The thesis works with Czech translation of apofthegmats - stories of fathers of desert. The thesis focuses on topic of sadness, anger and acedia. The thesis is based on apofthegmats and on the spirituality of desert. From this point of view the thesis makes analysis of the structure of pastoral work with sadness, anger and acedia. The thesis is following some actual authors who are working with spirituality of desert, too. Due to immanent dimension of spirituality of desert the thesis is reflecting psychological approach and refers to actual psychological methods which help a man to live with sadness, anger and acedia.

Pentecostalism has always been regarded as a movement that does not have all the ecclesiastical qualities that qualify it to be called a fully-fledged tradition alongside other major streams of Protestantism. Contrary to popular theologies that undermine the great role that the Pentecostal tradition can play in the global church, modern Pentecostal theologies agree that most of the misconceptions and assumption are misplaced because the Pentecostal tradition is a rich tradition with vital elements and symbols necessary to advance the ecumenical goal of unity and reconciliation. Based on this perception that Pentecostal ecclesiology is ecumenical, this research critically analyses Pentecostal ecclesiology as portrayed by Kärkkäinen in order to determine its ecumenicity or relevance to the ecumenical goals of unity, tolerance and reconciliation. This research confronts the paternalistic assumptions and misconception that regard Pentecostalism as simply a superstitious and naive sect which is only relevant to the lower class by bringing out the different elements and symbols within the tradition that are vital for the success and development of the global church in a modern global context. Some of the critical elements and symbols within the Pentecostal tradition that are explored within this study include÷ unity in diversity, the mission nature of the church, experiences of the Spirit as portrayed in its Pneumatological Christology and Soteriology, its rapid adaptation to new global south contexts and critical elements of inclusivity and plurality as portrayed in the foundations of the tradition. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology

Le flot de Ricci est une équation aux dérivées partielles qui régit l’évolution d’une métrique riemannienne dépendant d’un paramètre de temps sur une variété différentielle. D’abord introduit et étudié par R. Hamilton, il est à l’origine de la solution de la conjecture de géométrisation des variétés compactes de dimension 3 par G. Perelman en 2001. La théorie classique concernant l’existence en temps court des solutions, due à Hamilton et à Shi, garantit (en dimension quelconque) l’existence d’un flot soit sur une variété compacte, soit lorsque la métrique initiale est complète avec une borne sur la norme du tenseur de courbure. En l’absence de cette borne, on conjecture qu’on peut trouver, à partir de la dimension 3, des données initiales pour lesquelles il n’existe pas de solution. Dans cette thèse, on démontre des théorèmes d’existence en temps court du flot sous des hypothèses plus faibles qu’une borne sur la norme du tenseur de courbure. Pour cela, on introduit une construction générale qui, pour une métrique riemannienne g quelconque sur une variété M, pas nécessairement complète, permet de produire une solution de l’équation du flot sur un domaine ouvert D de l’espace-temps M * [0,T] qui contient la tranche de temps initiale, avec g pour donnée initiale. On montre ensuite que sous des hypothèses adaptées sur la métrique g, on contrôle la forme du domaine D. En particulier, lorsque la métrique g est complète, D contient un ensemble de la forme M * [0,t], avec t>0, ce qui revient à dire qu’il existe un flot au sens classique dont la donnée initiale est g. Les « hypothèses adaptées » qui conduisent à des théorèmes d’existence sont de trois types. Dans tout les cas, on suppose une minoration uniforme du volume des boules de rayon au plus 1, à quoi on ajoute : a) en dimension 3, une minoration du tenseur de Ricci, b) en dimension n, une minoration d’une notion de courbure dite « courbure isotrope I » ou bien c) en dimension n, une borne sur la norme du tenseur de Ricci et une hypothèse qui garantit la proximité au sens métrique des boules de rayon au plus 1 avec une boule de même rayon dans un espace métrique obtenu comme le produit cartésien d’un espace de dimension 3 et d’un facteur euclidien de dimension n-3. De plus, avec ces résultats d’existence viennent des estimations sur les propriétés de régularisation du flot quantifiées en fonction des hypothèses sur la donnée initiale. La possibilité ainsi offerte de régulariser, globalement ou localement, pour un temps et avec des estimations quantifiés, une métrique initiale a des conséquence sur les espaces métriques singuliers obtenus comme limites, pour la distance de Gromov-Hausdorff, de suites de variétés satisfaisant uniformément aux conditions a), b) ou c). En effet, des théorèmes de compacité classiques pour le flot de Ricci permettent d’extraire un flot limite, étant donnée une suite de métriques initiales satisfaisant uniformément à ces hypothèses, et possédant donc toutes un flot pour un temps contrôlé. Lorsque les métriques en question approchent, pour la topologie de Gromov-Hausdorff, un espace singulier, cette solution limite s’interprète comme un flot régularisant l’espace singulier en question, et son existence contraint la topologie de cet espace singulier. / The Ricci Flow is a partial differential equation governing the evolution of a Riemannian metric depending on a time parameter t on a differential manifold. It was first introduced and studied by R. Hamilton, and eventually led to the solution of the Geometrization conjecture for closed three-dimensional manifolds by G. Perelman in 2001. The classical short-time existence theory for the Ricci Flow, due to Hamilton and Shi, asserts, in any dimension, the existence of a flow starting from any initial metric when the underlying manifold in compact, or for any complete initial metric with a bound on the norm of the curvature tensor otherwise. In the absence of such a bound, though, the conjecture is that starting from dimension 3 one can find such initial data for which there is no solution. In this thesis, we prove short-time existence theorems under hypotheses weaker than a bound on the norm of the curvature tensor. To do this, we introduce a general construction which, for any Riemannian metric g (not necessarily complete) on a manifold M, allows us to produce a solution to the equation of the flow on an open domain D of the space-time M * [0,T] which contains the initial time slice, with g as an initial datum. We proceed to show that under suitable hypotheses on g, one can control the shape of the domain D, so that in particular, D contains a subset of the form M * [0,t] with t>0 if g is complete. By « suitable hypothesis », we mean one of the following. In any case, we assume a lower bound on the volume of balls of radius at most 1, plus a) in dimension 3, a lower bound on the Ricci tensor, b) in dimension n, a lower bound on the so-called « isotropic curvature I » or c) in dimension n, a bound on the norm of the Ricci tensor, as well as a hypothesis which garanties the metric proximity of every ball of radius at most $1$ with a ball of the same radius in a metric product between a three-dimensional metric space and a $n-3$ dimensional Euclidian factor. Moreover, with these existence results come estimates on the existence time and regularization properties of the flow, quantified in term of the hypotheses on the initial data. The possibility to regularize metrics, locally or globally, with such estimates has consequences in terms of the metric spaces obtained as limits, in the Gromov-Hausdorff topology, of sequences of manifolds uniformly satisfying a), b) or c). Indeed, the classical compactness theorems for the Ricci Flow allow for the extraction of a limit flow for any sequence of initial metrics uniformly satisfying the hypotheses and thus possessing a flow for a controlled amount of time. In the case when these metrics approach a singular space in the Gromov-Hausdorff topology, such a limit solution can be interpreted as a flow regularizing the singular limit space, the existence of which puts constraints on the topology of this space.

Numerical simulations of liquid flow in a micro-channel between two horizontal plates are performed. The channel is infinite in streamwise and spanwise directions and its height is taken as m, which falls within the dimension ranges of microchannels. The Navier-Stokes equations with the addition of Brinkman number (Br) to the energy equation are used as the governing equations and spectral methods based approach is applied to obtain the required accuracy to handle liquid flow in the microchannel. It is known for microchannels that Br combines the effects of conduction and viscous dissipation in liquids and is also a way of comparing the importance of latter relative to former. The present study aims to simulate the unusual behavior of decreasing of Nu with increasing Re in the laminar regime of microchannels and to show that Br can be introduced to explain this unexpected behavior. Consequently, it is seen at the end of the results that secondary effect of the Br is observed for the single-phase convective heat transfer. Therefore, a laminar flow of a liquid in a microchannel shows different characteristics compared to a similar flow in a macrochannel. To observe the differences, three different cases are run over each of a range of Reynolds numbers: one with no axial conduction assumption that corresponds to a case similar to macrochannel flow, another case with axial conduction included in the energy equation to simulate one of the main differences and lastly a case with the inclusion of Br number in the governing equations. A similar study is made for natural convection with the same numerical set-up for the same three cases. Formation of Rayleigh-Benard cells are observed for the critical numbers widely accepted in the literature. The results are compared with each other to see the effects of axial conduction and Br inclusion, in addition to Ra for natural convection.

To build sustainable peace, all levels of society need to be involved, from the top governmental authorities (state actors) to the ground civilians (non-state actors). The grassroots level is getting more and more attention and is acknowledged as a crucial part in the peace-building process, despite that the official peace process commonly target the top level. Peace agreements signed by the elite will not be implemented thoroughly in society, unless the population living the conflict will have own agency. This thesis uses South Sudan as a case study, with focus on locally employed INGO workers and their role and agency in moving towards sustainable peace. A literature review of well-known and recent research on the topic peace-building from below, along with interviews with the targeted group was used to establish if the theory can be reflected in practise in this specific context. An inclusive approach with all levels of the society seems to be the best strategy for such a divided context as South Sudan, affected by present and past grievance and with weak governmental structures. The social infrastructures have been partially replaced with (I)NGOs, providing a vast amount of basic services across the country. Due to the high prevalence of humanitarian actors and consequently a high number of national staff, they could be a part of the bottom-up approach. Though there is a consensus of an inclusive bottom-up approach in peace-building, the specific role of locally employed (I)NGO worker is not very well examined in the literature. National staff has clear benefits due to their role as (I)NGO workers such as respect and exposure in combination with their local expertise and network. This can contribute to a broader understanding of the situation - that wisdom should not be wasted and can contribute to them having possibility of having a voice and being a connector in the society. There is however not a clear result if this differs from the influence of other civilians and if it translates directly as a benefit in peace–building. More research is needed to determine the real agency of this group.

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-20T19:41:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissFRM.pdf: 737919 bytes, checksum: d358a92b8c741ba87cb93c7c6ccd6fc9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-23T14:23:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissFRM.pdf: 737919 bytes, checksum: d358a92b8c741ba87cb93c7c6ccd6fc9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-23T14:23:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissFRM.pdf: 737919 bytes, checksum: d358a92b8c741ba87cb93c7c6ccd6fc9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-23T14:31:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissFRM.pdf: 737919 bytes, checksum: d358a92b8c741ba87cb93c7c6ccd6fc9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / This study relies on the occupational trajectories of workers engaged in popular ways of trade. As background, we have the capitalist transformations in the latest’s decades, which resulted in economical, technological and cultural changes that affected deeply the position of work as a constructor of identities and social values. It is noticed that the precariousness of the formal work relationships associated to the dissemination of the ideology of entrepreneurship has resulted in the search for occupational and income alternatives that weakened the frontiers between formal and informal. In this scenario, the demarcations amidst legal and illegal also became less evident and significant. This way, we discuss the insertion of agents in informal economical activities – as those exercised by street venders -, trying to escape viewing unemployment or precariousness in the labor market as main reasons to exert those occupations. Taking into consideration the subjectivity of the situations, we try to think over the influence of an entrepreneur reasoning under the subjects conduct. From the recovery of the occupational trajectories of agents involved in different popular trade grades, we seek to understand the worker’s perception about his own occupation and the values attributed to those forms of work in the contemporary world, considering that, even though traditional, these activities have been through reconfigurations of its practice and meaning in front of the new economic and cultural context on which it is presented. / Esta pesquisa se propõe a refletir sobre as trajetórias ocupacionais de trabalhadores engajados em formas de comércio popular. Temos como pano de fundo as transformações capitalistas das últimas décadas, que desencadearam mudanças econômicas, tecnológicas e culturais cujos efeitos impactaram profundamente o trabalho como estruturador de identidades e valores sociais. Observa-se que a precarização das relações formais de trabalho associada à disseminação da ideologia do empreendedorismo têm resultado na busca por alternativas de ocupação e renda que afrouxam as fronteiras entre o formal e o informal. Nesse movimento, as demarcações entre o legal e o ilegal também se tornaram menos evidentes e significativas. Assim, discutimos a inserção dos agentes em atividades econômicas informais – como as exercidas por camelôs e sacoleiros –, tentando escapar da experiência do desemprego ou precariedade do mercado de trabalho como imperativos para o engajamento nessas ocupações. Levando em consideração a dimensão subjetiva das situações, procuramos refletir acerca da influência de um discurso empreendedor sobre a disposição dos sujeitos. A partir da recuperação de trajetórias ocupacionais de agentes envolvidos em diferentes escalas do comércio popular, objetiva-se compreender a percepção do trabalhador sobre sua ocupação e os valores atribuídos a essas formas de trabalho no mundo contemporâneo, considerando que, apesar de tradicionais, essas atividades têm passado por reconfigurações de suas práticas e significados frente ao novo contexto econômico e cultural que se apresenta.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-07T15:08:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ArquivoTotalLucas.pdf: 6273162 bytes, checksum: 83726ccabfe8f4546ee28b149fe2c5db (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / social inclusion of Afro-Brazilian people in poor social groups, participants of soccer schools designed to the formation of athletes in the state of Paraíba. The interest on this theme appeared because of our personal relation with the soccer but also from our academic formation (from the beginning and going on). Through that period, we made several readings and studies that aroused our interest for this theme. This embryonic trajectory disturbed us even more in a point of making us initiate an whole process of estrangement from the reason of the amount of Afro-Brazilian people practicing this sport. As soon, a first question emerged: which reasons take this part of the Brazilian population to persist and insist in soccer, even though, in a contradictory way, living in a context of discrimination, prejudice and racism? From these first incursions we feel touched to analyze how this sport, through the Projeto Atleta Cidadão do Futuro (PACF), contribute to the empowerment of poor and excluded Afro-Brazilian people from Campina Grande-PB, taking them to the social inclusion. As a basis theorist-conceptual, we selected the notions of empowerment and social inclusion, articulated to the Story Viewed From Below, because we understand that the investigated people, submerged in a brutal process of social exclusion and poverty, are, themselves, the only ones capable of telling the story they are part of. Therefore, we list their ways of thinking and acting in front of the activities they do as a way of overcoming the social and economic problems. Coming from a qualitative approach, this research consisted to its bibliographic, documental and on field dimensions. The instruments utilized to obtain the information were the sociodemographic questionary and the semi structured interview applied directly in the research field to the athletes in process of empowerment (those being formed by PACF) and also applied to the empowered ones (The ones already formed by PACF). For that, we started with documents, archives and the talks of teachers, collaborators and, mainly, the athletes, the core people of our research. As a complementary way we did observations, video recordings and pictures from the places and people, as their actions and behavior, helping us in the descriptions and analysis. The results we had through this investigation showed us that the soccer, through PACF, coming of taking off kids and young people from the streets, enabling them to become athletes/citizens, give them the creation of dreams and hope for a better life, making, after all, not only an space of empowerment but also, an space inside the social inclusion to them and their families. / O presente trabalho de tese trata sobre o empoderamento no futebol como um espaço que deve contribuir para a inclusão social de sujeitos afro-brasileiros das camadas pobres, participantes de escolinhas destinadas à formação de atletas no estado da Paraíba. O interesse pelo tema surgiu tanto em função de nossa relação pessoal com o futebol quanto por nossa formação acadêmica (inicial e continuada). Durante esse período, fizemos uma série de leituras e estudos que, mais adiante, despertariam nosso interesse pelo tema. Essa trajetória embrionária nos inquietou ainda mais e desencadeou todo um processo de estranhamento sobre o motivo da significativa presença de afro-brasileiros praticando esse esporte. Assim, surgiu-nos um primeiro questionamento: quais são as razões que levam esse segmento da população brasileira a perseverar no futebol, mesmo, contraditoriamente, vivenciando todo um contexto de discriminação, preconceito e racismo? Com essas incursões preliminares, sentimo-nos instigados a analisar como esse esporte, através do Projeto Atleta Cidadão do Futuro (PACF), contribui para o empoderamento de afro-brasileiros pobres e excluídos de Campina Grande-PB, conduzindo-os à inclusão social. Como base teórico-conceitual, selecionamos as noções de empoderamento e de inclusão social, articuladas à História Vista de Baixo, por entendermos que os sujeitos investigados, mergulhados num brutal processo de exclusão e pobreza, são, eles mesmos, os únicos capazes de contar a história da qual fazem parte. Desse modo, relacionamos esse referencial com a realidade dos entrevistados, destacando suas formas de pensar e de agir diante das atividades que realizam como meio de superação das adversidades sociais e econômicas. De abordagem qualitativa, a pesquisa compreendeu as suas dimensões bibliográfica, documental e de campo. Os instrumentos utilizados para a obtenção das informações foram o questionário sociodemográfico e a entrevista semiestruturada, aplicados diretamente no campo da pesquisa, tanto aos atletas em processo de empoderamento (os que estão se formando pelo PACF) quanto os empoderados (os que se formaram pelo PACF). Para tanto, tomamos como base documentos, arquivos, as falas de professores, colaboradores e, principalmente, os depoimentos dos atletas, sujeitos centrais de nossa pesquisa. De forma complementar, fizemos observações, filmagens e fotografias dos espaços e dos sujeitos, suas ações e seus comportamentos, o que nos ajudou nas descrições e nas análises subsequentes. Os resultados obtidos na investigação em tela mostraram que o futebol, através do PACF, ao retirar crianças e jovens das ruas e possibilitar que se tornem atletas/cidadãos, permite que tenham sonhos e esperanças por uma vida melhor. Portanto, não é somente um espaço de empoderamento, mas também de inclusão social para eles e seus familiares.

Neoliberal globalization can threaten the growth of a global civil society that sanctions power-sharing arrangements. Yet, scholarship that focuses unidirectionally on global processes may in effect eviscerate the transformative power of the local. To counter this tendency, this dissertation examines the interrelationships between contextualized and historically-specific experiences in South Africa and transnational processes through a case study of social entrepreneurship, an emerging global justice movement. Drawing on a 12-months institutional ethnography of Sonke Gender Justice, a transnational social entrepreneurship NGO working to achieve gender equality, prevent gender-based violence and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, this dissertation explores the gendered dimensions of identity construction under conditions of neoliberalism. I look at the ways in which a transnational discourse of masculinity unfolds and is confronted locally as an essential element of the neoliberal project. I argue that, in Africa, the developmentalist agenda of neoliberalism is integrally tied to the demonization of black masculinity, posed as a problem. This acts to elide the ways in which factors of oppression intersect in the manufacture of a patriarchal, sexist, racist and homophobic society, negating any effort to promote healthy gender relations. The dissertation concludes that global discourses and scholarship on African masculinity need to be informed by African women’s lived experiences, survival strategies, and aspirations for gender and racial democracy in order for the development of a truly transformative gendered democracy to occur. This can be accomplished by sound and detailed ethnographic work that engages with the messiness and fluidity of cultures, knowledges, and practices on the ground. This approach opens up spaces of possibilities and visibility for an array of local renegotiations, borrowings, and frank resistances. My conclusion acknowledges the potential for significant contributions to global civil society’s struggle for justice and for transformation when transnational solidarity projects are inserted into local formations. However, these goals can only be accomplished when there is acknowledgement and engagement of the practical ways in which local agents try to negotiate and reformulate transnational discourses and challenge neoliberal representations.

The aim of this work is to tell part of the story of the Brazilian evangelical missions movement by focusing on the work and Brazilian evangelical transcultural workers serving in mission in the context of the Arab-Muslim world. These participants are members of a broader movement of more than 5000 Brazilian evangelicals serving around the world - an evangelical labor force large than that of England or Canada - which has grown significantly since 1976. In order to locate the work of Brazilian evangelicals in an Arab-Muslim context, it was important to first offer a historical narrative showing how Brazil has shifted in the twentieth century from being a “mission field” to being a base for sending missions. Relying on key historical literature, this has been accomplished first by recounting how Brazil was evangelized largely by North American missionaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Building on this narrative, the argument has been made that while the Brazilian evangelical church does share common characteristics with North American and global evangelicalism, it has also begun to forge its own evangelical identity. One important part of this identity is its concrete participation in global mission efforts. As transcultural mission necessarily involves cultural adaption, forty-five past and present Brazilian evangelical workers were invited to participate in a collective case study and reflect upon their own “Brazilianness” and how they have adapted in the Arab world. The perspectives of ten Brazilian mission leaders have also been included. In this study, I have treated Brazil as an affinity bloc of cultures in which there is clear diversity as well as some elements of cohesiveness. I have approached the Arab world in the same way. Hence, the framework for discussing Brazilians in the Arab world has been to reflect upon two affinity blocs and to ask members of one group (Brazilians) to share their collective experiences living in a second group (the Arab world) specifically regarding seven aspects of culture that have clear missiological implications. They include: race, economics, time, communication, family, relationships, and spiritual worldview. After hearing these Brazilian voices, it has become evident, culturally, speaking that Brazilians are not Arabs and that Brazilians must surely work to adapt culturally. However, it also appears that there is generally less cultural distance between the Brazilians surveyed and their Arab contexts than what is normally experienced by Western missionaries in the Arab world. This study was also concerned with asking, how are Brazilian evangelicals approaching mission in the Arab-Muslim world? Following a collective case study methodology, this question was posed to individual Brazilians and teams, but also to Brazilian evangelical missions organizations working in the Arab world. While a number of themes (strategies and practices) emerged, it seems that Brazilians are particularly concerned about humanitarian work and personal evangelism and would regard these areas as strengths of their movement. On the other hand, Brazilian workers and mission leaders also identified the most apparent challenges in their work among Arab-Muslims. They included: a lack of Brazilian local church support for missionaries, deficiencies in language learning, lack of financial support, and difficulties faced by Brazilian women in Arab contexts. For each apparent difficulty, I have proposed some solutions based on the collective input of Brazilian voices. Finally, in this study, I have posed the question, how do Brazilians think theologically about mission? Also, how is this Brazilian missiology relevant to transcultural mission work in the Arab-Muslim world? While I have approached this question primarily through surveying the literature from Latin American and Brazilian theologians, I have also looked for missiological themes in the thoughts of Brazilian evangelical workers and through observing their concrete mission practices. From this, four theological themes have emerged that are descriptive of Brazilian missions. They include: that mission is holistic (missão integral); that mission is church-centered; that authentic mission originates from “below” or from a posture of vulnerability; and that one‘s missiology must be undergirded by an awareness of the spiritual world. In summary, through this work, I have have endeavored to tell part of the story of an emerging majority world missions movement by listening to the voices of Brazilian transcultural workers who serve in the Arab-Muslim world. The goal of this study is to inform the global church of this phenomenon in order that the global church would learn from the Brazilian experience as it moves forward in mission and missiological reflection. Secondly, my desire is to provide a framework of self-reflection for Brazilian evangelical missionaries and missions organizations serving in both the Arab-Muslim world but also in the entire world. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Science of Religion and Missiology / unrestricted

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