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Abstract: This thesis investigates the origins of contemporary fictional constructions of childhood by examining the extent to which current literary representations of children and childhood have departed from their Victorian origins. I set out to test my intuition that many contemporary young adult novels perpetuate Victorian ideals and values in their constructions of childhood, despite the overt circumstantial modernity of the childhoods they represent. The question this thesis hopes to answer therefore is, how Victorian is contemporary young adult fiction? To gauge the degree of change that has taken place since the Victorian period, differences and points of continuity between representations of nineteenth century childhood and twentieth century childhood will be sought and examined in texts from both eras. The five aspects of fictional representation that I focus on are: notions of innocence; sexuality; the child as saviour; the use of discipline and punishment to create the ideal child; and the depiction of childhood and adulthood as separate worlds. The primary theoretical framework used derives from Michel Foucault’s concepts of the construction of subjectivity through discourse, discipline and punishment, and his treatment of repression and power, drawn mainly from The History of Sexuality vol. 1 (1976) and Discipline and Punish; the Birth of the Prison (1977). I have chosen to use Foucault primarily because of the affinity between his work on the social construction of knowledge and the argument that childhood is a constructed rather than essential category; and because Foucault’s work on Victorian sexuality exposes links with current thinking rather than perpetuating assumptions about sexual repression in this period.

My thesis explores the notion, originally developed by sociologists such as Goffman and Charmaz, that a person’s identity undergoes a difficult and painful metamorphosis in response to the effects of serious long-term impairment or chronic illness. I argue that existing methods of researching what I have come to call “the disabled identity” generally avoid a deeper exploration of the social context in which this kind of marginalisation occurs. To address this absence, I develop a research methodology which combines an intensive exploration of the personal experience of disability with a critical analysis of the social and historical context in which the disabling of identity occurs. I approach the former through grounded theory and the latter through a Foucaultian analytics of genealogy and governmentality. These are informed by the theoretical insights surrounding the “social model” of disability which claims that “disability” is not a physical problem based on personal tragedy but is a social imposition based on exclusion and stigmatisation. In accordance with this, the thesis proceeds in three successive stages. First, I apply a genealogical analysis to disability in general, then more specifically to the disabled identity, to provide the background for my qualitative research. The purpose of genealogy is to reveal that the concept under investigation is not a self-evident “given” but a social construction which has developed to serve varying interests over time. Through this process it becomes evident that disability has evolved as a concept which performs as a counterpoint to the norm and, as such, provides a measure of “what not to be” in terms of contemporary neoliberal citizenship. Next, I engage in a grounded theory study which draws on the stories of disabled people to explore how their self-perceptions and the attitudes of those around them have been affected by disability. These stories stem from a variety of data sources, including my dialogues with participants, written stories from participants, and published autobiographies. Their analysis results in the emergence of the following themes: independence, occupational identity, and sexuality/appearance. Each theme is discussed in a separate chapter which attempts to let the stories speak for themselves by way of lengthy excerpts from the participants and texts, and combines them, where relevant, with my own insights and experiences as a disabled person. In the final stage, I use a governmentality analysis to explore these themes and to place them in their current social and historical context. Here I suggest that independence, work and sexuality are key factors which are used to divide the affiliated from the marginalised in contemporary neoliberal societies. I argue that the two “technologies” which currently have the most impact on how independence, work and sexuality are governed in relation to disability are welfare reform and sexual rehabilitation. Here I explore the available primary sources - particularly the last five years of Australian government policy on welfare reform and a selection of sexual rehabilitation texts - to reveal how governance seeks to operate as a liberatory force while remaining oppressive due to its paternalism and reinforcement of normative prescriptions. The final chapter further problematises disability in relation to the governmental concepts of “self-esteem” and “empowerment” in an attempt to unpick what can be claimed to be emancipatory from what remains embedded in the dominant discourse. By ‘deconstructing necessity’ and exploring the root causes of oppression through what Foucault refers to as ‘the disinterment of subjugated knowledges’, the thesis outlines an alternative discourse in relation to “disability” and opens up new possibilities for the creation of more positive identities.

This thesis uses a poststructuralist methodology and leads to a Foucauldian analysis of power, subjectivity and discursive practices for a group of twelve boys in a Year 3 and 4 classroom. The thesis is written in a poststructuralist way, and as such, it is experimental. It experiments with a writing style that encourages the critical engagement of the reader in deconstructing the text. The personal subjectivity of the author is placed in the foreground risking a vulnerability that is not apparent in theses generally. The thesis describes the structure and practicalities of research in a primary school classroom using a video camera to collect data. Transcripts were made from videotapes of a school day and interviews with the boys. These were analysed for the frequency of use of Foucault's "disciplinary techniques" using qualitative research software. Furthermore computer analysis assisted the extraction of "mini-narratives" from the transcripts. These "mini-narratives" are used to lead a description of the subjectivity of the boys and their positioning in the discourses of schooling and hegemonic masculinity. A picture emerges of a young male subjectivity caught up in the dilemmas of concurrent positioning in both schooling practices and hegemonic masculinity practices. It is proposed that boys often see their available positionings as limited by schooling discourse to "positive-female" or "negative-male". Hegemonic masculinity discourse limits available positioning to "positive male" or "negative-female". Positioning by the boys in these discourses is depicted as rapidly changing to the extent that inconsistencies and confusions arise for boys. The "mini-narratives" use the transcribed voices of the boys to tell of the challenges and practicalities of being a boy in a primary school. Recommendations are made that include moving beyond dualistic ways of subject positioning. The recommendations include ideas for teachers to involve themselves and their students in developing new ways of speaking about gender difference.

This is a visual arts project consisting of 20% exegesis and 80% practical work. My work explores the visual possibilities of using the digital accumulation of data to convey socio-political concepts in relation to the surveillance of the individual in modern western society. The nature of surveillance is investigated with reference to Michel Foucault's metaphorical use of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon in describing the organization of society in the modern nation state. My critical interest lies in the intrusive aspect of surveillance in regard to the privacy of the individual and the concomitant sense of alienation and disempowerment. The concept of 'abstract reality' has been developed to describe the nature of the surveillance of the individual in the modern nation state.

<p>Syftet med studien är att belysa skolan som en arena för politisk styrning, där individuella utvecklingsplaner utgör ett verktyg i denna styrning. Vidare är vårt preciserade syfte med studien att beskriva och analysera hur styrningen kan gestaltas i olika skolors utformning av och innehållet i elevers individuella utvecklingsplaner. Studiens fokus är individuella utvecklingsplaner studerade utifrån Foucaults styrningsbegrepp. Metod: För att uppnå syftet med undersökningen har vi använt oss av en Foucaultinspirerad diskursanalys som metod. I den här studien är diskursanalysen en kvalitativ textanalys av elevers avidentifierade individuella utvecklingsplaner. Resultat: Vi har tolkat att diskursen i de individuella utvecklingsplanerna är styrd utifrån styrdokument och då främst utifrån kursplaner i kärnämnena. När det gäller de mål, som ses som centrala att utveckla förekommer en relativt sammanhållen diskurs trots att de undersökta planerna skiljer sig åt i utformningen. Resultatet i studien visar att olika faktorer som storlek, rubriker, språkbruk och disponering i utvecklingsplanerna styr till viss del planernas innehåll. Det är huvudsakligen två olika kategorier av mål som skrivs fram i planerna. Det handlar då främst om kunskapsmål i kärnämnena men även till viss del sociala mål. Större delen av kunskapsmålen är uppnåendemål som ska nås genom att träna till skillnad från de sociala målen som är strävansmål och syftar till att ändra ett beteende hos eleven.</p>

In Sweden, there has been a major change in the role of gambling during the 20th century. Gambling used to be morally and ethically unjustifiable and something to be fought, whereas gambling today is seen as a normal activity, not only accepted by the society, but in some situations something to be en-couraged. The attitude towards gambling is that it stimulates, motivates, encourages creativity, and also brings pleasure and excitement. It generates national incomes, supports organizational activities and has become an im-portant factor in the Swedish regional planning. Today our values concern-ing gambling are governed by the possible immorality that can arise around it, such as risk with illegal activity coupled to gambling and the increasing debate around problem gambling. The ‘normalisation’ of gambling creates new boundaries for what is to be seen as, and what is an acceptable level, of gambling. As a consequence each individual has been given the responsibil-ity to respect this level. New boundaries create series of conflicts associated to what is normal and what is not, and our society has to find an acceptable balance. We have to respect the individual, our individuality, our right to spend our money and leisure time in a way that suits us. On the other hand, the society has a responsibility towards its citizens to make sure gambling will have no negative social consequences. This dissertation studies Swedish parliament documentation on gambling applying Michel Foucault’s method of genealogy. Starting from his theory of power a description of the development of the Swedish debate on gambling is given. It thereby sheds light on the game of truth within a discourse as well as the disciplinary impact discourses have on society.

Syftet med studien är att belysa skolan som en arena för politisk styrning, där individuella utvecklingsplaner utgör ett verktyg i denna styrning. Vidare är vårt preciserade syfte med studien att beskriva och analysera hur styrningen kan gestaltas i olika skolors utformning av och innehållet i elevers individuella utvecklingsplaner. Studiens fokus är individuella utvecklingsplaner studerade utifrån Foucaults styrningsbegrepp. Metod: För att uppnå syftet med undersökningen har vi använt oss av en Foucaultinspirerad diskursanalys som metod. I den här studien är diskursanalysen en kvalitativ textanalys av elevers avidentifierade individuella utvecklingsplaner. Resultat: Vi har tolkat att diskursen i de individuella utvecklingsplanerna är styrd utifrån styrdokument och då främst utifrån kursplaner i kärnämnena. När det gäller de mål, som ses som centrala att utveckla förekommer en relativt sammanhållen diskurs trots att de undersökta planerna skiljer sig åt i utformningen. Resultatet i studien visar att olika faktorer som storlek, rubriker, språkbruk och disponering i utvecklingsplanerna styr till viss del planernas innehåll. Det är huvudsakligen två olika kategorier av mål som skrivs fram i planerna. Det handlar då främst om kunskapsmål i kärnämnena men även till viss del sociala mål. Större delen av kunskapsmålen är uppnåendemål som ska nås genom att träna till skillnad från de sociala målen som är strävansmål och syftar till att ändra ett beteende hos eleven.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur barn och förskollärare resonerar kring möjligheter och begränsningar runt barns inflytande i förskolan. Studien syftar även till att försöka belysa dessa resonemang utifrån teorier om makt och styrning. För att kunna undersöka detta har tio intervjuer genomförts, fem barnintervjuer och fem förskollärarintervjuer, som sedan analyserats genom både tidigare forskning som behandlar liknande frågeställningar och genom Foucaults makt- och styrningsperspektiv. Resultatet visar att det både finns möjligheter och begräsningar i arbetet med barns inflytande och hur sådana möjligheter och begränsningar kan ta sig uttryck i förskolan. Resultatet visar även att det i arbetet med barns inflytande finns osynliga strukturer som involverar makt och styrning.

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