The central themes of this thesis are to highlight the importance of national symbols and ceremonies in the formation of nations and national identities, and examine how they contribute to the expressions of nationhood. The research has been conducted by means of a systematic investigation of national symbols and ceremonies, analysed as an integral part of identity-making, maintenance and change. The focus is on the contemporary European nations, and conclusions have been drawn with regard to their symbolism and ceremonies. The overall study has been complemented by three case studies; of Britain, France, Norway, with Germany as an analytical counter-case. Throughout this thesis evidence will be provided to the effect that national symbols and ceremonies express deeper aspects and meanings of the nation, and function as integrative and/or divisive forces. Moreover, national symbols and ceremonies form a central part of a `secular' religion which provides anchorage in a dynamic world. National symbols and ceremonies also have an effect upon the community they represent; that is, they raise collective consciousness of `who we are' and `where we are from'. Finally, it has been argued that nations cannot be dated in a precise manner since they come into being by stages, marked by the adoption of national symbols, such as the national flag and the national day. These stages have been linked to three main symbolic regimes (termed `old', `modem' and `new') and understood as a function of national independence and continuity, the implication being that the whole process of nation building forms a complex that is constituted along a continuum of re-discovery and invention.

In light of survey evidence suggesting that non-use of leT and indicators of social exclusion are strongly correlated, and a widespread belief that use of leT is essential to living in the 'Information Society', the emergence of 'digital exclusion' has been identified as a potentially serious problem by policy-makers and academics. However, few analyses to date have employed any statistical techniques more sophisticated than bivariate descriptives to explore the relationships between indicators of social exclusion, or any other demographic factors, and leT use. Many surveys have indicated that factors such as lack of interest are often cited as a reason for non-use, but little qualitative research has been conducted to explore motivations for leT use and reasons for non-use in more depth from the perspective of the groups in question. This research aimed to investigate the links between digital and social exclusion in Scotland using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In the first phase of the research, logistic regression analysis was conducted on the dataset generated by the 200 1 wave of the Scottish Household Survey both in order to establish how closely related the two forms of exclusion are and to investigate which factors are most strongly related to leT use. The statistical analysis informed the development of a sampling frame for the second phase of the research, in which 29 qualitative interviews were conducted with socially excluded users and non-users of leT, with a view to investigating the barriers and incentives to leT use among such groups. The research found that, although factors which indicate social exclusion are related to non-use of leT, collectively they do not explain a high proportion of the variance in leT use. The qualitative interviews suggested that definitions of leT use based on a user/non-user model do not reflect the manner in which people use leT. They also indicated that more socially excluded people than surveys would suggest use leT. However, many do not self-defme as leT users. In tandem with the findings of the statistical analysis, this called into question the existence of a straightforward causal link between social and digital exclusion.

This research considers the regeneration of peripheral estates within the context of shifts and trends in government policy, and suggests that three principal approaches to policy development, the delivery of services and to urban governance can be identified. These approaches are - the Welfare Approach of the post-war period, the Entrepreneurial or Privatism Approach of the later 1970s and 1980s, and the Community Based or Communitarian Approach, which although a theme in practice and thought, has not been developed on a systematic basis. The principal method of investigation is a case study of Sunderland, which follows a literature review. Sunderland is a city in the North of England with a population of just under 300,000 and is typical in having had a local economy dependent on a cluster of traditional industries and in having built a large number of peripheral estates. The case study consists of three estate based investigations using a series of interviews with field work professionals, community activists and residents supported by the reading of appropriate documents. The estate based studies are embedded into a city wide framework established by reading policy documents and by a series of interviews with decision makers. The case study enabled a specific focus to be placed on peripheral estates and enabled the problems on the estates to the linked with policy responses at the regional, local authority wide and local scales. The literature review and the case study were reinforced by visits to current regeneration projects. The evidence from these sources is used to establish a framework for regeneration which it is suggested should include all estates where there is evidence of widespread multiple deprivation and social exclusion rather than only the "worst" or "stigmatised" estates as at present. Mainstream service provision should be supplemented by community based projects which should be planned and delivered by community regeneration organisations and estate based partnerships. Projects should form part of a holistic small area approach to regeneration.

Alternative media studies is a rapidly expanding field, particularly since the emergence and uptake of digital technologies and their potential to facilitate the articulation of alternative and contestatory voices. As previous scholarship has shown, aspirations to this end, deploying various communication technologies are not new. However the histories of these earlier activities can be elusive. This thesis examines one such case, typically absent from litanies of pre-digital attempts in democratising media/cultural production; Britain’s late 20th century radical and community printshops, particularly but not exclusively those in London. Field theory approaches (Bourdieu 1994, Crossley 2006, Fligstein & McAdam 2012) are used to map and analyse the trajectory of this heterogeneous field of printshops; from its emergence in the 1970s to its dissipation by the 1990s. The thesis identifies the combinations of material, cultural and political conditions, internal and external to their fields of operation (fields of movement and civil society activity), that variously enabled and challenged their growth and survival. The field approach is linked with Shove et al.’s (2012) synthesised practice theory to analyse how the printshops democratised internal organisation and production, and the challenges in doing so. The methods undertaken to conduct the study are a combination of archival research, the instigation of a ‘radical printshops’ open wiki and 55 in-depth interviews with printshop members. The research demonstrates how the printshops activities did not exist in isolation but as part of, and dependent upon, wider webs of culture, politics and influence. It shows how their participatory practices were contingent on wider field recognition of their value, and how ‘habitus’ can play a role in their uptake. The research also found that the heterogeneity of printshop memberships kept them open to diverse movement struggles and internal selfcriticism, but how this could also be a source of internal instability and conflicts about aims. Lastly, the thesis reveals how the influence of the alternative left field on municipal socialist policy of the 1980s both enabled and undermined the activity of the printshops. Generally the thesis contributes to alternative media studies by bringing the printshops to attention and connecting them into a larger history of democratic experiments in the amplification of contestatory ideas and marginalised voices.

This thesis explores the construction and negotiation of zoos as spaces for public engagement with the environment, forming part of the field of science communication and environmental sociology. In addressing how social interactions in human-animal encounters serve to act as a facilitation mechanism, this research analyses how cultural change in environmental science occurs. A case study is presented of penguin encounter participants at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), analysing visitor performance and cultural representations of zoos. The research explores how social interactions unfold in the zoological space by investigating the sociocultural ways through which visitors direct and enhance their personal and co-visitors’ meaning making. Ten participant performances were analysed in the context of joint encounters. Their performances were further analysed through their personal attitudes, as well as the sociocultural and institutional context of each encounter. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires, observations and document analysis. Two patterns of discourse have been identified: the negotiation of environmental experts and engagement with environment through understandings of risk. From each of these themes, key points in the experiences were used in the construction of the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM) of expertise and risk. The TEM uses individual cases to develop a clear understanding of the penguin encounters role in broader science communication practices. Ultimately, this research details how participant interactions with individual animals can encourage zoo visitors to build ex-situ species level environmental concern.

We live in an increasingly digital world, fully equipped with smart mobile devices that allow us to connect to anyone, anytime. Such possibilities have wide reaching consequences particularly for the world of work. They challenge traditional boundaries between work and private life, fundamentally alter how we conduct work and have major implications on organizational power relations. And despite increasing scholarly interest in the phenomenon of connectivity, the study of connectivity particularly in relation to work, remains at a nascent state and the concept of connectivity under-conceptualized. In this thesis I set out to develop our understanding of connectivity further by theoretically advancing and empirically exploring exactly these issues in one large multinational organization – TechComp. To what extent does connectivity with work, work connectivity, and more precisely the connectivity with one’s work at the periphery of the workday, -week and – place, what I call peripheral work connectivity (PWC), exist at TechComp and what role does PWC play in relation to power negotiations? These are the questions I seek to answer, by means of a mixed methods case study, drawing on a large web-based survey (N=19,564), ethnographic work and in-depth interviews (N=87), all conducted between March 2014 and August 2015. These multiple sources of data have allowed me to gain a thorough understanding of the extent of PWC at TechComp, highlighting that PWC is much more wide-spread across a diverse mix of job roles than previous research that primarily focused on high status professionals has led us to believe. Moreover, I argue that peripheral work connectivity is more than a driver of changing norms of availability. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power, undergirded by a sociomaterial understanding of the world, I show that PWC is a platform where power relations become rendered visible and contested. Peripheral work connectivity thus becomes a space of possibility. At the same time though, I argue that PWC is also a disciplinary agent, a mechanism that leads TechComp employees to self-discipline in an attempt to meet others’ and their own expectations. Peripheral work connectivity is hence a platform and an agent, the reason for and an actor in power negotiations at TechComp.

This thesis presents a 'reading' of the Wootton Bassett phenomenon: public mourning accompanying the repatriations of the bodies of members of the British armed forces between 2007–2011. Wootton Bassett, much discussed in the local and national press, was the focal point of conversations about the national mood, and national identity. The thesis explores national identity and the structure of the state, and the Wootton Bassett phenomenon in particular, in order that the two issues might illuminate each other. This thesis is a work of creative nonfiction, which blends various approaches to the reading of historical and contemporary cultural narratives. My aim is to deliver a piece of analysis which is academically rigorous whilst reflecting my position as a creative writer within academia. Working from Althusser's theories of ideology, the methodology is a synthesis of Cultural Studies, close reading of media reports, and memoir. I begin with discussion of 'Ideology' per Althusser, and his proposition that Ideology is an ongoing event, and the state's accepted 'ideologies' are gathered centripetally around a fundamental absence of congruence and coherence. Utilising Althusser's descriptions of interpellation, ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) and the repressive state apparatus (RSA), the thesis moves on to analyse British narratives of national identity: long-term narratives (the symbolic development of the mythical figures Gog and Magog), and then our current context, in particular the ideological redefinitions of the Second World War. Discussion of public mourning for Princess Diana offers an exemplar for discussions of Wootton Bassett in terms of tradition and ideologically-mediated concepts of appropriateness. The concluding sections of the thesis are an Althusserian analysis of the discourse surrounding extremist group Islam4UK’s proposed counter-march at Wootton Bassett. The silence of the repatriation events' attendees is positioned as an uncanny indeterminacy, in which subjects refuse to enact interpellation. Finally, a memoir section describes my trip to the town for the 2014 armistice day memorial ceremony. Through these various approaches, the thesis explores the partial and mutable nature of ideology and national identity, and the scope within these structures for the subject to act with agency and dignity.

This thesis broadly addresses the issue of identity management and performance online. The social networking site Facebook has been used as the primary research site due to its dominance on the World Wide Web and in individuals’ lives. Specifically this thesis seeks to understand how people negotiate their identity in a social space where a multitude of different friendship groups and associations are simultaneously present. The thesis makes extensive use of the premise originally made by Erving Goffman, that we give particular performances of self to particular groups of people and social situations, and extends this to our more intimate and interpersonal relationships. Further, an exploration is undertaken of the relevancy of early Internet theories concerning the fragmented self, and hypothesises that although these arguments are not redundant the opposite of this is equally plausible. This is to say that instead of identities becoming segregated, the design and conditions of Facebook allows its users to present what is termed here as a recentred self: a self or identity that is an amalgamation of all relevant identities in order to satisfy a level of recognition in as many social groups and associations as possible. Through an extensive observational online ethnography and a number of online interviews, the data revealed a complex relationship between the individual, their presentation of self, their relations with others and offline community integration. Using three case studies (Goth, eating disorders and fetishism) it emerged that depending on the perceived taboo or deviant nature of the specific identity, the expected reactions of others and the integration of the identity in the offline individuals engage with highly variant forms of identity management. Using these different forms of management, that include the fragmented self, the re-centred self and combinations of multiple strategies, individuals negotiate their way through a myriad of identities and audiences. Through successful identity management individuals aim to be able to protect themselves against potential repercussions from revelation of a problematic identity, and in turn maintain a comfortable level of recognition.

This research focuses on the use of guanxi (Chinese personal connections) in everyday urban life: in particular, how and why people develop their bonding, bridging and linking social capital in their guanxi networks. While much existing research focuses on the roles of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in different contexts, little is known about the process of developing and using these three types of social capitals in Chinese society. Although Kwang Kwo Hwang, Yunxiang Yan, and Xianqun Chang have distinguished different types of guanxi related to closeness, how these are related to social capital remains unknown. The study presented here aims to fill this gap in the research. Data of this research was drawn from two ethnographic studies of school place allocation in two Chinese cities during 2012-2013. The research finds that ritual is vital in guanxi practice, and it has more significant impact in moderate guanxi than close and distant guanxi. When la guanxi, people tend to apply Confucian li to show more Confucian ren in order to gain the same level of ren treatment in return from others. Thus, guanxi capital is mostly gained by ritual investment due to the influence of Confucianism. Based on this finding, the research proposes a new concept, described as “ritual capital”, which refers to a part of an individual’s cultural capital, fostered and maintained through practice of proper ritual.

AIMS: Challenging behaviour is common for many people with learning disabilities and has a negative impact on the lives of these individuals. It is linked to decreased levels of support from staff, reduced opportunities for inclusion in the community, use of restrictive interven-tions, and placement breakdown. Equipping staff with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to support people with challenging behaviour in a positive, respectful and effec-tive way has proved a challenge for care agencies. Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) has been shown to be effective in minimising challenging behaviour. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of training managers of social care services in PBS. METHOD: A longitudinal training programme in PBS was delivered to 50 managers of community-based services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour. The training pro-gramme lasted a year; data were collected pre and post training, and at 6 month follow-up. A non-randomised control group design was used. RESULTS: Data demonstrated significant reduction in challenging behaviour which was sustained over time. However, there was no change in quality of life for service users, and very limited changes in staff support to ser-vice users. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that training managers in PBS can have a positive impact on challenging behaviour in people with learning disabilities. There are a number of aspects to the results which are unexpected and these are discussed with reference to the relevant literature.