My thesis explores the extent to which people's nationality informs their engagement with popular culture and strategies of social distinction (Bourdieu 1984). I address this question by studying the emergence of popular music criticism as a new cultural sector in Italy, and more specifically the practices of critics working during the 1970s. Drawing on Bourdieu's field theory (1996), and combining archival research, social history and discourse analysis, the thesis explores the different dimensions of criticism as a social practice. On the one hand, it analyses the social biography of critics and the boundaries of music criticism as a cultural field; especially as regards class, gender and place. On the other hand, it studies the way critics evaluated different forms of Anglo-American popular music – such as rock, jazz and soul – and how their aesthetic claims and distinctions were received by their audience. The thesis argues that the social trajectory of critics shaped the way they distinguished themselves from national culture and, as a result, their cosmopolitan critique of Italian cultural and political institutions. Furthermore, the thesis argues that the social diversity of critics' audience, and their active contestation of critics' claims, made the music press a space for reflexivity about the inequalities shaping both the field and Italian youth culture. From a theoretical point of view, the thesis expands Bourdieu's field theory taking into account: a) the effects of global forces on the construction of national cultural fields; b) the impact of aesthetic experiences on the habitus (Bourdieu 1984) and practices of cultural producers; c) the forms of reflexivity and critique enabled by specific fields of practice. The thesis provides an original contribution to the study of media, music cultures, taste and cultural production.

This thesis examines recent experiments with participatory democracy in the context of decentralised local government. It charts the evolution in attitudes to the role of the generality of citizens in their own government, from commentators who were convinced that stability depended upon their apathy, to the current belief that mass involvement will save local democracy from deteriorating further into crisis. From the literature it is apparent that various authorities have pursued decentralisation initiatives for very different, sometimes conflicting reasons, not all concerned with democratisation. These have frequently been only vaguely articulated and then half-heartedly implemented. Where democratisation has actually been attempted and has included a participatory element, it is the particular contention here that there has been a mismatch between the structures adopted and the objectives to be achieved such that the community participants involved are prevented from playing the role envisaged for them. Furthermore, it is argued that a belief that the emergent participants are non political overlooks their true party affiliations; consequently there has been a failure to introduce sufficient safeguards to ensure true accountability to the constituents for whom they are intended to speak. The case studies on which the research is based are drawn from Scotland where there is an existing grassroots network of community councils which might have formed the building block for any new structures of involvement. Two quite contrasting models are examined, one primarily intended to improve the council's responsiveness to local needs and aspirations in regard to provision of public services, and one intended to offset disadvantage through empowerment. These are evaluated in the light of the above hypotheses and alternative models are evolved better suited to achieving the council's apparent aims. Finally lessons are drawn in relation to their effectiveness or otherwise as examples of new forms of participatory democracy which would have a potential to lower the barriers to involvement by those who currently choose, or are forced, to remain excluded from our present representative forms of democracy.

There is an idea, currently fashionable amongst historians, that all history is really 'about' the present 1. This thesis does nothing to undermine this idea. Although most obviously concerned with ideas about the family in the twenty five or so years after 1945, it is also very much concerned with our own contemporary debates about the family. Indeed, it is conceived as a means of making an intervention into those debates. The thesis seeks to explore the complexity of debate, policy, representation and memories of the family in the postwar period. To do this, research is organised around three distinct strands: Consideration of official discourse and public policy (at both a national and local level); analysis of representations of family in popular culture, particularly in British film/ and consideration of remembered experience as evidenced in oral sources. Where appropriate, the London Borough of Greenwich has been used as a local example which acts as a reference point for discussion of national concerns. The research comprises work on new oral sources and on local authority and voluntary agency papers which have not previously been the subject of published work. It also involves new ways of thinking about some well research material in official publications and film. The thesis also engages with questions of method and theory associated with studying the history of ideas. It is particularly concerned with affirming the importance of studies of popular, non-literary culture and oral histories in understanding the past.

This thesis examines pupils' attitudes to science as they move from primary to secondary school, and seeks to identify any factors that might influence these attitudes. A review of the literature on attitudes to science research finds that existing studies with similar aims have tended to use cross-sectional samples, many of which were small or unrepresentative, and furthermore that there has often been inadequate control of potentially influential variables. The present work employs a longitudinal study of over 3000 children, between 10 and 12 years old, from schools in Essex. Data has been collected by means of questionnaires, supplemented by a free response section, and by interviews. Information was also collected from over 300 primary and secondary teachers by means of questionnaires, supplemented by a free response section, and interviews. Information was collected, by interviews and from statistical data in the public domain, about all participating schools. The integrated data from the children, their teachers and their schools has been analysed in three different ways: the quantitative data was subjected to a variety of statistical techniques to compare the two sets of data from primary and secondary school as two cross-sections, and to investigate changes for individual pupils taking a longitudinal approach. The qualitative data was subjected to textual analysis and it was also integrated with the quantitative data. These analyses yield conclusions, which inform pedagogy, school management, teacher training, and social justice.

This thesis presents a narrative that connects discussion of a number of my papers submitted for consideration of the award of PhD by published work with reflections on methods and theory within a critical sociological context. This analysis of my publications is extended by a critical engagement with communicative action theory to consider its relevance for thinking about service user involvement activity in university settings. The thesis explores methodological and theoretical ideas by first narrating the thematic consistency of the portfolio of published work presented for consideration and, second, considering analytic connections with wider critical social theory and emancipatory goals. In part this is accomplished by exploring a scholarly interest in the subjective: tracing in my own papers a development of thought from an affinity for critical post-structuralist concepts of a de-centred subject, as illustrated in my use of Q-methodology as a particular means of accessing forms of subjective expression, through to a current interest in forms of critical social theory, aligned to the Frankfurt School. Despite some acknowledged philosophical tensions, it is argued that there is a consistency of theoretical exposition whereby a line of reasoning via Habermas’s theory of communicative action, focuses on a radical subjectivity which is not antithetical to the aforementioned post-structural accounts. A contribution to original knowledge is demonstrated with respect to theorising social constructions of difference and identity in a mental health context and critical analyses and commentary on the mental health service user/survivor movement. Themes of radicalism and emancipation in research methods and praxis, and their critique, connect with a concluding focus on academic alliances with user movement activists including an analytic reflection on the university as a particular social space which may be amenable to forging effective solidarity.

This thesis explores the gender and sexual politics of erotic dance, through an ethnographic investigation of two leisure venues which provide erotic dance entertainment for women audiences in the UK. Using the research techniques of participant observation, qualitative interviews, visual methods, email interviews and internet research, this thesis examines the work roles of women and men dancers, and the interactions of women customers with dancers. In taking both a lesbian leisure venue and a male strip show for analysis, this thesis goes further than previous academic studies which often equate erotic dance with a male clientele base and women performers. The key findings of the thesis are related to three central themes. These are, firstly, the defining of both of the venues as a ‘women-only’ space by customers, and the ways in which this simultaneously both challenges and reproduces heteronormativity. Secondly, findings in both venues point to evidence of an erotic female ‘gaze’ being exercised by women customers. Yet I highlight how this is at times couched in problematic post-feminist conceptions of sexual agency, and further, how some customers articulated a critique of ‘gazing’ as objectifying erotic dancers. I argue that male dancers do not take on a ‘sex object’ role, and suggest that women dancers are able to exercise a gaze directed at women customers in some instances. The third key finding, evident in dancers’ accounts of their working experiences, suggests that their work practices are in many ways similar to concepts of work that are used to discuss service sector labour. I argue that the particular spaces in which dancers work is crucial to their capacity to exercise autonomy in their work role. Overall, the thesis develops a more complex analysis of participants’ engagement with erotic dance venues, highlighting the tensions around exercising agency in commercial sexual encounters.

I have three main aims in writing this thesis on the social thought of Henri Bergson: to establish what society is in his view, to work out the implications of this for individuality, and to demonstrate the contemporary value of his philosophy as a whole, thus construed. It will be the task of the first two chapters to establish that society is a biological and cultural reality for Bergson. This will involve the demonstration that Bergson’s understanding of living systems can be applied to groups as well as to single organisms, and that while the biological evolution of society underlies both individual actions and cultural evolution they nevertheless remain irreducible to it. In chapter three, I will consider the implications of his account of society for our understanding of the individual. These implications will be quite serious, as Bergson attributes an irreducible agency to society that immediately demands a re-assessment of the agency of the individual in terms of a participation in wider natural and cultural processes, and specifically a re-assessment of the central Bergsonian notion of individual freedom in the context of this natural and cultural evolution. In the conclusion, I will make a case that the value of Bergson’s philosophy today is that it can help us to move beyond the mechanistic paradigm that has dominated western thought since the scientific revolution by providing a powerful image of our relation to each other and to nature that is based on participation rather than control. In addition, there are two themes running through the thesis. One concerns Bergson’s critique of dogmatism both in philosophy and in the sciences, and his insistence that new ways of thinking be developed in response to new experience that cannot be integrated into existing interpretive models. In order to remain true to the spirit of his thought it has in many places been necessary to re-think his conclusions in relation to a new scientific context, rather than merely repeat what he says. The other concerns Bergson’s strong commitment to the role that philosophy can play in overcoming the natural tendency to control our environment, a tendency that he saw gaining a dangerous hold over the human spirit in the age of industrial capitalism. The essence of philosophy in this context is revealed to be a shift in attitude from control to participation.

Well into the 21st century strategic decisions remain at the forefront of organisational managerial activity. The ever increasing complexity and uncertainty of the modern world dictates the need for effective strategic decision making. In the attempt to pool together the necessary capabilities strategic decisions in large organisations take place in group settings thus bringing at the forefront the role of group decision making. Group decision making is fundamentally a communicative activity riddled with the intricate processes of negotiation. With negotiation comes conflict with group participants’ differences over perspectives and worldviews being viewed as the fundamental cause of it. Not all conflict is destructive. Benefits are also to be reaped if conflict is managed effectively. A number of techniques and methods have emerged in the field of the Management Sciences and Information Systems that intent to alleviate the destructive and promote the productive aspects of conflict. One technique that follows a rational approach to decision making and incorporates strong elements of facilitation and qualitative modelling has been termed as Facilitated Modelling (FM). The key distinction between FM and other approaches is the use of qualitative models as transitional objects argued to enhance the effectiveness of group conflict management. In the past two decades numerous calls for evaluating the impact FM models may have on conflict have been made with little to no response. This thesis is an exploratory attempt to offer partial insights and inform these calls. The theoretical perspective of Adaptive Structuration Theory acted as the under-bed guiding this exploration. The exploration adopted a multiple case study approach as the methodological avenue for collecting data. Interaction data derived from three workshops, during which strategic decisions were made, have been micro-coded and analysed using both statistical as well as flexible mapping techniques. The results revealed complex relationships between the manner in which the model is appropriated and the resulting conflict management processes. Specifically, findings indicate that when models are appropriated they will reduce the ineffective conflict management behaviours. The concept of Model Appropriations Complexity (MAC) has been introduced as a moderating variable between the model appropriations and conflict management effectiveness with the findings supporting a positive relationship between MAC and effective conflict management. Additional preliminary analyses indicate prior FM-related experience of group participants as another potential explanatory variable for future research to explore.

The health experiences, and the lived experiences in general, of homeless young women have largely been overlooked. In seeking to redress this situation, the research findings presented in this thesis support those from other homelessness studies; the sample's health was poor. However, drawing upon a wider range of research traditions than is normally the case, conceiving health in terms of physical, mental and social well-being, and employing qualitative methods to facilitate verstehen of the epiphanies and processes involved in the outcome of 'homelessness', the meanings these lived experiences had engendered, and the lifeworld of 'homeless' young women, this study problematises the rather biomedical orientation of most homelessness and ill-health studies. The fundamental argument presented is that homelessness and poor health outcomes are products of the same iniquitous structures that affect a much greater population, yet the medicalisation of homelessness has served to obscure this and reinforce difference. Accordingly, the concepts of social exclusion, youth transitions and identity in late modernity provide a normative 'way of seeing' the experience of homelessness and its relationship with health. By simply conceiving the subjects of research as cognisant and purposive agents whose lived experiences are rooted in the structures and processes of exclusion inherent in late modernity, yet mediated by the affective body, the importance of acknowledging relativity, as a social concept in homelessness research is demonstrated. This is accomplished by exploring the sample's lived experiences as the contexts within which their health meanings and actions are informed and effected. It is shown that 'homelessness', portrayed by the sample as a stage of transition between the structured limitations of the past and their aspirations for the future, does not only produce negative health outcomes.

The issues of ecotourism development in Malaysia, which could benefit the local communities in remote areas, were rarely mentioned in the federal government’s tourism policies. The issues that were mentioned are often limited to factors such as supplementing income in (eco)tourism activities which was regarded as a priority, but never beyond that. This was the dilemma in the early phase of the implementation in the 1990s of sustainable (eco)tourism development in Malaysia, particularly in the state of Sabah. This is a qualitative research approach or specifically case study approach based on the critical theory paradigm or perspectives. Two villages were observed in this research: namely Batu Puteh village and Sukau village. These villages are located in the floodplain of Lower Kinabatangan River. This area is an extremely important site for ecotourism in Sabah and/or Malaysia: especially through ecotourists activities such as river boating, jungle trekking and wildlife viewing. The local people generally known as “orang sungai” (the river people) have recently participated in many aspects of ecotourism activities such as tourist guides, conservation volunteers, tourist lodges workers, homestay providers etc. Thus the main issues for these villages are: to what extent does ecotourism development in Batu Puteh and/or Sukau village have positive and negative impacts on the socio-cultural life of the local community? How and why are the local communities involved directly or indirectly in ecotourism development? To what extent has ecotourism development increased the level of participation, and improved the standard of living of the local community? To what extent can ecotourism be considered a potential instrument for rural economic development and/or environmental conservation to achieve sustainable development in the destination areas? These issues will be explored thoroughly in this research.