This research initiative responds to some of the issues raised by theoretical challenges leveled at Industrial Psychology (postmodernism), and practical challenges in the workplace (the use of teams) by investigating notions of what a team is via the postmodern methodology of discourse analysis. The research explores “team talk” – repertoires of speech employed by individuals to construct particular versions of “the team” for specific effects, of importance given emphasis placed on shared understanding, expectations and goals in a “team”. A Rhodes University Industrial Psychology Honours class required to work as a team (having participated in a team building exercise), as well as their lecturers who facilitated the team building process were interviewed to obtain “talk” to analyse. This uncovered a multiplicity of meaning, namely four ways of speaking about (constructing) the team. These repertoires are explored in terms of how they are constructed, how they differ across context and speakers, how they interrelate and what they function to achieve. The educational team repertoire constructs academic hierarchy, justifies individualism, positions members as experts and maintains distance from interpersonal processes. The machine repertoire divides work and interpersonal issues, regulates productivity and constructs team roles (defining individual activity and “team fit”), but is inflexible to change. The family repertoire voices emotive aspects to maintain cohesion via conformity, leaderlessness, group identity and shared achievement, but cannot accommodate conflict or workpersonal boundaries. The psychologised team repertoire constructs the team primarily as a therapeutic entity legitimately creating individual identities (and expertise) and facilitating personal growth, but this flounders when support in the “team” fails. Given that each repertoire has a different emphasis (reflective learning versus work processes versus building relationships versus personal growth), there are slippages / clashes between repertoires. This postmodern look at “the team” thus assists in recognizing and problematising these multiple meanings and identifying practical implications.

Orientador: Jonas de Araujo Romualdo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T08:11:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Inacio_ElissandroMartins_M.pdf: 1454718 bytes, checksum: eeb1ec8eec49edfd479eee7137f7a379 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir, a partir de uma perspectiva discursiva, sobre a constituição do acontecimento discursivo relativo à política. Para nosso estudo, desenvolvemos uma análise a partir da noção de acontecimento de Michel Foucault (2002). Visando descrever a constituição do discurso político como controle por meio da formação de saber espetacular, selecionamos algumas capas da revista Veja. Ao descrevermos práticas institucionais da Veja, possibilitamos ao leitor dessa investigação conhecer alguns aspectos do papel dessa revista. Em seguida, caracterizamos a revista como ¿lugar¿ em que a política torna-se visível. No contexto de produção da visibilidade da política, mostramos que a Veja tece uma ¿história¿ do presente para seus leitores. Comparamos o acontecimento discursivo na mídia à noção de acontecimento discursivo trabalhada pelos historiadores. Nesse momento, discutimos a maneira como Foucault (2005) trata a história. Na constituição da história do presente, há relações de poder. Pensando nisso, explicamos a noção de ¿poder¿ para Foucault (1995), pois essa noção é desenvolvida na análise do corpus, possibilitando caracterizar os enunciados da revista como efeito do exercício do poder. No segundo momento da pesquisa, apresentamos uma breve história da Análise do Discurso. Nessa história, destacamos o termo acontecimento. Apontamos algumas diferenças entre a noção de acontecimento discursivo para Pêcheux e a noção de acontecimento discursivo para Foucault. Logo após, tornou-se necessário discutirmos a noção de enunciado para Foucault (2002). Para depois, tratarmos o discurso como controle exercido pela Veja sobre os seus leitores. Por último, analisamos as capas como acontecimento discursivo que emerge numa relação de poder-saber. Dividimos a nossa pesquisa em dois momentos: no primeiro, dedicamo-nos à descrição das práticas institucionais da revista Veja, explicando as noções de visibilidade, história, poder, acontecimento e enunciado; no segundo, ligado ao primeiro, investigamos a noção de controle e, em seguida, analisamos nas capas como esse controle forma saber espetacular. Considerando o acontecimento discursivo constituído por meio do controle espetacular nas capas da Veja, resistimos ao exercício do poder praticado pela revista / Abstract: This project has the objective to reflective about a discursive perception that is coming through discussing politic. For this research, I¿m going to develop a kind of analysis from Michel Foucault studies (2002). The essential propose in this is, to write about the constitutional politic discuss as a way to control the knowledge, I picked up some Veja magazines to prove it. As I write about the lawful ways from Veja, I¿ll make the possibility to the readers, to know some essential aspects from this magazine. After that, I¿ll show that magazine is the right place where and how the politic aspect is going to become visible. In the context about the politic progress aspects, I¿ll write the present history to the readers. I¿ll compare the discursive process in the social means of communication against the discursive process from the historian. At this moment I¿ll discuss the way how Foucault (2005) talks about the history. In the constitution of the present history there¿s a relationship with the power. Thinking about this, I¿ll explain the power notion to Foucault (1995), this kind of notion is developed through an analysis in corpus ¿object¿ creating a way to write in this magazine as a process of the power. In the second time, I¿ll present a short history from discuss analysis. Therefore, I¿ll discuss the perception from Pêcheux¿s position and the perception from Foucault's position too (2002). As soon as, I¿ll discuss how Veja magazine control the readers with it's discursive. At least, I¿ll analysis the cover magazine from Veja as a discursive perception that shows a kind of relationship with the power of knowledge. I have divided this research in two moments: in the first one, I write about the institutional ways from Veja magazine, I¿ll explain the notions of visibility, history, power, perception and statement; In the second part, I¿ll research the notion of control and I¿ll analysis some covers from Veja magazine to compare how its used this way of control. Considering the perception discursive inside the way to control how to know through the Veja magazine, I have resisted that power that it was created from this magazine / Mestrado / Mestre em Linguística

Like writing, art making is primarily a means of human expression, a means of communication – both “allow us to categorize our (inner and outer) environment as represented by symbols” (Appignanesi, 1999: 7). Yet it is language in the traditional Western garb of rational, philosophical discourse that has been perceived as the primary means of manifesting knowledge and positing truth, not only regarding the character of human existence, but also the nature of art. This infers the acceptance of both works as literally “truth of things”, and of “a language of reason” that “perfectly represents the real world” (Appignanesi, 1999: 77). Going against the grain of this traditional bias, Jacques Derrida holds that, firstly, “human knowledge is not as controllable or as cogent as Western thinkers would have it”: secondly, that language functions in “subtle and often contradictory ways” thus rendering certainty, truth, and perfect representation ever elusive to us (Lye, 1997: 2); and, thirdly, that “practices of interpretation which include art but are not limited to language, are extended discourses” (Appignanesi, 1999: 79). So, the “work of reason” (or rationalism) in this sense, is no longer the definitive “voice” of authority when it comes to ascribing meaning, proclaiming a message, defining truth, etc. Having the grip of its authority loosened and thus its rigid, imposing borders opened up, the communication of knowledge as a form of “aesthetic fiction” (Megill, 1987: 265) is allowed entry into the rarefied field of philosophical discourse. Moreover, if visual art (one such “aesthetic fiction”) is a process of sign-making, as is written and spoken language; if it therefore constitutes a signifying system, as does written and spoken language (Bal and Bryson in Preziosi, 1998: 242); and, if art is not just about autonomous, in-house formalism, then can it not, in any case, validly offer a form for discourse, albeit a different kind of discourse, a discourse that is not “truth seeking” (Sim, 1992: 33)? Here, the maker of the proposed artwork-asdiscourse would not be attempting to establish the truth or falsity of a philosophical position, but, as Derrida would have it, create a form which, without mimicry, would evocatively allude to Plato, his “deconstructor” and the maker of the proposed artwork. Discourse in this sense, then, would generate “active interpretation… infinite free association” (Megill, 1987: 283), because, as in Derrida’s writing, interpretation no longer aims at “the reconciliation or unification of warring truths (Sim, 1992: 10); in other words, it breaks with the (phal)logocentric tradition of discourse as dialectical and becomes questioning without closure. For visual art to enter the exalted arena of philosophical discourse, it cannot be selfreflexive in the Greenbergian or formalist sense – it has to be about something philosophical and this ‘something’ will be a deconstructive response to Plato’s doctrine of the two worlds in the Timaeus. What I propose presenting, then, is an imagographic rather than (phal)logocentric exposition of philosophical content where the aim is not to shape a certainty or to infer an absolute presence or essence of anything, but rather to suggest traces of the maker of the artwork reading Derrida, reading Plato. The proposed artwork as a response to texts will thus be a “pre-text” of my own endeavour.

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The current migration crisis has put significant strain on the European Union and its member states. Immigration has always been a contentious issue in societies, most often facing significant opposition. By drawing on postmodern theories of international relations and Discourse Theory, this paper analyses how immigration is being increasingly securitized by the European Union and its member states along with what makes securitization the hegemonic discourse. This is done primarily with reference to identity construction through the framing of the Other, in this case the migrant, as an unwanted and externalized element. Furthermore, the paper details how the framing of the migrant as a threat to the internal security of a country strenghtend identity politics across Europe. Finally, using the Brexit campaign in the UK, the paper analyzes how the rise in identity politics in turn raises the possibility of a successful fusion of the anti-immigration discourse with the anti-EU discourse through the exploiting of societal unease.

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Amidst the changing social and economic landscape of the city due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, Hamilton has seen a spike in the visible homeless population and the increasing presence of tent cities occupying public space, sparking controversy within the local community. Media portrayals of the tent occupancies have focused on homelessness through the use of deviance frames, focusing on crime, violence and danger, as well as negative personality traits that include weak moral laxity, overall laziness, and willful dependence on the state. This is to delegitimize the plight of this group, in favour of the City’s approach to criminalize, displace, disband and exclude. The media discourse negates the growing body of evidence that homelessness is a by-product of economic, political and global shifts towards neo-liberal restructuring. The study seeks to understand how and why the individual-blaming narrative maintains its dominance, to become accepted as truth and reproduced by the general public in the public sphere; particularly as it relates to public understandings of the causes of homelessness and who is responsible. This study finds that the dominant discourse is led by neoliberal ideology which underpins and permeates all facets of society. The study’s findings are threefold. 1. The elites who support a neo-liberal agenda have been effective in managing the opinions of the general public to accept their framing of the problem and also the solutions. This means that the general public continues to uphold a neo-liberal agenda even when it is against their best interests. 2. The discourse is maintained through deliberate and strategic positioning of one group against another. 3. Given continued public support neoliberalism will continue to dominate the future of economic, political and social policy, that impacts the welfare of the members of this community including the community’s most vulnerable homeless population. With that in mind, social work must navigate these tensions and conflicts within the oppressive systems, to both maintain them and work against them insofar as they are meeting the needs of the community. Social workers must manage dual tasks/roles of maintaining jobs, funding and supports, while finding ways to critique and resist these systems that maintain unequal power relations. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Spiritualism is a religious movement based on communication with the spirits of the dead that originated in New York State in 1848. From its inception, members of the movement claimed that communication with the spirits of the dead was not only a possibility, but was in fact "scientifically" verifiable. Attempts were made throughout the nineteenth century to establish the "truth" of Spiritualist claims to scientific legitimacy. Although there are no longer any overt connections between Spiritualism and the scientific establishment, contemporary Spiritualists continue to insist that their beliefs are in accord with "science." Drawing upon fieldwork with contemporary Spiritualists in Hamilton, Ontario and Lily Dale, New York, this dissertation argues that scientific language and symbols have been incorporated into contemporary Spiritualist discourse to articulate and legitimate the claim that Spiritualist experiences are "true" in a "scientific," empirical sense. An examination of Spiritualist healing, mediumship and narrative practice reveals the extent to which the discourse of "science" has become the means by which the "reality" and "truth" of Spiritualist beliefs are affirmed. In articulating the "truth" of Spiritualist experience and the "reality" of the spirit hypothesis, the language and symbols of science are transformed into a sacred discourse that at once legitimates and affirms Spiritualist beliefs while simultaneously criticizing the "narrow" limits of orthodox science. For many contemporary Spiritualists, "science" has become the language in which religious truth claims are expressed. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In this dissertation I argue that Jürgen Habermas’ discourse ethics is our best understanding of morality, but that as it stands it has some serious deficiencies that need to be overcome before it can live up to its own promise. In particular, its insistence that facts, norms and self-expressions constitute the full range of validity claims available to us privileges Western voices in discourse, and undermines its own principles of equality and coercion-free dialogue. According to Habermas, others who do not utilise validity claims in the same way that Western speakers do are merely blurring the lines between these three categories and hence fall short of the ideal practices of discourse. In other words, they are less than fully rational. Rather, I argue that these three categories do not exhaust the full range of possible reasons. I suggest that we ought to understand statements that do not fit as one of these kinds of validity claim as instances of different kinds of claims entirely. Instead of being a confused blurring-of-the-lines, expressions on the part of indigenous and “traditional” societies that do not conform to Habermas’ categories of fact, norm or self-expression are just as likely to be instances of an expanded ontology of reasons that are equally legitimate. After examining some alternative explanations regarding claims that do not fit into Habermas’ categories, I finally suggest and describe a different, place-based kind of validity claim that I refer to as “ecological truth”, and suggest that it shows up the limitations of Habermas’ ontology of reasons. Ecological truth is a potential kind of reason available in discourse that is rooted in a close intertwining of practices and communities with particular ecologies and environments. This kind of reason cannot be subsumed into the categories of fact, norm and self-expression. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation argues for a method of resolving moral disagreement by the exchange of reasons by those affected by the disagreement under certain conditions. However, it suggests that typical Western accounts of the varieties of reasons admissible in these kind of conversations is limited, privileges Western ways of looking at the world, and devalues non-Western and, in the focus of this dissertation, particularly indigenous worldviews. As such, a fuller and more just account of reason is needed, one that includes the kinds of reasons used by all, if we are to have just, fair and equitable conversations in order to resolve moral disagreements.