The social and political history of Catalonia has long been dominated by debates about language, nation and identity and forty years of linguistic and cultural repression have impacted the sociocultural landscape of the region. The new millennium and new nationalist/gendered identities in the context of changing patterns of migration, growing multiculturalism and economic crisis have led to a resurgence of nationalism and renewed demands for Catalan independence since 2010. Adopting oral history as a central method, this thesis examines language, nation and identity from a gendered perspective and investigates to what extent women use Catalan in their everyday social practices to construct gendered and national identities. The focus of the study is three female 'generations' from one Catalan village. It covers 50 years of historical change from the 1960s to the present. The thesis explores women’s contribution to the preservation of Catalan language during Franco's regime (1939-75); how the emergence of a feminist movement and discourse, and changing patterns of migration, have transformed the relationship between gender and national identity in Catalonia; and the role that Catalan plays today in defining women's (individual) identities and as a nation-building tool. Previous research has not considered an intergenerational approach and this study addresses this gap. Drawing on theories of nationalism, gender and nation and language ideologies, I adopt a new analytical approach incorporating discourse analysis and small story research to examine the narratives of 40 oral history interviews and a corpus of social media data. In order to organise the diverse themes in my data I develop a spatial framework in which I identify three principal spaces: physical, ideological and temporal. Mainstream and political discourse exemplify the Catalan nation as civic, intercultural and tolerant. This study challenges these canonical beliefs. The findings reveal ethnolinguistic ideologies and a complex divergence/convergence of issues surrounding migration that are difficult to reconcile with official discourse. Specifically the findings provide insights into some of the issues of inclusion and exclusion that are absent in political and nationalist discourse and suggests that an increased understanding of cultural pluralism at a local level can be abstracted to the Catalan community as a whole.

Within the growing field of surveillance studies, national identity cards and related issues have become an important research topic. Most research in this field, however, does not consider the role of media in the development of surveillance. This research examines the history of mediated public debates about identity cards in the U.K. In the U.K, since the Identity Cards Bill 2004, National Identity cards have been widely debated across the British national newspapers once again after several heated historical debates in WWI, WWII, and the 1990s. It is this thesis s purpose to analyze the role of the British national newspapers in generating support and resistance in the development of British national identity cards in the past one hundred years, respectively in 1915, 1919, 1939, 1951, and from 1994 to 2008. This thesis also seeks to find out the continuities and changes in the way British national newspapers influence the repeated introduction and withdrawal of identity cards over time. Specifically, by employing the methods of content and frame analysis, the thesis examines the actors involved in the mediated debate of British national identity cards, their argumentation, the frames underlying the argumentation and the themes appeared in the debates, in order to find out to what extent the British print media supported or opposed the identity cards over time.

Quantifying charcoal particles preserved in sedimentary environments is an established method for estimating levels of fire activity in the past, both on human and geological timescales. It has been proposed that the morphology of these particles is also a valuable source of information, for example allowing inferences about the nature of the vegetation burned. This thesis aims to broaden the theoretical basis for these methods, and to integrate morphometric study of sedimentary charcoal with its quantification. Three key questions are addressed: firstly, whether the elongation of mesocharcoal particles is a useful indicator of fuel type; secondly, whether different sedimentary archives tend to preserve different charcoal morphologies; and finally, the critical question of how morphology affects charcoal quantification. The results corroborate the idea that grasses and trees produce mesocharcoal with distinctly different aspect ratios. However, the application of this as an indicator of vegetation change is complicated by the inclusion of species which are neither grasses nor trees, and by considerations of the effects of transportation. Charcoal morphotypes in diverse sedimentary environments are shown to be influenced by vegetation types, transportation history, and nature of the fire that produced them. Previous research has treated charcoal quantification and charcoal morphology as separate issues. Here it is shown that understanding morphology is essential for the accurate quantification of charcoal, since it affects the relationship between volumes and the two-dimensional areas from which measurements are taken. Understanding this relationship could allow such measurements to be used not just as relative measures of past fire activity, but to enable the accurate quantification of the charcoal sequestered in soils and sediments. This has important implications for our ability to understand the effects of fire on carbon cycling, and the role that fire plays in the Earth system.

A indústria de infra-estrutura brasileira que produz, transporta e distribui a eletricidade, como parte integrante da cadeia da indústria elétrica, tem sido submetida, historicamente, a um movimento de permanente mudança em sua estrutura organizacional de produção. Estas, comumente, têm acontecido no interior de discussões realizadas nos meios empresariais, políticos - inclusive com a participação das burocracias de estado - e acadêmicos. De um modo geral, a classe trabalhadora sempre esteve ausente e nunca foi convidada a participar dos debates de como organizar a indústria de eletricidade. Aparentemente, as idéias vencedoras em cada época, acabam determinando a estrutura organizacional para aquele período histórico. Sinteticamente é comum caracterizar a evolução desta indústria em três grandes movimentos históricos. Primeiro, no princípio, quando é organizada a partir de investidores privados. Segundo, o período de grande expansão, quando a indústria de eletricidade é desenvolvida pelo Estado. Terceiro, o atual movimento de mudança, vem sendo reorganizada no sentido de retorná-la na totalidade ao controle privado. Em geral, estes movimentos de mudanças da indústria de eletricidade têm sido explicados, como resultado de tendências externas ideais, manifestadas por novas concepções organizacionais que visam o aperfeiçoamento da indústria de eletricidade, enquanto um bem para toda a sociedade. Dentro deste contexto, este estudo - \"REFORMAS NA INDÚSTRIA ELÉTRICA BRASILEIRA: A DISPUTA PELAS \'FONTES\' E O CONTROLE DO TRABALHO EXCEDENTE\" - tem a pretensão de compreender o passado e o presente das mudanças na indústria de eletricidade brasileira segundo a perspectiva da Economia Política em Marx. Os aspectos ligados à natureza, as técnicas e as tecnologias relacionadas à indústria de eletricidade são abordados enquanto manifestações da forma social da produção capitalista. A análise das relações e das contradições surgidas na produção/circulação - em geral, manifestas em crises que se propagam para a quase totalidade da produção - e no movimento de mudanças da indústria elétrica permite identificar, quais as principais forças econômicas atuantes e suas respectivas estratégias nos cenários de luta/controle pelo trabalho excedente. / The industry of infrastructure that Brazil produces, transports and distributes electricity, as integrant part of the chain of the electric industry, has been submitted, historically, to a movement of permanent change in its organizational structure of production. These usually have happened in the interior of quarrels carried through in the enterprise ways, politicians - also with the participation of bureaucracies of states - and academics. In a general way, the working class always was absent and nor was invited to participate of the quarrels of as to organize the electricity industry. Apparently, the winning ideas at each time, finish determining the organizational structure for that historical period. Synthetically is common to characterize the evolution of this industry in three great historical movements. First, in the principle of industry, when it is organized from private investors. Second, the period of great expansion, when the electricity industry is developed by the State. Third, the current movement of change, comes being reorganized in the direction to return it in the totality to the private control. In general, these movements of changes of the electricity industry have been explained, as resulted of ideal external trends, revealed for new organizational conceptions that aim the improvement of the electricity industry, while a good for all the society. Inside of this scene, this study - \"REFORMS IN THE BRAZILIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRY: THE DISPUTE FOR `SOURCES\' AND THE CONTROL OF THE EXCEEDING LABOUR\" - the pretension has to understand the past and the present of the changes in the industry of according to perspective Brazilian electricity of the Economy Politics in Marx. On aspects to the nature, the techniques and the technologies related to the electricity industry are boarded while manifestations of the social form of the capitalist production. The analysis of the relations and the contradictions appeared in the production/circulation - in general, manifest in crises that if propagate almost for the totality of the production - and in the movement of changes of the electric industry allows to identify to which the main operating economic forces and its respective strategies in the fight scenes of control for the exceeding labour

A indústria de infra-estrutura brasileira que produz, transporta e distribui a eletricidade, como parte integrante da cadeia da indústria elétrica, tem sido submetida, historicamente, a um movimento de permanente mudança em sua estrutura organizacional de produção. Estas, comumente, têm acontecido no interior de discussões realizadas nos meios empresariais, políticos - inclusive com a participação das burocracias de estado - e acadêmicos. De um modo geral, a classe trabalhadora sempre esteve ausente e nunca foi convidada a participar dos debates de como organizar a indústria de eletricidade. Aparentemente, as idéias vencedoras em cada época, acabam determinando a estrutura organizacional para aquele período histórico. Sinteticamente é comum caracterizar a evolução desta indústria em três grandes movimentos históricos. Primeiro, no princípio, quando é organizada a partir de investidores privados. Segundo, o período de grande expansão, quando a indústria de eletricidade é desenvolvida pelo Estado. Terceiro, o atual movimento de mudança, vem sendo reorganizada no sentido de retorná-la na totalidade ao controle privado. Em geral, estes movimentos de mudanças da indústria de eletricidade têm sido explicados, como resultado de tendências externas ideais, manifestadas por novas concepções organizacionais que visam o aperfeiçoamento da indústria de eletricidade, enquanto um bem para toda a sociedade. Dentro deste contexto, este estudo - \"REFORMAS NA INDÚSTRIA ELÉTRICA BRASILEIRA: A DISPUTA PELAS \'FONTES\' E O CONTROLE DO TRABALHO EXCEDENTE\" - tem a pretensão de compreender o passado e o presente das mudanças na indústria de eletricidade brasileira segundo a perspectiva da Economia Política em Marx. Os aspectos ligados à natureza, as técnicas e as tecnologias relacionadas à indústria de eletricidade são abordados enquanto manifestações da forma social da produção capitalista. A análise das relações e das contradições surgidas na produção/circulação - em geral, manifestas em crises que se propagam para a quase totalidade da produção - e no movimento de mudanças da indústria elétrica permite identificar, quais as principais forças econômicas atuantes e suas respectivas estratégias nos cenários de luta/controle pelo trabalho excedente. / The industry of infrastructure that Brazil produces, transports and distributes electricity, as integrant part of the chain of the electric industry, has been submitted, historically, to a movement of permanent change in its organizational structure of production. These usually have happened in the interior of quarrels carried through in the enterprise ways, politicians - also with the participation of bureaucracies of states - and academics. In a general way, the working class always was absent and nor was invited to participate of the quarrels of as to organize the electricity industry. Apparently, the winning ideas at each time, finish determining the organizational structure for that historical period. Synthetically is common to characterize the evolution of this industry in three great historical movements. First, in the principle of industry, when it is organized from private investors. Second, the period of great expansion, when the electricity industry is developed by the State. Third, the current movement of change, comes being reorganized in the direction to return it in the totality to the private control. In general, these movements of changes of the electricity industry have been explained, as resulted of ideal external trends, revealed for new organizational conceptions that aim the improvement of the electricity industry, while a good for all the society. Inside of this scene, this study - \"REFORMS IN THE BRAZILIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRY: THE DISPUTE FOR `SOURCES\' AND THE CONTROL OF THE EXCEEDING LABOUR\" - the pretension has to understand the past and the present of the changes in the industry of according to perspective Brazilian electricity of the Economy Politics in Marx. On aspects to the nature, the techniques and the technologies related to the electricity industry are boarded while manifestations of the social form of the capitalist production. The analysis of the relations and the contradictions appeared in the production/circulation - in general, manifest in crises that if propagate almost for the totality of the production - and in the movement of changes of the electric industry allows to identify to which the main operating economic forces and its respective strategies in the fight scenes of control for the exceeding labour

The aim of this master's thesis is the study of the development and changes of the wedding customs in the years 1948 - 1989, i.e. during the period of communistic Czechoslovakia. These developments and changes were monitored by oral history quality research - by the direct interviews with participants in discussions and comparison with available sources and photographic documentation from the weddings in each period of time. The work is focused more detailed on the influence of the socialism and its economic and cultural conditions over the development of wedding practices and customs and then on deviations from the Western, or better to say non-communistic model of changes in wedding customs in Europe during the post-war period of the 20th Century. The research was pursued at the regional level. The narrators were selected with regard to their responsibility for the appropriate generation and to the time they have married.

A central goal of life history theory is to understand the selective factors that generate the diversity of reproductive patterns observed in nature. Within lifetime changes in reproductive investment will determine an organism's fitness; however, this area of life history theory has received less attention than comparisons among population that characterize life history traits as a single population mean. Reproductive allocation can be affected by multiple cues; the integration of these cues across an organism's lifetime generates the diversity in life history strategies observed in nature. Life history studies should examine the interacting effects of multiple cues on life history strategies to generate better predictions and generalizations of age-related changes in reproductive investment. An individual's life history strategy is inherently multivariate consisting of a coordinated suite of life history traits that, when combined across the organism's lifetime, determines its fitness. Life history strategies can therefore be described as a trajectory through multivariate space defined by life history traits. Here I describe life history trajectory analysis, a multivariate analytical approach for quantifying and comparing phenotypic change in life history strategies; this methodology is adapted from an analytical framework originally described for studies of morphological evolution. Life history trajectories have attributes (magnitude, direction, and shape) that can be quantified and statistically compared among taxa to determine if life history patterns are predictable. Using the life history trajectory analysis, I demonstrate the effect of prior experience on reproductive allocation in the burying beetle Nicrophorus orbicollis. The effect of prior experience resulted in a terminal investment or accentuated response to age-based cues, or resulted in a conservative investment strategy or reproductive restraint. In the livebearing fish Gambusia affinis, females adjust the level of reproductive investment to current reproduction based on age- or environment-based cues. Age-0 females decreased the level of reproductive investment to current reproduction in late summer prior to the onset of fall and winter months. Old females, on the other hand, increased the level of reproductive investment as the summer progressed. The reproductive restraint and terminal investment patterns exhibited by age-0 and age-1 females, respectively, were consistent with the predictions from the cost of reproduction hypothesis. These studies demonstrate how the life history trajectory analysis provides an analytical tool to test predictions of life history theory. Additionally, I provide evidence that organisms use multiple cues to determine the level of reproductive investment and that the strength of the effect of each cue will depend on the age of an individual.

This thesis investigates past structure and dynamics of native Caledonian pine woodland, representing part of the western fringes of the northern European boreal woodlands. The biogeographical extent and Holocene history of the Scottish pine woods are well studied, yet questions remain at finer scales. This thesis is concerned with two factors over the recent Holocene oceanic period; (i) the long-term ecology within the woods; the spatio-temporal dynamics, the canopy structure, and community composition and continuity; and (ii) the former extent of the woods, especially the temporal pattern of the inferred easterly contraction in woodland over recent history. The importance of these factors - to ecologists, challenged with understanding the theories of equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes in long-lived woodland communities - and to conservation managers - challenged, by policy directives, with implementing the restoration and expansion of native woodlands - is discussed. Equally the identification and quantification of ecological detail over ecologically relevant temporal and spatial scales is an important challenge for palaeoecology. The thesis therefore applies fine spatial resolution pollen analyses over a network of sites, within, and at the western edge of, the extant woodland zone in east Glen Affric. Correlation between these individual site histories develops a detailed view of the grain and extent of woodland within the landscape, previously missing from western pine woods. Careful attention is paid to the interpretive potential and limitations of fine resolution palaeoecology; especially with regard (i) to techniques that can identify and spatially quantify stand-scale structure and community composition via reference to modern analogues; and (ii) to defining chronologies and elucidating rates and patterns of temporal change. The opportunities and limitations of the technique are explored and discussed, to ensure an understanding of the rigour and potential of the palaeoecological contribution to ecological research and to provide an evidence base for conservation. The application of 210Pb dating using the CRS and CIC models is explored. The CRS model is confirmed as suitable for peat deposits, but its use may mask fluctuations in peat sedimentation rate, which may be illustrated by the CIC model. The value of multiple 14C assays for each core and a need for a new approach to chronologies for application to fine-scale palaeecological studies is discussed. The relevant source area around the small basins in this semi-open pinewood is tentatively confirmed at 20 m from the pollen source. Tentative pollen productivity estimates for five key taxa in this ecosystem are presented. The temporal stability of native woodland in Glen Affric is confirmed to the eastern part of the extant woodland zone; but challenged to the west, where the open and semi-open landscape has a long history. Woodland diversity decreased over the last c. 200 years, and past woodland also shows a greater ground flora diversity. The western extent of the Caledonian woodland in this landscape may have changed little in the last c. 4000 years. Fluctuations, some clearly cyclical, in heath, and in woodland, communities are identified in the pollen record. The former may be aligned to changes in grazing regime or climatic shifts; and the latter to autochthonous shifts important in the maintenance of suitable edaphic conditions for the continuity of woodland. Former woodland is confirmed as likely to have been open in structure and mixed in tree species composition. The results presented here suggest that some caution should be applied to use of the term Caledonian, or native ‘pine’ forest: ‘Caledonian forest’ may better reflect the heterogeneity of past forests, particularly the importance, and persistence, of birch. The implications for conservation management and restoration are discussed. It may be difficult to establish a sustainable woodland to the west of the extant stands, and any pine woodland here may need to be mixed with stands of broadleaved trees to maintain or restore soil structure and ecological function. The landscape to the west may have been open for several thousands of years, and consideration of this is required when managing for the future to prevent loss of biodiversity.

This thesis analyzes the Czech translations of Karel Havlíček's German family correspondence. The translations are from the turn of the 20th century, from the 1940s, and from the present day. In the introduction, the present-day situation concerning the publication of Havlíček's correspondence is outlined. After that, the thesis focuses on the skopos theory as the main theoretical base for the analysis. Then the thesis turns to the life of Karel Havlíček with a focus on his student years. In the analytical section, the individual translators and the origination of the translations are introduced. Selected translations are then analyzed. The primary objective of the thesis is the evaluation of translation strategies and methods used by the translators of Karel Havlíček's family correspondence with regard to translation conventions and social and historical changes.

Almost two thousand years ago, Claudius Ptolemy created a guide to drawing maps of the world, identifying the names and coordinates of over 8,000 settlements and geographical features. Using the coordinates of those cities and landmarks which have been identified with modern locations, a series of best-fit transformations has been applied to several of Ptolemy’s regional maps, those of Britain, Spain, and Italy. The transformations relate Ptolemy’s coordinates to their modern equivalents by rotation and skewed scaling. These reflect the types of error that appear in Ptolemy’s data, namely those of distance and orientation. The mathematical techniques involved in this process are all modern. However, these techniques have been altered in order to deal with the historical difficulties of Ptolemy’s maps. To think of Ptolemy’s data as similar to that collected from a modern random sampling of a population and to apply unbiased statistical methods to it would be erroneous. Ptolemy’s data is biased, and the nature of that bias is going to be informed by the history of the data. Using such methods as cluster analysis, Procrustes analysis, and multidimensional scaling, we aimed to assess numerically the accuracy of Ptolemy’s maps. We also investigated the nature of the errors in the data and whether or not these could be linked to historical developments in the areas mapped.