This study concerns the effects of public school redistricting on communities in Atlanta. It is based upon interviews with people in two neighborhoods which are part of the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) system directly affected by redistricting. All schools slated to close are located in low-income, minority areas and serve similar populations. Of the ten schools selected for closing, three were saved during the final APS board meeting in April 2012, and will remain open. I spoke with people who reside in a neighborhood where a local school is slated to close, as well as those in an area where a school was saved from closing. I asked informants why they felt their schools were identified for closure and how they responded to the threat of closing. I learned that both communities organized to save their schools but with different results based on available forms of social and cultural capital.

This research is a result of a nine week field study during spring 2012, with the purpose of highlighting the stories of Dalit women in Madhya Pradesh, India. Together with a fellow student at Södertörn University, I investigated the Garima Campaign, an ActionAid project working with Dalit women forced to endure the illegal practice of manual scavenging, the manual removal of human excreta from dry toilets. This research was funded by a Minor Field Study scholarship provided by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). In this paper I investigate how these oppressed women may change their life situation and self-image through participation in a group of peers striving towards the same goal, asking the questions: how do they narrate their former life as manual scavengers, what is it that persuaded them to join the campaign, and what kind of attitudes did they encounter from other members of society? Following this, focus is on communication and how it can contribute to improving the life conditions of people of low social status. The theories used for this purpose are intersectionality and empowerment, as well as Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and symbolic violence. The data was drawn from interviews with female former manual scavengers, supported by observations of their life situation and on other background material. The results of this study corroborate the findings of much of the previous work in this field, especially in relation to the treatment of manual scavengers by the rest of society. However, there seemed to have been three major arguments that finally convinced the women to quit working as manual scavengers. The first one related to their feeling of dignity. The second one dealt with them being aware of their human rights, which supports the argument that awareness may lead to change. The third argument was an important pathos argument, and consisted of the fact that their children were mistreated in school and that the women did not want their children to feel bad about their social situation. In the Garima campaign the women are allowed to do things taboo for Indian women, especially for Dalit ones, like disturbing the existing system and standing up for their rights by kicking up a fuss. The campaign opened up a new arena in which they did not only work to abolish manual scavenging practices, but also worked to attack the caste system on the grass-roots level. In informing others, convincing them to stop the practice, the self-confidence of the women was strengthened further, as individuals and as a group.

The main research question of this thesis is &ldquo / How can HES (small scale hydroelectricity plant) opposition be analyzed in terms of social ecology?&rdquo / A second research question is raised to answer first one as &ldquo / How can any environmental action be analyzed in terms of social ecology?&rdquo / About ecological crisis, Murray Bookchin&rsquo / s social ecology develops strong criticism against liberal environmentalism, deep ecology and Marxism and provides an alternative radical social change as Libertarian Municipalism (LM). Social ecology criticizes environmentalism as legitimizing current status quo destroying nature and offers ecological approach for real solution. LM movement is a political program of social ecology to reach rational, ecological and democratic society that is domination free and so does not dominate nature. I developed a LM movement model from Janet Biehl&rsquo / s study and integrated this model into George Pepper&rsquo / s classification of environmentalism to reach a Classification Table (CT) that is based on social ecological principles. CT is an attempt to develop a tool to analyze all sorts of environmental activities according to social ecology. Implementation of CT at field study shows HES opposition has the desire of strict state controls and planning as significant aspects of welfare-liberal environmentalism. On the other hand, the common critique of central, urban, professional and fund dependent environmentalism of national ENGOs fits market-liberal environmentalism critique of LM model. The increasing demand to join decision-making mechanism, the bottom-to-top regional organization of local platforms and &ldquo / living space&rdquo / discourse show LM tendency. In fact, HES threat ignites participation demands of local people in Turkey.

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the role and potential of community arts programs and organizations in improving the lives of disadvantaged African American youth, through the creation of a participatory video project and the internal evaluation of the same; using applied anthropological methods, and cultural praxis (an innovative educational design), and following the recommendations of expert community arts programs evaluators. The study responds to the need identified in the community arts literature to offer robust program evaluations that explain the benefits of such programs. The lack of evidence seems to derive not only from the difficulties of measuring creative practices and other desired outcomes related to quality of life, but also from inadequate research design and implementation (Matarasso 1996; Putland 2008). Although the evaluation instruments can use some refinement, the resulting ethnography brings about the complexity of the lives of disadvantaged African American youth and the difficulty in making generalizations about their needs. It also highlights the need for community organizations to understand the context in which their programs are offered, and of using a holistic/integral and long-term approach in the design and implementation of programs, which can potentially enhance the growth and development of participants. This study speaks to the fundamental need for community arts organizations to train personnel adequately and offer the necessary infrastructure and tools to instructors in order to accomplish the objectives of the organization. Community arts programs and their outcomes depend on a clear understanding of the population's needs, adequate design and implementation of programs with capable instructors, and an internal organization that is sustainable and that can ensure the safety and wellbeing of all those involved.

As developed throughout the dissertation's chapters, I combined a number of different and interconnected agendas with the overall goal being to strengthen and revitalize the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding research in a number of ways. First, I critiqued the past and current peacebuilding literature in order to present its theoretical, methodological and substantive gaps and inadequacies. Second, I argued for a recognition of the interconnectedness of methodology, reflexivity and knowledge/power in general, and more specifically within the peacebuilding literature. Third, my theoretical and methodological framework constituted a distinctive exemplar for conflict resolution and peacebuilding that begins to ground our research questions, methodologies and discourses as situated knowledges within relations of power. Fourth, I argued academic peacebuilding discourses and practices are not neutral but inherently involved in larger social relations. Fifth, I presented the critical narratives from the locality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous grassroots activists in order to shift the spotlight of peacebuilding discourses and practices onto the transformative possibilities of grassroots community-based peace building. I continued with a reformulated theorization of grassroots community peacebuilding as alternative geographies of knowledge, place-based practices and counter-narratives, important in themselves, and as part of a glocality of bottom-up transformative change. Finally, I conclude with a call for a renewing of the field of Conflict resolution and Peacebuilding based on social justice and community-based praxis.

Aim: Over the years, marketing has become a more and more important tool in politics in general. In order to campaign successfully – and become the President-elect - in the U.S. Presidential Election, marketing is indispensable. This lead to enormous amounts of money spent on marketing. The aim of this research is to contribute to existing knowledge in the field of political marketing through the analysis of how marketing is done throughout a political campaign. The 2008 U.S. Presidential Primary Elections, together with a few key candidates have served as the empirical example of this investigation. Four research questions have been asked; what marketing strategies are of decisive outcome in the primary season of the 2008 political campaigning, how is political marketing differentiated depending on the candidate and the demographics of the voter, and finally where does the money come from to fund this gigantic political industry. Method: The exploratory method and case study as well as the qualitative research method have been used in this work. Internet has been an important tool in the search for, and collection of data. Sources used have been scientific articles, other relevant literature, home pages, online newspapers, TV, etc. The questions have been researched in detail and several main conclusions have been drawn from a marketing perspective. Correlations with theory have also been made. Result & Conclusion: In the primary season, the product the candidates have been selling is change. The Obama campaign successfully coined and later implemented this product into a grassroots movement that involved bottom-up branding of the candidate. This large base allowed for a different marketing strategy that implemented earlier and better organization in the caucus voting primary states resulting in an untouchable lead for the Obama campaign. The successful utilization of the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube led to enormous support, not least among the important group of young (first time) voters. It also served as the main base for funding throughout both the primary and the presidential season, effectively outspending the Clinton, and later, the McCain campaigns. This study has shown that there are differences in marketing when it comes to different presidential candidates even within the same party. Marketing activities and efforts also look different for different marketing groups. Suggestions for future research: This study was limited to the primary season; it would have been interesting to include the whole U.S. Presidential campaigning process from start to finish. In future research projects, it would also be interesting to see comparisons between political marketing in the U.S. and political marketing elsewhere, in Europe for example. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to increased knowledge when it comes to understanding the role of social media, grassroots movement, and bottom-up branding as a political marketing strategy. It also contributes to increased knowledge about political marketing in general. Furthermore, it shows the importance of marketing - and money - in American politics. Political parties as well as individual candidates may also find the results of this research useful for future campaigning.

Tyrimo tikslas: Įvertinti Lietuvos masinio futbolo raidos ypatumus siekiant nustatyti įgyvendinamos strategijos nuostatų atitikimą realiems tikslams. Tyrimo objektas: Masinio futbolo raidos ypatumai. Darbo uždaviniai: 5. Išnagrinėti masinio sporto teorinę sampratą. 6. Apžvelgti masinio futbolo plėtros tendencijas tarptautiniu mastu. 7. Pristatyti LFF 2012 – 2020 metų strategijos masinio futbolo plėtros tikslus bei uždavinius 8. Ištirti Lietuvos masinio futbolo raidos ypatumus per strategijos įgyvendinimo 2010 – 2012 metų laikotarpį Rezultatai ir išvados: 1. Masinis sportas tai pamatinė sporto sistemos bei kultūros dalis apimanti visą ne profesionalų – elitinį sportą. Masinis sportas šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje atlieka svarbų socialinį vaidmenį, todėl būtent jo palaikymas ir finansavimas turėtų būti viešojo sektoriaus prerogatyva. 2. Masinio futbolo (ar net masinio sporto) koncepcija nėra vienalytė. Ji apima įvairias veiklas. Skirtingos organizacijos pasirenka savo prioritetus todėl dėl pačios organizacijos specifikos kartais skiriasi ir jų vykdoma masinio futbolo plėtra. 3. Pristačius masinio futbolo plėtros tikslus bei uždavinius paaiškėjo masinio futbolo veikimo sistema bei organizacijų rolės ir atsakomybės sistemoje. Taipogi išryškėjo tam tikrų tikslų ir uždavinių koreliacijos kurių pagrindu strategijos tikslai buvo suskirstyti į kategorijas pagal veiklos pobūdį, taip palengvinat tolimesnį tyrimą. 4. Atlikus kokybinį tyrimą ir išanalizavus gautus rezultatus paaiškėjo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Objective of research: Assess peculiarities ofgrassroots football development in Lithuania in order to estimate active football development strategy’s regulations compliance with realistic goals. Object of research: Peculiarities of grassroots football development Tasks of research: 1. Analyze theoretical conception of grassroots sport. 2. Review grassroots football development tendencies on international dimensions. 3. Present LFF 2010 – 2020 grassroots football strategy’s objectives and tasks. 4. Analyze peculiarities of grassroots football development in Lithuania on strategy’s implementationperiod 2010 – 2012. Conclusions: 1. Grassroots sport is background of sport system and part of the culture including all non-professional or non-elite sport. Grassroots sport have big social role on contemporary society in this case it should be promoted and financed by public sector primary. 2. The conception of grassroots football or even grassroots sport is not very smooth. It includes different activities. A different organization develops different areas on their own priorities therefore implemented grassroots football development differs. 3. After presentation of football development objectives and task emerged grassroots football operation system and organizations roles in system. Also it cleared out correlation between particular objectives and tasks. This became base for further research’s tasks. 4. The research results have shown that different grassroots football... [to full text]

As the European Year of Citizens (2013) dawns, the European Union (EU) finds itself at a crossroads. One of the largest international organisations in the world, it has built a reputation as an international community model and democratic figure judged in the context of a multi-level system. However, the EU has recently departed from both roles, as its economic practices suffer dramatically from a lack of political pressure and regulation. The EU now faces an uncertain future: should it break apart or move forward with deeper integration and a “more Europe” attitude? In contrast to public and scholarly concern, this thesis does not treat the crisis as abstract evidence of a structural democracy deficit. This thesis instead attempts to draw attention to the point of departure, the European citizen, and a social cleavage that can be easily addressed despite ongoing economic insecurity. In this sense, this thesis differs from current academic thought in that it focuses less on understanding how democracy can be achieved and more on understanding how democracy, which already exists, can be enhanced. This paper looks at how two discourses identified in the literature (civil society and cosmopolitanism) could be combined in a governance framework that would support the EU to become a civilian power. It will complete this investigation through the use of case studies on two civil society organisations based in Spain and primary data collected from within the European Parliament (EP). The case studies will be used to understand how local civil society can improve the democratic quality of EU governance whilst meeting individuals’ needs and rights. This paper will conclude that, in the case of Spain 2012, local civil society creates three core conditions for active citizen participation that the EU can benefit from, despite the challenging environment surrounding it.

This thesis critiques mainstream environmentalism and pushes for Grassroots Struggle and Hope during an Era of Escalating Catastrophe.

This thesis examines how women negotiate their identification within and as a group when engaging in interreligious dialogue. It is an in-depth case study of the women’s interfaith book groups, the Daughters of Abraham, located in the Greater Boston Area. This focus facilitates an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of relationships within one group, between different groups, and as situated in the American sociocultural context. I explore the tensions arising from religious diversity, and the consequences of participating in an interreligious dialogue group for understandings of religious self and others. Categories such as boundary, power, sameness, difference, self and other serve to explore the complexities and fluidity of identity constructions. I answer the following questions: How do members of the Daughters of Abraham engage with the group’s religious diversity? How does their participation in the Daughters of Abraham affect their self-understanding and understanding of the “other?” What can we learn about power dynamics and boundary drawing from the women’s accounts of their participation in the Daughters of Abraham and from their group interactions? Two interrelated arguments guide this thesis. One, I show that Daughters members arrive at complex and fluid understandings of what it means to identify as an American Jewish, Christian, and Muslim woman by negotiating various power dynamics arising from ideas of sameness and difference of religion, gender, and sociopolitical values. Two, I contend that the collective emphasis on commonalities in the Daughters of Abraham is a double-edged sword. Explicitly, this stress intends to encourage engagement with the group’s religious diversity by excluding those deemed too different. However, whilst this emphasis can generate nuanced understandings of religious identity categories, at times it highlights differences detrimental to facilitating such understanding. Moreover, this stress on commonalities illuminates the power dynamics and tensions characterizing this women’s interfaith book group. Scholarship has by and large overlooked women’s interreligious engagements with explicit ethnographic studies of such being virtually non-existent. This thesis addresses this gap by using ethnographic methods to advance knowledge about women’s interreligious dialogue. Furthermore, it pushes disciplinary discourses by speaking to the following interlinked areas: Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, formalized interreligious dialogue, interreligious encounters on the grassroots level, women’s interreligious dialogue, a book group approach to engaging with religious diversity, and interreligious encounters in the American context post-September 11th 2001.