In this age of globalization, or more specifically, partial globalization, the significance of cultural shifts in various parts of the world, is considerable. In consideration of cultural convergence and divergence, it must be investigated whether or not cultures are gaining more similarities and less differences (convergence) due to globalization and whether or not standard business practices will emerge as a result. An adaptation of the Dorfman and Howell (1988) survey was used to provide a better understanding and comparison of the special conditions that characterize business practices of Jamaicans living in Jamaica, and Jamaicans living in the U.S.A. or whose behavior have been impacted by the U.S. culture. The results indicate that there are no significant differences in the areas of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and paternalism which suggest strength of the Jamaican culture. However there was some evidence of crossvergence or possibly divergence as there was a significant difference in individualism between the native Jamaican and the global Jamaican. The apparent shift in individualism, which is in alignment with Hofstede's (1986) belief that as a result of westernization and teaching in a multinational classroom a shift in individualism is possible, needs to be further investigated in light of the relatively small sample size used in the study. There was no difference between the native male Jamaican and the global male Jamaican in all the five cultural dimensions. This research provides students, managers, business leaders and entrepreneurs with information that can help business practices, through the better understanding of cultural orientation of the NATIVE Jamaican (Jamaicans living in Jamaica) and the GLOBAL Jamaican (Jamaicans living in the U.S.A. for an extended period or who have been exposed to the U.S. culture for an extended period of time, leading to improved business and economic performance. The researcher suggests further research utilizing a larger sample size to investigate not only how demographic factors such as gender, age, and educational level affect cultural orientation but also to explore the effects of economic ties, family ties, cable television and internet usage on the cultural orientation among the native and global Jamaican and whether convergence, crossvergence and divergence occurs. Also, it is worth undertaking a study of the observed shift in greater individualism for the global Jamaican to discover whether the change is of any permanence and the contributing factors to the differences to these values.

This diploma thesis focuses on the phenomena of homelessness as a situation in which individuals do not have enough money to secure the conventional accommodation. This leads to them constructing their home in the public space or squatting abandoned buildings. This thesis refuses to interpret homelessness as a pathological phenomenon or as a violation of order (in order to demonstrate this, individual approaches are usually being used). The author of the thesis presents homelessness as a consequence of the economic system which orders out a certain part of population. This part cannot attain the minimum measure of the chance to consume which would sustain a secure life. The concept of hybrid, which is the integral part of the actor-network-theory and it originates in the works of Bruno Latour, allows us to interpret home through the interconnection of material objects and social relationship. This approach leads to disengagement from the atypical form of unconventional homes and to thinking about them as about a normal way of housing. The basis of the ethnographic research is the perspective of the material culture studies. In the framework of this perspective, individual dwellings (inhabited by the class of the poorest) are examined. The research contains an analysis of nine such dwellings in...

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The interest for doing this study is developed during my time as a student in textile history atUppsala university, Sweden. Textile history, as it is taught in Uppsala, uses both practical andtheoretical knowledge as a base for analysing, understanding and interpreting, textiles as sourcematerial in research. As a student in textile history I have sometimes experienced a lack ofunderstanding for the position it takes in the academic field, both from people within the textilehistorical field and from the outside. In this study, I take the opportunity to explore this position.I understand textile history research as a field in between the practical and theoretical.Knowledge in craft are used as a base for understanding source material, but are then oftenconnected to the theoretical framework of Material culture studies (MCS) for interpretation.But, even though this is an often-used theory, the problems of finding relevant texts and frame-works are difficult.By generating a grounded theory about the field of craft- and practical research in Swe-den, and then moving on to see what kind of literature the field of MCS can offer, I discuss theposition that textile historical research take between them. The generated theory shows that themain concern in the field of practical research are the aim to be an accepted part of the academy.The analysis of the literature in the field of MCS shows that the areas of technology and materialsciences need tools to understand the human aspect of production. From this I conclude thattextile history, as a field that is already part of creating a meeting between practical researchand MCS, could well take up the position to write its own theories. Theories grounded in prac-tical knowledge, but as a part of the field of MCS. Doing that would be of gain for both fields,and for the textile historians inhabiting and creating a meeting in between the fields.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho discute a cultura e a identidade roraimense e alguns desdobramentos, a partir do processo de hibridação representada na obra de arte do artista plástico, Jorge Augusto Cardoso. Para tanto, utilizamos fundamentos teórico-metodológicos oriundos dos Estudos Culturais para abarcar Cultura, Identidade, Linguagem Visual, Arte Regional, Regionalismo, Regionalidade, Hibridação e epresentação, visando analisar o processo de constituição identitária de Roraima, além de compreender seus elementos envolvidos neste processo, nos quais possibilitaram visualizar as formas de ser roraimense, revelados no cenário imagético do artista, permeados de diferenças e conflitos. Sob este prisma, diversas formas de representações simbólicas valorizadas no espaço regional, criadas pelo artista, foram estudadas, e novas concepções foram extraídas, ao mesmo tempo, gerando novas leituras. Dessa maneira, esta análise traz possibilidades de identidades desenvolvidas no sistema de representação contida na obra, na qual espaços foram criados e construídos, possibilitando aos sujeitos, posicionar-se e construir novas identidades; apropriar e reconstruir identidades para seu uso. / This paper discusses Roraima`s culture and identity and some developments from the hybridization process represented in the art work of the artist, Jorge Augusto Cardoso. For this purpose, we used theoretical and methodological foundations from Cultural Studies to cover Culture, Identity, Visual Language, Regional Art, Regionalism, Regionality, Hybridization and Representation in order to analyze the process of identity formation of Roraima, and to understand its elements involved in this process, which allowed us to view the forms of "being" Roraima, revealed in the artist imagery scenery, riddled by conflicts and differences. In this light, various forms of symbolic representations valued in the region, created by artist, were studied, and new concepts were extracted at the same time generating new readings. Thus, this analysis gives possibilities of identity developed in the system of representation contained in the work, in which spaces were designed and built, enabling subjects to position themselves and to build new identities; to appropriate and to reconstruct identities for their use.

Historically, American farmers have been identified as white, middle-aged, working- to middle-class, men who reside in rural environments to grow large expanses of corn, soybeans, or wheat. However, this dissertation questions this fraught representation of past farmers and introduces a new identity in contemporary American agriculture - Young Farmers. Usually, Young Farmers are first-generation agriculturalists, who hold small parcels of land, produce a diverse assortment of crops, and adopt items of rural material culture to better perform as farmers. Additionally, they believe their lifestyles and their existences are dependent upon interactions with their local environments and members of their communities. By focusing on these individuals, this study examines how American farmers, the environments they inhabit, the goods they produce, and the locations they distribute their products have changed, especially after the most recent Farm Crisis in the 1980s.<div><br></div><div>To best understand these alterations, this dissertation offers an exploration of three farmers market locations in Michigan's Lower Peninsula to highlight and compare the social, cultural, environmental, and economic shifts occurring in the agricultural community. Arguably, farmers markets provide Young Farmers a space to meet prospective consumers and to distribute their products to them. Likewise, these site are a venue for Young Farmers to develop successful systems of community with other people involved with small-scale farming. Throughout this dissertation, I layer ethnographic and historical archive data with quantitative metrics, such as U.S. Census Bureau data to better explain demographic shifts occurring across Michigan's farming landscape. Additionally, I critically analyze images associated with past and current representations of individuals involved with agriculture to address how Young Farmers redefine themselves culturally and participate in methods of food and economic sustainability. By studying and understanding the codependence of the people and place who comprise farmers and farming communities in a representative location like Michigan, I recognize the relevance of the Midwest as a crossroads of contemporary American agriculture. </div>

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This essay aims to investigate the visual and symbolic language of banners and standards belonging to two Swedish temperance organizations, the Independent Order of Good Templars, and the Swedish Blue-Ribbon Movement. The examined material is 98 banners and standards from Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län. Mieke Bal and Norman Bryson's semiotic starting point in the article "Semiotics and Art History" (1991), mainly based on Charles Sanders Peirce's semiosis, has been used as the method of analysis. Support has also been taken from Roland Barthes' semiotic concepts of denotation and connotation. Visual culture studies, with support from Nicolas Mirzoeff's Introduction to Visual Culture (1999) has been used as a theoretical and structural starting point of the essay. The analysis has shown a rich use of symbolic signs within the material, and that – and how – the use of said symbolic signs is both similar and different between the organizations. The analysis has further demonstrated the possibility to interpret meaning which were communicated through the banners and the standards visual and symbolic language. In the essay's discussion, these meanings have been divided into different themes which can be said to reflect the ideals, ideas, and activities of the organizations. The visual communication is understood based on the activities and religious history of the organizations, and on the political, social, historical, and cultural context of the collective symbols.

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This study investigates the processes through which attendance at a community school affects the development of cultural and academic identities of Greek/Greek-Cypriot and Pakistani ethnic minority young people who live in the United Kingdom. The development of cultural and academic identities by community school students is a relatively underesearched and undertheorized area. The theoretical framework of this study draws on developments in cultural developmental theory (Valsiner, 2000a) and the dialogical self theory (Hermans, 2001 a) to understand the cultural and dialogical nature of the processes through which ethnic minority young people develop their identities in community schools. Both theories are influenced by dynamic perspectives on development and have tried to explain psychological phenomena in relation to the sociocultural context. Episodic interviews, drawings and group work were the tools for data collection and multiple perspectives (students', parents' and teachers') were investigated. This small-scale research took place in a Greek and a Pakistani community school. The pupils, both girls and boys, were adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The findings suggest that the young people in both groups were moving towards multiple, hybrid identities through a dialogical negotiation of aspects of differences! similarities and belonging within their majority and minority communities as well as living in a multicultural society. This negotiation resulted in a multivoiced hybrid identity which emerged through a constant positioning and re-positioning within their communities and school contexts. For the participants in the Pakistani school this negotiation was a struggle shaped by issues of racism and religious discrimination. In this context, the Pakistani school mainly aimed to increase self-confidence and strengthen the students' sense of minority cultural identity, especially the religious aspect of it, whereas the Greek school mainly aimed to preserve the community's cultural identity which was considered to be threatened by assimilation. In both community schools, a strong academic identity was endorsed which had a double function -to foster the acquisition of both knowledge and skills relevant to community education and those relevant to mainstream and higher education. This study demonstrated the value of examining community schools within contrasting communities, and its findings have implications for Psychology and Education.