This is an empirical study of how the mathematical talk of adult learners constructs/reconstructs different mathematical discourses. The study is to be regarded as an attempt to develop a discursive approach within the field of mathematics education and to complicate the status of mathematics in education and in society in general. My theoretical underpinnings consist of three possible mathematical discourses – coercive, regulative and emancipative mathematics. From a discursive psychology perspective, I let these discourses function as analytical interpretive repertoires in relation to the adult learners’ rhetorical use of mathematics and their claiming of mathematical subject-positions, named the coerced, the self-regulating and the responsible mathematician. The conclusions are concentrated around a discussion about the rhetorical turn of adult mathematics in which I focus on mathematics and its relation to the becoming of the self-regulating subject. I continue by arguing that a focus on how the participants deal with mathematics, rather than how they learn mathematics, can generate new perspectives on the teaching praxis of mathematics education.

This thesis aims at critically examining the specific place of the &quot / critical&quot / and &quot / radical&quot / theories within both the theory of public administration and political theory, particularly in terms of the discursive participatory framework they offer. The fundamental question dealt with is whether or not the power and dependence analyses of these approaches (which are treated as &#039 / marginal&#039 / in the field) is convincing for an egalitarian, comprehensive and socially transformative democratic governance. Since a discussion of this sort essentially problematizes the reduction of political equality to a proceduralist and abstract philosophical equality, not to commit a similar fallacy of &quot / apriorism&quot / , the study incorporates the observations on LA-21 Turkey processes as a local governance program, in terms of a concrete contribution to theoretical discussion. In the light of direct observations, interviews and data obtained from secondary resources regarding the participatory practices, the level of organization and current capacity of political representation are inferred to be also decisive on the capacity to participate, owing this decisiveness substantially to the economic and social resources in the real social formation, hence the conditions of production of local knowledge are consequently identified as far from reflecting a democratic environment purified from power relations. Highlighting the risk for the notion of self-governance to gain a hegemonic functionality for bourgeoisie democracy concealing and perpetuating social inequalities, the thesis argues for shifting the inquire for the dominant class, from solely political-administrative sphere to civil society, and the maintainable and reproductive conditions and mechanisms of dominance between these two spheres.

Today it is common to state that we are living in an information overloaded society. But there are many different definitions of what can be said to constitute Information Overload and there is a lack of substantial research on the subject. Conclusions in the available literature on Information Overload are often drawn on anecdotal evidence and carries a dramatized picture of the causes and effects of the phenomenon. With the tools of discursive analysis this two years master’s thesis explores how the phenomenon Information Overload is portrayed in six popular science books that deals with the subject: Alvin Toffler (1970) Future Shock, Orrin Klapp (1986) Overload and Boredom, Richard Wurman (1989) Information Anixety, Andrew Keen (2007) The cult of the amateur, Maggie Jackson (2008), Distracted and Nicholas Carr (2010) The Shallows. The result of the analysis shows that there is a common discourse of how the subject of Information Overload is represented, which stretches in and between the books intertextually. In this study that discourse is called the dystopian discourse of Information Overload. It is structured by a unified use of narratives, concepts, themes, metaphors and statements and by its separation from the opposite utopian discourse of Information Overload. In the final discussion the results of the analysis are compared to postmodern theory, a problematisation of the concept of distraction and to the Swedish government’s 2012 investigation of reading habits of young people in the country. The conclusion of the study is that the two binary discourses discovered in the analysis – the dystopian and the utopian – should be avoided in the debate and research on Information Overload. Instead the discussion should be influenced by pluralism, complexity and awareness.

This dissertation is about boys and fatness. In it I explore the central discourses that shape young men’s (13-15 years) experiences of their bodies, particularly in relation to body size, shape, and fatness. A central objective is to listen, hear, and take seriously the embodied health rationalities of young men as they negotiate the multiple and contesting discourses that confront them in their daily lives. I employ a feminist poststructural lens to account for the nuanced, alternative, and contextually specific ways young men think about and do health. Data collection was divided into three phases (non-participant observation, photo(focus) groups, and interviews) and was implemented at two Toronto area sites, including an exclusive private school and a publicly funded parks and recreation community centre. I demonstrate that there is not one way of experiencing fatness and masculinity, rather the young men’s constructions of fatness and health were fluid, shifting, contradictory and cross cut by other salient identity categories such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and age. Using Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality, I show how obesity discourse provides a set of resources by which young men are able to construct themselves as autonomous, rational, neoliberal subjects, and how these subjectivities are differentially constituted depending on social and cultural positioning. I also reveal how differently raced and classed young men take up and embody normative ideals of the lean muscular male body through culturally appropriate masculine technologies of the self (i.e. sport and heterosexuality). The multiplicity of health and body discourses available to the young men gave rise to contested and ambivalent experiences and practices, such that dominant discourses were not always articulated in a straightforward and predictable manner, but were imbued with alternative and, in some cases, subversive meanings. To date, the social sciences have neglected to account for the relationship boys and men have with fatness discourses. By centering the analysis on the embodied experiences of diverse racialized and classed youth, this research demonstrates that weight and shape is more than a biomedical problem to be eradicated, but a discursively compelled embodiment that exists at the crossroads of the social, cultural, psychic, and biologic.

Previous research on cosmetic surgery and teenage girls is limited and fails to provide information regarding how teenage girls construct these procedures. A social constructionist approach informed by a discursive psychology methodology was used to study how teenage girls and message board respondents construct cosmetic surgery through the language they use and the social actions performed through their talk. I analyzed questions posted by teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 19 on online message boards, as well as responses to these questions posted by other message board users. Social actions identified in the teenage girls talk included: advice and information seeking, approval seeking, and justification of cosmetic surgery. Social actions identified in the respondents talk included: provision of advice and information, warning, approval, disapproval, criticism and judgement, reassurance, empathy, encouragement, and support. In general, teenage girls constructed cosmetic surgery as a way for them to feel better about themselves, as a way for them to feel better about the body part they were seeking surgery for, and as a way for them to fit in and be accepted by others. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the existing research on teenage girls and cosmetic surgery, Daviss (1995) feminist perspective on cosmetic surgery, Fredrickson and Robertss (1997) objectification theory, and embodiment. Implications for teenage girls, parents of teenage girls, physicians, and psychologists are also discussed, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Previous research on cosmetic surgery and teenage girls is limited and fails to provide information regarding how teenage girls construct these procedures. A social constructionist approach informed by a discursive psychology methodology was used to study how teenage girls and message board respondents construct cosmetic surgery through the language they use and the social actions performed through their talk. I analyzed questions posted by teenage girls between the ages of 13 to 19 on online message boards, as well as responses to these questions posted by other message board users. Social actions identified in the teenage girls talk included: advice and information seeking, approval seeking, and justification of cosmetic surgery. Social actions identified in the respondents talk included: provision of advice and information, warning, approval, disapproval, criticism and judgement, reassurance, empathy, encouragement, and support. In general, teenage girls constructed cosmetic surgery as a way for them to feel better about themselves, as a way for them to feel better about the body part they were seeking surgery for, and as a way for them to fit in and be accepted by others. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the existing research on teenage girls and cosmetic surgery, Daviss (1995) feminist perspective on cosmetic surgery, Fredrickson and Robertss (1997) objectification theory, and embodiment. Implications for teenage girls, parents of teenage girls, physicians, and psychologists are also discussed, and recommendations for future research are suggested.

This dissertation is about boys and fatness. In it I explore the central discourses that shape young men’s (13-15 years) experiences of their bodies, particularly in relation to body size, shape, and fatness. A central objective is to listen, hear, and take seriously the embodied health rationalities of young men as they negotiate the multiple and contesting discourses that confront them in their daily lives. I employ a feminist poststructural lens to account for the nuanced, alternative, and contextually specific ways young men think about and do health. Data collection was divided into three phases (non-participant observation, photo(focus) groups, and interviews) and was implemented at two Toronto area sites, including an exclusive private school and a publicly funded parks and recreation community centre. I demonstrate that there is not one way of experiencing fatness and masculinity, rather the young men’s constructions of fatness and health were fluid, shifting, contradictory and cross cut by other salient identity categories such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class, and age. Using Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality, I show how obesity discourse provides a set of resources by which young men are able to construct themselves as autonomous, rational, neoliberal subjects, and how these subjectivities are differentially constituted depending on social and cultural positioning. I also reveal how differently raced and classed young men take up and embody normative ideals of the lean muscular male body through culturally appropriate masculine technologies of the self (i.e. sport and heterosexuality). The multiplicity of health and body discourses available to the young men gave rise to contested and ambivalent experiences and practices, such that dominant discourses were not always articulated in a straightforward and predictable manner, but were imbued with alternative and, in some cases, subversive meanings. To date, the social sciences have neglected to account for the relationship boys and men have with fatness discourses. By centering the analysis on the embodied experiences of diverse racialized and classed youth, this research demonstrates that weight and shape is more than a biomedical problem to be eradicated, but a discursively compelled embodiment that exists at the crossroads of the social, cultural, psychic, and biologic.

La présente recherche a porté sur la maîtrise de la cohérence microstructurelle par les élèves de niveau collégial. Elle avait pour objectif de mesurer les effets de l'enseignement de la progression thématique comme critère de cohérence microstructurelle selon une méthode contrastive, et les effets de l'enseignement de deux méthodes différentes de la révision de cet aspect. Nous avons aussi cherché à déterminer quels défauts de cohérence se trouvent dans les textes d'élèves du collégial. Trois groupes d'élèves du collégial ont reçu des séances d'enseignement différentes de la cohérence dans l'introduction et la conclusion, l'une traditionnelle et l'autre expérimentale. Les deux groupes soumis à l'enseignement expérimental ont suivi des activités d'entraînement à la révision différentes, soit une activité de mise à distance par la tâche dans un groupe et de mise à distance par les pairs. Trois introductions rédigées par les élèves avant et après les interventions ont servi de prétest et de post-tests. Un taux de réussite de la progression thématique a été calculé pour chacune des introductions afin de comparer les performances des trois groupes. L'examen des résultats a montré que le taux de réussite de la progression thématique a augmenté de façon constante dans les groupes expérimentaux, alors qu'il a stagné dans le groupe témoin. Par contre, il n'a pas été possible de distinguer l'impact des deux méthodes d'entraînement à la révision expérimentées. L'examen des défauts de cohérence présents dans les textes d'élèves regroupés en fonction de leur habileté de départ a montré que l'amélioration observée dans les groupes expérimentaux est plus marquée chez les sous-groupes d'élèves faibles. Les résultats de cette expérimentation montrent que l'enseignement de la progression thématique selon une méthode contrastive favorise l'amélioration de la cohérence microstructurelle des introductions rédigées par les élèves. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : cohérence, cohérence microtructurelle, progression thématique, défauts de cohérence, méthode contrastive, cohésion, révision, mise à distance par la tâche, mise à distance par les pairs, différence forts/faibles, collégial.

Att penisen inte haft en betydande roll inom den socialpsykologiska forskningen rörande mäns identitetsskapande, samtidigt som manskroppen blivit en tydligare fokuspunkt i media och samhället de senaste åren, är utgångspunkten för denna studie. En studie som syftar till att se hur män konstruerar sin identitet utifrån sin kropp. I denna studie antogs ett diskursanalytiskt angreppssätt för att söka svar på hur män i åldern 20-30 år konstruerar sin identitet utifrån sin kropp med ett särskilt fokus på penisen och dess inverkan. Det utfördes åtta stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer, som transkriberades och kodades i programmet Nvivo. Utsagorna analyserades utifrån valda delar av olika diskursanalytiska angreppssätt och även Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv och hans teori om stigma, samt Butlers performativa idé om kön och Connells teori om hegemonisk maskulinitet. Analysen visade att männen i studien konstruerade sin identitet i förhållande till de upplevda rådande samhällsidealen. Samtliga av männen talade om vikten av att vara vältränad, ett kroppsligt tillstånd som ansågs högst eftersträvansvärt. Männen använde sig av olika diskursiva resurser när de talade om kroppen och när de talade om penisen. Penisens betydelse konstruerades utifrån dess funktion, och det var vid väldigt få sociala interaktioner som penisen hade en central roll för den uppvisade identiteten. / The fact that the penis haven’t had a central role in the social psychological field in aspect to men’s identity, although the male body has gotten more attention in media and the society as a whole, is the starting point for this study. We wanted to find out how Swedish males in the age of 20-30 years constructed their identities from their bodies and penises. The eight interviews that were conducted in a semi-structural way were analyzed by using parts of three different discursive analysis approaches, and also in aspect to Goffmans dramaturgical perspective and his theory about stigma, as well as Butlers performative idea about gender and Connells theory concerning the hegemonic masculinity. The analysis showed that the men constructed their identities in regards to what they thought was the prevailing ideals in society regarding the male body. All of the men talked about the importance of being fit, a bodily condition they strived to gain. The men used different discursive resources in their talk about the body and in their talk about the penis. Function was the main theme when it came to the penis and what it was used for, and it was in very few social interactions that the penis had a central role in the construction of the men’s identity.

The search for the process of electrification in Turkey and how it is materialized in urban space in different scales in indoor and outdoor is the aim of this thesis. Looking for the effects of electrification by means of making a discursive analysis and taking into consideration the objects in substance, concerning the practice itself, and searching for the transformations in the urban space and in urban living are the main objectives of this research. Consequently, popular media will be the main source to look for how electrification was materialized and depicted in the publicity. The popular publications of the period like / magazines, newspapers, films are going to be investigated and re-read in order to decipher how discursive formations were constructed. The intervals of the research period are theheydays of these Modernist discursive formations, mainly the 1930s / starting from 1928 the foundation of Ankara Gas and Electricity Factory which is the symbol and generator of electrification in the new capital Ankara, and ending with 1938 with Mustafa Kemal Atat&uuml / rk&amp / #8217 / s death which can be considered a major turning point in the discursive formations. The theoretical framework of the thesis will take the modernity project in the Turkish Republic, focusing on how collective memory and social identity was constructed at that time.