This paper discusses the problems caused by the linguistic features used by speakers as the basis of determining their social identity. The concept of identity is broad and closely related with socio-cultural and eco-spheres environment of the speakers. The speaker’s identity is determined by employing both social and linguistic features in the overall analysis. The linguistic features include the whole range of language use, from phonetic features to lexical units, syntactic structures and family names. This paper therefore argues that the speaker’s linguistic features pose some problems in determining the speaker’s identity. The first problem concerns the concepts of language and dialect which are defined differently by different scholars. The second problem refers to multilingual speakers with diversified linguistic competence, and lastly, it has been noted with concern that some speakers use artificial family names which are not from their ethnic origin, hence complicating the process of determining the identity of the speakers.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This thesis considers radical and reactionary political strategies for questioning systems of gender/sexuality categorisation and finds both wanting in terms of the cultural insularity and mainstream assimilation each respectively engenders. An alternative is posited in the form of radical assimilation, a theory borrowing the best elements from both approaches. The remainder of the study is focussed on the search for personal and iconographic strategies to pursue a politic of radical assimilation in my creative production. These strategies are finally exemplified and manifested via discussions of the practical corpus of artworks that aided in the formation of this politic. The discursive framework in which this theorization occurs includes considerations of queer theory and photography (especially domestic photography and portraiture) and subjective contextualization (invoking the domestic uses of images), and all should be seen as constituting a personal discursive framework: an attempt to counter the reductive scope an uncontextualised analysis of my work allows. This study is accordingly an explication of the processes that turn the personal into the political; a critical affirmation of difference; and an attempt to narrow the distances between us.

In this dissertation I explore the redistributive effects of second-dimensional identity politics in parliamentary democracies. Specifically, I focus on parties’ electoral incentives to manipulate the salience of the territorial-identity cleavage. My main argument is that a greater electoral salience of the second dimension distorts the nature of redistributive outcomes. Although the redistributive effects of second dimensions of political competition have been explored in majoritarian democracies, much less is known about their effects in democracies with proportional representation (PR). The dissertation brings “bad news” in that regard: when the territorial second dimension is salient, it is no longer true that parliamentary democracies with proportional electoral systems redistribute more –which is the prevalent view in the existing literature. In fact, the so called “left-bias” of PR systems vanishes when the territorial-identity cleavage is politically activated. This key insight therefore offers a fundamental qualification to the institutionalism literature, by making an effort to understand the way in which regional diversity interacts with institutions through multidimensional political competition. The dissertation is divided in two parts: one theoretical and one empirical. First, I develop a formal model that illustrates the way in which parties’ second-dimension electoral incentives affect both the electoral stage and the subsequent post-electoral coalition bargaining among parties in national parliaments. The reason is that both right-wing and regionalist parties have incentives to increase the salience of the second dimension at the electoral stage to attract voters, and subsequently the coalition bargaining among parties in parliaments offers new opportunities for legislative coalitions. In the second part of the dissertation, I test the empirical implications at the macro-level, the meso-level and the individual-level. The main empirical results can be summarised as follows. First, I present empirical evidence according to which the legislative salience of the second dimension induces a negative effect on redistribution and a positive effect on the regionalisation of public policy. Second, I provide evidence which shows that both right-wing and regionalist parties strategically increase the electoral salience of the second dimension when they are “losers” on the first dimension. Finally, I illustrate the way in which the salience of the second dimension affects the formation of individual preferences for redistribution. In sum, this dissertation provides new arguments and empirical evidence that demonstrates how second dimensional politics can have profound redistributive consequences in parliamentary democracies.

This thesis examines enclaves of oppression and discrimination, which continue to subject indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Andean society to the pernicious legacies of a racist past. As an interpretive framework this interdisciplinary study draws from theoretical approaches to power, which analyse the reproduction of social injustice in post-colonial societies. This research demonstrates how resistance in post-colonial contexts does not always function as a subversive force. Especially when the variable of racism is taken into account, it becomes clearer how acts of opposition end up fostering a tyrannical domination. Examples from Peruvian history, as well as my fieldwork data, will illustrate how resistances and revolutions in the Peruvian Andes have paradoxically reinstated an oppressive and subjugating social system founded in disavowal of the indigenous Other. In dismantling the ramifications of a violent racist legacy, this study explores those social practices and attitudes which in the course of history have resulted in the subjugation of indigenous peoples. These include paternalism, the commodification of indigenous identity and the phenomenon of incanismo. Ultimately, the very negotiation of identities and the making of Peruvian ethnicity will highlight the reasons why, since the 1970s, the pursuit of Intercultural Bilingual Education (IBE) in the Peruvian Andes has been a challenging and uncertain endeavour. By comparison with bordering Andean regions of Ecuador and Bolivia, IBE is not in the hands of indigenous peoples. This thesis will demonstrate that this is in part due to an underpinning racism, which keeps disrupting a sense of belonging to an ethnic identity.

This dissertation explores how female-born or female-bodied gender variants perform and represent their masculinities in American performance art and drag king shows. A drag king refers to a woman or female-born person who performs their gender as fluid, usually wearing masculine costumes and make-up. I focus on how race, ethnicity, and class are involved in performing female masculinities on stage, and how the intersections of other social vectors produce myriad differences in terms of stakes, styles, and forms of masculinity. I examine how female-born queer performers foreground the constructed nature of masculinity, and how they redefine established categories of gender and sexuality through performance. I argue that queer performances of female masculinities deconstruct the heteronormative gender binary and embody alternative configurations of sex, gender, class, race, and sexuality. In my first chapter, I address Peggy Shaw's Menopausal Gentleman (1997) and To My Chagrin (2003). I examine how she portrays aging white butch masculinity, sexuality, and emotion, through the reinterpretation of menopause and musings on her own whiteness. My second chapter provides a critical reading of kt shorb's [sic] of chicks, dicks, and chinks (2005) and D'Lo's Ramble-Ations (2006). Investigating the effeminization of Asian masculinity and multicultural racial performativity, I illuminate how Asian-American female masculinities are differently constituted in the interplay between class, ethnicity, diaspora, and cultural identities. In my third chapter, I analyze the 6th (Chicago, 2004) and 8th (Austin, 2006) International Drag King Extravaganza showcase performances. I describe how they reveal the theatrical nature of masculinity, and how they mark race, class, and ethnicity. In addition, I discuss how they valorize gender fluidity and multiplicity, staging queer desire and pleasure. Throughout this dissertation, by offering complex illustrations of masculine genders of the female body or the gender-ambiguous body, I contend that female-born gender variants disrupt the equation of masculinity to maleness through their theatrical performances of masculinities. I conclude that performing female masculinities can foster the critical artfulness of gender by engaging in social criticism of gender, class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality.

This dissertation layers trauma studies theory with feminist theories of performance and autobiography to investigate how women's autobiographically based performances of illness experience disrupt and/or reinforce master discourses of medicine, identity, and knowledge. Feminist theories of performance and autobiography share with trauma studies the distrust of traditional frames and mechanisms of representation, and seek to discover new methods of interpreting experiences that lie "outside the realm" of normative discourse. These theories are further linked by their shared focus on agency and identity construction and an understanding of autobiography that emphasizes the limitations of language and memory which allows for aporia, contradiction, and dissonance, and the belief that testimony functions as a politicized performative of truth. Employing these theoretical perspectives, Carr investigates how these performances witness to radical reconfigurations of identity through the transference of trauma into conveyable life narrative -- even when those narratives falls outside the paradigm of traditional storytelling structures. Carr questions how the structures and content of these performances reveal what traumas are inflicted not only through illness, but also through treatment and care within the western medical model. Throughout the study Carr examines the moments when the cognitive structures of trauma are transmitted into performance through a variety of feminist and avant-garde performance techniques. Carr investigates the work of specific performers and contextualizes the performances within popular culture and medical discourse. Performances analyzed include; Robbie McCauley's Sugar, Susan Miller's My Left Breast, Brandyn Barbara Artis's Sister Girl, and Deb Margolin's bringing the fishermen home and Three Seconds in the Key. Carr questions how the formerly or currently ill female body performing in public disrupts notions of fixed and stable identity while examining the myriad identity constructions embedded within illness narrative. Rather than simplistic triumphant stories of individual cure and recovery, these complex expressions of traumatic experience reveal patterns of cultural oppression that keep the ill female body isolated and silenced. This study attempts to intervene in that silence by foregrounding these politicized performances.

Il progetto di ricerca analizza i tratti distintivi dell'identità ecologica promossa da associazioni ambientaliste cinesi e le relative pratiche coinvolte nel processo di gestione delle identità all’interno di piattaforme di social networking. Un secondo livello di analisi indaga le modalità con cui gli attivisti negoziano la loro identificazione con i progetti identitari ecologici attivati dalle organizzazioni di appartenenza. La ricerca etnografica si focalizza su dieci associazioni studentesche attive a Pechino. La metodologia qualitativa include interviste in profondità a membri delle organizzazioni, osservazioni partecipanti delle loro attività, l’analisi qualitativa del contenuto di post condivisi sui loro profili Sina Weibo e Wechat; e dei contenuti condivisi dai membri sui loro profili WeChat Moments tra febbraio e luglio 2016. I risultati rivelano identità ecologiche complesse ed elaborate. Lo studio propone una tassonomia tripartita dei progetti identitari, che include ‘sustainable lifestyle-related identities’, in riferimento alla responsabilità degli studenti nel ridurre il loro impatto ambientale (in relazione alla conservazione di acqua, energia, cibo e pratiche di viaggio sostenibili); ‘investigation-related identities', indicando l'impegno degli studenti nella comprensione delle questioni ambientali e nel contributo alla soluzione delle relative problematiche attraverso azioni concrete; ‘social identities’, riferendosi alla determinazione delle associazioni a occuparsi di questioni sociali, impegnandosi in progetti di beneficenza. / The study explores the distinctive features of the environmental identity promoted by Chinese students environmental associations (SEAs), and the social media practices involved in their identity management processes. A second level of analysis investigates how activists negotiate their identification with the environmental identity projects fostered by their organizations. The ethnographic research focuses on ten SEAs located in Beijing. The data collection process is based on extensive usage of in-depth interviews with staff members, participant observations of activities, and content analysis of materials posted on SEAs’ social media accounts (Sina Weibo, WeChat), and materials shared by members on their WeChat Moments over a six-month period (February- July 2016). Results reveal that SEAs environmental identities are plural and composite in themselves. I propose a tripartite taxonomy, which includes sustainable lifestyle-related identities, referring to the responsibility of students to reduce their carbon footprint, by addressing the sources of their impact (in relation to water, energy, food conservation, green travel practices); investigation-related identities, consisting in students’ meaningful engagement in the understanding of environmental issues, and contribution to their solution through concrete action; and social identities, referring to SEAs determination to be concerned about social issues, by engaging in charity projects.

This thesis provides a sociological understanding of how conventional knowledge of sexuality negates the identity formation of black gay men in contemporary South Africa. It investigates the coming out experiences of six black gay men in order to reveal the disjunctures between being black and being gay. The theoretical formation of disjuncture is pursued through examining a number of sociological, historical, psychoanalytical, and feminist approaches to identity, sexuality, and society; featuring specifically the theories of George Herbert Mead, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler. The chosen research paradigm is symbolic interactionism, postulating both „pragmatist‟ and „empiricist‟ trends that lead to both interactionist and structuralist forms of argumentation. The interactionist approach to sexuality is central to the deconstruction of sexual conventions. It involves conceptualising modern sexuality in the landscapes of African colonial history and the global gay and lesbian movement. The prescribed literature on homosexuality is thus reviewed in conjunction with the South African gay and lesbian struggle, so as to spawn themes and perspectives for conducting life story interviews. The use of the life story interview favours the participants‟ own view of the studied phenomenon, yet aims to depict the structural influence on homosexual identification. Following the qualitative research tradition, the data analysis is based on the interpretation of narratives. It illustrates interpersonal relationships and microscopic experiences that lead to the self-acceptance and self-actualisation of homosexuality. Within these processes, various disjunctures that exist between the cultural sanction of lifestyle and individual choice, between parents and children, between religious belief and personal desires, and between gender identity and sexual orientation are disclosed. The findings are associated with the historical transformation of masculinity in South Africa, sex role performance, and the heterosexualisation of desire. The solution to the proposed research problem is discussed through concepts of socialisation and gender conformity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

O reconhecimento da identidade de gênero e o uso do nome social são algumas das principais pautas do movimento trans e LGBTI e contribuem para a diminuição da opressão e exclusão desse grupo social. Essas demandas foram parcialmente atendidas com a publicação do Decreto Nº 8.727, que dispõe sobre o uso do nome social e o reconhecimento da identidade de gênero de pessoas trans em órgãos públicos federais, suscitando diversas reações-respostas nas diferentes esferas sociais. A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar os discursos sobre a identidade de pessoas trans em textos online, mais precisamente a partir das relações dialógicas entre o Decreto Nº 8.727, de 28 de abril de 2016, e notícias do jornalismo online. Nesta análise, foram considerados dados de pesquisa, além do referido decreto, dez notícias do jornalismo online, publicadas entre abril de 2016 e agosto de 2017, que tematizam questões relativas ao uso do nome social e ao reconhecimento da identidade de gênero, buscando verificar que relações de diálogo se tecem entre os enunciados e o Decreto Nº 8.727. A ancoragem teórico-metodológica da pesquisa teve como embasamento os estudos do Círculo de Bakhtin (BAKHTIN, 2012[1920-1924; 2014[1927]; 2015[1930-1936]; 2014[1934-1935]; 2016[1952-1953]; 2015[1963]; 1987[1965]; 2015[1979]; BAKHTIN/VOLOCHÍNOV, 2014[1929]; VOLOCHÍNOV 2013[1930]; MEDVIEDEV, 2016[1928]), além de estudos acerca da identidade a partir da perspectiva da Linguística Aplicada e seus diálogos interdisciplinares (BHABHA, 2014; MOITA LOPES, 2003; 2006, 2010, 2013a, 2013b; RAJAGOPALAN, 2003) e também sobre as questões da transgeneridade e do gênero social (BUTLER, 2015; BENTO, 2008, JESUS, 2010a; 2010b; 2012a; 2012b; JESUS, ALVES, 2010; LOURO, 2016). Com relação às regularidades discursivas, observouse a reenunciação das teorias de gênero e sexualidade e a tentativa de neutralização por parte do discurso jornalístico, tornando opacas suas valorações. Além disso, tem-se o reenquadramento de discursos acerca da identidade de pessoas trans como estratégia discursiva por parte dos veículos de comunicação, evidenciando posicionamentos axiológicos de naturezas distintas. Nesses discursos, em alguns momentos, o Decreto Nº 8.727 e o uso do nome social eram tratados como ferramentas importantes de cidadania e visibilidade para o movimento trans, instituindo o sujeito trans como um sujeito de direito; em outros, tanto o uso do nome social quanto as vivências de gênero que extrapolam a cisnormatividade eram questionados. / The recognition of gender identity and the use of the social name are some of the main guidelines of the trans and LGBTI movement and contribute to the reduction of the oppression and exclusion of this social group. These demands were partially met with the publication of the decree, which deals with the use of social name and the recognition of the gender identity of trans people in federal public agencies, provoking diverse reactions in the different social spheres. The present work had as main objective to analyze the speeches about the identity of trans people in online texts, more precisely from the conexions between Decree N. 8.727, of April 28, 2016, and news of online journalism. In this analysis, we have selected, in addition to the aforementioned decree, ten news articles on online journalism that discuss issues related to the use of social name and the recognition of gender identity, seeking to verify that dialogue relations are woven between the statements and Decree No. 8.727. To reach our goal, we opted for theoretical-methodological anchoring in Bakhtin Circle studies (BAKHTIN, 2012 [1920-1924, 2014 [1927], 2015 [1930-1936], 2014 [1934-1935], 2016 [1952-1953 (1990), [1929], and also studies of identity from the perspective of the Applied Linguistics, (BHABHA, 2014, MOITA LOPES, 2003, 2010, 2013a, 2013b; RAJAGOPALAN, 2003) and also on issues of transgender and social gender studies (BUTLER, 2015, BENTO, 2008, JESUS , 2010a; 2010b; 2012a; 2012b; JESUS, ALVES, 2010; LOURO, 2016). The data gave rise to some regularities, such as the reenactment of theories of gender and the attempt to neutralize the journalistic discourse, making their valuations opaque. In addition, there is a reframing of discourses about the identity of trans people as a discursive strategy on the part of the communication vehicles, evidencing axiological positions of different natures. In these discourses, we noticed how Decree No. 8,727 and the use of the social name were treated as important tools of citizenship and visibility for the trans movement, instituting the trans subject as a subject of law; at the sime time, both the use of the social name and the experiences of gender that extrapolated the cisnormativity were questioned.