gender, race, class, sexuality, and nationality—I focus on how the suburbs inform gender; in particular, I identify how the suburban imagination has contributed to the creation of the housewife figure. To locate these suburbs, I turn to the mass-circulation magazines of the mid-twentieth century whose advertisements, editorials, and short fiction disseminated the rhetoric and iconography of the suburb. Magazines like Ladies' Home Journal and Harper's helped form a U.S. suburban imagination through "housewife writers" such as Shirley Jackson. Comparing these suburban texts to the Australian Women's Weekly, we can see continuities and variations between suburbia in the U.S. and Australian cultural imaginations. I conclude this thesis by sketching potential coordinates for future investigation, including in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. While the process of suburbanization may vary in each country, a suburban imagination exists which transcends national experience and instead forms transnational lines that connect nations throughout the post-war period. These insights provide new ways of thinking about suburbanization, transnationalism, and globalization and the role that magazines had in shaping the cultures being constructed inside these suburban developments.

Arbetsförmedlingen framhåller utbildning som en framgångsfaktor för återetablering tillarbetsmarknaden samt som en primär arbetsmarknadsåtgärd vid kompetensutveckling och omställning. Ett behov att införa arbetsmarknadspolitiska insatser för främjande av kontinuerlig kompetensutveckling poängteras dock av svenska myndigheter. Under år 2022 införs det därför en förhöjning av ålder för rätten till studiemedel samt ett nytt omställningsstudiestöd. Utifrån ett angeläget intresse för sakfrågan om hur utbildning i äldre åldrar lönar sig på arbetsmarknaden, syftar aktuell studie till att undersöka individers syn på utbildning inom bristyrkesområden på svensk arbetsmarknad, i åldersspannet 50-65 år utifrån tvåurvalsgrupper. Studien ämnar besvara tre frågeställningar: hur ser arbetslösa individer i åldrarna 50-65 år på att utbilda sig inom bristyrkesområden som en potentiell lösning på arbetslöshet? På vilka sätt upplever individer, med erfarenhet av utbildning inom bristyrken i åldersspannet 50-65 år, att utbildningen har påverkat deras anställningsbarhet? Vilka eventuella hinder finns det som kan påverka möjligheten till utbildning senare i livet? Empirin insamlades via en kvalitativ metod och analyseras utifrån två teoretiska utgångspunkter; Donald E. Supers Life-Span, Life-space Theory of Career Development samt Phil Hodkinson och Andrew C. Sparkes Careership Theory. Resultatet påvisar att det finns en övergripande positiv syn på utbildning i åldersspannet50-65 år, men att den präglas av åldersrelaterade utbildningshinder och individers förhållningssätt till dessa. Vidare har utbildning inom bristyrken framgått vara positiva för anställningsbarheten i form av stärkta arbetsmarknadspositioner, ökad attraktivitet ur ett arbetsgivarperspektiv samt en ökad bredd av arbetstillfällen.

Årligen produceras 15 miljarder vinkorkar, vinkorkar som till största del kasseras på grund av en avsaknad av ett återvinningssystem. Detta sker trots att det finns goda möjligheter för materialet att återvinnas och komposteras, metoder som följaktligen understödjer materialets förutsättning att ingå i ett cirkulärt system.        Genom att utnyttja korkens ljudisolerande egenskaper ämnar projektet att med upcycling placera materialet i ett cirkulärt system. Kork är ett förnybart material med goda miljökvalitéer och korkekskogarna har ett högt kulturellt och socioekonomiskt värde. Korgekskogarna kännetecknas dessutom av viktiga biologiska miljöer. Materialet kan följaktligen vara en viktig aspekt inom hållbar produktdesign.        Av den totala mängden kork som årligen produceras blir över 70 procent vinkorkar. Återvinning med hjälp av upcycling kan således ha en stor påverkan för att främja en hållbar resursanvändning av materialet.         Med forskning genom design har studien med designmetoderna hållbar utveckling, Cradle to Cradle och upcycling undersökt korks förutsättningar att ingå i ett biologiskt system. Genom att undersöka materialet med hjälp av upcycling från materialets ljudisolerande egenskaper kan ett högre materiellt värde åstadkommas. Fördjupad kunskap har erhållits genom expertintervjuer, workshops och probes.        Resultatet är akustikplattor tillverkade av återvunna vinkorkar i naturkork. Akustikplattorna belyser korks naturligt ljudisolerande egenskaper och kan således förbättra användarens ljudmiljö. Konceptet främjar minskat avfall men ger också användaren möjlighet att integrera med produkten och erbjuder användaren att utforma produkten efter önskan och behov. Produkten visar följaktligen ett möjligt scenario för en del av materialets livscykel. Designscenariot visar hur materialet kan stanna inom den biologiska loopen för att i en sista fas komposteras, en process som omvandlar produkten till näring till jorden där nya korkekar kan växa. Detta är följaktligen en möjlighet att skapa ett högre materiellt värde som kan resultera i den regenerering som är nödvändigt för att bevara korkekskogarna, skogarnas rika biologiska mångfald och viktiga socioekonomiska samt kulturella värde. / 15 billion wine corks are produced annually, wine corks that are largely discarded due to a lack of a recycling system. Despite this fact there are great prospects for the material to be recycled or composted, methods that consequently support the product to be a part of a circular system.          By utilizing the sound-insulating properties of cork this project intends to place the material in a circular system using upcycling as a method.          Cork is a renewable material with good environmental qualities and cork oak forests have a high cultural and socio-economic value. Cork oak forests are characterized as important biological environments. The material can consequently be a valuable aspect in sustainable product design. Of the total amount of cork produced annually over 70 percent becomes wine corks. Recycling with the help of upcycling can thus have a major impact on promoting sustainable use of resources.         Through research through design, the study uses the design methods: sustainable development, sustainable product design, Cradle to Cradle and upcycling to investigate the possibilities for wine corks to be part of a biological system. By utilising the sound-insulating properties of recycled cork and upcycling, a higher material value can be achieved. In-depth knowledge has been obtained through expert interviews, workshops and probes.          The result is acoustic panels made from recycled natural wine corks. The acoustic panels illuminate the cork’s natural sound-insulating properties, which can thus improve the user’s sound environment. The concept promotes reduced waste but also gives the user the opportunity to interact with the product and consequently offers the user to design the product according to their desire and need. The product therefore shows a possible scenario for the material life cycle. The design scenario shows how the material can stay within the biological loop to be composted in a final phase, a process that converts the product into nutrients for the soil where new cork oaks can grow. Consequently, this is an opportunity to create a higher material value that can result in the regeneration that is necessary to preserve the cork oak forests, the rich biodiversity and important socio-economic and cultural value.

The Brazilian climate crisis has become a frequent topic in both international and national media. During Bolsonaro's presidency, Brazil prioritised economic development over protecting Indigenous Peoples and the environment, resulting in backlash from Indigenous Peoples and their organisations. This thesis aims to bring awareness to the presence of Indigenous women as agents of social change in the context of the environmental crisis. The study will explore how Indigenous women activists participating in the First and Second National March of Indigenous Women in Brazil were represented in photojournalistic images from Brazilian alternative news media outlets. By conducting a critical visual analysis, the research aims to uncover how these women addressed the struggle to protect Indigenous lands and how their representation challenges power structures and contributes to broader social change. The images will be analysed using an interpretive approach to representation that focuses on the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and beliefs. Furthermore, the theoretical concept of power will be employed to identify power dynamics represented in the selected images. The research reveals that Indigenous women use their cultural identity as a means to advocate for their rights. Cultural elements and practices symbolise their unique cultural identity and serve as a form of resistance and solidarity within Indigenous communities. Additionally, the representation of Indigenous women visualises different expressions of power relations. Notably, power-over, power-to, and power-with. Indigenous women activists challenge power dynamics by drawing strength from their intersecting social identities. In essence, this thesis suggests that Indigenous women are not passive victims but active agents of social change in the face of the climate crisis. Finally, the media’s portrayal of these women can play a vital role in safeguarding their culture and lands.

This dissertation analyzes the relationship between Wizards of the Coast's trading card game Magic: The Gathering and its digital adaptations. I used critical technocultural, ludic discourse analysis, and ludic textual analysis to examine the analog trading card game and digital adaptations. I examined an archive of paratextual media including trade magazines, developer blogs, game reviews, and player guides. I chose Magic for its long history, impact on the analog game industry, and the sheer number of adaptations that have been produced. This analysis begins by introducing a method for describing analog to digital adaptations called Adaptation Mapping. Adaptation mapping describes adaptations as a relationship between how the interface of the game is remediated and the degree to which a game represents the thematic and ludic experiences of the original. Then I examine the narrative framework that allows Magic to tell stories through both its theme and mechanics. Identifying the figure of the Planeswalker as a key component in how narrative functions in Magic, I trace the development of the planeswalker as a player analog to independent original characters under the purview of Wizards of the Coast. The adaptations provide a backdrop for this change and highlights the way that the same mechanical and algorithmic systems can characterize both player and official characters within Magics ecosystem. This shift highlights the way that marketing is approached and influences the design of the game. Finally, I examine how digital adaptations are intwined with ludic platform economy that has emerged through the 2010s. The apparatus that allows for capital to flow through the community is coopted via adaptation and remediated in ways that redirect capital back towards Wizards of the Coast as the platform owner. Analog to digital adaptation is a critical juncture in examining the impact of platformization on play and games.

This dissertation examines the representations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in superhero television shows, their source comics, and their corresponding fan fiction. Using close reading, in the tradition of Bérubé's (2018) examination of disability narratives in The Secret Life of Stories and Schalk's (2018) analysis of bodyminds in Bodyminds Reimagined, I explore how a character's PTSD is represented in the canonical media text (first through the comic book then through the television show) and discuss how the representation changes or evolves between mediums and provides or does not provide accurate representations of trauma, PTSD, and mental health. Through a sampling of popular fan texts from a given fandom and close reading the fan fiction and the tags, I interpret how fans construct PTSD and disability in their works: do they use the hegemonic medical model of disability, or do they construct PTSD through a social model? By providing an analysis of multiple media forms and PTSD throughout the superhero's stories, I show how fans both use and ignore canonical representations of disability and contribute to forms of oppression through their disabling of characters.

This thesis examines the literary representation and construction of mental illness in characters resulting from childhood trauma in the gothic pulp novel Flowers in the Attic (1979) by Cleo Virginia Andrews (1923-1986). Through a close reading of the novel, the analysis will emphasise the narration, interpersonal relationships, and constructed psyche primarily of the main character Cathy Dollanganger. While trauma in books has been discussed earlier, the trauma that affects the characters in Flowers has not been given the same recognition because of its lowbrow status and children’s literature categorisation. Trauma fiction focuses on the complex nuances that traumatic events bring to characters and narrative forms. Acknowledging trauma's impact on characters and narratives, I approach Flowers as a testimony from a survivor of adverse childhood experiences who still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder. Through a close reading of Flowers in the Attic and using trauma theory as my theoretical framework, primarily by use of Anne Whitehead, this thesis aims to shed light on the nuance of trauma and its portrayal in literature. Ultimately, I will argue that Flowers qualifies as trauma fiction to challenge its current perception as children’s literature, simultaneously promoting a more empathetic approach to its narrative than currently employed.

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